treeclimber

Went out for the last time on New Years eve to see if I could fill the last management tag. Took my 12 year old son with to sit in the tree with me. Well as luck would have it we had 6 deer come by just before dark. The first four came by so fast that I couldn't stop them but the fifth and biggest doe stopped in my 20 yard lane and gave me the shot I wanted. I placed the shot directly through the center of the heart. Needless to say my son and I were excited as this was the first time he has sat with me bow hunting. Now he itching to get out next year and give bow hunting a try. This was also his first year rifle hunting and he managed to shoot a nice spike buck the first morning while I sat with him. Those two hunts were the best hunts of my life. Even better than the hunts where I have shot many big bucks. Take a kid hunting and you will experience some of the best times afield you can imagine. Already looking forward to next year when I can get out with my son again. This time though he will have bow in hand.

There isn't much state land where we hunt. In ND if the land isn't posted you can legally hunt without permission. The areas we hunt are mostly river bottoms that are owned by mainly farmers. Some are posted and we have gotten permission and other spots are not posted but we still try to let the owner know that we would like to hunt on their land. That way we know if someone else is hunting it or not. There are also many WMA in ND that offer some real good hunting opportunities. Just ask anybody that duck hunts out there and they will tell you how many deer they see. The area we hunt is west of Grand Forks. You really need to get at least 40 to 50 miles from Grand Forks or any other major city or you will run into a lot of other hunters. Where we hunt the only other archery hunters we have seen are just locals and very few of them. Mostly we have the area to our selves which is a very large area. Sorry I can't give our exact location but I may get a few people ticked off if I tell others where we hunt. You can understand? My best advise is to look on a map for any significant river and just start following the river the best you can. You will no doubt find deer and most of the time very friendly people who will usually let you hunt. The great part about ND is that the season starts Sept 1st and usually ends around Jan 6th. The bad part is the cost. Around $216.00 for an either sex tag and $55.00 for additional doe tags. But who looks at the cost when the deer are so plentiful and the chance at a decent buck are so great. Good luck if you ever head out there. By the way if you want to hunt out there this year yet you can still buy a tag. The first year I went out there I didn't go until about this same time. The first weekend out I tagged a really nice buck. Real easy to find the deer now as the crops are down and there isn't too many places for them to hide. The trails you see this time of year will make your jaw drop.

Have been hunting a lot since rifle season ended. Was back Up to the Blackduck area and I managed to fill another management tag a week ago. Was out to ND this last weekend and saw more deer in one day then most people probably see in a whole season. Saw several nice bucks but I only has a doe tag left to fill which I did. Made some drives for my brother who still has a buck tag (no party hunting in ND) left and had as many as fifty deer come by him in one drive alone (not exaggerating either). If you ever get a chance to hunt ND do it you will be amazed at how many deer are out there.He never got a shot at a big buck but had several close enough but either they were running or stopped behind brush. Still was a blast seeing all those deer.

Hey Brett. Welcome aboard. From what you have described I can only think of two possibilities here. The first and most obvious is maybe they are just moving after dark? But I think I may see another possible reason. You explained that you entered your stand by crossing a picked corn field, and that it was all down hill to the river bottom where your stand is located. My question here is this. Is this river bottom area semi open or is it thick brush and timber? The reason I ask is this. If you are entering from an uphill direction from where the deer may be bedded then just passably the deer are seeing you as you approach your stand and just sneak out in the other direction or wait till well after dark to enter the fields. I hunted a similar setup and only after sitting many times without seeing deer I finally figured out what was going on. I then changed my entrance route so I stayed along the edge of the field just inside the woods and bingo I started seeing deer. Just a thought but maybe if you can enter through a less visible area you just may start seeing deer.

All I can say about them is they are AWESOME!!!! I switched to them this year and will never use anything else. I shot four deer with them this year and not a one of them went over 40 yards. Although shot placement is always critical the hole they put in them was unreal. I have used a lot of broadheads in the past and this one by far is the best. Like I have stated in a different topic I have shot groups with them at 60 yards that compared to my field points.

Late season can be a blast. I have never shot any big bucks in the late season but have always filled whatever tags we have left. The key is to find the food sources and the bedding areas. If you hunt where there are any spruce swamps check for trails heading in and out of them. If you are luck enough to have a cedar swamp in your area that is always an excellent spot to look for trails. If you hunt the big woods where there isn't any agriculture close look for any logging sites from this year or the last three years. These spots can really draw the deer with the new growth. If you do hunt in agricultural country, obviously look for standing corn or beans and alfalfa. I did get out this weekend in the Blackduck area. The area we hunt is a large national forest with no roads of fields. We hunt along swamps and new growth timber. I ended up shooting a nice doe on Saturday morning at 9:40 am. The deer were moving late due to the colder temps (5 degrees) in the morning. Also a key in winter is to hunt later in the mornings when the weather is cold as the deer tend to lay a bit longer until the weather warms a bit. Good luck out there.

