2011 Archery Log

[tracker x-2]

I'll start of the season with a succsessfull report. This Morning i climbed out of the stand a little after eight to do some still hunting and was able to stalk up to a doe at 40 yrds. The G5 Tekans did their job and after a 50 yard blood trail she was piled up.

How did everyone else do??

[tunrevir]

Nice work! Always nice to get some venison in the freezer to start the year. My daughter went out with her grandfather this am and saw a basket six and passed on it. 3 coons but no other deer. They are heading out again this evening.

Tunrevir~

[deerfishin]

One doe and a red fox. Doe faded away into the wood pretty quickly at first light, got to watch the fox get a drink from the creek i was set up near was pretty cool.

[northspear]

sat till eight as well and seen seven does. so it was a great start to the year. i was just waiting for the big boy to maybe walk but that didnt happen.

[surewood]

Saw an 8 and a spike in the morning. Nice 8, but not what I'm after. Brought my 4 year old boy with for the evening. Sat in a ground blind saw a fork and had a couple sneak behind us. Not sure what they were.

[Cheetah]

Did some scouting on Friday afternoon and located good sign in one of my usual spots. Unfortunately the deer were moving through in the dark as I made my way in to set a stand. Found another spot mid-day and sat there this evening, passed a small spike buck at 15 yards. Wind stopped and the thermals took my scent down the hill into the swamp where there were at least two other deer making their way to me, they blew out. Hoping the weather holds for tomorrow morning, forecast isn't so good.

[goblueM]

urban archery season for me... reg season doesn't open til Oct 1st.

This morning I sat in a hardwood neck of woods between two hay fields, deer been passing thru regularly morning and night. Sat til 8 AM and had squirrels raining hickory nuts on me, clanging off my stand. Also saw a skunk, 2 rabbits, and my buddy got dive-bombed by a screech owl at first light. Needless to say, saw no deer.

Did score permission on a place for regular season, scouted it this afternoon. There must have been 50 rubs from last year and one fresh rub from the last couple days (deer still in velvet here in VA) on this 20 acre chunk of woods, and the landowner sees multiple bucks come thru every evening.

[BuckmasterG]

Got to stand about half hour before shooting hrs in the am,1 doe early.. Sat mid morning, went back out in the evening, 2 decent 2yr old bachelors 6 and 8 and also small doe and fawn. Nice cool day.

[james_walleye]

Sat this afternoon and saw 2 does. While driving the tractor path out a big boy darted out of a draw running through a cornfield in front of my headlights.

[CC Hurl]

Had a 6 point in the comfee zone tonight and a couple fawns to. Hopefully the sixer makes it thru gun season. Fawns mom was no were to be seen. They looked like they were doing fine. Helped entertain me for an hour or so. Fun day. I thought the wind was going to stink but it did a great job of keeping them skeeters down and I did see deer. Helps when you can keep still. Lol

[Stratosman]

Sat this evening and had about 7 or 8 come into the meadow, two small bucks 1.5-2.5 year olds.. the wind switched on me a bit so I climbed down and out about 1/2 early.. I hate a SE wind!

[swany25]

Evening hunt started off good, watched a doe and three fawns walking all around me afor about 45min and then bedded down 15 yards from me strait down wind.

About 15 mins later a big bodied tall tined spike walked under my stand and presented a shot at 24 yards. i debated about the shot for several mins. I decided that since I did not even have a chance at a deer last year and I've only shot one with a bow ever, I would take this opportunity.

He was quatering away and gave me a nice shot, Thwaaaack he took off running. Brush was so thick it was tuff to see him running away. I waited about 1/2 hr and got down and could not find arrow or blood I looked with help for over an hour, Nothing I had no doubt about the shot and I was unussually calm.

I just hope it was a clear miss and the arrow sailed.

[Cheetah]

Went out this morning, the rain had not started yet and I had my stand up for about 20 minutes before the showers started. It got pretty bad at one point, no deer at all. I figured I had a good shot since I went out earlier than yesterday and the deer were moving through yesterday just before sunrise. Oh well, packed up after an hour and a half and left for home. Might not be back out for a few weeks due to work schedules, might waterfowl hunt a little since I can do that closer to town.

[Grayfox]

Wife says we need meat so better start filling the freezer up.

