This isn’t the largest scoring deer I’ve ever killed for sure, but he is probably the oldest. I have pictures of him for the last four seasons. Last year was the biggest he ever was, I think he was probably about 10 inches bigger. I kept letting him go because I thought he would finally blow up and it never happened. I figured out where he’s been bedding and had to wait the last two weeks or so for the wind to switch so I could get in on him. I saw a cold front coming with the storm and the wind switching to north. I booked a plane ticket, left this morning. Got to the house changed and got in the tree. He’s been showing up every morning, but I figured if I could get in the tree while it was raining hard, he might be bedded down and I could get close to him. I hung my saddle about 70 yards from where I thought he would be and waited for the rain to stop. About 2 1/2 hours later he came right down the trail. It was horrible getting him out because the fields were so bad and the creek was flooded. It started raining again and I thought I would lose blood before I could get to the other side of the creek and find him, but it all worked out. I really think he’s at least 7 1/2 maybe 8 1/2 years old. He barely has any teeth and the ones he has are almost completely flat. I’m going to take the jaw to get examined and aged. Either way I’m super happy with him and it could not have worked out better today.

Shot this ole boy about a week ago. He isn’t the biggest deer I’ve killed, but it’s the proudest I’ve ever been of one. He’s the first one I got where I put in all the work myself. Fixed up my bow, practiced with it, got the spot, found the tree, hung my setup, you name it. It coming all together was an amazing feeling. He didn’t go but 30 yards before he fell. Got to show my grandpa this, and he almost made me tear up by what he told me. He told me he was proud of me, and that I’m a man now. Now that’s not necessarily the truth given I’m 20 and still in college, but hearing him say that put a lump in my throat. It’s him living through me that led to this deer. If it wasn’t for him I would have never even thought about deer hunting. I’m grateful for him, and for this little guy for giving me a once in a lifetime experience. Bowhunting rocks!

Not a monster, but a good start to the season!

Looking for my first bow kill this season, no luck last year. This guy has been bedding down at the very feeder I hunted last week. I walked in about 200yds from my truck and settled into some cover on the treeline 20yd from the feeder, and 30yd from the trail exit most of the deer have been using on cam. It's a paper mill cleared section, thick woods on both sides of a 30yd wide clearing.

I got in my spot at 5:15, and I'm thinking I spooked him because he was already there and I got too close. Considering getting there at 3 or 4am Saturday, working slowly to my spot- if I bump him that early he may settle back down. Have seen him eating on cam around day break.

My "spot" is mobile. There's a stand 50yd from that feeder, and I've been using a large piece of burlap to help create concealment draping it from branches at the tree line.

Blessed to have punched another tag, meat in the freezer 🤙🏼

26 yards slight quarter away elevated shot. Probably should have lowered my aiming point but he went about 35-40 yards and that was all she wrote.

Temps are about to drop almost 30 degrees here, the pressure's shooting up, and the wind flips from E to SW. First real cold snap of the year right as pre-rut's getting going... yeah, I'm sitting tomorrow evening for sure.

Anybody else hitting the stand? What's it looking like where you're at?

To summarize quickly.

My extended family owns 400 plus acres.

My family let's me hunt a 20 acre rectangle. They are cooky.

I have full reign to walk and explore l, target shoot, etc. But when it comes to hunting, only the 20 acre rectangle.

Its is between a corn field and a soy field, closest to the main road , driveway, house, etc.

I put up a cellular cam towards the back of the property out of curiosity years ago, where im not allowed to hunt ,and where they used to lease out to a hunt group which is no more. Its just me hunting the whole place, but only in my rectangle.

The pictures from the area i cant hunt always produces 130-160 inch bucks each year, multiple, atleast 3 to 5 different shooters each year. Never seen them in my area and I devote 2 weeks a year to strict hunting my area.

My section, in 10 years of hunting, the best I've ever killed was a 14inch by 14ich 8 point. Any pictures are always doe and baskets.

Its beyond frustrating to know that on the same property, there are monsters, I just cant get to them.

How do I bring those to me. Corn, salt, nothing works. (Yes we can put those out here).

The other day gun season started. I was still out with my bow. I hear a rifle go off and I felt like it was so close that was the end of my hunt and i left. I been watching my camera and haven't got any returned deer yet. How long does it take for them to come back?

Currently I am shooting a Hoyt Charger at 70 pounds with a 29.5 inch draw, I am currently using an arrow that comes in at around 385 grains with broad heads and everything on. After doing some research I have gotten some suggestions to go up to around 440-475 grains. Is this something that I should do or would 385 grains be okay? Thank you for any help in advance and hope everyone participating in the Archery whitetail season is having a good season so far! FYI THIS IS A HUNTING SET UP NOT TARGET, THANK YOU!

Wounded an absolute monster with my compound. Proud of myself because I was hunting from the ground and got close enough to such a giant, but obviously feel awful for how it ended. I hit his shoulder with poor penetration and found him alive and well on drone. Although I feel better that he’s not laying dead somewhere I feel terrible about putting a bad shot on him. How do you mentally move on after wounding such a great animal? Part of me wants to keep practicing and try again and part of me wants to hang it up for the season. I hate to wound any animal but especially a buck of a lifetime.

