First year with the bow was a learning experience
Posted by Jesse White on Tuesday, December 18, 2012 Under: Deer Hunting
Well, after bowhunting multiple times nearly every week since the Minnesota deer archery opened on Sept. 15 I've figured out two things - don't hesitate when a nice buck walks up to you on the first day of the season regardless of how many deer you think you will see the rest of the year and I need more stands.
Make that three things: I also learned I really, really love it!
For those who forgot, are just joining us or don't really read my stuff to closely, on the opening morning of the 2012 archery season an 8-point buck walked - well, rather ran - to within 10 yards of my stand and stopped in it's tracks.
Perhaps I was in shock or maybe I thought I was hunting on a game preserve like all those experts on TV but for whatever reason I decided I would video record the deer instead of draw on it and then when I decided that maybe I needed to take the shot the deer had moved too far away and I misjudged the distance and missed.
My reasoning at the time was that I was convinced I was going to see plenty more deer before the season was over, particularly a giant buck I had caught on my trail camera the week before. Turns out I never saw that giant buck nor did I see that 8-pointer again.
Not during the archery season or the rifle season or again on my camera for that matter. In fact, after the first week of the archery season, I never saw another deer while hunting with a bow.
I'm assuming part of the problem were wolves. It turns out the day I saw that somewhat agitated 8-pointer, at nearly the same time, I also caught a wolf on a trail camera about 200 yards away on another major deer trail. I think the wolves were chasing that eight and that's how it ended up in front of my stand.
And as far as I could tell from tracks and sign I saw throughout October and November, that wolf and his buddies pretty much lived where I deer hunt and deer movement - at least during the day - essentially came to a halt for most of the archery and firearms seasons.
The other problem for me was my inability to move around while bow hunting. That's my fault because I decided to take up the sport a little late in the year and didn't have the proper time to prepare. I bought my bow in late July and by the time I was comfortable with it and somewhat confident that could hit what I was aiming at, the season was upon me.
So I didn't have any time to scout different areas or build new stands. I was pretty much tied to one deer stand we already had in place for the rifle season because the others weren't wide enough for me to be able to pull the bow back should I see a deer.
And that was a bit of a handicap.
For one, I really overworked that particular stand and that probably contributed to the lack of traffic around it the past two and a half months.
Second, scent plays a huge role in bow hunting deer because most time you need the animal to get within 30 or 40 yards of you for a good, confident shot. That meant that every time I found a day to get in the woods and the wind was blowing from the wrong direction, I had to abandon my plans.
The other problem with using the same stand every time is that deer begin to recognize the threat and start to either pattern your movements - using those trails in the area near your stand when you are less likely to be there - or they avoid the area all together.
So then you have to find a new place to hunt and while I did try some still hunting and sitting on a couple of logs and rocks in various places I just never found a comfortable place to set up camp near any deer routes I was familiar with.
On the positive side, throughout all my wandering and searching for a place to set up camp on the ground I found several new areas to consider for next bow season. I'm looking forward to getting out in the woods this spring and putting up some stands in those areas in hopes of a more successful bow season in 2013.
I also learned that I absolutely love bow hunting. It's a whole different experience from the rifle hunting I've done my whole life. First, you're in the woods by yourself for the most part. No party hunting and very few other hunters are out and about.
Second, it was pretty neat to get into the woods and sit during some different times of the year - particularly early fall when everything is still pretty green and then again in December when it's colder and the snow is on the ground.
You don't really see just how much an area changes from early September to late December until you spend as many hours in the same spot as I did.
It's like two different worlds.
If you've never tried archery deer hunting and it's something you've contemplated, give it a try this next year, you won't regret it. It's a great chance to spend time in nature and really soak in the seasons.
But do yourself a favor - if you're going to do it, start planning early in the year!
Next on my list of things to try: Wild turkey hunting. But more on that later...
MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone and Happy New Year!
Make that three things: I also learned I really, really love it!
