Something to ponder as the seasons approach and for some are here.
Do you go into the season with a set goal for the animal you hope to take? Does the goal change as the season progresses? Are you a follower of take any animal on the first day that you would be happy with on the last?
Lots of new, veteran and in the middle bowhunters here so I thought it would be interesting to see how the goals compare.
In VT we are allowed only 2 deer over the three seasons and only one with antlers with the bow so I don't mind milking the season out for a buck and putting a good doe in the freezer when the chance presents itself.
My goal is to have an enjoyable hunting experience. Enjoy the woods, see some critters, hunt with some old friends. I would like to take another animal with a flint head, but the success of my season won't depend on it.
I would like to get out as much as I can for starters. The past couple years I passed on a few animals. This year I'm looking for meat. You know they say you can't eat the antlers... Oh wait! Ferrets deer eat them! May be I'll try it too. :bigsmyl:
Same thing here. My goal is to be able to hunt all season and enjoy as much time as possible in the woods. The abundance of deer in WI during recent years and the chance for more than one tag make it less of a delemia on what and when to shoot. But even now I still pass up far more than I shoot.
The worst bow season I have ever had was back when we were only allowed one deer with the bow and I shot a buck my first time out for the season. I regreted that one the rest of the fall.
My goal is to make memories, friends, and meat. And to have a bloodtrail like James Wrenn :notworthy:
My goal for the year is to get out as much as I can and enjoy my time spent in the outdoors. I am still looking for my first traditional bow killed deer so if that happens it would just be icing on the cake. Only 7 more weeks here in Michigan.
to have time to hunt.
My goal is aways to bring home anything I decide to shoot at.Other than that is just to have fun while hoping to get those shots. :)
QuoteOriginally posted by Jerry Jeffer:
You know they say you can't eat the antlers... Oh wait! Ferrets deer eat them! May be I'll try it too. :bigsmyl:
I don't care who you are, that's funny right there!
Top goal this year would be to stalk and kill a deer in it's bed without it knowing I was there. Would also like to take a couple deer for the freezer. Man, I love bowhunting!
my first deer!, I hunt all seasons and it would be cool if my first deer was with a trad bow
Lots of meat. Full freezer.
Kill my first caribou and bear with a bow. Never hunted either and now have a chance at both on the same hunt. Is life great or what.
Also would like to take some exotics on my new lease here in Texas and enjoy a month of hunting with my Bro when he gets here in December.
Just to be in the woods makes it all worth while.
Donald
Savor each moment: in the woods, on the hunt, at the campfire with friends both old and new. "There are only so many..."
I plan on hunting more & harder. That doesn't mean I'm going to only concentrate on the deer though. I just plan on putting myself in the woods more.
Probably won,t change much, It would have to be a monster to get me to pull the string to early in the season, My wife always accuses me of holding out and using all the season, she is probably close.
My goals are to get as many days afield as I can. To get back as much of my garden(and landscape plants) in the form of doe meat as I can. To shoot only 110" or higher bucks. To go on a wilderness paddle-in hunt and to hunt my late grandfather's farm and my friend's late grandfather's farm.
I have killed enough deer that I don't feel the need to kill something. I just want to enjoy mine time in the woods and if an opportunity presents to make a confident shot then I'll take it. I hope to use the first part of the season to 'learn' how to stalk an animal, any animal be it a coon, squirrel or deer. I have always hunted tree stands where I stomp in and out not paying too much attention about the sound I make. Since this is my first season with a stick bow I plan to employee an all approach (litterally) to my hunting.
This year I hope to have my first shot opportunity at an elk. Then because of the liberal antlerless permits for deer around home. I normally take the first fat doe or two I can (my wife and kids love to eat deer), then I like to spend as much quality time as possible in the woods. This year I would like to take a deer from the ground and I am planning to setup a "double treestand" so my seven year old can sit with me during the early season.
Spend as much time as possible in the woods. Hunt at least 2 weeks with my Dad. Take my 5yr old daughter hunting with me.
This is my first season with a stickbow so hopefully it will result with my first traditional deer. I am planning on taking the first adult doe or any buck of reasonable size that presents me with a comfortable shot.
I am hoping that things will go as smooth in real life as they do in my head ;) I am looking forward to my first trad kill..since I was 10. I am looking forward to another deer camp with my son. And last but not least lots and lots of meat for my family.
G
Oh yea some cold weather..
My goal for this year is to have a close encounter with the monster behind the house. I don't necessarily have to shoot him, but I want to see him up close. It's been 12 or 13 years since I've had a 160"+ deer up close, and I can still remember the rush like it was yesterday.
Last year I filled my buck tag 1 1/2 hours into the season.... not this year. I don't need the meat that bad.
