Trad Gang

I have only seen 2 deer since oct 1st. This has been a terrible year so far. I got permission 2 hunt 60 ac just north of the house so I set a stand last sun & got out. Went back tonight & about 5:30 big 10 comes out from my east which is a big hay medow. I couldnt see him because there was a big oak between me & him. he comes in & jumps the fence @ 15 yrds & goes straight to persimmon tree @ 20 yrds but angle was no good. Then he walks right under my stand to my off side so i have to turn to my right. I go to draw & when I do my elbow gets hung in my safety tether so that screws me up so I let back down go over my tether & draw again but i guesse i was so wound up I rushed the shot & missed right in front of him. This really has not been a good year for me so far. I needed to vent surely im not the only one to miss a good buck! This deer came straight to the persimmon tree like hed been there before & he didnt seem like he really knew what happened when i missed so do yall think he would come back or probably not? Ive always believed the best chance to kill a good buck was the first time in stand. Im almost ready to pull the wheels back out. this would not have happened with my compound!!!!

Your frustration is coming through loud and clear. I bet there's not a person on this board who hasn't thought a time or two "if only I had my ......I'd have gotten that deer." Fill in the blank--rifle, shotgun, compound bow. Traditional archery is about working at accepting the limitations imposed by the simplest of hunting equipment. Frustration is part of it--sometimes I laugh out loud at what a fool these deer make of me and my stick and string! It's all fun!

Too often we judge the success of our hunt on the kill.
The kill is not the most important part to me anymore. As I have gotten older the kill is of little importance.
Just being there in the woods, getting close to the deer, is a success.
I think you had a great hunt. You got to see a very nice deer up close.
Most importantly, you did not wound or injure the deer.

jason, if yer hunting focus is solely on making meat, trad may not be for you. rethink your priorities ... and do remember that trad gang is all about stickbows and NO other form of hunting weapon.

I'm going to be honest here...no disrespect to you, and I hope it doesn't come off sounding like that....

I'll never really understand threads like this.

To blame it on the bow is not the answer. I believe the reason for your miss was lack of preparation and familiarity in your equipment on your part.

Would a compound have kept you from getting caught up in your harness tether?

Like I said, no disrespect meant at all bud, just an observation from someone who's "been there"...

I have taken a lot of deer with a bow, missed twice that many. Relax, dont put too much pressure on yourself and it will happen. I did the same thing the other day, just enjoy the outing, the success in taking an anmimal is a bonus.

Just be thankful to get out there, that's alot more than I can say for my year so far. Family obligations has forced me to sit this year out. So enjoy yourself, get the fresh air, and enjoy the experience.

Been there buddy! My plan for the year was to put 4 or 5 in the freezer. Decided to do it with trad gear. Couldn't be that much harder could it??  :scared:  I've done just that many times before with a compound.

Well, so far this year, I've MISSED 5 deer! I've got one doe in the freezer.

I've come dang close to switching back. If you do a search under my name you'll find several posts where I vented to this forum. I'm still at it.
I'm learning to enjoy the woods more with trad. I've also moved my stands around a bit so any shot I get will be super close. Not a garuntee by any means but it sure can't hurt.I'm making the time to practice during season, even if it cuts into my hunting time. Above all I'm learning to not take myself so serious and to get out there and have FUN.

Very good advice.What is the worst that can happen if you don't get the deer that came in? you don't get to tell your friends or post a picture on Tradgang?You have to go hunting some more?

Of course he was there before and he will be back again.Will he be there at the exact time you are or will some love interest call him away? I don't know.that is between you and him and maybe her.

If you would recognize it,you had a great experience and many more to come if you let it happen.If I knew that every time a deer approached,he was in the bag,I would quit hunting immediately.I can get easy meat at the grocery store if I don't want excitement,and it is cheaper.

Calm down and get back out there.

Hey it happens...at least you saw a nice deer!!

I guess its all relevant. In VT if I even had a chance to get a crack at a "big 10" or even a little 10, I would consider my season a resounding success. I've been hunting with my longbow during our rifle season and yesterday I had my closest chance  in the 10 or so years that I've been bow only to get a shot at a buck. A nice little 5 or 6 pter that had his bacon saved by the doe in front of him. Damn wind! I have many, many unfilled tags in my drawer but I still like the challenge.

Thats why I love traditional archery. Nothing is guaranteed and the challenge is always there. Be thankful for the shot presenting itself. The deer won that day but there is always tomorrow.

I bet you still would have hit your tether with the wheels.  Regardless though, I learned a couple years ago just to chill and enjoy things more.  Sure it's frustrating, but look what you were out doing and what you saw.  God/nature is awesome and you witnessed a beast up close and nearly made the shot.  Life is good.

Just think how much sweeter the meat will be when you connect, enjoy the ride.

By the way, I always draw on the right side to make sure what's going to happen.  That side is always a pain for me.

