Anybody still bowhunting the final 2 weeks

[maros91]

I still have an all season tag left. I drove past my St. Francis spot and the alfalfa(sp)field was covered with tracks! Don't know if there coming at night or not. I will hunt there tonight and find out! Hopefully I can connect. Anyone else been out or planning on hunting the final 2 weeks?

[Scoot]

My opportunities are few and far between, but I'm hunting every chance I get. I hope to get out a few more times still.

[Nate McVey]

I'm still at it......when the weather and work allow. I will probably sit tomorrow morning and a couple days this week. Lots of movement in my area, I just can't seem to nail down the patterns when I can only get out 1 or 2 days every other week.

[Pooh]

i shot and missed last night,(friday) miss judged the yardage shot under her. i guess its better to miss clean than to have a bad hit. i still got my stick slinger out for the last 2 weeks got one tag left

[Slow Jigger]

Absolutely. I have deer all over the camera during morning hours. Had kids hockey today but will be out there tomorrow.

[SnoManX]

Yep, still got my buck tag to fill, although I haven't seen much the last two weeks. Hopefully, getting out a few times this week before all of the Christmas stuff starts.

[Tippman]

I am but haven't been out lately. Found a new spot on the way home from pheasant hunting with 20 deer in a field I will have to check out. I want to shoot one yearling yet for meat.

[maros91]

I went out tonight and saw 7. 4 does strolled by at 50yds at 4:30pm. As I was getting down there were 3 big bodied deer well across the field feeding. You should see this alfalfa field and the tracks going across it. It is like a 6 lane super highway, of course none come on the trail I am sitting on . Hopefully before the season ends I can get one. Next time I go I will take some pics of the trails.

[lawdog]

I plan to go out tomorrow. Haven't been out with the bow for forever, put the smoke pole away last weekend though, so its back to stick and string. Need to kill something...

[hugonian1]

Went out this afternoon for a couple of hours. Tracks all over and 2 beds right under my stand. No deer came by but I will try again tomorrow.

[Grand River Zip]

Yup, still trying. Just not seeing animals when my time allows...

[moby1]

Im still trying as well. Hunted all day yesterday. The trials in the snow were like highways and they were all over the place. I didnt see any movement. It is starting to get frustrating but still fun. Im still waiting for my first bow kill. I have only actually seen one while bow hunting and I shot it the following weekend in rifle season. I have hunted almost every weekend since Sept 15.

[roosterslayer]

I was going to give up , but i just got a hot tip on a piece state land with a lot of activity. i think i will be giving it one more shot sometime mid-week. And if that turns out to be a bust i will be hanging up the bow for the season.

[Antler_Creek_Taxidermy]

Roosterslayer,

Do you know a guy named Lloyd in Clearwater? Just curious if he gave you this tip.

[MNpurple]

I have the last 7 days of the year off and plan to be out a quite a bit. I have a buck tag avaiable if my dad is with me otherwise a fanw would top the freezer off.

Tonight I talked to my dad after bowhunting and he found a matched set of sheds from an 11 pointer with 11.5 inch G2s, he saw a half rack, and I talked to a guy who pulled an antler off that he got at the end of muzzleloader. The snow, ice and cold must be stressing them out. Choose your animal carefully I guess.

[lawdog]

I saw a whopping ZERO deer tonight sitting... Lots of pheasants still around, but where are the deer???

[FL SNIPER]

I love to ice fish and have been out doing that some. But I know I have all winter to fish...so I still try and get out in the bow stand when time and weather work out. I plan to go out a couple more times yet this year. I made it out yesterday afternoon and had two yearlings come close by but the underbrush was too thick for a shot. I also saw an owl catch a mouse right in front of me and eat it in the tree next to me...pretty good afternoon to be out. Good luck to everyone still getting out.

[Peepers]

Now that I'm done flying all over for work I'm gonna try getting out a few more times before I break out the ice fishing gear. Tomorrow looks to be 30 - heatwave! I'll have to break out my lightweight camo again and head out tomorrow pm...

I guess I'll have to watch for sheds also.

Has anyone with trail cams noticed if this cold is forcing them wander around more in daylight or don't they mind single digit nights?

[roosterslayer]

Nope not Lloyd in Clearwater.

[Slow Jigger]

Peepers

I have seen 4-6 does on the camera early mornings almost daily of course the day I got out there they decided to take a break. Will check Friday and hunt the weekend again but I am begining to think I am going to have to try a different approach.....

Shoot straight!

[Meat-Run]

Well I sat in my stand on Saturday the 15th and shot a doe. What I thought was a perfect shot turned out to be a 1/2 mile and a second day search party tracking mission. I shot behind her left shoulder and I think it stopped in her right shoulder or brisket. The arrow did not come out and the blood trail was vary good for the better of 100 yards and stopping every once and leaving big blood pools. But she never bedded and I didn't push her. I think it must have clogged up or something but if she would have just laid down within the first hour I would probobly have found her. Unfortunetly it didn't turn out that way. Scouted for another 2 more hours Sunday evening with no luck.

I will have give my stand another try this week but just still sick that I may have contributed to the survival of some coyotes in my area.

One thing that I do have to say is that my luminox are one of best investments. It helped me confirm that I know where the arrow went in and it was very obvious when I released my arrow!!!

mr

[sticknstring]

Still at it as well... although the weight on the ice fishing side of the teeter-totter is getting heavier and heavier. Went up this past weekend and saw plenty of deer but couldn't close the gap. I figured with all the snow they'd be more concentrated and have some good trails established but not the case at all. They're still roaming freely and difficult to pattern. Out early too. Sat night I went out to a feeding area around 3 and they were already there when I got there. Don't ya just love it when it's dead calm and you got deer blowing at ya. Still a few weeks to get a tag on one though... I shot a doe on the 28th 3 years ago so there's hope.

