Bowhunters: 2007 in a nutshell???

[Scoot]

Well, I've still got a few days left to try fill my ND tag, but it's not looking good. I might be eating tag soup this year. How'd everyone else do? I'd like to hear a brief synopsis of your year- one relatively short paragraph telling us how you did, your year's high and low, etc. Fell free to add pics if you'd like. I'll post my year end report after this coming Sun, when the ND season shuts down.

[lawdog]

I didn't hunt as much with the bow as I would have liked, but here is the story of my season. When I had a firearm in my hand, I had many deer near me, well within bow range in fact, but none I could or would shoot with a firearm (only a big trophy with a firearm). When I had the bow in my hands, no deer would come within a quarter mile of me??? SKUNKED!

[sticknstring]

Another season come and gone... hard to believe it's already over. Ate my buck tag yet again... nothing unusual there. Shot a tasty doe in Oct and passed on numerous other close encounters. Most memorable moment on stand was Halloween evening when I almost got a shot at a nice 8 point that I had seen 3 times prior. Saw 3 other bucks that night as well. Low point was not being able to find a good buck to put my tag on. Next year as I always say. Time to start filling the ice with holes...

[heat checker]

Only made it out 6 times. Harvested a big 6 pt (small rack). High point was 14 yr old son shot his first deer with bow. Low point was the yotes found it before we did.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I hunted my tail off.. probably more time in a stand this last year than any other.. and latter than ever as well... Got a doe mid/late in the season. Best shot on an animal in my life.. Am happy with that...

BUT..........................

Am looking forward to 2008 more than I can hardly stand!!!! I bought into a land lease, and cant wait to scout it out and put up stands...

[harvey lee]

Our group had a very good year in North Dakota. I personally shot 5 deer with one being a nice 8 pointer. My son shot 5 deer all with his bow and the nice buck he has ever taken. Another guy took two deer in one morning and that was a first for him.

All our rifle hunters filled so, yes a wonderful season for our group.

We did hunt one nice buck for approx 1 month but we didnt connect with the bigger of the bucks.

Maybe the best part of the whole archery season was that my son really outhunted me with the bow. He has become one very good archer and probably better than I may ever be.

[tritonman]

Spent a lot of time in the stand this year with no trophy to show for it. Shot a doe in October. Passed tons of 1 and 2 year old bucks. Shot a big 9pt. with gun. Leaving for one last trip to Wisconsin tomorrow. Could be the lucky day!

[MNpurple]

If I can spend some time sitting in a tree or tucked behind some bushes with a bow, its a success, just love it.

I saw much fewer deer than normal this season, but I felt the rut was more active this year than the past 2 or 3. I harvested a doe in October, a 139" 9 pointer in early November, and another doe on December 27th. I was also fortunate enough to take a cow elk with my bow in Colorado in August. Overall a great year for me. The best was being there with my father when he harvested a doe with his bow, breaking a 4 year drought.

Gun seaosn doesnt start until Nvember 8 next year, we get the whole first week of the November rut to ourselves!

[Wanderer]

Held my draw at two different does early in the season for fear of deflection. Saw several bucks but only the young ones got close. Had to rely on the rifle to put the meat down. The miss at the nice 8 with the smokepole haunted me for awhile. 23 years I counted since the last one like that.

All total 26 different deer sighted on stand this year compared to the 70-80 average the last few years. One deer down instead of 3. Funny thing about equations.

Nice buck MNpurple!

[surewood]

Passed on some small bucks and does. Arrowed two does one in the late season. Shot a nice 8 pt. during firearms. My brother arrowed a nice 8pt. in the first two hours in the stand. No monsters but it was a good year. Thats also the first I heard that firearms does'nt open until the 8th that is awesome, good place for some vacation.

[sodajerk]

I took two nice does this year; one on Oct. 4 with the bow and the second on Nov. 23 with the shotgun. Saw no bucks big enough to take and passed up doing more bow hunting after the 3B gun season in favor of ice fishing, which began in early December this year.

Found some new deer ground in early November this year, which is where I shot the second doe. Excited to get in there earlier in the fall next year and do some scouting and bow hunting.

Got a freezer full of meat to last until next fall, and all in all it was a successful season in my book. Not as many deer seen as the past few years, but just as many taken.

For the next 8 months ice fishing and stream trout with the fly rod will occupy my time, but come Labor Day the deer take center stage again and the last month of trout season is a nice after work diversion.

A goal for next year is to take a deer and catch a trout in the same day. I've never done that before. There's only a 2 1/2 week window in which bow season and trout fishing overlap, so the pressure is on!

[tunrevir]

My season went pretty well this year. I was able to shoot a doe, a nubbin buck , and a 5 point. Each deer came froma different peice of land which was kind of fun. I also had the oppurtunity to hunt with a couple fellow FM'rs which made the hunt more fun. I learned some new territory, missed hunting some other new territory and got to enjoy new friends. Great year all in all!

Tunrevir~

[BLACKJACK]

I had a good year harvest wise but was unsatisfied because I really didn't get out archery hunting enough. With the decreased limits in zone 4 - one deer only - I was kind of discouraged, I wasn't going to shoot a doe early and end my season, so I didn't bother to go out until mid Oct. Then the very first time out, I had a nine point come by me and he was big enough I wasn't going to pass on him, he was the biggest buck that I've shot with my bow - bingo, my bow season was done, only one time in the stand!!!! Guess I was spoiled from past years, being able to shoot an early doe and then going buck hunting. Another factor was that we're busy at work, I knew I wouldn't be able to take as much time off - but I really missed that time in the stand, especially that first week in Nov. This year will be different, if the limit is still one, I won't be filling my tag until Nov - unless its a wall hanger!!! Plus I'm planning an archery hunt to SoDak to get my archery lust satisfied.

