hey im new into trad. and have been shooting for a lil while i can stay in the vitals out to 20 yards i been hunting behind my house with my compound but gave it up i just dont have no fun with it.theres a huge huge 8 point behind my house that ive seen 4 days in a row he's always been to far so i went to where i always see him and found tons of fresh scrapes and a really heavily worn down trail so to day i set my climber in a tree and hopfully i get him with my recurve.
IMO if you have not killed anything before stat with something a little easier. Just one man's opinion. An 8 point buck deserves a huge amount of respect and skill and if anything goes really screwy-like a badly placed shot it could turn you off hunting for some time to say nothing about what it might do to the deer.
Also check your game laws about shooting around your house etc.
I don't want to sound discouraging in any way-but there are degrees of 'ready'. We have all been there at one time or another.
A yearling deserves the same respect....................
ive taken 5 deer with compound and i know how hard it is to get a big buck i tried to get him last year but never came in range
good luck to you! be great if you got him with the recurve!
If you get close to im ,take your time,PICK A SPOT and shoot him just like you would a yearling.......
I gave my first trad hunt a LOT of consideration...if you have the confidence youre ready. But how are you going to get the confidence?? Only by doing...if possible you dont want to take a chance..practice on a doe or 2
Good Luck, Let us know how it turns out!
i'm with longstick, if you have the confidence you are ready....
good luck and keep us posted.
You know when you are ready.
Good luck, and keep us posted when you get him!!
Pete
Go for it. If you make a bad shot, who cares its just a deer, that means there is only 5 zillion left. I am a good sheperd and make every effort to recover my game, but somtimes we miss our mark. There is not an archer alive that has not had a deer run off never to be found. Someone that says they have never made a bad shot is either a Lier, or or in complete denial. Its part of it whether we like it or not. So sling away at the old 8-pointer
IMO, if you have practiced with your trad gear and you are confident at 20 yards, then find yourself a good spot no more than 20 yards from where you think you can intercept him and do your best.
Practicing with your equipment is the easy bit (and it sounds like you are doing that). I think the hard part is picking an ambush with the correct cover, concealment, wind direction, range and location. Then - as if that weren't enough - once you are sure you have all that just right, you need to be able to be there when he is and be able to draw that bow and drop the string without him seeing you or hearing you, etc - all the while concentrating on that perfect spot. Oh yeah, and that loud, crashing noise you hear will be your heart trying to pound you out of position.
Holy crap - why would anyone *not* enjoy this stuff? :-D
Good luck with him - I hope to see some pics soon. :-)
Hoebow,
I would add one more category: they just haven't had it happen yet.
I think if you are confident that you can make the shot and if you only take the shot you are comfortable with whether it is a buck or a doe makes no difference. I value and respect all the animals I hunt. I no more want to make a bad shot on a doe than a buck. I'm also realist enough to know that it can and will happen if you hunt long enough. I have done it. It was a doe, and the shot still haunts me, but it didn't make me want to quit.
If you have taken animals with a compound, you know what it is to take game. Just understand that a traditional bow is MUCH less precise than a compound. We get close and take only shots that we are comfortable with. That doesn't mean we don't miss, even up close, but we try to minimize the chances of it. Misses happen with trad gear, compounds, crossbows, and firearms.
If YOU think you are ready, what anyone else thinks isn't really all that important anyway.
well my hunting just ended for a while i came out of my stand tonight and all of the sudden 3 lights turned on me and guys started chasing me im only 15 so i did not want to get my face beat in so i ran like a scared chicken and came up to my house the owner said we could go on his property but i guess he changed his mine well my dad said that a guy gave him permision to hunt 150 acers
so il be over there pretty soon i hope and try to get my first trad deer.
Yikes man. Probably want to get written permission in future (it's a must in Ohio - dunno about TN).
QuoteOriginally posted by hoebow:
Go for it. If you make a bad shot, who cares its just a deer, that means there is only 5 zillion left. I am a good sheperd and make every effort to recover my game, but somtimes we miss our mark. There is not an archer alive that has not had a deer run off never to be found. Someone that says they have never made a bad shot is either a Lier, or or in complete denial. Its part of it whether we like it or not. So sling away at the old 8-pointer
Humm, where do I start?
I, for one care, and it's not just a deer, but an animal that deserves respect, just as any animal we hunt. I feel your comment shows you have little respect for life, and not typical of most people here on the board, but that is my opinion and feelings.
To go and "sling arrows" is also something I don't want to be associated with either. I hope you are joking in your post, but I don't know, just like anyone else who reads your post. It seems to me you are saying take any shot whether you feel you may make it or not, because it doesn't matter if you wound an animal with a bad shot, "sling the arrow" anyway.
But again it's my thoughts and feelings, but not anything I would want to be associated with or around.
Hoebow, It is true that most bowhunters have made bad shots, including myself. But I feel that your comment- " If you make a bad shot, who cares its just a deer, that means there is only 5 zillion left" shows that you have little respect for the animals which you hunt. Any you ask "who cares", well I do and so do most if not all of the other members here on tradgang.
Hunting is fun and it should be, but taking an animal's life is a serious matter that is not to be taken lightly. We must make every effort to make clean, ethical kills. It doesn't matter if you are shooting the last deer in the world or there are 300 billion left. I believe that it is people with an attitude such as yours that give hunting a bad name.
Zane
Maybe Hoebow's comment was a little too casual and only he knows what was in his heart when he said it, but I took it as a way to say... Don't be soooo consumed with "Oh, I don't want to shot at an animal because I might wound it" attitude, that you never take a shot! I know people who have a bow (compound) and "hunt" with it but never take a shot at deer with it because they might make a bad shot. How are you going to get the confidence if you don't shoot! If you're hitting the kill zone atleast 80-90% of the time during practice, then I feel you are ready to try for the real thing. I have "practiced" shooting at small game to get used to what it may feel like to shoot at deer and have wounded some. Are those animals worthy of less respect? I don't think so, but missing and wounding is part of it. Why put so much pressure on yourself or anyone else?
Seems like 4fingers post got hijacked.Only the person behind the arrow can make this decision.More important is the landowner lighting up and chasing a 15 yr old who had permission to hunt his land, is this the whole story?.I can not speak for the boys father? but I think a conversation (to begin with!) is in order.
How many of us were trad hunting alone at 15? or had a chance at a 8 point? (44yrs old still waiting)
Careful 4finger, if you get one that size to start w/ you will be starting at the top of the mountain, might be tough lookin for the next 30 yrs for a bigger one
what i cant figur out is the people who chased me was not the land owner see he never goes down in the woods the people that chased me were hunters also mabey the wanted to have some fun i dont know. i had to sneak in really early this morning to go get my stand im thank-ful it was still there
They must not be too bright. I consider anyone in the woods armed. They probably don't have permission to be there and don't want you there either.
Go get that buck...and tell us about it.