Bow Season

Weekend_Sawyer · October 16, 2008, 10:19:22 AM

Bow came in in WV on Monday and I'm stuck here at work in MD. :'(
With any luck I'll be out there the last week of October. Turkey and Deer with bow will be in and it'll be wide open!!! 8)

I'v been working on the bow skills everyevening.
Anyone else gettin ready to go out?

Jon

thecfarm · October 16, 2008, 04:50:07 PM

Bow season has started here.I don't follow it.I have to brag about the DIL.She was the one that shot a moose last year.This year she shot a 134 pound buck,four pointer with a bow.Another first one in the family.Last year she shot her first deer with a rifle.At least this year I could understand her when she called to tell us about the deer. :D

Sunfield Hardwood · October 16, 2008, 06:13:47 PM

Our bow season opened Oct 1, in Michigan, I've been out a few times but have not seen a buck yet. congrats cfarm on Dil's buck 8). My Sil also killed his first deer ever with a bow last mon. also a 4 pointer, he's been helping me saw and he talks about it every day, its fun to see him so excited about hunting. when I was working, I saved my vacation until the first two weeks of nov. every year, I think I've killed a buck during that time for probably 20 years straight. I'm a very avid bowhunter but I don't get really excited until about halloween [ the leaves are coming down, the rut is starting, and its frosting at night on a regular basis, sometimes we even get an early snow,] YA-HOO 8), I wait all year for those two weeks, good luck Jon

WDH · October 16, 2008, 11:46:19 PM

I have a 10 foot straight osage orange log that I posted on Craigslist for possibly making traditional wood bows. No takers yet.

thecfarm · October 27, 2008, 10:13:43 PM

Got a call from the stepson.He is married to the one I posted above.He got a 6 point buck in the same area.He had not weighted it yet,but thought it was just about the same size as the buck his wife got.His son,9 years old was right there with his Father when he shot it.
Buck has been weighted,124 pounds.

jdtuttle · October 28, 2008, 10:54:46 AM

Been hunting up here in NY since the 18th. My brother harvested a nice doe so far. We've let a couple spikes walk so they could grow up a little. My daughter & nephew also bow hunt with me & I can't think of a better way to spend quality time together. We have a noreaster moving through now so that should help get the rut moving and increase the odds for a big buck.
Jim

semologger · October 30, 2008, 01:14:20 AM

This is mostly all i think about when we get a little cool weather.

Open and Upcoming Seasons Season Open Date Close Date
Deer OPEN CLOSE
Archery Mon,Sep 15, 2008 Fri, Nov 14, 2008
Wed,Nov 26, 2008 Thu, Jan 15, 2009
Deer
Youth Sat, Nov 1, 2008 Sun, Nov 2, 2008
Sat, Jan 3, 2009 Sun, Jan 4, 2009
Deer
Firearms Sat, Nov 15, 2008 Tue, Nov 25, 2008
Deer
Muzzleloader Fri, Nov 28, 2008 Sun, Dec 7, 2008
Deer
Antlerless Sat, Dec 13, 2008 Sun, Dec 21, 2008

Youth rifle is this weekend hopefully my daughter will let me shoot for her. ;D. Just kidding she is 1 for 1 so far. I wish i had time to bow hunt ive been so busy for work. I am going to get a few days more in no matter what. I stuck a doe about 2 weeks ago. Of couse no meat. I went out the other night without a bow or camera and had a 9 point eating acorns about 20 feet away.

Gun season around here is a national holiday. School even lets out for a few days. I dont plan on working and never have and never will.

SwampDonkey · October 30, 2008, 06:01:54 AM

Sure wish we had more deer around here. But, that is a mixed blessing, as one less browser of my trees. (Be careful what you wish for, eh? :D ) I know where they have migrated to. They are down a little south in softwood forest, mostly cedar. I don't hunt, but am hoping some day they can winter up here for a change. I'm sure trying to help with my softwood regrowth. Only thing, it has to be old growth with that old man's beard on the limbs. That's a non scientific statement, just observation. But, anywhere they logged in the past with that type of growth, including the lichen, has deer coming out like a horse for toffee candy. That's why up north in the northern counties, there is no deer any longer after the forest companies cut all the old forest. Deer have only been here in NB 100 years.

