- Joined
- Apr 9, 2022
- Messages
- 306
So fall of 2020 I decided it was time to learn to shoot a bow, maybe get good enough to hunt eventually. I’ve rifle hunted on public land for 20 years, but it’s an area where my family has an 80 of private surrounded by the public land I’ve hunted. Many of the stands have been put in nearly the same places for 50 years, though some are abandoned and new ones out up as the forest changes or gets logged. Long and short is I’ve never had to learn to scout or really how to deer hunt. Just sit quietly enough in a stand with a rifle and plug one from 100 yards or less. But I live hours from there on the border of two states (northern Wisconsin and Minnesota) with access to massive amounts of forested timber.
Compounds don’t interest me so I bought a cheap Southwest Archery recurve at 40 lbs and started practicing, set up a target in my garage and could shoot out to 30 yards from my driveway. Practiced until it got too cold then picked it up in the spring. Did decent at 3D archery, bought an old Herters 65lb longbow that I carried all season of 2021. I practiced a ton and felt ok shooting to 20 yards.
Hated the idea of a climber or hang on, found the saddle hunting stuff and blew a ton of money trying different equipment, quivers, climbing methods, and backpacks. Bought a Tethrd saddle. Tried Wild Edge steps and didn’t like them. Settled on 4 mini beast sticks, EWO wire aiders, packed in an Eberlestock x2 pack. Worked great, I’m one sticking this year but I’ll keep the setup for a spare.
Had a buck only tag for Wisconsin thinking I’d get something by November than save my Minnesota buck tag for rifle season.
I never even saw a buck.
I must have hunted 30 mornings between September and January. I almost exclusively hunted mornings because I wanted all day to find a deer if I shot it and my wife would get worried when I was out past dark and she couldn’t reach me without cell service. Saw does on maybe half those sits, could have shot maybe 10-15 times at less than 10 yards. But no bucks.
One problem was scouting. I went out maybe 10 times the summer before, walking various areas to get a feel. Problem is I didn’t know what to look for, terrible at finding rubs, feeding areas, etc. I watched folks like The Hunting Public on how to find bedding areas, found maybe a few. I bought a few trail cams but didn’t use them effectively, not leaving them up very long and not using them during season.
Another problem was I didn’t adjust during season, since I didn’t hunt afternoons it was hard to walk in and find active sign and set up there. I didn’t use trail cams. And I kept going back to the areas I saw does hoping the bucks would show up, but they didn’t.
For this year, I’m doing it different. I’m already hanging cameras to find where the deer are, not just hunting what look like heavily used deer trails. I’m going to hunt mornings and then scout the afternoon and find sign. And I’m one sticking so I can carry a lightweight setup while scouting so I can just climb whatever tree looks good.
Last year didn’t have a shot at all, but I learned so much. I’m almost glad I didn’t get lucky early season, I wouldn’t have spent as much time in the woods learning. I can only hope this year will work out a little more successful.
Compounds don’t interest me so I bought a cheap Southwest Archery recurve at 40 lbs and started practicing, set up a target in my garage and could shoot out to 30 yards from my driveway. Practiced until it got too cold then picked it up in the spring. Did decent at 3D archery, bought an old Herters 65lb longbow that I carried all season of 2021. I practiced a ton and felt ok shooting to 20 yards.
Hated the idea of a climber or hang on, found the saddle hunting stuff and blew a ton of money trying different equipment, quivers, climbing methods, and backpacks. Bought a Tethrd saddle. Tried Wild Edge steps and didn’t like them. Settled on 4 mini beast sticks, EWO wire aiders, packed in an Eberlestock x2 pack. Worked great, I’m one sticking this year but I’ll keep the setup for a spare.
Had a buck only tag for Wisconsin thinking I’d get something by November than save my Minnesota buck tag for rifle season.
I never even saw a buck.
I must have hunted 30 mornings between September and January. I almost exclusively hunted mornings because I wanted all day to find a deer if I shot it and my wife would get worried when I was out past dark and she couldn’t reach me without cell service. Saw does on maybe half those sits, could have shot maybe 10-15 times at less than 10 yards. But no bucks.
One problem was scouting. I went out maybe 10 times the summer before, walking various areas to get a feel. Problem is I didn’t know what to look for, terrible at finding rubs, feeding areas, etc. I watched folks like The Hunting Public on how to find bedding areas, found maybe a few. I bought a few trail cams but didn’t use them effectively, not leaving them up very long and not using them during season.
Another problem was I didn’t adjust during season, since I didn’t hunt afternoons it was hard to walk in and find active sign and set up there. I didn’t use trail cams. And I kept going back to the areas I saw does hoping the bucks would show up, but they didn’t.
For this year, I’m doing it different. I’m already hanging cameras to find where the deer are, not just hunting what look like heavily used deer trails. I’m going to hunt mornings and then scout the afternoon and find sign. And I’m one sticking so I can carry a lightweight setup while scouting so I can just climb whatever tree looks good.
Last year didn’t have a shot at all, but I learned so much. I’m almost glad I didn’t get lucky early season, I wouldn’t have spent as much time in the woods learning. I can only hope this year will work out a little more successful.