WhAt are some opinions of bowhunting while the riflemen are out and about as I havent done it. Are the deer generally more skittish. I'm also nervous about hunting on the ground regardless of the blaze Orange. What are yalls thoughts.
I like to read a good book during gun season. I hunt public land near the capital city (Madison). I have gotten really allergic to gun season over the years.
ChuckC
I am usually on private property and will bowhunt some through gun season. I wear lots of orange though!
I hunt it hard but I hate it.
It all depends on the property you hunt. Usually I go to an archery only county during our rifle season. Then we are left with the people who love archery and the felons who cant use guns. I find the deer are more prone to natural movements.
The areas I have access to gun hunt are small parcels and usually the deer are Nocturnal after the first day or two. I do however have deer in bow range on these properties the first day or two but do not bow hunt them because the boundaries lined with hunters on 4 wheelers who shoot at anything that moves are close.
I used to have access to 420 acres of prime farmland white tail hunting. I would have no qualms about hunting that farm with the bow during rifle season but unfortunately the landowner passed and the son sold it.
If the deer are really pressured, they could be spooky but it all depends on the property you hunt.
You guys have options......I am jealous. General season here is oct. 10 till dec. 1 either sex. Not much choice but to hunt. I wear orange to and from my tree stand.
Here in the Mountains of NC, the deer become real spooky at the beginning of muzzleloader/gun season. I bowhunt throughout the gun season but it is hard. The deer are just so hard to get a good shot at. I also tend to aim a little low if I do get a shot. If the weather gets bad and time goes on in the season, the bowhunting gets a little better at the end.
I hunted first day of gun season with a gun. Shot a doe for the freezer. The next day put the gun up and back out with the thunderchild for the rest of the season which ends in January.
I use my longbow all the time. I also hunt on private property, so I don't worry about the guns too much. I hear them off on the other places. Opening day of gun season here is just another day a month into bow season for me!
Bisch
It doesn't bother me at all. All the properties around me are hunted by riflemen, but it doesn't seem to affect the deer. I have heard rifle shots many times when deer are close by, and they hardly react at all to the sound of the gunfire.
I will but on Ft Benning the post is large and broken down into sections. So for example one section will be "A7". There's somewhere around 30 or so of these areas. Each day certain areas will be open. Of those open areas certain ones are Rifle, some Shotgun (or muzzle loader), and some Bow only. I only hunt one area that Rifle, and I'm the only guy who bothers with it. The rest I stick to either Shot gun (no one ever goes in the ones I hunt), or Bow only but the bow only areas are rubbish for the most part, or around housing and you have to use a stand, also rubbish in my mind. So I really don't mind bow hunting in gun season. Im not a freezer filler so if I eat tag soup, whatever, the best pig season is right after deer and its more fun to me. Additionally it being Ft Benning, as you can imagine the deer hear plenty of shooting and the like so they live their entire lives in either a state of hyperactive shock or general bemeusment at the sound of gun fire and people trapsing through the woods.
There is some great bow hunting here in Missouri during the firearms seasons. I just order Teresa Asbell's new hunter orange wool mackinaw zipper cape and plan to get Two Tracks hunter orange Coups cap to meet the hunter orange requirements. Be safe and go hunt.
I don't like to hunt during gun season. The deer are moving but that's because everyone in town is in the woods with a gun.
You may consider googling 'Bowhunting during gun season'.
There you will find substantial information pertaining directly to your inquiry.
Hunt on weekdays, cuts the amount of hunters down by 90% at least.
Find bedding areas and try to locate a stand site w/ the least amount of impact on the deer as possible. Also, w/ in range to get a shot. Very tough proposition, but not impossible.
I lived in WI for many years where gun season is an EVENT with businesses closing so employees can hunt and 650000 gun toting nimrods charging the woods. I usually left the state during gun season and went bowhunting somewhere else.
When I moved to ND, then NE, I found that gun season here isn't much of an event. I was out last evening (gun season closes today), and I think I heard 2 shots - one about a mile away and the other further. I shot a nice doe with my longbow as she calmly walked by at 22 yards.
Here in wisconsin i find it too crowded with 600,000 gun deer tags sold and I just don't hunt during the gun season. If I hunted more open or bigger country out west I'd put some orange on and go.
I love to bird hunt also and I even stay out of the woods during the gun deer season with my dog and shotgun.
I'm in my stand right now with my longbow and it's gun season here. In my experience yes the deer are generally more skittish but it can still be done.
QuoteOriginally posted by Medic85:
WhAt are some opinions of bowhunting while the riflemen are out and about as I havent done it. Are the deer generally more skittish. I'm also nervous about hunting on the ground regardless of the blaze Orange. What are yalls thoughts.
I cut down on bowhunting during gun season and join the the orange army with my shot gun. After the 1st week, I think the deer just go nocturnal. There is just too many people in the woods at that time. Being safe is my 1st priority. Last week I watched a kid sneek in and out of the woods without a stitch of "Hunters Orange" on.
Holy Cow! 600,000 gun tags! I bowhunt oklahomas gun season (it's quite an event too) pretty hard and have killed a few, including some nice bucks. However, OK has 160,000 gun hunters so not close to some of you guys in the NE. I can tell you I wouldn't be on public land and if I had private Id be tempted to leave it as a sanctuary.
One thing I've found is that the deer jump the string a lot worse and are more skittish in general.
