Do you bowhunt amidst the guns? What about after?

[spivak]

I hunt on a piece of land where the owner only allows bowhunters but it is an island surrounded by many rifle hunters. Actually saw quite a few deer during the gun season and filled a bonus tag. After the gun season, however, I saw almost nothing. What are your strategies after the gun season and the rut?

[vister]

muzzleload, then spend the rest of december in the grass and cattails after roosters...all told makes for a nice 3 and a half month hunting season!

[bmc]

During the rifle season, hunt the thickest nasiest stuff you can find. The deer will hide in there until the "orange wave" is gone. Where I hunt it is pretty tough to see any deer after rifle season.

Brian

[BLACKJACK]

I generally don't bowhunt during the gun season but I will bowhunt inbetween seasons. For instance, the zone 4 season is only two days, yes the deer get riled up and run around but by next Thur/Fri Nov 8/9 they'll be back to rutting hard and it will be an excellent time to be out bowhunting. I'll also do some bowhunting around turkey day and into December, I've seen bucks still chasing does on Thanksgiving Day, and by Dec food sources are the key if you still have a bow tag to fill.

[sticknstring]

If I have unfilled tags I hunt til the date on my license tells me I can't go out anymore. Three years ago I shot a doe on Dec 28th. Hunting that late is actually quite fun granted it's not too cold. Snow on the ground is the best tool a hunter can have. Find the food source and backtrack some of the heavier trails into the timber. Usually the deer will be starting to yard up too so you'll see plenty. I've never had much luck on seeing bucks late in December though...

I'll be out with bow this weekend... but typically don't see much on Firearm opener. I'm due for a change in luck though...

[DeanoB]

First day of hockey for 2 of the 4 boys tomorrow start at 7am - 10 am then wife says go to owatonna, medford and I get dropped off at cabelas with the 2 oldest?! Sure honey, oh then I can go sit in the brand new ladder stand from cabelas in the funnel with matthews in hand, sit 4-dark, & go out sunday too? great thanks, I should probally get some late season gear while at that store too huh...they're talking snow... if it goes something like that i will bowhunt till i get one i have 2 tags, and I'll buy 3b firearms still unless i get that beast. kinda funny I buy 3 tags a year and hope to get 1 deer. money well spent I say! I mean $28x2 and $14...little more than a tank of gas! Money well spent to go to our state.

oops i hijacked the topic

[DeanoB]

went out last night with my 8 year old son sat in the new ground blind didn't see deer, until driving home, when there were 3 right by the road. Went out this morning, opened the car door, and got out getting bow out heard a grunt, then another then crash antlers crashing toghether, i can't believe it, standing here with car door open, and can hear a buck fight, leaves getting thrashed, antlers crashing, bucks snorting and grunting - good sign. , got in woods about 4:45,set up the blind had a deer about 5 feet from the blind about 30 minutes later, couldn't tell buck or doe. waited it out, just as the sky lightens up i hear a "snap" look to the left...deer it's a buck!, rack out to his ears, he stays in the field, i'm set back in the thin part of the woods, i'm using the bleat can, he trots about 75 yards away, i am on the can bleating, he refreshens a scrape and comes right towards me, comes in fast, snorting, i can see his breath in the cool morning air, can he see mine? , he comes to about 15 yards quartering away, i can't move he is looking right at me, i am in the blind but he knows somnething aint right, I draw back, get to full draw, he jerks his head right and looks to the field, oh i can see now he's 8 points...turns 180 and all i see is sphinctor. goes to the field...look out see a doe. he starts chasing her, sniffing the ground she bolts, he follows. I hit the can bleat 3 or 5 more times, but i know he is gone, 5 minutes later, crunching...sounds like something big walking. Looking to the right can hear it but no visual, then i look to me left...deer edge of field , about 25 yards, doe...turns head toward me..no another buck! small six this time, he starts sniffing the ground, runs right to where the doe just was...he is sniffing and follows the same trail there other two just left, he is in hot pursuit. sit til l0:30 see nothinh else

[LuciandTim]

Didn't buy a firarm license this year. Was out opener with my bow. Only thing that I hate is that I have to wear an orange vest and hat till next Sunday Giving it another week for the buck and then i'm shooting a doe. I have just had too many braodside presentations in the past few days...Its like they want me to shoot them!

[bigbucks]

No I carry a gun through the gun season. When it's over I usually just wait to ML season, unless I start seeing deer & pattern them on a food source. Once late December rolls around, if I find a hot field I will bowhunt some, but I decided I'm not bowhunting in December this year unless I know I'm on deer. These cold late hunts get depressing in a hurry if you don't see anything, especially if there's good ice & you know the fish are biting. I like someone else said do not see buck in my December bowhunting.