[FL SNIPER]

Overall this past season was great! I did not have the numbers (of deer down) as some did but I was able to harvest one doe with my bow and I seen more deer than I ever have so I consider that a success. But most importantly I was fortunate enough to meet and hunt with a couple fellow FM-ers who I now consider friends. I just want to say thank you to them and their generiosity (with their hunting spots) towards me sets a good example to all. I really look forward not only to next hunting season but the upcoming fishing seasons to be able to get out with those guys and fish!

[EXTREME]

Probably the worst season that I have had bowhunting ever. I contribute it to lack of scouting. The lack of scouting can be contributed to more family time. Tough to do everything with 2 young boys. As the years progress, I will be back on it. I did manage to shoot a fawn with my bow and 2 does with a rifle. Passed on some smaller bucks, just nothing big enough to shoot. I did fish more in October than usual...did well on the walters . Fishing is easier to do with kids that are awfully fidgity. No hard feelings though. I will get them next year!!

[maros91]

This year ended up taking 2 deer with a bow and one with a gun. All does. This was my 2nd year waiting for a buck 8pts or better. Last year I thought it would be hard to pass on small bucks but the more you do it the easier it is. Picked up a new place in St. Francis this year and thought I had it all scouted out only to find out that I didn't. One of the does that I got came from Camp Ripley which was a first so that was exciting. One lesson learned from this year: You can never do enough scouting.

[metrojoe]

I didn't hunt in Minnesota at all this year. I spent some time scouting and found a couple locations to hunt, but never had the time. For the second year in a row I ended up putting all my eggs in one basket and banked on having a successful 8 day hunt in Wisconsin. I filled my buck tag and one of my doe tags the last 3 days of the hunt. I even had to pass on a nice 8 pointer on the last day because my tag was filled. Oh well, didn't bother me too much knowing I already had the freezer full.

[daydreamer]

I bowhunted quite a bit early in the season and enjoyed myself a ton. I ended up finding a spot near the metro about 7 miles from my house so it was nice to get out quite often. Didn't end up shooting a deer on that land but was able to take a doe with the bow at 7 yards after the buck had been harvested with the rifle on our land up north.

I'm looking forward to hitting up my spot close to home quite a bit next year again. Hopefully do more scouting and hopefully the nice 7 pt I saw this year will mature into something bigger. Enjoy the off season.

[bigbucks]

A good season, not great, although I still killed plenty of deer. I spent more time in stand then ever before. Saw less deer per outing & especially less close deer. Hunted Ripley for the first time. Low point was losing a yearling doe I shot there, killed her, couldn't find her. Shot my first WI deer with the bow, albeit it was a button buck, but in an EAB area. Finally got a MN bow deer on 12/15, a big doe. Passed on a small 7 & two young 8's & a couple of fawns throughout the archery season. Didn't see a deer while on stand morning or night on bow opener, which is the first in a long time. Had a good year with firearms though. Early doe season had a very fun 10 minutes right before dark Saturday night (3). Shot two bucks during shotgun season, one was a runt, I should have let it go. The other one I thought was wounded, it wasn't. Passed on several small bucks & fawns with the rifle the end of the first week.

[Stratosman]

To me, a great season doesn't neccesarily hinge on whether or not I killed a deer, but simply having the opportunity to enjoy what mother nature has to offer and all the sights and sounds and emotions that people that do not hunt will never experience. Every single minute in the deerstand is a blessing and an awesome experience and the clock cannot tick fast enough till next season.

Now what people really care about. I managed a doe on the first hunt of the season. As the season progressed I passed numerous smaller bucks. Witnessed 5 bucks that I would have been happy with, screwed up on two of them, one picked me off and another I had a twig deflect my arrow flight, grrrr . All part of bowhunting and I would have never had those ups and downs sitting on the couch!

All in all an awesome season once again.

[st.crioxfishin]

Even though I didn't harvest a deer this year, I had a ton of fun and learned a lot. I hunted all new land this year. I saw plenty of deer, but never shot. I figured out how hard it really is when you have to break down a piece of land by yourself in one year; instead of being set up in a honey hole by your uncle . I was able to both bowhunt and fish on my birthday during the season; the fishing was awesome on a sunny fall day, but I didn't see a deer. I was able to hunt before and after class during the week and still ended up having my best semester yet during school...I think that means I need to spend even more time in the stand next year .

[archerystud]

High Point: Shot my buck with an 18 inch spread on the first hunt of the year. That will never happen again.

Low Point: Missed a doe about 2 weeks later. Good news is I missed her clean since she jumped the string.

[so haaad]

I would say that I had a pretty solid archery season. I was able to take 3 deer with a new bow this year including a 9-pointer, an 8-pointer and a doe. Unfortunately I also found out just how successful of hunters those darn coyotes can be (aka, the "donation" of my shot 9-pointer to them). But what a great experience.

I was also fortunate to bowhunt with two FMers on here who have become good friends and now fishing buds, too. Kudos to both of them for great seasons, and I look forward to fishing and hunting with them again in the future.

[paceman]

I had a pretty solid year. Shot two does, one being the last weekend of December. Saw tons of deer, a few really nice bucks that hopefully survive until next season. Passed up a few small guys and gals. I have been hunting this land for two years now and am starting to pinpoint the spots on the spots. I am looking forward to a succesful 2008 season..

[luedke]

me and my 2 roomates at Top Pin Archery in Ely, mn shot a total of 9 deer with our bows including a wide 10 pointer. roomates girlfriend also shot her first deer, about 160 pound doe.