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  • Derwood

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 2, 2011
    1,075
    DC area
    I hear you. I would have preferred a late season fawn so it had a little more meat to it. Probably next year I’ll hold off for that.

    Now’s the time to find some bigger ones. Got the ground blind out, trail cam up, mineral salt licks been out a couple of weeks (I think they are ignoring it for now) and thinking about making a corn pile. Watched another fawn and her mom walk through my clearing near the salt lick from my garage window, but they never got closer than 60yds. Would have been 30 from the blind if it had been up and me in it.

    Out of curiosity what does everyone think of lighted nocks? I’ve never lost an arrow or had one stuck in a deer. Any thoughts on does it make it easier enough to find your arrow to make it worth while? Just thinking of anything I can do to step up my archery game. Probably getting a new crossbow next year. I’ve got a basic Barnett which works fine and is nice and accurate (3 bolts in 2” at 30yds sitting, no support), but it is pretty heavy, especially front heavy. I’d put a little weight in the stock, but it’s probably already 10lbs with the 3 bolt quiver and 4x scope on it. I think either 320 or 330fps.

    I am hoping I can find something a pound or so lighter, preferably better balanced, but the lighter weight gives me more flexibility to add a bit of weight in the stock. Preferably more like 350-380fps. Also hoping to not break the bank. $300-600 would probably be my price range.

    Leave my current xbow in the garage then.

    I got lighted knocks a few years ago and won't hunt without one now. It makes it a lot easier to see where your arrow hits the deer; makes recovering the arrow extremely simple (not always a problem but can be) and there is always the chance that it stays in the deer for at least part of its run. The first time I used a lighted knock the arrow happened to get stick in the deer (I shot it very high shoulder from an elevated stand) and the arrow got stick in the lower ribs. That made finding the deer really easy, even though it ran pretty far into a thickly wooded ditch.
     

    jefflac02

    Active Member
    Dec 28, 2016
    547
    3bdbdd1883b3e22344dd128667e1e084.jpg

    My son got his first archery harvest last night. Stupid coyote scared two off my stand at 60 yards out. One of them was a nice one.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    I got lighted knocks a few years ago and won't hunt without one now. It makes it a lot easier to see where your arrow hits the deer; makes recovering the arrow extremely simple (not always a problem but can be) and there is always the chance that it stays in the deer for at least part of its run. The first time I used a lighted knock the arrow happened to get stick in the deer (I shot it very high shoulder from an elevated stand) and the arrow got stick in the lower ribs. That made finding the deer really easy, even though it ran pretty far into a thickly wooded ditch.

    Any suggestion on which ones to use?
     

    jefflac02

    Active Member
    Dec 28, 2016
    547
    Thanks everyone. He was pretty pumped last night. He’s been practicing hard for a few weeks with his crossbow. Next year he wants to use a compound, if he can draw it. He likes getting a buck this early in the year.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    Mike3888

    Mike3888
    Feb 21, 2013
    1,125
    Dundalk, Md-Mifflin,Pa
    Hmm, I said two more in my first post. Meant two total. First probably would have done it if I didn’t mind waiting 5 or 10 minutes. Second one and it was gone in less than a minute. If I’d had my knife, I would have saved the arrow...though I really don’t want to have to finish off any deer with a knife.



    No harm no foul here. I don’t give 2 craps on what size deer it is that any body shoots. Just don’t make any sense to shoot the up and comers especially since you report about the # of deer you see. The young dumb ones are the best decoys you could have.
     

    Huuman

    Active Member
    Jul 20, 2019
    151
    Trail cameras been placed for a week. I am seeing tons of does and fawns. Not a single buck yet. Is it still too early for them? Im hunting on my small 3 acres home. Have feeders in my backyard that get almost a dozen does daily, but never any bucks. but i have 2 acres of wood. Should I relocate feeder into woods? Wife love seeing deers in the yard and dont want me to stop them in anyway, i figured i can trees stand in wood funnel that i know they pass by to get to feeders. That is where cameras are set now. But i been on property for 2 months. Never seen any bucks so figured they stay in wood and only hit feeders at night. Should i be patient? I keep hearing where there is does there will be bucks.
     

    Speed3

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 19, 2011
    7,816
    MD
    I'd leave feeders in yard, but put a small pile on the ground and a trail camera facing it.

    I've noticed that I'll catch some deer on the woods trail cam that wont show up in the backyard and vice versa.
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    Thanks everyone. He was pretty pumped last night. He’s been practicing hard for a few weeks with his crossbow. Next year he wants to use a compound, if he can draw it. He likes getting a buck this early in the year.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    I mean, doesn’t everyone (except for Outrider. If he can’t put a harness on it to plow his fields it isn’t big enough to be worth shooting)?