[maros91]

Nothing beats and unpicked corn field in mid to late december. Most landowners will let you on because you can only hunt for a couple of weeks. The moon also plays a factor. The last 2 years I have not hunted during a full moon in december because full moon makes snow look like daylight and those deer don't hit the field until well after dark. I have seen a few bucks during december but not regulary. Mid to late december on a unpicked corn field is a great way to fill an antlerless tag.

[Rippinlip]

I will try not to Bow hunt during the gun season, unless I sit with the guys I gun hunt with and decide to hunt with my Bow instead.

I will be going out this week Bow hunting Thursday and Friday, seeing if I can fill my Freezer, since I have set my standards too high up to this point.

[colonel42]

I'm in the same boat as you. Does and Fawns. See them everytime I'm out and I believe they are just testing me. I did buy a rifle license and will rifle hunt while the season lasts. After that we should have snow and make life a tad easier to find them and where they are hanging out. I have the summit climber and will search for the perfect trails and set up there.

[fishane]

The last couple of years when december has been so warm I have had a blast during the late season. Usually by the last week or so of ML season things have calmed down a bit. I also bowhunt in WI where you can bait and during the late season is when that bait really works. I find that the week after christmas is one of the most fun bowhunting times of year, weather permitting. Of course, if it is really cold I use a ground blind and a can of sterno as a quiet heat source. Last year my dad arrowed a deer on Jan 7, the last day of WI bow season, it was the latest either of us had ever shot a deer. The only problem is that by the end my wife is kind of sick of the 3 and a half months of deer hunting and deer hunting talk.

[mnfishman]

This year I hunted with my family on private land with my bow during the gun opener. You won't find me on public land during gun season. Never know who is carrying a gun then...

I usually try to get out between the seasons but that has not been the case this year. I will definitely be out next weekend after the gun season is over and I will probably go out with the bow during ML season just because around here there are not too many hunters.

[WallyGator12000]

I was out on private land in SE MN bowhunting all day...11 hours in the stand...didn't see a thing! Saw a small 6 walking in, he was in a cut bean field, and then saw 4 does feeding in a cut corn field when I walked out, at least I think they were all does, it was pretty dark...man was I disappointed in the deer movement during the day though! I thought for sure I would find some bucks in the rut cruising my ridge for does...

[charliepete2]

I guess I'm in the minority when I say that I have great luck in the late season. Back when I had all the time in the world to hunt I'd hunt horns only until December 15th and then just try to put some meat in the freezer. I had a streak going where I took a doe on Christmas Eve for 5 years running. In areas of high pressure and numbers I've had luck finding a 'second rut' which has brought out some big boys. One thing that changes that many folks don't account for is when you start getting sub zero temperatures the warmer parts of the day (like noon). Many folks get caught in the trap of hunting dawn and dusk and then getting off the stand as soon as possible because they are freezing.

I put three deer in the freezer already this season and punched my buck tag on a nice 11 pointer. To tell the truth I wish I could still go back out there.

[BLACKJACK]

Also don't forget that the muzzleloader season runs from Nov. 24 - Dec 9, you need to wear red while you're bowhunting.

[jigginjim]

Blackjack you need to wear Orange. See Page 30 in regs. for details.

[BLACKJACK]

Always a nitpicker... Is it horns or antlers? Is it red or orange? I think you'd have to look awful hard to find 'red' hunting clothes.

[bigbucks]

I "saw" some red on an Amish hunter on Wednesday night. Of course with about 5 minutes of shooting light left when he was walking out I could see the rest of his black clothing at about 100 yards in the woods & the red at about 40 yards. I sure hope they don't walk by somebody that doesn't identify their target properly. At the same time I could see a guy in blaze orange about 300 yards away through the woods plain as day. Tradition or not they are (Contact Us Please) for not wearing orange during deer hunting.

Oh & yes he was gun hunting not bowhunting.

[DeanoB]

near the iowa border, there are many amish, one time i was on stand, and could hear something moving through the brush...then i saw brown moving, i pulled the gun up, a young amish stepped out, he wasn't a shooter (no beard) so I let him walk. not a stitch of red, or orange on. like a brown jersy coat, and dark wool pants. they think the laws don't pertain to them.

[bigbucks]

I haven't done any kind of hunting in the last five or more years at my folks without hearing a buggy go by. Sometimes we sit down there Sunday morning of opening weekend of firearms & there's about a two hour parade of them going by. It's amazing how loud those hooves are on the pavement from roughly a half mile away...