I only hunt the opening day with a gun. Then I tend to hunt the rest with my bow. I often hunt bow only areas on the federal lands that I hunt
I've had great luck bowhunting during the general gun season, even in areas with lots of hunters. If you'd like to see my last rifle season archery buck, click on my handle at left. I shot him about 2 weeks from 15 yards with a Pronghorn longbow.
Wearing orange is not a problem. After years of hunting in orange, I am convinced deer simply do not pick it up, and it is about the right shade to blend into the environment I hunt. Lots of folks dress too dark.
Safety concerns are demonstrably not justified. Just check the hunting accident stats for your stat and see how many shooting accidents are not self-inflicted or members of the same party.
It took me awhile to get used to having other hunters around. I've had folks set up right next to me, or sit a short distance away and have lunch, talking all the while. I've gotten used to it. They come and go, and the deer come by in between.
I stay home. Not because I feel unsafe or that the deer are too spooky. I just don't like seeing that many other people in the woods.
I'm always out during gun season (usually with a fine piece of walnut and blued steel though). Deer are sometimes more skittish, depends on the hunting methods. Places that do huge drives tend to make the deer very difficult to bowhunt. After about 2 days of that and I swear a deer can see you blink at 100 yards :)
I got my best 8 point on next to the last day of gun season. Tell you the truth I would have been happy to see a doe. Cane out of a sanctuary bedding area the last 5 minutes of shooting light.
(http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee178/sunstone/P1010830.jpg) (http://s234.photobucket.com/user/sunstone/media/P1010830.jpg.html)
I don't mind bowhunting during the regular gun season or any other gun season however, I mostly hunt private property that has very limited hunter access...still, I recommend wearing at least a blaze orange hat for safety. To be sure the local whitetails are alert and tougher to find however, that is what makes bowhunting the sport it is. We traditionalists don't mind hunting the hard way.
Wow...terry, nice buck and Congratulations on taking such a fine whitetail.
I hunt private land so other than taking appropriate safety precautions I don't worry about it too much.
I find the deer much more skittish directly after the rifle season.
If I hunt during "modern firearms" season, it's with a shotgun, and pretty much first day. Nothing against it, and in fact I'm glad to see excess of the herd culled, but not really my thing. I carry the 12 gauge because I prefer to be packing heat when I encounter uninvited hunters on my property (my bowhunting buddies have much better manners, even if I have yet to convert them to trad.....)
laura did this last week during firearms season.
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a322/Arrowworks/Laurasdoe_zpsd2afb388.jpg) (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/Arrowworks/media/Laurasdoe_zpsd2afb388.jpg.html)
T Sunstone.... that is one horse of a deer! I have never seen one that big. Congrads!
I really wish my wife went along with me some times. I envy those that have that opportunity.
CHuckC
I've really enjoyed all of the comments and appreciate all the replies. I may go after hogs on the wma's I hunt during small game but I believe Ill leave it on the rack during general gun and avoid the crowds. I enjoy the emptiness too much during archery season.
I hunt public land during our statewide modern gun. Its bow only on public land until there is a gun quota hunt, therefore, I got the palce to my self ! No orange, no pressure. Its kinda nice.
QuoteOriginally posted by Izzy:
Hunt on weekdays, cuts the amount of hunters down by 90% at least.
Good advice!!!!
I hunt on land where permission is only granted to me but when the gun season starts , all bets are off. So I stay close to home,and hunt my land. But as Izzy says the road hunters are a scary bunch, and yes weekdays are a lot quieter.
QuoteOriginally posted by Michael Arnette:
Holy Cow! 600,000 gun tags!
Actually, it was 710,680 licenses sold as of 11/20/14 (2 days prior to opening day)...And the lines at the local shops are packed real deep on the Friday before the opener.
WI riflemen are 5th or 6th largest standing army in the world on opening weekend.
Sure - hunt it. What's the big deal? Don't imagine you are hunting the deer's pattern though - you are hunting the hunters' pattern. I like to ambush escape routes and make sure I have good, bullet-proof cover for at least some of my tender flesh.
Was out today with the gun guys banging away. No deer but still here.
Sounds strange but here they run dogs for deer, I love it and grew up doing it. I hunt through the yr with my bow even though they are running dogs. So I am not hunting the Deere pattern or the other hunters pattern but the dogs pattern ,! Lol
Work with what ya got! Deer act just like big cottontails, they come back where they were jumped.
I bowhunt through the firearms season about 2 out of 3 years. Both the past two. Every now and then I pull out a SS .308 just for a little change.
I hunt private land so the only difference for me is that I have to wear orange. There is almost no deer hunting pressure, bow or gun where my son and I hunt. A grandson will soon be joining us though.
Frankly, I take a bit of a break during most firearm seasons. I only hunted 3 times during the 16-day KY firearms season that just ended. Passed up one small buck at under 10 yards.
This year I guided my Tech Sgt (Air Force) son-in-law on his first deer hunt. He killed an 8-point and a Doe, both in bow range but not with a bow.
Iowa closes the bow season during the 3 week gun (shotgun) season. By that time I'm usually begging for a break to sleep in a few weekend mornings so it's welcomed for me. The areas I typically would hunt should be safe during gun season but it's not worth the risk even if I could.
I enjoy the motivational photos, so thought I'd contribute a couple. These are my last two rifle-season bucks.
(http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag19/cootling1/IMG_2661_zpsc1ec8995.png) (http://s1296.photobucket.com/user/cootling1/media/IMG_2661_zpsc1ec8995.png.html)
(http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag19/cootling1/IMG_6590_zps77f4e883.png) (http://s1296.photobucket.com/user/cootling1/media/IMG_6590_zps77f4e883.png.html)