Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: LeeBishop on October 01, 2011, 08:52:00 PM
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I see there are some others on here from Arkansas, so I thought I'd start a thread for the deer season.
I just got back from spending 11 hours out in the woods and I come back empty handed.
I almost had a coyote, but he was trying to come under my stand after I called him over and the bottom tip of my bow struck my tree stand when I released and threw my shot off about 6 inches.
I was lined up to shoot him between the shoulder blades from above him, but the arrow landed to the left :( I missed. Bummed me out.
You guys have better luck?
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Had a doe come up to about 26 yrds. I didn't take any shot because there were a few small branches between her and I. So, I just watched and decided to not risk it.
Will try again in two weeks. I spooked more deer in the last two days than I've had the opportunity to shoot at in two years.
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I had a pretty good weekend. Saw several turkeys and deer Saturday, No shot though. Sunday my brother and i went to our favorite spot. I settled in to a root wad hole at the end of a big blow down. I shot a judo to make sure i had good bow clearence and when i went to retrieve it all i saw was deer running the oppisite way. They where 60yds and i never saw them before the busted. Between me and john we saw nine deer total in about 3 hours of hunting.. He is fired up about it, Its his 2nd year with the longbow and he is still looking for his first deer. He did manage to head shoot a fox squirrel at about 17yds. I was impressed
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I was in the woods all day friday scouting then hunted all saturday and sunday didnt see a deer, I was huntin clark co. i did have a group of pigs come in then a couple coyotes,both to far to shoot. On sunday morn i mouth called a coyote in and killed it, but still havent seen a dang deer... hopefully things will pick up, i plan to get back to hunting the mountians around home...
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Originally posted by Dave Lay:
I was in the woods all day friday scouting then hunted all saturday and sunday didnt see a deer, I was huntin clark co. i did have a group of pigs come in then a couple coyotes,both to far to shoot. On sunday morn i mouth called a coyote in and killed it, but still havent seen a dang deer... hopefully things will pick up, i plan to get back to hunting the mountians around home...
I hunt over in Dirty Yell.
I wish I had capture my coyote miss on video, but it came up off camera. I have the loud "ding" sound of when my bow hit my tree stand upon release though. I'd have a coyote at the taxidermist if my shot wasn't deflected.
I think next time I head to the mountains it will be better. I was hounded by gnats in the evening after it warmed up and they were biting me all over and trying to get in my eyes. They drove me to stop hunting on Sunday evening.
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I am going to get out Thursday and Friday for the firt time thus far.
This year I'm hunting these areas:
Hurrican WMA (Augusta)
Quachitas near Paron and around Winona
Truston Holder
I also want to plan a few days to try out Fensenthal for pigs and deer. I took a walk in the Quachitas yesterday with my tracking dog Chowder.
Looks like a pretty good mast crop, but not as much as last year. I haven't made it over to Hurrican yet, but the overcups were just jam up like I've never seen before last year. So much so, it was hard to predict where to set up a stand as the deer didn't have to work to get at them and trails were "to and fro".
Good thread and I hope others will chime in for updates and keep this one alive!
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I've seen a few but not got a shot yet. Played "who's the biggest retard" with a young doe for an hour yesterday. She was all alone in the field, prancing around all nervous and wound up from 5 to 15 yards from me. Just never put her head down long enough in the right posture for me to get a shot. She's turn her head when she was straight away, or put her head down when she was broadside but jerk it right back up. Never did settle down enough and finally pranced away after an hour or so. Pretty fun though.
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I was out yesterday afternoon and all I saw was a small yearling doe. But I saw here for 2 hours and 10 minutes! That little hefer stayed right there under my tree for that long just munching away. She never got any farther away than 18 steps and as close as about 5 steps.Good thing she left when she did because she kept looking bigger and bigger everytime I looked at her....
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Had a spike feed under my stand for about 20 minutes on opening morning. In the afternoon a doe with twin fawns came within about 40 yds up wind. Strange, the doe looked right up at me and began the stomp, bob and weave dance! She decided it would be prudent to give my tree a wide berth and feed on acorns about 45 yds up hill. The rest of the evening I spent listening to owls hoot before their hunt. One attempted an attack on a young grey squirell just below my tree. The owl's meat pole was as empty as mine. All in all a great opening day
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I hunt in Arkansas, and it has been a great season for me so far. I shot twice on opening day and killed both deer.
