Hunting lessons learned this past week

[luckey]

Hard to believe I could make this many blunders in three days.

Lesson 1. Thursday afternoon.

Plan the access to your stand. I cut across an area of high grass were we previously planted trees to check a permanent stand (about 100 yards from the ladder stand I planed to hunt. I jumped a doe and fawn about 100 feet from the stand. Just to make things worse, I chased another while I walked along the edge of the field to my ladder stand.

Lesson 2. Thursday evening.

Know the range and take the shot when presented.

A doe came along the edge of the field towards my decoy. She stopped around 25-30 yards away. I waited. She then went in the woods and started to circle towards me. At 20 feet she went behind a large oak so I drew my bow. After about 15 seconds the wind switched a little and she blew so hard it almost scared my pants off. She ran out about 60 yards into the field and continued blowing until every deer in within a quarter mile know something was up.

Lesson 3. Friday morning.

Check your equipment.

Around 9 AM a small doe came down the trail. I was fairly open so I didn’t draw until she went behind a couple basswoods (she was about 7 yards away). When I drew the bow, the arrow made a slight screech as it slid along the rest. The deer stopped and stood at alert behind the basswood for 15 seconds and then made a couple hops straight away and then slowly walked away. (I later put new pads on the rest)

Lesson 4. Friday night.

Know your ability/strength/equipment

Late in the evening a doe walked under my ladder stand and onto the field. She started feeding about 20 feet away. I tried two times but was unable to draw my bow. I just got the bow a few days before and never checked the draw setting. The third time I was really struggling and must have hit the release at half draw at which time all hell broke loose. The arrow struck a limb in front of me (close) made a big crack and broke in half while knocking my bow string off the cams. The two arrow pieces landed about 5 feet from the deer and I sat there wondering just what the heck happened. Now the deer just looked around and slower fed off while I sat there with a disabled bow.

Lesson 5. Saturday night. (Friday night my friend fixed my bow and lowered the pull weight but I wanted to sight it in prior to hunting so I have no Saturday morning stories.

Wait for the best shot?

A doe came running through the woods with a buck in hot pursuit. She ran onto the field and stopped around 30 yards away. She was slightly facing me so I held a little forward and let fly. Whack, and she dropped to the ground but made a quick recovery. She struggled through the woods and stood by the swamp edge. After a while she slowly crossed the swamp (approximately 350 yards). Sunday morning I found where she had bed down but there was only one drop of blood. A short search later we jumped her and she moved off very slowly. With no blood we followed as best we could following turned leaves and foot prints but lost all sign after a while.

[lawdog]

I have to say from reading your post, and I'm sorry if I sound like a jerk saying this, but you have no business being out hunting right now. You hadn't ever pulled your bow back to check the poundage and you were in the stand with it? Then you take what sounded like an iffy shot for a good marksman with equipment you obviously aren't familiar with and wound and lose an animal.

Like I said, I'm sorry to be unkind, but for the sake of the deer and all of our reputations as hunters, stay home until you have things figured out a little better...

[daydreamer]

I'll have to agree with lawdog on this one. If I remember correctly a couple of weeks prior he borrowed someones bow and actually did shoot a deer with it. In that post someone else states his name fits as "luckey". Yes, you got lucky the first time around but that is why it takes time and a lot of practice to become a good archer. Please respect the game and sport. I'm not trying to bash either but hopefully the lessons learned will help you become better prepared for the future.

[harvey lee]

I would agree with the above post. Stay home. Get yourself ready to be a bowhunter before you wound any more deer or hurt yourself.

People like the anti's love when someone goes afield and does what you did. It gives a really bad name to the sport of archery.

Learn your equipment, practice and get ready to bow hunt and then go out and give the deer a fair shake.

Then when you are ready, go out andf enjoy the sport of archery deer hunting. Another suggestion would be to purchase a safety belt or harness if you do not own one. It could save your life.

[96trigger]

luckey, your post says it all. "lessons learned". The problem is that the lesson was probably learned at the expense of a beautiful animal. What I get is that you have now learned that archery isn't as easy as you previously thought. We owe it to the animal to do our best to make a quick humane kill. I bowhunted for 6 years before ever shooting a deer. I hope that this hasn't discouraged you from bowhunting, but I also hope that you had that sick feeling in your gut that makes you want to practice daily so that you get better with your equipment and accuracy. Practice, Practice, Practice...... Good luck. I'm glad you are learning.