You guys have lots of fun and play safe with your bows. My grandfather never bow hunted, just rifle, but he lived for and made his living from the sport so I know what your all excited about. I can remember that last deer the old guy shot across the other side of two beaver ponds. Not many folks around here hunt too far from the pickup these days. My grandfather, even in his 80's was on foot all day when he hunted. ;D

cheers

Weekend_Sawyer · October 30, 2008, 07:20:18 AM

I took my 2nd and 3rd deer with bow this week. Wonderful hunts. My brother took his old dog, a 12 year old Australian Shepherd, out squirrel hunting and she was retreiving squirrels for him as if she had been trained to. She has never been trained, used to be if you threw a ball for her she would run off with it and tear it up. But now that she is older she is acting as if she wants to share. Very smart dog, very much in charge.
We had some great feasts of the forest meals and had to come home too soon.

Jon

semologger · October 30, 2008, 08:01:44 AM

we use dogs for bushy tails areound here also. But we usualy are on 4 wheelers. Lots of fun when you have good dogs. And plenty of beer.

Tom_in_Mo. · October 30, 2008, 11:23:10 AM

semologger, hows the acorn crop around you? tons of them around here.
I had trail cameras set up and doing good until those acorns started to fall.......... then not a shot afterwards. My trail camera WELL NOT take pictures of night. I can't figure it out. I have the digital type and it is set on 24 hours.
I think I had better go for some meat for now and then go for those horns, but you know how it is...... horn soup!!!

semologger · October 30, 2008, 08:17:48 PM

plenty acorns. they are going to be in the woods this year. I like it that way i love hearing them be fer i see em. Do you guys have any squirrels there we have none. I went this afternoon and jumped a doe while i was walkin to a spot to sit. I went to a dffernet spot my bro in law seen a monster the other day on the highway so i went and set as close to were he saw em. Its on a highline so i am going to move my stand on it. Dont know anything about those game cams. Only thing i know is i want a couple.

SwampDonkey · November 02, 2008, 07:03:48 AM

Here rifle season is open Oct. 27 - Nov. 22 and we can hunt Sundays. Bow season is Oct. 6-Nov.22. Hard to keep up when you don't hunt and they keep messing with the seasons. And apparently if you get an antlerless deer by bow in Zone 27, you can hunt for one by rifle in the remaining rifle season. They don't say doe or buck, because we have some does with antlers to.

thecfarm · November 02, 2008, 07:17:48 AM

DIL and stepson shot the deer in the a zone that they cannot get another one with a rifle.I don't know if it matters if it has antlers or not in that zone.They each got a buck.He did not say anything about that.The only thing he did say he was in the wrong zone to get another one.But like he said he did not want to be greedy.

Weekend_Sawyer · November 02, 2008, 05:19:10 PM

In Maryland, where we are overrun with deer, you can take UNLIMITED does with a bow and 10 with a gun.
If you take a buck you have to take 2 does before you can take another buck. DNR and QDMA agree the way to reduce the herd is to take does. I'm trying to do my part.
Hope to be making some deer jerky soon.

Jon

SwampDonkey · November 02, 2008, 07:29:43 PM

To clarify, antlerless deer hunting is by drawn permit and not in all zones I think. The second deer taken in zone 27 has to be antlered. Some zones have no deer hunting at all.

I haven't seen a deer or track since last fall. Last summer and fall I seen deer several times a week in the local fields and woods. :

thecfarm · November 02, 2008, 08:15:03 PM

Weekend Sawyer,how big are the deer in MD?Do you have so many that the deer are small? Small around here would be 80-100 pounds.Most are about the size that my DIL and stepson got or the ones that I hear about are.Some may be a bigger,but I think I'm safe to say this.I have heard of deer in the 180 pounds range,but not too often.