Mitch was sitting on the bear bait so with this SE wind I had to head aways from home to one of my other spots. The place I'm hunting had a lot of big trees go down over the past several years and the has really gotten brushy with about 25 yards of visability from the stand. I had my steps in the tree but had to hang the stand. I ended up bumping a doe on the way in and she took off to the NE and started blowing. I hung my stand as fast as I could,climbed down and put the bow on the hoist rope and hooked another to my fannypack and attatched it to my bow. I climbed back up and look up to see her sneek back in to the North. I figured what the heck and started to slowly pull the bow up as she watched. She started to circle me as I slowly pulled it up. I got the bow up and unhooked the fannypack rope as she circled behind me. I managed to get an arrow on as she crossed back in front of me. There was a shot as she came by agian but for one branch by the stand so I reach over to break it and at the crack she runs back into the brush. Oh well, it's early. I hang the bow up and turn around and here she comes agian. She knew something was up and just had to see what it was. Apparently, curiosity doesn't only kill the cat. As she passed in front of me at 15 yards she got a dose of Rage and ran off. I sat for another 40 minutes to make sure she was down and see if I could pull off another double out of this tree in the last 2 years but nothing else showed. She made it 75 yards with the single lung shot. Looked like I shot her a little lower than I thought and the arrow came straight out the bottom. Nice way to start the year though.

[CrowRiverRat83]

Nice mature doe Grayfox!

[lungdeflator]

Nice congrats to you guys shootin stuff! pretty slow for me. Sat saturday morning/evening and this morning. 2 does and a fawn saturday night was it for deer all weekend. Feel like I messed up this morning. After seeing all the acorns and deer activity around oaks saturday, for some reason I sat a travel route to and from a clover field this morning, away from dropping oaks. D'OH!

[Shu]

Nice job on the doe grayfox. I had 3 differnt doe/fawn combos on Saturday and saw 2 bucks, couldn't quite tell the headgear but saw some horn on them. Tonight saw a bear but that was it in the drizzle/rain.

[BuckmasterG]

Sat tonight after the rain, gorgeous out there. 4mph wind from W, 7pm fork and doe came out into the plot, shortly after another doe came out. No shooters yet but 8 deer in 3 sits made for a fun opening weekend.

[paceman]

Just went out Sat. Morning. Bumped 2 walking in and saw 3 walking out. had 1 doe slip through at about 50 yards. I was a little sleepy until a flipping mouse fell into my lap. I was 18 feet up in a tree and a mouse falls onto me. Good Gravy. One swat and that thing went flying through the air. I don't like mice. very strange.....

[DonBo]

Way to go Rob! I hunted Saturday morning, saw nothing, then headed to the lake a put a few nice walleye in the boat! I'll get back in the tree later this week when it cools down again.

[Bear55]

Had a pretty good opening weekend, only saw one deer but he was a nice sized 8. Maybe in the 110 to 115 range, I am looking for some thing a little bigger so I glad he didn't temp me by coming into bow range.

[Abndoc]

Sat morning. 1 came through very early, couldn't see what it was, had a small dow walk through around 8am, let her go.

Sat evening. Sat from 430 until dark. Around 6pm had 2 bucks, small basket 8 and small but very wide, but small 8 run out into the bean field and eat beans until 715, then both proceeded to walk right underneath me back into the woods.

Sun evening, nothing until the last few mins of legal shooting and the deer exploded out of the woods into the woods, but ran out of light before anything could get close. Saw lots of deer moving last night on the drive home. Great opening weekend.

This guy is what I'm after, finally got a picture of a few nice ones.

[mrklean]

nice job on the doe, dandy looking buck good luck

[deerminator]

Nice doe indeed! Got out Saturday evening and had some nice mature does that presented several shots while grazing in the beans and along the treeline. Tempting but I only get one tag and that's either going toward a nice buck or the first mature deer that presents itself for a "slam dunk" shot the next time I'm out. That's because I'll bring my 7 year old along for the first time either Friday or Saturday night. I'd rather he be part of a successful hunt and get to take part in the whole experience versus waiting for the big buck. At least this year, then it's a big buck - until it's time to bring my daughter out for the first time. Funny how priorities are changing about what makes a successful hunt when trying to get the kids involved!

[sticknstring]

Sounds like a lot of great opening weekend reports! I hunted both evenings and saw does/fawns each sit. Had a yearling dry doe at 9 yds last night but I had to be at work early today and with warm temps, I opted to pass. Saw my target buck on the walk out in the beans. Picked the wrong stand!