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The last morning I was out I had five deer walk up behind me from a cane thicket along our creek onto the bluff.
I thought it was going to be an easy kill for the morning, but I was wrong.
I stood up when I heard the deer walking through the leaves so I could get a better shooting position (found out that trad bows don't exactly clear your knees while sitting on a lean-to) and the older doe, leading the herd, caught my scent.
She was stomping her leg and snorting at me for about 10 minutes while she was about 20 yards away. I stood there as still as possible, trying to breathe slowly, but it seemed like she wouldn't calm down. I was telling her in my head,"Just start walking already, damn." I was standing with my legs bent, so I wouldn't wobble, and after ten or 15 minutes my legs started to shake from being stiff. I could hear the pins in the latter rattling the slightest bit.
I finally heard her walk a few feet and then I turned my head, thankfully, to see a deer butt. I then sat down quietly and watched. The lead doe had finally put her head down to eat something and she wasn't spooked by me moving.
she knew something was fishy though, and she lead the little herd around my stand instead of taking the path through my stand area. I was really bummed to see that there was a buck following in the rear too.
I had zero possibility to take a shot because I was watching them through a patch of briers and I wouldn't have been able to hit anything. Plus they were off to my right side I'm right handed and shoot to my left.
I hope it will get better next time I can go. I need to pick myself up a camelbak to wear while on the stand. I have been meaning to for about 10 years now.
I also was fortunate enough to have Mr. Black Bear leave me a gratuity at my newest deer stand that I put on a bluff a month ago. He left the gift right where I had missed killing my coyote.
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e311/Blacktalons/BigBearCrap-1.jpg)
This is only like 7 yrds away. Annoying.
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e311/Blacktalons/CrapatStand-1.jpg)
And here is a video not showing the coyote, but you can hear him running and me missing and almost damaging my bow
http://youtu.be/3lXLV-hw4YU
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Hey DAN B i went thru the tunnel the other day going north and at the 44.5 mile marker on the east side of 540 i saw a giant buck deer along the fence at the woodline. He was a stud. I think that is at winslow? The woods look good there i don't no if it's private or the forest. Good Luck!
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Ymountain, there is LOTS of Ozark National Forest all up and down there. Right there off the highway isn't, not that it would be much fun to hunt within a couple miles of that blasted autobhan anyway, but east of there a bit is where it starts. Pretty much runs from Fayetville to Alma. Course there's little towns and private tracts strung throughout, but there is a ton of public land in that vicinity, a lot of it pretty good hunting.
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I'm hunting in Crosses (Madison Co.) I've seen several little does and fawns.
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ymountainman, that area between 540 and Hwy 71 has a good population of deer but is mostly private land, I believe. East of Hwy 71 are large areas of Ozark National Forest land interspersed with private tracts. I live on 71, 4 miles south of Winslow and hunt east of the Hwy. Have seen a couple of big bucks on camera here below my house. Probably won't see them until nearer the rut. Good luck to ya!
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You guys get anything yet? I wasn't able to hunt this last weekend, but I'm going to head back out of town the end of this week to try and get myself some venison.
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hunted around Mt. Ida this weekend at a friends house, got eaten alive by skeeters and no see ems. busted deer out going to stands in mornings..my buddy saw a 8 pt chasin. which is kinda typical a month b4 the main rut, but thats about it, they arent moving alot during the day it seems, huntin 3 days this comin weekend.. hopefully will get on something..
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Got a nice doe this evening. Sorry but I don't know how to put pictures up on here. They are up on the primitive archer sight though.
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been seeing 4 to eight deer a evening on farm...no shots think I will go on De Gray lake tomorrow try some spot and spook hunting I will fish till about 6 pm and start looking for deer around lake..
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@ Sweeney, all you have to do is upload the photo online to a site like photobucket.com and then post the IMG link or the direct link to the uploaded photo.
if it's the direct link (URL) then place (http:// immediately in front of the URL without a space and then ) directly after the URL. That way the image will be "hotlinked" on this forum. That means it's actually hosted on another web site, but you have it linked to show on this web site.
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All i saw saturday was 348 squirrels. So i went back sunday with my .22 and now theres 8 less. Didn't see much deer sign. But there is a ton of acorns and the rivers low so i figure there deep in the bottoms. Did see 2 mature does with twins right at dark in the beans.