[Coach1310]

While I agree 100% that it probably wasnt' a good thing to do, to be in a stand unprepared, make a bad shot and not find a deer, lets not kill the guy. Most of us would agree that some poor choices were made, but he's not an axe murderer. The bottom line is we have all blew a shot or wounded a deer that we aren't 100% sure survived. It would be best to be better in tune with your equipment before going afield, but how comfortable you are is your choice not ours. I appreciate you posting so we can all learn the lessons you learned. As far as what the "antis" might think....if we as hunters and non-antis, spend all our time worrying about they think....we are missing out on why we love hunting so much.

[snapcrackpop]

Quote:

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While I agree 100%...lets not kill the guy.

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I thought they were pretty easy on him myself.

You want to see a chewing, what do you think would have happened to him on other sites?

[chucker34]

I agree. Lessons 4 and 5 are the most important. Lessons 1-3 can be learned with experience. I'm sure most of us have made some bonehead moves in terms of our hunting set-ups and encounters with deer, even veterans. But back to lessons 4 and 5, those are lessons that need to be learned before the first time ever out in the field.

[Coach1310]

I understand they were trying to help, but things like....

"you have no business being out hunting right now"

"Stay home"

...I guess I don't think anyone else has any business telling someone those things. I completely agree that the choices made weren't the best and by posting his "Lessons Learned" he did open the door for some criticism, but telling someone "they have no business being out there" or "stay home" is a little harsh in my opinion. I guess as far as "other site" I really don't know as I don't frequent many other sites, but I don't think it should matter. Just my opinion, I'll probably get killed, but oh well!!

[harvey lee]

Since I made that statemant I will explain why. I know it was very firm and I in no way stated this to offend anyone.. I believe that all archers really need to have all our ducks in a row before we go afield to harvest a deer or for that matter, any wild animal. We owe it to the animals and other sportsmen to make make sure we are ready to go hunting.

With all the anti hunting groups out there today and the added press they recieve, they have enough fuel to create many problems that the archery world just doesnt need to deal with.

If I came across to hard sounding, maybe I should have not have but we do need to police ourselves as a group of sportsmen.

I hope this helps all to understand why I came across so firm in my beliefs when it comes to a sport I love so much.

[vister]

i'm going to have to defend luckey here. some, if not most of us have made iffy shots. at least with a bow, you don't blow a leg off, or rip their guts in half like a rifle does. i'm sure a lot of us have also struggled to draw the bow back while we get a bit chilled. maybe he was cold. not many of us practice shooting the bow while its 20 or 30 degrees out there. sounds to me like he just had an un-"luckey" weekend of hunting. theres no sense of bashing him until he says the hell with hunting, but sounds like a bit more practice should be in the making. but, when any mods or changes of any sort are made to a bow, a few shots are required to make sure all is well.

[tritonman]

Well luckey, all of the other guys did the chewing for this subject so I'll take the lighter side and say that it's good you didn't get hurt because I was down on the floor laughing hysterically after I read this.

Quote:

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The third time I was really struggling and must have hit the release at half draw at which time all hell broke loose. The arrow struck a limb in front of me (close) made a big crack and broke in half while knocking my bow string off the cams. The two arrow pieces landed about 5 feet from the deer and I sat there wondering just what the heck happened. Now the deer just looked around and slower fed off while I sat there with a disabled bow.

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I can picture that vividly and I think you could have won $10,000 on A.F.V. if you would have that on tape. Good stuff! Now go practice!

[harvey lee]

Luckey

I have explained why I stated what I did and the reasons why. I will not go on about that. I dont believe that anyones intentions were to bash Luckey but just to help him get going in the right direction. Thats the goal of all I believe.

here are a few suggestions that maybe will help you in the future. Check out different post in the zrchery forum under the search at the top of the page.

I might suggest that when you get a new bow to check the poundage and make sure you are at a draw weight that you can handle and even when your hunting in the cold and your muscles stiffen up. It is always harder to draw under cold conditions.

Always make sure you equipment is in good working order and practice with the bow and be proficient with it.

You will make mistakes afield while learning to bow hunt for sure as we all have. But, we really need to know that our equipment is in working order when we start out.