[bigbucks]

I'm planning to bowhunt the evenings of the 29th with a buddy & the 31st just for tradition. May go another time or two in between. Shot a nice big doe Saturday night, may be my biggest bow doe. Saw a fawn right after the doe went down in view. First time I've ever seen snow spraying from a deer doing a face plant. What a rush!

Find the food, they're still moving. Found two or three other decent spots, although not as much activity as where I shot this one. All the sign I've found is heading for hayfields, but there's no standing corn remaining in that area. I've been seeing deer in standing corn driving to & from work on land I don't have permission to hunt on.

[WallyGator12000]

I got myself a doe tonight as well, she came in at 3:10 and I just couldn't pass her up, it's been too many cold days in the stand without action to pass up an easy shot like the one she gave me. Looks like there will be meat in the freezer this winter! My big buck will wait for next year I guess...

[Meat-Run]

Congrats on your late season Doe!!! I'm hoping to stick one this week before the snow roles in.

Good Eats.

mr

[sticknstring]

Congratulations on filling a Dec tag! That buck will be better next year anyways...

[bigbucks]

Checking to see if this worked or not.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc38b3127cceb219c468378c00000026108EZtmjRm5bc

I guess it worked, maybe there's a better way, but I think you guys can see her. Here's the story:

I saw her coming right before dark, about 150 yards out. She was heading right for the cow yard where they've been coming in just before dark almost every night. She'd stop, look around, then trot 25-30 yards, then repeat. I was standing up, on the ground, in the corner of a fenceline up hill from her. She never turned, she just kept coming straight at me. There was a couple of saplings on either side of me, a really small brush pile kind of beside & behind me, & basically the corner post & a barbwire fence between me & the deer. When she trotted to 10 yards or less broadside & stopped, she turned her head & looked right at me. There'd never been a chance to draw when she wouldn't have seen me move, unless I'd have drawn 50+ yards out. Not knowing she would come trotting in like that I didn't do that. She saw me, stomped once, whipped around & went back the way she came & stopped in the 40-50 yard range broadside looking back at me. Even then I didn't draw as I knew she wasn't sure what I was & it happened so fast there was no time. Then she cut down slope to the left, I decided later she was trying to circle down wind of me & come back in. When she went behind a tree I drew, thinking I might get a shot. She stopped in a gap in the trees, I was guessing at a strong 35 yards. I was going to have to shoot just past the very tips of a tree branch about halfway in between us to hit her. I held a little high & let her fly. I heard a crack, but not a really loud one like it usually is when an arrow hits a deer. I thought crap, I hit that branch & it deflected off. The deer took off straight away, immediately I could see she was running low, flag down, & really a hoofing it. Not the kind of body language you get with a miss. Then there's snow flying, she's still going, but really a huffing. Then more snow & she does a face plant skid just short of a big tree. She never even twitched. I stood there kind of dumbfounded saying to myself, well I'm not sure where I hit her, but obviously it was good. I kept saying thank you Lord, as I knew I probably shouldn't have made that shot. I always try to remember to pray the arrow goes straight when the hunt starts, but sometimes it's hard to remember to be thankful when you're so exited after the shot. You don't often see them go down with the bow, it was quite a rush.

It was getting fairly dark & now she's 60-70 yards away down the slope through a few scattered trees, but nothing else. It's an eaten off cow pasture. I see another deer coming from directly beyond where she's laying. It's a nice sized fawn. It gets to the tree & mills around forever. I waited for it to come in, thinking eventually it would come into eat & I'd wack it too (intensive harvest area still had another antlerless tag). It didn't & it got too dark, so I packed up to go get some help.

We drove the truck down to where the deer was laying. We couldn't find the arrow, but found the hair tuft & tracks where she'd been standing. Stepped it off, oops miscalculated, 45 yards, 10 yards farther then any bow deer I've ever shot. The arrow hit her low behind the left shoulder & in the back of the left front leg, cutting it about a 1/4 of the way off. Went through the chest cavity & some how deflected up & exited right over the top of the right shoulder. She was spraying blood probably 4' wide. She did about a 10' face plant/skid about 15 yards from the point of the hit, then went maybe another 20 yards before skidding to where she lay.

There was no ground shrinkage with this one. I knew it was a decent doe when I shot her, but she just kept getting bigger. Weighed her in at the registration station at 138 lbs. I've shot a few bigger with the gun & certainly she's not a monster, but she was awfully nice, especially for this time of year.

[FL SNIPER]

Great work Big Bucks...and good story! What kind of setup were you using? What kind of broadhead? Congratulations again.

[sticknstring]

That's a colossal doe you got there - better check for pedicles! Congratulations

[bigbucks]

It's a CQ3 Mathews (5-6 years old)with a Vital Gear Pendulum single pin sight & a Whisker Bisket rest. I'm shooting Beman 340 Carbons with veins & 100 grain Thunderheads. I'm shooting about 65 lbs. I suppose. It's been deadly for me if I make a decent hit, not so deadly when I don't, just like most setups. It's a lot more forgiving then my old bow, but I can screw up & make bad shots with this bow that I wouldn't even take or would completely miss with my old one. It's kind of like a 4wd truck. You can get stuck in places you can't even get to with a 2wd truck...