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(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac73/mikeyancey/Arkansasdeer001.jpg)
Got this one Saturday, starting to see a lot of movement around the place here.
Mike
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Is that with the bow your friend made you that "needed to make a kill," Mike?
Congrats on an old Long Nose! They are the smart ones...
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Thats it, I'm going to take it out again real soon and hope to show some horns.
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I've seen 5 deer so for this year, nothing came close enough to shoot that I was interested in.
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(http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/g330/danzsweeney/doe11resized.jpg)
Let's see if this works. This, if it does, will be my first image posted on this forum. I still hate computers, but here goes...
This is the doe I got with the ERC selfbow on Monday.
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Nice. I'm going to the woods tomorrow for a few days. I think I may come back on Monday or Tuesday so I can get some good hunting time in. I'm bound to come back with something this time. I spooked enough deer last time to last the entire season.
I'm going to cut down a honey locust tree to make myself a selfbow. I'd like to go back to using simple technology of just a piece of wood and a string.
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Watch out for the thorns with that honey locust. Black locust is good stuff but touchy on the compression side. Likes to fret/chrysal. I'm a fan of this ERC except that it missed a yearling doe just after dawn this AM. I think I'll try and give it another chance here in a half hour or so though.
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I got some cedar posts cut almost all red 8 inches through 8 ft long just got cut let me know if you need any for self bow makeing...sweeney3 was your bow all cedar?...Dave
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Yep. All cedar. Well, and a strip of rawhide on the back because it's relativly tension weak. But it was just a solid piece of cedar. And, it did redeem itself this evening. Just tagged and checked another doe. Will see about a picture later.
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(http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/g330/danzsweeney/IMG_1912.jpg)
There it is. The hole in the bottom of the chest is the exit wound. She was quarting a little, so the entrance is a little better. Was kind of worried when I saw some gut matter on the arrow, but she didn't go far at all.
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I hunt up near Oxley. I've been able to actually sit on a stand for a couple of days. I saw nothing. Too warm and too windy even though I was sitting next to a white oak tree dropping acorns like crazy. The mast crop is very spotty. The ice storm and then the drought really hurt the forest here. I have seen deer while out trail walking with my 5 1/2 year old son but haven't gotten a shot.
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Sat in a new stand tonight. Right below a small pond about half a mile below my house. There are a lot more oaks with acorns there due to the seepage from the spring fed pond. About 6:45, a single doe came down a trail within 15 yards of my stand. I burned a hole in her chest, drew and released. She went down imediately! She did not take one step. It was weird because I saw the arrow disappear dead center of her chest. When I got down, I saw that the arrow had gone through both lungs and logded in the base of the scull! She must have twisted around to scratch an itch when I released.
I was shooting a 55# Bighorn Ram Hunter (50's style bow) with GT 5575 with 100 grain inserts and a snuffer 125gr. Massive off side hole with the BH half burried in the base of the scull.
BTW,found two new scrapes along the logging road the leads down to the pond. Hope to at least get a glimpse of the buck that made them!
Great evening hunt!
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DanB,
Wow! That would be neat to see. Not much of a trail to follow when that happens.
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Here are the pics of the wounds. Definitely strange to say the least. Deer can really twist around when they need to.
(http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx45/DanB_album/Entrancewound.jpg)
(http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx45/DanB_album/Exitwound.jpg)
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Way to go, Sweeney!! You're a doe machine. Glad that bow got some blood on it.
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She made it easy on you. No tracking needed. Must have been a bit of an awkward sight with the arrow pinning her together.
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Congrats to all that have taken deer. Sweeney you are on fire, keep it up.
I have hunted 4 mornings since ARROW and have seen at least 3 deer each time but no shots taken. Probably would do better in the evenings but I've been holding off because it's so hot. Guess I'm getting too soft in my old age.
I just got through hanging a stand on a 20 acre tract inside the city limits for the urban deer hunt. May try it tomorrow.
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Wow that's amazing!!
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Hunting Big Timber WMA in the morning so fingers crossed!
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Those pictures are neat. You sure couldn't draw it up that way, but alright if it happens.
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Nice shooting Sweeney! Congratulations. PAC and I hunted yesterday at Hurricane WMA, I saw 6 does/yearlings at about 80 yards, but no shot.
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(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac73/mikeyancey/cam006.jpg)
(http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac73/mikeyancey/cam011.jpg)
Im after this guy, pic is from stand I shot the doe from last week.