No one is wanting to pick on you as most have stated but want you to do all the right things to help promote the sport of archery. In the future, if you need help with anything or have questions, fire away and all will help you with any concerns you may have with getting your gear ready or help afield.

When it comes to practice I am not a big one at that but I usually check my bow with a few shots just to make sure all is well with everything incase I bumped something on the bow when putting it away. A few minutes and a couple shots will really help you with this.

[Coach1310]

Harvey- I completely understand where you were coming from. I know you are always right there to give advice and help when needed and I knew you weren't attempting to be harsh. I just wanted to make sure Luckey didn't feel as if he was the worst bow hunter known to man etc. I think most of us on Fishing Minnesota are out to become better sportsman and are here to help others do the same. Thanks for all your posts Harvey, all of us grateful for the time and effort you put in to aid FMers. Good Luckey in your pursuits Luckey.....hopefully your lessons learned will provide some great and memorable and safe hunts in the future

[snapcrackpop]

Coach, this is a quality site with close eyes on bashing and roudy behavior. I think anyone that has been here for more than a week would agree.

I thought all critisism was strong, but helpful for the sport of bowhunting. I would bet the other posters would still be helpful to Luckey for advice in his practice.

However, if you haven't read Luckey's post "It worked for me!" on the previous page, I suggest readers should to put these bowhunting posts in perspective.

Anytime I read a negative (in my opinion) post, I read thier posting history to get a better feel on the person.

Luckey, glad your interested in bowhunting. Welcome to the addiction. Get in some practice, learn some anatomy and start having fun and success!

[Deitz Dittrich]

Very good post Snap! Thank you!

[luckey]

I All,

Thanks for the replies. First of all, no offense taken by any of the criticism, I probably deserve some of it. Yes, it was new equipment, however, I did comfortably shoot it (granted not a lot) prior to taking it hunting. I never heard the arrow make the noise while I practiced. (Maybe it was due to being colder). I guess I could have sat in a tree for a few hours and then tried to pull the bow, but that never occurred to me. Note: I did not go hunting Saturday morning because I wanted to check out the bow after making the changes. I probably shot 40 arrows at 20 and 30 yards prior to hunting Saturday evening. I don’t agree with “staying home and learning to hunt”. How is that going to work? I think you have to actually hunt to learn. How are you going to know how what to do and how you will react in a live situation if you stay home? I think you just got to have that real live experience to learn what to do. I don’t feel discouraged about not getting shots at deer within 20 feet, but I do feel bad about the wounded deer. Sunday morning I found my arrow. It was stuck in the ground directly in line with my shot. There was no blood on the arrow or fletching. My guess is the deer was hit in the upper leg and will survive.

[shogun]

You should put in the time and learn how to shoot a bow well and accurate before going out and hunting with it - rather than having never shot a bow before and just picking up your friends and going out and seeing what you can do.

I do not think 40 arrows at 20 and 30 yards qualifies as being prepared to hunt. Most hunters spend months before the hunting season (usually year round) practicing from all yardages shooting hundreds of arrows before going out into the woods. One thing that will really get you ready is doing 3D shoots. If you have an archery range anywhere in your area where they have 3D shoots, you should look into it. This is great practice for judging distances and learning good shot placement in the vital area of the animal.

[CanOCorn]

40 arrows??? Try 40 a night for 3 months straight. Utmost confidence in my shots from 10- 40 yards (depending on cover I am in). I am however enjoying the irony of your post and your name! I hope it is true that a lesson was learned. In your rebuttle, it sounds like you are defending the actions you have taken and not truely learned the lessons. I have been bow hunting for 22 years and have shot thousands and thousands of arrows between archery leagues, hunting and just practicing and I still would not feel comfortable with a new bow after shooting a hundred arrows or so.

[springerspeed]

I can not believe what I am reading. This is starting to sound like a person can not go bow hunting unless he/she has shot a set minimum amount of arrows. Would I be chastised if I went and bought a bow(which I am considering by the way)and went and shot 40 arrows and felt comfortable with the results. Then decided to go deer hunting. I think it is based on your comfort level with the results that you had with the arrows you shot. Just because I have not shot thousands of arrows does not mean that I am not capable of taking a deer humanely.