My goals this year are to take a good size doe and my first antlered buck with a bow. I doubt I'll take a spike, but a good forkhorn? Maybe. I'll know when the deer is in front of me. And as always the goal is a quick, clean, humane kill. Oh, and my first sika deer (preferably a stag) would be Icing on the cake. Other than that, it'll just be nice to enjoy getting back into seriously focusing on deer hunting. My mind has been on the ducks and geese the past few seasons.
P&Y buck with a longbow! It is, and will be my goal, until I get it done. I'm spending the first week of November in Pike Co. IL. This will be my first hunting trip north of Tennessee and I can't wait. My goal in Alabama will be same as always, as many as I can take with my longbow. That usually means 2 or 3.
What Ferret said. Enjoy. Jawge
A. Enjoy the time outdoors, and the experiences it brings. B. Take any animal I decide to quickly and efficiently. C. Introduce someone to the wonders of archery hunting. D. Hopefully connect with the bear(s) that has been raiding the yard/garbage/birdfeeders... :thumbsup:
As Gene Wensel once said, I plan on spending as much time as possible in the " Cathedral of the Pines"(or hardwoods in my case) We are blessed with a very long season and liberal bag limits, but can only take one antlered deer. Shooting a doe or two is on the agenda but not necessary. I'm hoping for a close encounter with a buck I got a glimpse of last year, I don't really have to kill him, but I want to get close enough to feel that rush of adrenaline!!
I really want to kill some squirrels and rabbits this year. I would really like to take a coyote and a bobcat with a longbow. A doe would be nice as well. My Dad retired this year and I would like to get to go on some hunts with him. We haven't gotten to do that much the last few years. We are planning on a little outing together with my sons as well. You really couldn't ask for more than that.
QuoteOriginally posted by John Scifres:
Lots of meat. Full freezer.
Me TOO!!!
My doc ok'd it as my Cholesterol is way too high... Man this fish, oatmeal, and chicken diet is getting old!!!
My goal is everytime I step into the woods during hunting season with my stick and string is to harvest an animal. As what has already been stated, my sucess is not measured on if I accomplish that goal, but that is my goal. And here in Michigan we have very liberal harvest quotas so I can be pretty selective on when and what I harvest.
David, to answer your questions directly:
1. Do you go into the season with a set goal for the animal you hope to take?
Yes, I normally do have some type of goal in mind when it comes to the size of buck I want to take. But the first and foremost is to take the first doe or two that I can because not only do I enjoy the hunt but also I truly enjoy eating venison! I love the emotional & spiritual outdoor experience and savor the taste of it too!
2. Does the goal change as the season progresses?
No, not usually. I generally set a goal for the area I'm hunting based on what is there. I'm lucky enough to live on the stateline and can hunt two states, in one state I hunt on private ground only hunted by the landowner and myself so my goals are pretty high there. In the other state I hunt the same ground as everyone else does in this area, my goals are lower and opportunities are fewer and far between there. But still situations come up that over ride personal goals,,one year during pre-rut I had a buck that with a couple more years on him would be an exceptional deer. But as he approached along an active scrape line he just was not acting right. As he got closer I could see why, someone had gut shot him with a slug low in the belly (gun season was still a week away!). My goals were higher but never so high to let a suffering animal walk by and die a slow death.
3. Are you a follower of take any animal on the first day that you would be happy with on the last?
Not when it comes to hunting my home ground during a full season. But if I were on a short hunt in some other state with limited time I would shoot the same animal on the first day as I would the last.
Sorry for the long reply but I hope it's the kind of answers you were looking for.
It has been said to never pass on an animal the first day, that you would gladly take the last day.
I guess I'm shooting every squirrel that gets within 5 yards of me while in the deer stand. :)
My goal is a deer and a turkey with my homemade bow.
"It has been said to never pass on an animal the first day, that you would gladly take the last day. "
That a good adage, I still ain't learned that'un myself. ;)
Ferret pretty well summed it up for me too.
My goal is to finish my first traditional homemade recurve selfbow before the season starts. Oct 1st around these parts. I'm trying not to rush it and make a hasty mistake, but I just want to shoot the dang thing!
Beyond that I'd like to spend more time hunting with my dad and brother. And take a turkey and a deer this season with my trad bow. (they would both be my first animals with a bow)
First and foremost, to be able to hunt as much as possible, that alone will make my season a success.
Second, I do want to bloody three different bows this year, my Kwyk Styk, an old Bear Alaskan, and finally an osage selfbow, not neccessarily in that order....
David
My primary goal is to put some venison in my freezer while enjoying the multiple hunting destinations I travel to each year. One of these days I'd like to take a really big antlered whitetail or mulie buck, but most of the time I'm just as happy with a well-placed shot on whatever God gives me. :archer: .
Claudia
Hard to improve on what Claudia has mentioned above.