Toolman · November 02, 2008, 08:53:09 PM

Quote from: Weekend_Sawyer on November 02, 2008, 05:19:10 PM
In Maryland, where we are overrun with deer, you can take UNLIMITED does with a bow and 10 with a gun.
If you take a buck you have to take 2 does before you can take another buck. DNR and QDMA agree the way to reduce the herd is to take does. I'm trying to do my part.
Hope to be making some deer jerky soon.

Jon

Yea that killin the doe does the trick. They've literally killed off the deer up here in Pennsylvania. A herd of deer up here is 2 or 3 at a time, used to be a dozen or two at a time. Our state needs to cut back doe licenses. We have 16 guys at our deer camp. The last 3 seasons we all burn ours. We buy em to get em off the market, then burn em. The antler restriction law has helped our buck populations. Nice racks runnin around.

rbhunter · November 02, 2008, 10:48:13 PM

Kinda off topic.

Today a friend and I went out to the gun club to sight in my blackpowder rifle and check the zero on his 30-06. There were a few others out there shooting also. After going down range to check our shots we came back and started getting ready for another round. My friend all of a sudden tells us to hold our fire. We all look at him and he points down range to our 100 yard target. About five yards behind our target stands a doe eating grass. We had to go out to about 75 yards before she ran off.

SwampDonkey · November 03, 2008, 06:51:23 AM

Buck deer here over 230 lbs aren't hard to find, where there are a significant number of deer. I've seen quite a few shot over 270 lbs. I tried to get weights off the 2007 summary, but all the graphs and number reflect kills, and which zones. Doesn't break down weights. Most of the big ones come to fields at night and make themselves scarce in daylight.

CLL · November 03, 2008, 08:48:30 PM

Can't shoot a buck unless it has at least 4 points on one side. Had a little(legal) basket buck at 8 yards yesterday,7 point, let him walk as I hunt mostly for jerky meat, not just to shoot something. Son's father-in-law blasts anything that moves, be it doe or buck. He had a fit because they restricted bucks to at least 4 points on one side, all the deer in his area knows 4 points or not , he will blast them, so they run to our side of the farm. :D :D

Weekend_Sawyer · November 07, 2008, 12:55:04 PM

Excluding the Eastern Shore where the deer are bigger. A big deer would be about 150.

Looking forward to gun season coming up thanksgiving week. I havn't been home for Thanksgiving for quite a few years now. :D I like my turkey with a side of tenderloin 8)

Jon

SwampDonkey · November 07, 2008, 01:27:02 PM

I tracked a good sized buck one day here years ago. I figured it would be interesting to see at what point he let me get a peek. The tracks where so fresh, I decided what the heck. I tracked him across 5 farms that day and I did catch up to him. I saw him down in a hollow/gully on a hardwood site and once he saw me that was the end of that. I wasn't hunting, just thought it was a good thing to do that day. Nothing special, as I know hunters do it all the time. ;)

semologger · November 08, 2008, 11:18:11 PM

Swamp donkey Ive never tryed to track any deer around here with hardly any snow kind of hard to do. Ive always wanted to try tho. When we do have snow its not hard to find tracks everywere.

jdtuttle · November 09, 2008, 05:25:59 PM

Just got home from an afternoon bow hunt with my daughter. We had a very sucessful hunt. Sat in a buddy stand for a couple hours and chatted about everything. She's in her first year of college so I treasure every moment together. Just about dark a doe and 4 point buck came in to about 30 yds. She can only shoot out to about 20 yards so we just watched them. The buck had a bad limp (probably shot) I pulled back but he moved before I could get a good shot. Sucess is spending quality time with someone you love. The work starts when you harvest the game & have to haul it out & take care of it. But, It taste good so it's all worth it.
"Good Huntin" Jim