With this same logic, no one should go pheasant or duck hunting unless they have shot thousands of sporting clays. If they go without shooting all those sporting clays and then cripple a pheasant or a duck we should just rip them to shreds about it and tell them what were they thinking, going out before shooting all those sporting clays.

I am all about taking the game we hunt humanely as possible but, we all had to start somewhere. Learning comes with time and mistakes.

[harvey lee]

Not to beat this to death but after reading more posts I guess I feel that a few things need to be said.

1- Luckey made a few mistakes not knowing exactly what this bow might do.

2- I dont believe that any poster is trying to say that one needs to shoot thousands of arrows but is simply stating that 40 arrows is not all that much for practice before the hunting season.

3- Yes, one needs to go afield to learn many things about bow huntuing but, one first needs to be able to shoot the bow well and have done all the homework needed to then go afield.

I just dont believe that any member here is trying to slam Luckey, the posts are trying to direct him to things he should be addressing that would help him afield.

I really dont know if one can buy a bow, shoot 40 arrows and be ready to go archery hunting. One may believe that they feel comfortable with what they are doing but is it good enough to harvest a deer in a humane manner and have a high success rate of finding the deer, I dint know.

I know many archers that have been hunting for many years and still shoot for months and continue to practice during the archery season to stay sharp on their shots just to be confident in their shooting and to keep in form.

[Shack]

For some it takes Hundreds of tries and other it takes 40 tries!

I have seen it with horse shoes! I have been playing them for years (not an expert at all but practice), I invite a friend over and their first game they ever play, they score 3 ringers and point me out! Some people jus have a knack for things, at first!

The only way a sport is going to stay strong, is getting people out to try it. But on the other hand, we do not want forest and fields full of crippled deer, with arrows poking out of them! Plus also the small element of safety for ones self that comes with training!

Do what you feel comfortable doing and stick with it!

In the end, thats what people are going to do anyways! But they do offer a lot of good constructive criticism on the site. Bleed it all in and make your be judgment call on what to do!

Good luck!

[harvey lee]

Not to beat this to death but after reading more posts I guess I feel that a few things need to be said.

1- Luckey made a few mistakes not knowing exactly what this bow might do.

2- I dont believe that any poster is trying to say that one needs to shoot thousands of arrows but is simply stating that 40 arrows is not all that much for practice before the hunting season.

3- Yes, one needs to go afield to learn many things about bow hunting but, one first needs to be able to shoot the bow well and have done all the homework needed to then go afield. Mistakes will be made by all but, if we are as prepared as possible before we go hunting, then at least our equipment is working and then one can go out and learn from ones mistakes.

I just dont believe that any member here is trying to slam Luckey, the posts are trying to direct him to things he should be addressing that would help him afield.

I really dont know if one can buy a bow, shoot 40 arrows and be ready to go archery hunting. One may believe that they feel comfortable with what they are doing but is it good enough to harvest a deer in a humane manner and have a high success rate of finding the deer, I dint know.

I know many archers that have been hunting for many years and still shoot for months and continue to practice during the archery season to stay sharp on their shots just to be confident in their shooting and to keep in form.

[chucker34]

The difference between horshoes and deer hunting though is you are taking a living creatures life for naught if you make a bad shot due to improper equipment or not knowing your equipment. There is no set amount of arrows shot that can predict this, but one or two practice sessions would not suffice before going on your first bowhunt if you ask most bowhunters. Sure, you may have hit that target dead on each time today and the day before. But do you truly know you can do that consistently from a day or two.

You are going to make a bad shot no matter how much you practice. It happens to everyone if you hunt long enough. But having a thorough knowledge of your equipment and confidence in your abilities to place an arrow through the vitals beforehand makes that a once in a great while experience.

[DRH1175]

I spend many hours a year shooting and tweaking my bow. To grab one of the shelf and go hunting to me is un ethical to the animal. I think it is bad enough when this happens time and again with a rifle. But come on Archery takes practice and lots of it. You need to know what your equipment does and how it will perform in the field. I feel no sorrow for "Lucky" Sorry we all sound harsh. But to be an ethical hunter mean more than running to the nearest store and buying the top equipment but knowing the equipment as well. I recomend taking the rest of the season off. Spending some serious time getting to know your equipment and shooting in the yard or at a range!! Good luck next year but PLEASE for the sake of these precious animals stay home untill you KNOW you can place a clean quick kill!