Shwangman, I see you live in Waconia which is a long ways from Little Falls. If for some reason you are heading up to this area drop me an email and and I will give you directions to mmy place and I will help get your bow set up properly. My email address is builderbobatoz@msn.com

I would recommend getting a good vibration eliminator stabilizer which you can put on yourself, also you should get limb savers made by Sims or whatever brand you prefer. These normally have a self adhesive on them so you can do this on your own also. The only thing you will not be able to do is install the string leeches (string silencers} unless you have a have a bow vice. I will have to look at where you live but if you are close enough I would do all of it for you and paper tune your bow for nothing.

I had the same bow for many years until it was stolen from me at an archery range. I loved the bow and as all Mathews bows do, it shot fantastic. Make sure you put some Sims products on it to lessen any vibrations. I now own a Q2XL and love it too. Mathews makes a great product.

I will have to agree to disagree with Deitz Dittrich about fixed blades hitting the same as field points. For the past 20 years I have used Bear 4 blade broadheads and they always shot the same as my field points. This year I switched to Slick Trick 100 grain 4 blade broadheads and have shot groups from as far as 60 yards with them and got the same grouping as my field points. I do paper tune my bow at least twice a year and am convinced that if your bow is tuned properly you can shoot the same groups with fixed broadheads or any other type. You may have to try a few different brands but you should be able to find a broadhead that flies the same as your field point.

Her is number three. Was bow hunting up in the Blackduck area with my Dad and Uncle who were rifle hunting. This nice 10 pointer was taken at 18 yards as the buck was sneaking through a small spruce swamp. He had just finished making a scrape and was heading for a large hardwood ridge where several does that had just went by my stand had headed. Needless to say he never made it. Still not the monster I am looking for but definitely getting bigger. Our group still has a few tags left so there is still a chance for the big one. I also shot 2 does to fill some management tags. So I guess I can say I have had a very successful season.

Here is the second buck of the year. Back to SD. I had a business trip close to where we hunt and had a chance to hunt for one afternoon. I was in another river bottom spot where I have seen many bucks in the past. This was the Tuesday after their opening of rifle season. I know this spot is always good after opener as the bucks get so pushed around out there that they always travel this area to get back to their home territories. I have hunted this spot every year for the past four years the following days after rifle opener and have seen many large bucks. After getting on stand around 3:00 and sitting for about an hour and a half I heard a noise from the other side of the river. Looking across I saw this buck going in the opposite direction down the river. I immediately pulled out my grunt call and let out a few grunts. The buck didn't even lift his head so I then pulled out my Primos (The Can) doe bleat and that did the trick. The buck stopped looked my way and then disappeared behind some brush along the river. Not 15 seconds later I heard water splashing downstream from me and saw the buck come up the bank and head in my direction. The buck stopped 40 yards short of me and made a scrape and then proceeded to close the distance to 10 yards where I stopped him with a grunt and sent the arrow right in the sweet spot. He took one jump stopped, looked back, then just stood there until he fell for good. Short hunt but what a blast. Still not the monster I have been looking for but not a bad buck. More to come.

This is the first buck I shot this year. It was the last week in October in ND. Was hunting a large river bottom where I had seen several nice bucks. I had moved my stand on this day closer to where I had seen several bucks the day before. I would only have one chance at this spot as the wind was not in my favor and any deer I would pass on would end up down wind of me and the game would be over. Lucky for me the first three deer were bucks. The first was a fork the second a lesser 8 pointer and the third was the shooter. The first two bucks stopped below my stand to do a little pushing and shoving while the third watched from a distance. After about ten minutes he was tired of watching and decided to come over to show them who was boss. Little did he know he would be meeting me first. At 7 yards I hit him in the boiler room and he was down in under 30 yards. Wasn't the biggest one from the group I had seen the day before but if I had waited they would have been down wind of me and the spot would have been no good for days. So I decided to take him. More stories to follow.

Great job young guns. Something to be proud of shooting a deer with a bow no matter what it is. Saw lots of deer all weekend. Ended up shooting a big doe to fill a managemet tag. Can't wait till the rut though. With the full moon and warm weather the bucks were laying pretty low this weekend.

In Minnesota I hunt around home and around the Blackduck area. I already hunted the first weekend of september in ND, 40 minutes west of Grand Forks. By the way I passed on a 125 to 130 class 8 pointer that weekend at 6 yards. Too early to fill my tag there when I know there are a lot of bigger bucks out there.