To return home safely...to enjoy the warmth of the full moon, to give my quarry a more than sporting chance, and to take no shot that results in a blood trail beyond fifty yards.
These are my hopes...my goals...my passion.
As uncouth as it may be to put a number on an animal, my goal for elk season is a 320+ bull. The area we hunt has the bulls, the challenge is in finding one and getting close enough. That said, they changed the limit from 5pt. or better to any elk, and I would be happy with a fat cow in the freezer this winter.
For the Jan deer hunt, any legal mule deer buck is the goal.
Remember, goals are for people that are afraid to improvise. ;)
Like most every body, i want one bigger than the last one.. It doesn't always happen that way though. Its just whatever the mood is or circumstances are for me, i've got plenty of time and i'm in no hurry to end my seson. I use to be one of those IF ITS BROWN ITS DOWN, and i can't say i'm still not like that, i've taken a lot of deer with a bow and i still have to ask myself(will another one get this close). I've found over the years that yes they will. Patience-Patience-Patience.. :archer: :pray:
I have only beeh shooting trad for a month, so I don't know if I will be ready to take a deer this season or not. However, I am now retired so I plan to spen a lot of enjoyable time in the woods. Hope to meet some old friends and make some new ones.
My goal is to have a safe hunting season with well placed arrows. Every deer to me is a gift that I truly cherish-regardless of sex.
I will pass on this year's young deer and would like to shoot a bear or turkey this fall.
There is never enough time for me to spend in the woods so I enjoy what I do have to the fullest.That stretch from Jan. to Oct. just seems so long!
To have opportunitys and capitalize on them.Take my soon to be 5yr old little girl and enjoy every second to it's fullist :thumbsup:
Well if things go my way Ill be shooting a new stick this year (less wheels and such) but other than that I will stay the course I have set for years. I will either take a mature buck or no buck at all, does fill the freezer as well anyhow. We have a pretty liberal season here and Im not the only member of my family to hunt so Im never pressured to take an animal just for meat either.
If I have to make a goal then here it is ... Ill spend lots of time in the woods, its good for my soul.
No goals here Dave. If I don't have to work on a Saturday being in the woods on a Saturday morning and having the woods wake up around me is good enough for me.If I see game well that's a big plus. If I get a shot off a double plus if I wack one WOOOFAAA!!!
My goal:
Is to make a camoflouge blind out of a Pink Play Tent that got destroyed by my 2 1/2 year old. I'm gonna camo it up, and set it up at my buddies farm..
I want to take my little girl with me, and what I would consider a huge success, if we could sit quietly for 30 minutes, and see some wildlife.. A true bonus, would be deer within 50 yards..
Hunting for me is as much about camaraderie as it is about putting an animal on the ground. Both are important but neither is essential to the satifaction of the hunt. Hunting is what brings harmony to my being...
This year I have a new destination in mind, Salmon, ID where Trad Gangster Brian Krebs has volutereerd to show me where the Western slope of the Continental Divide seperates Montana and Idaho. This invite will allow me to continue with an annual commitment I made to myself years ago to show at least one person a year what wilderness elk hunting is all about. I'll be taking Chuck Rosario, aka Mr Chuck of the Trad Gang on his first elk hunt, although he is both an experienced and successful archer and bowhunter. We'll put in two solid weeks hunting those critical last two weeks of September where we'll try to time the elk Buggling, music to my ears and soul.
This year I'm additionally blessed with a one week whitetail hunt in N.Y. State with an old friend. Normally he meets me out west for our annual humbling event by the elk but due to family commitments needed to stay to keep the home fires burning...something about a teenaged young man needing a bit extra supervision this year. So I dig a bit deeper into the travel fund and go to him this year, fully worth the investment to maintian that relationship.. And who knows, perhaps I'll find a suicidal whitetail willing to walk in front of my broadhead.... :archer:
This season is a bit different than those past.
I need to get alot of Does killed, I have far too many. That being said I need to kill at least five does, and I want a Missouri "book" buck. I am not a trophy hunter; but I seem to let the smaller bucks walk at least for the years Missouri has had the point requirements. My other goal is to kill an Arkansas black bear and then take a huge whitetail in Kansas. I let a 160"+ buck walk by at 7 steps last year in Kansas.... Not this year if I am given the opportunity.
John III
I'm just hoping that I actually get to hunt! I just started the Physician Assistant program down here in Wichita-gonna learn how to "lay hands" on sick people. Bet my recurve is praying for the same treatment! I'll sneak out one way or another!
Going Elk hunting with my 20 year old Son. Had both knees replced last Dec. had'nt felt like I could do it for the last 5 years. And to hopefully take a mature whitetail from the ground this season at home.( Buck or Doe ) Does'nt matter.
I have several goals I'd like to accomplish this season.