Lookn the bright side. You went home and ate, right? About 10,000 years ago, you'd have gone home and had a nice helping of ozone roast with air gravy.   :smileystooges:

Get a treesaddle!!!

now that you've vented, do you feel better? truth is there are no guarantees in the deer stand. and yes, if he didn't scent you or spook at the shot, he may well be back. like others have said, just to see a 10 pointer would make my season

larry

Just wish I could be out there. Work has kept me to busy for hunting. Heck I haven't even seen home in 3 weeks.    

I appreciate the talks. I hastely made the remark about my compound but to be honest I decided to pull it out & hunt with it this year. I took it out twice but quickly realized this wasnt me anymore! it was the first time I picked it up in 3 years & it just didnt feel right any more. I also think that yes the same thing probably would have happened with a compund. I am glad to have had the expierience & i told myself when i began the trad journey there would be days like this but it does get frustrating when these things happen. All the blame really needs to be on me & not my gear. But to be honest this all happened a few hours ago & im not that upset now. I thought it was the end of the world but the more I think about it i think that this is just part of the big picture nothing more. You win some & lose some but you keep trying. thanks for bringing me back to the reality of things. Yall are great

I forgot to mention That ive been trying to connect for 4 yrs & havent had any luck so that may be part of my frustraion.

I know of a day when 3 trad guys all had shots and NOT ONE connected....But, it sounds to me, that you're ready to laugh it off. Cool!
I need another friend who will laugh with me!!
Even if, one or the other of us needs to scream from time to time.
Good Luck, with the rest of the season.

thakx for the support I just needed to express my frustrations but man i opened a box of worms going from some of the remarks. i may have come off wrong looking back on some peoples remarks. I am ready to laugh it off though!

You didn't come off wrong. I've been there many times myself.This year I was prepared and shoot a nice buck. In the past there have been many times when I had questioned hunting with trad equipment, after all it is much harder and then you have the trad police who think everything has to be done thier way or your not "traditional" enough or worse you're "unethical" because they can't hit anything outside of 20 yards.
  My advise to you is to do what feels right to you, irregardless of others opinons. I do somewhat agree with trad hunting is about the journey, but it's okay to ask how many "journeys you have to go on before you reach a destination.

Well ive heard alot of people mostly newbs make comments about they wish they had what ever cause they would have gotten that animal.It seems to me if someone is thinking that way maybe trad is not for them.This is coming from a newb.Ive only been shooting and hunting trad  for almost two months now I no long time right but ive already missed a big 8 maybe 12 yards and I didnt one think of my compound or a gun I was mad at myself but not at the equipment It was youth gun this weekend and didnt think twice about grabbing my longbow instead of a gun saw some does 75 yards clear shot open feild still not even a wish of a gun maybe its just me?I dont mean any disrespect.

QuoteOriginally posted by MAGICMAN:
I forgot to mention That ive been trying to connect for 4 yrs & havent had any luck so that may be part of my frustraion.

Try 15 years, I didn't kill a deer for 15 years. Most of it was because of the way I hunted or lack of hunting. I killed my first deer after I returned to a recurve, but I took my bowhunting a lot more serious, put the time in and just smiled when I screwed up and missed. That's part of it, no matter what your choice of weapon.

Now get back out there, get er done and most of all enjoy the ride.

Having a "Big 10"  inside your circle of comfortable shooting range is something to be thankful for.  

If it were easy everyone would do it cause it's a heck of alot more fun than watching football and lugging around a weapon that weighs 8 pounds.

Many of us hunt for one or two of those magical shot opportunities at mature animals each  year.  

Sure it's more fun when everything goes well but hey, you had a chance.  Many won't.

Trap

Here's hoping he comes back.  Good luck.

I would rather hunt for 15 years and not see anything than have to read about everyone hunting on this forum, and not hunting at all.  I get to go to nebraska next weekend maybe I wont see 100 other hunters this time...

Magicman I understand your frustration; but count your blessings. It could be worse. Like my situation. I'm unemployed, my car is out of commission, I'm close to broke and live in town and the nearest place to hunt is 30 miles away. That's a bit far to walk. So I have been unable to hunt at all this year.

a day in the woods is what i'm most thankful for

OK it is like this, you are competitive and want the deer.  Basically, if you haven't pushed him or terrified him, he will come back.  Don't hunt that stand too often, it will work out for you.  I would wait with wheels, however, you must make your own choice.  

As to discourageing deer numbers ... it has not been this bad by me (most say including the local news) for the last 30 years.

The DNR wants them to be erradicated in my area.  They are well on their way.

Bob.

Curtiss, I hear ya! Unemployed myself, too. If you're around Flagstaff, Arizona, I'll give you a ride for some rabbit hunting!

Jason, I have never even seen or gotten trialcam pics of a deer over 8 pts. I have always hunted with a bow during all seasons and have had my share of dittos. If you have seen good movement in a stand get out there agian. Just enjoy the ride. And if you need some meat, bring that gun along with your bow. Nothing wrong with that.