What helped you harvest a deer?

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nchunterkw
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Re: What helped you harvest a deer?

Post by nchunterkw »

Was blessed to harvest 6 this year. Probably the things that helped me most were:
- willingness to hike in to where others won't
- willingness to put in lots of time, specifically hunt other than the weekends
- flexibility - by sitting on the ground in a ghille suit and being able to adjust to what the deer were doing

FWIW baiting wasn't the ticket. Sure I sat over bait, but I did not shoot one over bait this year. They always came in late or were super spooky around it. I much prefer setting up on good sign and being super stealthy.

Best hunts of the year were when I was able to be with 3 different guys when they shot their first ever deer with a bow. Helped each one track them and find them in the dark. I think I was more excited for them than they were.
Keith
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and walk in it and find rest for your souls. - Jer 6:16

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cdwester
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Re: What helped you harvest a deer?

Post by cdwester »

405 + FOC + RangeFinder / Luck = Deer Hunting Success

Actually I would say all the stuff pre season is the most important. Scouting, trimming lanes, practicing range & angles, and more scouting.
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Boo
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Re: What helped you harvest a deer?

Post by Boo »

Keith, I'm betting that the willingness to go where others think it's too far to walk was your biggest asset.
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Deaf jeff
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Re: What helped you harvest a deer?

Post by Deaf jeff »

bait/food plots and deer smoke screen cover scent
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nchunterkw
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Re: What helped you harvest a deer?

Post by nchunterkw »

Boo wrote:Keith, I'm betting that the willingness to go where others think it's too far to walk was your biggest asset.
Agreed - and it is a magical experience. The walk in is really far, and if you harvest a deer something magical happens that makes the walk back out 3 times as far. :mrgreen:
Keith
Stand by the roads and look, and ask for the ancient paths; where the good way is,
and walk in it and find rest for your souls. - Jer 6:16

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paulaboutform
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Re: What helped you harvest a deer?

Post by paulaboutform »

I have to say for me it was my Leupold VX-R with the ballistic Firedot reticle. I shot my buck at forty yards at absolute last light. I never could have taken the shot without the illuminated firedot. Love it!
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Starvin' Hillbilly
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Re: What helped you harvest a deer?

Post by Starvin' Hillbilly »

I'd say this year we didn't stay locked down like have been . . . we'd hunt 2 mornings and one evening and if it didn't produce that 2'nd evening we were out trying to figure them out. we did good . . .got 7 and my new 355 2 of those. reading these forums and asking questions brought a lot of tricks to the trade.

going from rifle/ muzzleloader to xbow . . . i can't be as carefree as i have been in the past, so set up can be challenging where i hunt. hunted out of a climber for xbow and blind for muzzleloader and rifle.

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Jerod B.
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Re: What helped you harvest a deer?

Post by Jerod B. »

Summit Viper Elite Climbing Stand. 17 pounds of pure goodness, along with Third Hand Archery accessories.

I was able to hunt 14+ different trees on public land....lost count after a while.

Shot 3 deer with a bow.

NEVER done that in 22 years of bowhunting. It's going to be on like donkey kong next year with the crossbow!
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Re: What helped you harvest a deer?

Post by UPSMAN »

Without a doubt, the rut was my friend this year. Right place at the right time and letting the HOT doe walk. Love is a glorious thing. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
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Re: What helped you harvest a deer?

Post by Pydpiper »

This year I can chalk up my success to my son having his first legal year in the woods. It was textbook hunting with times, moon, wind, and enthusiasm. Deer don't have the same books though.
I got to lay this all out in front of him because I am lucky enough to hunt with some of the best the country has to offer. Repetition has taught me the ropes, 20 years of handling animals for a living helped too.
This year I got to combine my passion for the woods with a healthy dose of "please don't look like an ass in front of your son."
He knows I am an ass, and that is a problem. But he also knows that nobody understands animals better then me, so he listened anyways.
That faith got him his first deer, in his first legal hunt, in the first 10 seconds of our hunt.
Success, like anything else, is in the eye of the beholder. My first deer meant the world to me, always will, but it is pale in comparison to how I felt when I heard my sons bow "twang" as his first meaningful arrow left on a destination to a life of an outdoorsman.
He won't break a rule, a law, or his own newfound ethics. He has a heart of a hunter and got to put it through the tests. I loose my breath in the presence of deer, and I love every second of it. He sits calm, motivated, goalset.
After a hunt I can't help but wonder if the kid is even awake, but on the ride home, his pictures tell me he didn't miss a thing.
Motivation? Key to success? It is about the memories, never the kill.
Now at dinner, which is almost always game, he has no issues telling us his stories on how it went from an animal in the woods to his plate. At 13 he cleans his own game, tans the hides and cooks the food.
I wouldn't care if I never shot another animal for as long as I lived (total lie, don't believe that part), I just care that he or anyone else gets to experience that "moment", that moment when you know something is going to die (or get a sore spot in my case), and you make a decision, to put the heart aside for the 10th of a second it takes to tug a trigger, because you know in the end that you did the right thing.
To answer the question, my success is based on my friends (one in particular) and positive parenting. Success comes in many flavors, they all taste sweet.
If you are not willing to learn, nobody can help you, if you are willing, nobody can stop you.
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agingcrossbower
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Re: What helped you harvest a deer?

Post by agingcrossbower »

I tried Ozonic's for scent control. Not one blow me off and even downwind. They would look a little but no blow. It is worth carting around. :D
bubba
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Re: What helped you harvest a deer?

Post by bubba »

That was heavy,Congrats to you and yours this season Pyd, Hunting with your son. I can relate with you, with my son, my grandson,and my grand dauther. And being with two of them when they harvested there first deer. There an'nt nothing can compare to that. Only possibly the memories its all good.......
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hunt2sleep
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Re: What helped you harvest a deer?

Post by hunt2sleep »

I tried out Buck Bomb this year and killed a doe and a buck while using the doe P scent. I think I was also using young buck scent when I killed the buck.
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Re: What helped you harvest a deer?

Post by DaGriz »

The biggest contributor to success for me is Patience
Patience while pre-season scouting to find the ideal place, Patience to pattern the deer and learn their habits
Patience to wait for them to show up
Patience to not shoot until the perfect opportunity present it’s self
The list for patience goes on and on!

Definitely the highest contributor to success is PATIENCE
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DuckHunt
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Re: What helped you harvest a deer?

Post by DuckHunt »

This year I can contribute my success to experience and hunting in a target rich environment. I bagged 8 in what turned out to be a banner year. I only bagged that many because I was no longer sharing the small patch of woods with my kids who are now out of the house. This year my daughter was skunked, so she has advised me she will be accompanying me again next season. My personal success for next year looks to take a dive but I couldn't be happier.

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