Getting close

[wilmsmeyer]

Oct 1st is the 1st day of bow season here in NYS in the "southern zone". Been trimming and re-setting stands for a month. Most stands just need a quick release and re-set since the chains and straps get tight as the trees grow. Wet years tend to make trees grow faster, especially softer fast growing ones like pine and soft maple. Over 30 to deal with. Got the trail cams out 3 weeks ago with nothing huge to report but several 120-130 class bucks. Any good bucks are mostly 8 pts. It is very rare to see main frame 10's around here. When you do, the G4's are small....usually.

Haven't released an arrow since 2010. Keep passing on bucks hoping to grow them up. With cars, hunting pressure and unknown poaching, it's just tough to get bucks into the 150 range when the blocks of woods/fields are surrounded by main roads. But....they surely won't grow up if we kill them at 130 with an arrow or bullet!

We have 46 days of bow so the 1st few weeks I probably won't hunt much. Lot's of leaves and we don't want to burn stands out. Have a 15 yr old step son that will hunt the youth gun season Columbus Day weekend. That will probably see me not hunting seriously until Oct 17. That's fine...that's when it's just starting to heat up out here. Halloween is the magical pre-rut time and the 1st week of November.

Have been shooting more this year than I have for several years. Every night. I shoot at 30-50 yds mostly. Than, after I am worn out, I shoot at 15-25. It's amazing how "slam dunk" those shots are after shooting at longer ranges. My limit on shooting at deer is 25 yds with a bow. The long range shooting, which is lethal in the back yard, is only done to make the shorter shots seem un-missable.

Hope you all have a good season with lots of encounters and memories!

[Deleted]

Best of luck. Sounds like you're ready and you've put in your work. Hope a big one passes by and gives ya the chance you're working towards.

[wilmsmeyer]

Me too.

I am ready to eat another tag. The hunts are more fun when you're hungry. When you wait for the bigger deer, you usually end up waiting a long time. And while you wait, you are hungry and excited. That's more exciting than just killing a deer. Everyday in the stand, the sound of unseen deer walking in leaves gets the blood pumping wondering if this is the one. The sound of unseen deer running, chasing get the blood pumping. You also end up seeing a lot of great deer movement and gain experiences that you'd never see if you tagged out early on a little 6 point or something. If meat is desired, the does will stack up like cord wood during late gun season. Being hungry and having a tag is a motivator to hunt more, see more, learn more and catalog memories that sometimes trump hovering over a gut pile early in the season.

To each his own. Good luck to all.

[Deleted]

I second that. I'd much rather eat a tag than sit at home wishing and wondering, what if?
It's easy to kill a deer or any average buck, its a job to kill a good buck. Wish more people around here who just wanna fill their freezers would shoot doe's instead of young bucks, all for the fact just to say they shot a buck. Sure would help the building pool.
Good luck.

[dougedwards]

The season starts this Saturday in Virginia and it is going to be hot! 88 degrees. Acorns have not fallen and greenery everywhere since we have had almost record rainfall this year.

Will be hunting the morning but don't get a kick out of swatting mosquitoes.

I usually limit myself to two deer per year unless someone has a special request that I kill one for them to eat. This mean that I watch many deer walk and interact with each other. Deer are interesting animals to watch. Most of the time they are very alert but sometimes just get careless especially the young ones.

There is much more to hunting than killing but I would not sit up in a tree for hours if there were not the possibility of taking a nice buck. I love the fact that you just never know. Right place at the right time is all it takes.

Doug