For those who forgot, are just joining us or don't really read my stuff to closely, on the opening morning of the 2012 archery season an 8-point buck walked - well, rather ran - to within 10 yards of my stand and stopped in it's tracks.
Perhaps I was in shock or maybe I thought I was hunting on a game preserve like all those experts on TV but for whatever reason I decided I would video record the deer instead of draw on it and then when I decided that maybe I needed to take the shot the deer had moved too far away and I misjudged the distance and missed.
My reasoning at the time was that I was convinced I was going to see plenty more deer before the season was over, particularly a giant buck I had caught on my trail camera the week before. Turns out I never saw that giant buck nor did I see that 8-pointer again.
Not during the archery season or the rifle season or again on my camera for that matter. In fact, after the first week of the archery season, I never saw another deer while hunting with a bow.
I'm assuming part of the problem were wolves. It turns out the day I saw that somewhat agitated 8-pointer, at nearly the same time, I also caught a wolf on a trail camera about 200 yards away on another major deer trail. I think the wolves were chasing that eight and that's how it ended up in front of my stand.
And as far as I could tell from tracks and sign I saw throughout October and November, that wolf and his buddies pretty much lived where I deer hunt and deer movement - at least during the day - essentially came to a halt for most of the archery and firearms seasons.
The other problem for me was my inability to move around while bow hunting. That's my fault because I decided to take up the sport a little late in the year and didn't have the proper time to prepare. I bought my bow in late July and by the time I was comfortable with it and somewhat confident that could hit what I was aiming at, the season was upon me.
So I didn't have any time to scout different areas or build new stands. I was pretty much tied to one deer stand we already had in place for the rifle season because the others weren't wide enough for me to be able to pull the bow back should I see a deer.
And that was a bit of a handicap.
For one, I really overworked that particular stand and that probably contributed to the lack of traffic around it the past two and a half months.
Second, scent plays a huge role in bow hunting deer because most time you need the animal to get within 30 or 40 yards of you for a good, confident shot. That meant that every time I found a day to get in the woods and the wind was blowing from the wrong direction, I had to abandon my plans.
The other problem with using the same stand every time is that deer begin to recognize the threat and start to either pattern your movements - using those trails in the area near your stand when you are less likely to be there - or they avoid the area all together.
So then you have to find a new place to hunt and while I did try some still hunting and sitting on a couple of logs and rocks in various places I just never found a comfortable place to set up camp near any deer routes I was familiar with.
On the positive side, throughout all my wandering and searching for a place to set up camp on the ground I found several new areas to consider for next bow season. I'm looking forward to getting out in the woods this spring and putting up some stands in those areas in hopes of a more successful bow season in 2013.
I also learned that I absolutely love bow hunting. It's a whole different experience from the rifle hunting I've done my whole life. First, you're in the woods by yourself for the most part. No party hunting and very few other hunters are out and about.
Second, it was pretty neat to get into the woods and sit during some different times of the year - particularly early fall when everything is still pretty green and then again in December when it's colder and the snow is on the ground.
You don't really see just how much an area changes from early September to late December until you spend as many hours in the same spot as I did.
It's like two different worlds.
If you've never tried archery deer hunting and it's something you've contemplated, give it a try this next year, you won't regret it. It's a great chance to spend time in nature and really soak in the seasons.
But do yourself a favor - if you're going to do it, start planning early in the year!
Next on my list of things to try: Wild turkey hunting. But more on that later...
MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone and Happy New Year!
In : Deer Hunting
Tags: archery deer minnesota hunting firearms buck doe arrow bow stand still
A former outdoors writer and reporter for the Mesabi Daily News in Virginia, MN, and the Daily Tribune in Hibbing, MN, Jesse has been in the newspaper business for nearly 20 years. His numerous awards over the past two decades include five first-place awards from the Associated Press; two first-place National Newspaper awards; and a first-place Minnesota Newspaper Association award. He is an avid hunter and angler and enjoys guns and archery.