Alright, I’m not there to go over the bow itself so take some of this with a grain of salt but my friend is trying to figure out why her arrows are flying so weird. I told her to check rest timing and her grip to make sure she’s not torquing the crap out of the bow and she said it’s neither(again take with a grain of salt because it looks like she’s torquing the heck out of it) what else could cause the arrow to jump and fly so odd? The wobble in her bow after release isn’t too confidence inspiring either. I won’t be able to make it back up to camp before the group heads out so I’m doing this remotely and out of ideas.

Thanks yall from one archery nerd to another

I recently bought some mechanical broadheads that use an adjustable tension screw to control how easily the blades deploy. They came with an Allen key to adjust the tension, but I’m having trouble figuring out how tight or loose they should be.

The blades are extremely difficult to open by hand, and when I pushed one into a piece of thin cardboard, the blades didn’t deploy at all.

For those of you who use mechanical broadheads with adjustable tension systems, how sensitive should that screw be, especially when shooting a high-FPS bow?

Should the blades open relatively easily by hand, or is it normal for them to require quite a bit of force? How much does the tension setting matter at higher arrow speeds?

I want to make sure they’re adjusted correctly so they stay closed during flight but reliably deploy on impact. Any advice from people with experience using this type of system would be appreciated!

Would you recommend getting a crossbow or compound bow for a new hunter? I’ve been rifle hunting whitetail for several years, and am considering getting either a crossbow or compound bow to extend my hunting season next year. I’m leaning towards a crossbow because 1) less time required to learn and be proficient with. I have limited spare time, and would like to spend it actually hunting rather than just practicing. 2) A crossbow is at least as effective at ethically harvesting an animal (less movement required, faster speeds, etc.). I predominantly hunt from the ground at the moment.

Are there benefits to a compound bow I’m not considering? How dangerous are crossbows? I’ve heard a concerning amount of stories of them blowing up, and the thought of sitting with a grenade on my lap does make me nervous. Is one more durable than the other? I’ve heard that crossbows have a shorter lifespan in terms of how many shots you can take with one, due to the higher power.

Also, if you have any specific recommendations for either that are a good value, I would appreciate it.

TLDR - I’m looking for the best return on investment in terms of time and money spent to just be able to get more quality hunting time. Crossbow or compound bow?

My dog is scared of loud noises, so hunting over him with a shotgun isn’t an option. One of my buddies clued me into taking grouse with a bow, so I got a Hoyt AX-2 and spent the winter training with it. Today I took my dog out for his first hunt, up into the Idaho backcountry. We got into some grouse after about an hour of hiking, and I was able to make a very clean headshot out of a tree. My dog did a perfect retrieve, even though he’s never trained it before. He’s just a very smart boy and wants to do the thing I’m asking. All and all it was a phenomenally fun day for both me and him. Im excited that I now have a hunt he can participate in.

Title says it. Hunting a creek bottom yesterday afternoon I put out a scent wick to hunt over. The buck I’m after came by at about 45-50 yards. Sat til last shooting light and never had a shot. Left out and forgot to retrieve my scent wick. With the constant smell basically flooding that area, what are the odds I have probably messed that area up? Not sure how long that scent wick will project scent before it dries out.

I work 24 hour shifts and won’t be available to go back until possibly Saturday between work and watching my kid, so 4 days after I put the scent wick out.

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for recommendations for a pair of ILF limbs to mount on a 15" hunting riser.

My draw length is about 29", and I'm looking for around 55-60 lb at my draw.

The bow will be used exclusively for wild boar hunting with heavy arrows (around 600 grains), so my priorities are reliability, smooth draw, good arrow speed, and excellent penetration.

I'm interested in hearing from people with real hunting experience using short ILF risers. Which limbs have impressed you the most in terms of performance and durability?

My budget is flexible if the performance justifies the price.

Thanks!

I currently shoot a Hoyt RX9 Ultra which I'm on my second year with. I don't think I've ever struggled so much with shooting a bow well, and I've had 3 other bows before this one. I've yet to be super confident with this bow is a good way to put it, and the longer I shoot it the more I think it just isn't right for me.

My shop has a PSE Mach 30 left over from a couple years ago, it has the EC2 cams vs. the FDS cams. I kind of want to go back to shooting a shorter ATA bow after having this Hoyt, but do want to stick with a carbon bow.

Anyone have any feedback on the PSE Mach 30 with the EC2 cams and why I should or shouldn't get it? I'm not sure if this would be a lateral or backwards move from my RX9 Ultra.

So I’m Bowhunting this weekend and it’s the rifle opener in our state which means I have to wear orange. Has anyone had issues with getting spotted when wearing a big orange vest or do you just wear it to/from the stand?

Hey everybody, I am very interested in bow hunting and was wondering if anybody has advice on how to start learning. I don’t know anybody who does it, but I live in Oregon and I’ve heard bow hunting here is actually pretty solid.

I honestly have no idea what I need to know before I start buying equipment and getting out there. Any advice or tips would be much appreciated.

16 yards, perfectly broadside. I used a Swhacker 207 mechanical broadhead, it punched straight through a rib on the entry, cut the top of her heart off, and broke three ribs on the way out. Perfect passthrough, she piled up dead 32 yards from where I hit her.

My shop has a PSE Mach 30 (EC2 Cams) that hasn't sold, so it's just sitting around as new old stock, and it is a 60-70 pound bow. Due to shoulder issues, I've been shooting 55 pounds. How much lower than the posted poundage range can a bow go?

I know this is probably dependent on the bow and manufacturer.