1. Having my son Andrew pass his archery hunting safety class and have him hunt with me. He's taking the shooting portion with a long bow.
2. I've met and made a couple new friends this spring so I'd like to get a chance to hunt with them a few times.
3. I'd like to hunt with a few of my old friends this year too.
4. I'd like to see my son get a chance to take a shot on a deer and bring the meat and memories home with us.
5. I'd like to take my first deer with traditional gear. I think this will be year number 4 but who's counting. I'm having a ball!
my goal this year is to arrive safe in the usa. and to get my very first whitetail deer with a knapped head. and have a go at some tree rats and do a bit of fishing etc etc as i am only a meat hunter i am not after real big deer i only take what i can eat. if icant eat it i wont take it. and the most important thing is to be safe in your bush as i would think it would be differnt to ours. and to meet as many virgiain people as poss and if some other out of towners come by that would be cool as well meaning trad gang family. :thumbsup:
Stayin home this year :( (not a goal) Hope to get to hunt with a couple of my boys and bros and friends.
Other goals-a couple of those longnecked does and theres always that 180" buck I'm waitin patiently on! ;)
And I wouldn't shoot one on the last day I passed on the first unless it felt right when he came along........
Spend as much of the season in the woods as i can. I want to take a deer with my Howard Hill Redman. I'll stick with that bow this season.
To try and put myself in situations to have more opportunities. All the while enjoying every minute of it! We wait all year and prepare for this time...I want to make the most of it.
my goals are to kill a deer with my new longbow. i'm holding out for a big one on private land and at least a forkhorn on public.
I gotta be the luckiest guy in the world. This past April I realized a life long dream and was able to purchase 160 acres of timber in S central MO. Not a big buck place but it is pretty wild and has deer and turkey and squirrels. I hunted it late season last year a little but never got a feel for the place (well a little maybe) I will have five ladder stands up and two portables by season.
The wife just loves the place and she works so hard that it is a great place for her to relax, so I gotta get her down there a bunch. My old high school buddy has an adjoining 90 with an older house on the place.
Would be thankful for an opportunity at some deer and wish for swift, clean kills, but just getting out is fine.
Come spring I would like to put a little 12X14 hunting shack on it with a little tent size stove. The son in law is real handy (I ain't)and great help. I have conned him into helping me build it. He is not much of a hunter but grew up in the sticks so I think I can slowly work on him. A few years down the road maybe a 3 or 4 acre lake on the place. Did I say I was the luckiest guy on earth? :)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y295/jkmolongbow/HPIM0466.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y295/jkmolongbow/HPIM0467.jpg)
Hope to invite some fellow Tradgangers down the road to hunt. Anybody up for that? :)
Hope it don't sound like braggin...just a dream
John, I think thats great!!! I've got my dad's farm here in wv 120+or- a few and a little pond full of bass, catfish, and bluegils. And yes-have bow will travel. Maybe you can come out here sometime. any tradgangers. welcome.. :thumbsup:
Try to fill a Moose tag- waited 5 years for that, chase some sheep and elk, hit some geese flying by, watch my nephew shoot a doe, try to hunt at least 20 days each in Sept, Oct, Nov, maybe have a couple of deer to eat, and hunt a few days in Dec chasing cats. My daughters can maybe rattle a deer in for Dad, they get a kick out of that, they won't shoot a deer but have no problems eating them.
Terry
I just hope to have fun, stay safe, spent time with some old friends and let maybe fill a few deer tags here and there.
My goal is to just enjoy sending arrows to the target, whether I hunt or not. That, and improve my accuracy.
My girlfriend has inspired me to keep a journal in the deer/squirrel woods this year. I've told her of all the things you see/experience while hunting and she said it would make a great read.
enjoying the woods & nature, getting a buck with the long bow is a goal....
My goal is to seek the simple pleasure and peace a day in the field brings me.Thats easily accomplished.I will be hunting with my old huntin buddies in Illinois in Nov. and my brother.We have not done this in awhile and that goal is gonna be accomplished.Also a goal that keeps gettin more attention is gettin up the tree and down without falling on my arse LOL.A nice buck would be icing on the cake.Its been a few years.But its no big deal to me really.I might like to kill a doe this year to help feed my new dog.Hes a horse! Have a good season!
See a bull elk, hear a real bugle, call one in with nostrils flaring and snot flying!
In three weeks, sneak up on any elk with the "Elk Mojo" Bow, maybe call in a Black Bear. In October start building my little cabin and porch and leave for New York and Hunt with the New York brothers in the Adirondack Mountains. In November stalk with in bow range of the huge buck I seen last night.. and maybe find me a lady bowhunter to keep me warm.
As Mr. Vic said, I would like to get an elk,... any elk. And possibley a deer if I have time.
jake
John, I'll take you up on that! Just let me know when you're ready. :thumbsup: