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When does it happen?

Kurt said:
Your not the outlier. I've seen it on here too often. New hunters targeting mature deer. Talk about lowering your odds for success, but if that 's what you want hunting to be for you then go forward knowing that your success rate will be much lower. As was posted already, you got a shot at your "target deer", Just because you didn't get to drag him out of the woods doesn't mean you shouldn't chalk that experience up in the win column. If you don't mind me asking, how far was your shot? My motto has always been get em in tight. That's what bow hunting is for me. If I wanted to shoot deer at long range I would have stuck with the gun. If I can get any deer within 20 yds it becomes my "target deer" for that day. As you learn to hunt your kill rate will increase. But make no mistake, if your after only mature bucks your rate will be much lower than mine.
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Shot was 35 yards, quartering away. And he came exactly where I didn’t expect him to . My heart was beating so fast, I couldn’t believe I had the opportunity and probably torqued the bow during release. It’s a lot harder when something is alive in front of you vs. a target.

Thanks everyone for the good advice. Next year the focus will be to get “a” deer versus “the” deer.
 
I have spent this season hunting for a mature buck. Harvesting many deer through my years of hunting I do not have a need to shoot just any deer. A young man I met at work was having simiular luck as you are expressing. So this past weekend I set aside my hunting to help this youg man. At 7:30 A.M he shoots a wide 6p 2.5 year old. I found some white hair no blood. I was as disapponited as he was. I searched another 45 min an found small drop of blood. The trail started getting defined and easy to trail. We junped a deer an I thought it was the one he shot so we backed off a couple af hours and went back to track. Funny thing it was a different deer that we jumped. The deer he shot was about 20 yds from where we stopt tracking the first time. This hunt was an experience of a lifetime for me, and the young man. He is working on getting his own saddle equipment and I have a new friend. I encourage any of the seasoned hunters get out share your experence and knowledge. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
 
Kenbama said:
I have spent this season hunting for a mature buck. Harvesting many deer through my years of hunting I do not have a need to shoot just any deer. A young man I met at work was having simiular luck as you are expressing. So this past weekend I set aside my hunting to help this youg man. At 7:30 A.M he shoots a wide 6p 2.5 year old. I found some white hair no blood. I was as disapponited as he was. I searched another 45 min an found small drop of blood. The trail started getting defined and easy to trail. We junped a deer an I thought it was the one he shot so we backed off a couple af hours and went back to track. Funny thing it was a different deer that we jumped. The deer he shot was about 20 yds from where we stopt tracking the first time. This hunt was an experience of a lifetime for me, and the young man. He is working on getting his own saddle equipment and I have a new friend. I encourage any of the seasoned hunters get out share your experence and knowledge. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
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This says a lot about your character. Very admirable of you to support your new friend like that
 
gricky said:
Shot was 35 yards, quartering away. And he came exactly where I didn’t expect him to . My heart was beating so fast, I couldn’t believe I had the opportunity and probably torqued the bow during release. It’s a lot harder when something is alive in front of you vs. a target.

Thanks everyone for the good advice. Next year the focus will be to get “a” deer versus “the” deer.
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Good on ya. I'd say take if a step further and plan on killing several deer.

Look at it this way:

When a deer walks out in an area, it's betting its life there isn't a hunter around to kill it. Scout hard this off season, and don't make a sit unless you are comfortable with the idea of a masked man shooting you in the head if you don't see a deer. :) If you don't have a spot that inspires that much confidence, keep looking.

Life is too short for bad booze, ugly women, or bad hunting spots.
 
gricky said:
Shot was 35 yards, quartering away. And he came exactly where I didn’t expect him to . My heart was beating so fast, I couldn’t believe I had the opportunity and probably torqued the bow during release. It’s a lot harder when something is alive in front of you vs. a target.

Thanks everyone for the good advice. Next year the focus will be to get “a” deer versus “the” deer.
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They always come from the direction you don't expect. Keep your yardages close. 20-25 yards max until you get at least one kill. The good part about your miss is that it was a clean miss. Start shooting long shots and bad things can happen. Just because you can do it in your back yard doesn't mean you should do it with a deer standing in front of you. As you become experienced at killing you may be tempted to reach out some. The older I get the closer I want them. To me bow hunting is more about woodsmanship. Next thing you know you'll go traditional.
 
Targeting a mature buck only puts you into trying to kill the one in 50 or 100 and trying to stay undetected by all those others as well. If you're hunting 2 days out of 7 per week that is a tall order.

I hunted 24 of 25 days starting in late October and saw 4 bucks over 2.5 years old. That doesn't make for a lot of opportunities. It would be easy to not get a chance to kill if you only targeted those deer. In the meantime I passed 20 or more shots at smaller bucks 15 yards or less. And another 40 does or fawns.
And I've got a good piece of private to hunt.

So to beat a dead horse........ shoot a deer!
 
I really got more into scouting, mobility and public land this year. Initial season goal was to pull back on a deer on public. After I realized how many deer I was seeing (at least 3 or so each time I was out) i started getting greedy and selective trying to wait for a "monster". I finally let an arrow go on a nice 8 pt and gut shot him on a rookie anchor mistake. Season over now. I have a doe (in law private land, fish in a barrel essentially) and a small bowl of tag soup. Reflecting I realized I accomplished my original goal but need to keep the right frame or expectation throughout the season. It was nothing more than pure luck the 8 pt walked in front of me.

Glad I read this post, cuz my goal for next season is 100% public, 100% bow and brown and down...legally. I realized I need to get better at killing things with a bow. I know those shots happen to everyone, but didn't sit well with me to just shrug it off as stuff happens. Dont get me wrong...my hunting beast videos are showing up Saturday, but I dont plan to have any wall mount spots picked out. I understand now my time limitations and the time required to get in with the big ones consistently.

Also like the 1 shot theory mentioned above. Simulated pressure. I even did kettlebells between shots to try and simulate panic.

Good luck to you!

Sent from my SM-J337V using Tapatalk
 
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