Mike
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I was walking the roads and going around the edge of some fields this evening (didn't feel like getting on the stand today) and I ran across a doe.
I started to stalk her and get up close to get in bow range.
I got up to about 60 yrds away when another doe that I didn't see behind a little pine tree spotted me and they both ran off. I was hoping I could get close enough, but those are the breaks.
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I finaly got to hunt yesterday. I had a 3 pt come by me that's all I saw yesterday. Our property is small so I know the ones that are the regulars. I have 2 does on the hit list and no bucks that I want to shoot. I may not take any from around home this year. I only hunt here a little. I will get out to one of the WMAs in a couple of weeks.
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I saw an 8 point on opening morning while hunting ARROW 2011. He was close enough but no good shot that I felt comfortable taking. saw him again that evening following a group of 5 doe.
Hunted the last 3 days at Henry Gray. Be very careful, the snakes are deffinately still out and about. I got up real close and personal with a cottonmouth Friday afternoon.
Not much to reprort deerwise. Didn't see any but I did hear one walking in the thicket behind me yesterday evening.
With all the permit hunts going on it looks like no hunting for me for awhile unless I can find some public land withouit a permit hunt this week that isn't too far away.
Sweeney you are rolling! Now get one of those cane arrows done up and tell us how they perform on the next deer.
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Spent my day repairing a feeder that mister bear tore up. These bears are like 400 pound rats.
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I plan on it! But, I'm at Ft. Chaffee for the next three weeks for AT, so no arrow fixins for me for a bit. I did bring the cedar bow and a target though... And a broadhead, just in case.
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Spotted three new scrapes and two new bucks on game camera. Looks like this cold snap has them moving about! Wind is finally cooperating with my best bet stand location. Had two groups of does and fawns near my stand last night.
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I spent the last three days building myself a 2-man duck blind (10x5ft) and I decided I should reward myself with a hunt.
I got my first archery kill today :D
It was my first buck taken with a bow, ever. I have pretty much only gotten does in the past.
He came up behind my climbing stand and he was following a doe. It was just luck that he came close by me because the doe had tried avoiding his advances and they both ended up running near me. It felt SO damn good releasing that string. I don't even remember aiming. I just pointed and shot. He was 18-19yards away and I had to shoot through a little open spot between branches of the tree behind my climbing stand.
I hadn't used my climbing deer stand since about 2003/2004. I forgot how comfortable and AWESOME they are. It's definitely an advantage with being able to put the thing up without the deer noticing.
He's not a monster, but here is my little guy. He's young. He looks to be around 2.5 or so years old from the looks of his antlers. They aren't as large around as some of the older deers I have seen.
I will post a photo of the MONSTER that my trail camera photographed this morning when I had decided to sleep in...from being tired. I am kicking myself for not going out this morning and getting that HUGE buck that was at the stand near my trail camera.
I had to track this guy in the dark. He ran about 150yrds down a bluff and into a pine thicket. I got a high lung shot and a little further back than I wanted. I'm lucky it didn't turn out badly.
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e311/Blacktalons/Archery8pt.jpg)
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Lee congrats on your buck! You're right about the climbing stands. During the rut period, mine sees a lot of duty because I can sit longer. It looks like the bucks are getting serious.
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Originally posted by sweeney3:
I plan on it! But, I'm at Ft. Chaffee for the next three weeks for AT, so no arrow fixins for me for a bit. I did bring the cedar bow and a target though... And a broadhead, just in case.
It's weird how we can hear those artillery rounds from Ft. Chaffee impact from about two hour's drive away in the middle of the Ouachitas.
Down here you can hear the deep low-end boom when they are practicing up there.
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Damn it, I was hoping to bag another deer before I had to leave the woods, but I failed.
I misjudged the distance on a doe this morning and I shot high.
She knew something was different but she couldn't tell what. She had picked up my scent, noticed that the tree looked different, or whatever. She slowly turned around and started walking away from me and I tried tagging her with a left lung-heart shot because I could barely see the shoulder as she was walking away.
I should have just shot her in the neck and taken her down.
So, I shot like 6'' too high and she ducked down a little when she heard me let go of my bow string. The two of those together = over-the-shoulder miss.
Might be a little while before I see her again. She's a regular and she shows up with her little button buck yearling.