    Congrats to your son! A fine deer. My older one was out with me tracking down the fawn on Saturday (not like I didn’t know where it went, but I figured a good exercise for him). Younger two were at friend’s houses. This morning my older one got on the bus right after I shot a doe and the middle one helped me track it (he is REALLY good at it! I am taking him on all my hunts from now on) and the younger one came out to see the deer a little later.

    First time they’ve all seen a dead deer. Especially blood trails and what not. Handled it better then I sort of expected them to. None wanted to stick around for field dressing, but that’s fine. Only my 5th season hunting and the kids are 11, 9 and 7. The middle one is obsessed with deer.

    Doe was further in my meadow out of range, went up in to my front wood and I saw her circle around past my garage and down my hill from a window so I ran back out in to the garage. 23yds from the garage window to where she was hit. A couple inches lower than I thought I was aiming, but perfect heart shot. Still managed about 100yds flat out running in to the woods. Arrow broke ribs and lodged in the muscle of the opposite shoulder. Very slight quartering away angle. Broke the arrow head running. Must have brushed a tree (she also broke the leg she had hunched up running).

    I lost sight of her so I waited 45 minutes and found her right where I had lost sight of her. Must have collapsed instead have stopped and fallen.

    No spots this time even if she isn’t enormous, maybe a yearling or 2 1/2yr old. I’d guess 90-100lbs live weight. Wasn’t the smallest deer in the cooler when I dropped her at the butcher this time :-P
     

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    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    Hmm, I said two more in my first post. Meant two total. First probably would have done it if I didn’t mind waiting 5 or 10 minutes. Second one and it was gone in less than a minute. If I’d had my knife, I would have saved the arrow...though I really don’t want to have to finish off any deer with a knife.



    No harm no foul here. I don’t give 2 craps on what size deer it is that any body shoots. Just don’t make any sense to shoot the up and comers especially since you report about the # of deer you see. The young dumb ones are the best decoys you could have.

    True. And in the future I doubt I’ll shoot a fawn. Tasty, tender, but not a ton of meat and I just got excited about harvesting my first deer ever on MY property. I’ll be hunting public land later for ML and gun, but certainly feels exhilarating, like freedom to hunt my own property.

    Yearling seems to be where it is at. Twice the meat, bigger target, still tender. At least close enough together with the doe I shot this morning to pick it all up from the game processor at once rather than make two, 50 minute long round trips.

    Also probably done till early ML unless one of those bigger bucks show up in my yard in range again. Only really need 1 more deer to fill my freezer. 2 more I can use (and give some to a friend). Any more would be donated, so I figure I should wait to get any more ;)
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    Trail cameras been placed for a week. I am seeing tons of does and fawns. Not a single buck yet. Is it still too early for them? Im hunting on my small 3 acres home. Have feeders in my backyard that get almost a dozen does daily, but never any bucks. but i have 2 acres of wood. Should I relocate feeder into woods? Wife love seeing deers in the yard and dont want me to stop them in anyway, i figured i can trees stand in wood funnel that i know they pass by to get to feeders. That is where cameras are set now. But i been on property for 2 months. Never seen any bucks so figured they stay in wood and only hit feeders at night. Should i be patient? I keep hearing where there is does there will be bucks.

    I can’t say I know enough for anything authoritative. That said, my property is 4.4 acres, about 3 of it woods and 2 of it woods in the back with a creek at the bottom of the valley (house is at the top of the valley, maybe 200yds across, 20yds or so deep)

    The said I have a nice meadow on one side of my house and chicken coop at the edge of it. Meadow is about 40yds across and is maybe 20yds from my house for the edge of it. Then I’ve got some front woods and my neighbor’s fenced yard starts at the corner of the meadow. Deer tend to walk down the gully next to her fence in to my front woods and either feed in to her front yard and then loop around back in to her woods or go the other way in to the neighborhood.

    Or they’ll come out of the woods in my other side yard which is open woods and feed out in to the backyard lawns of my neighbors (maybe 5 acres worth of lawn between all of their backyards with no trees in them).

    So far I’ve seen at least 20 different deer and it’s probably more since we moved in, in early May. I’d guess it’s more like 40+ deer. Biggest group I’ve seen was 10 or 11 at once. Usually it is 2-5 at a time.

    For bucks, the meadow side of the house gets a spike buck, but otherwise it is almost all does and fawns. I THINK I’ve seen a fork with them a couple of times.

    The other side yard is a mix. Sometimes does. Sometimes does and fawns. Sometimes bucks. Sometimes all genders. I’ve seen a huge 9 point and a huge 8 point on different days. Plus some 5, 7 and smaller 8 point bucks, a fork and some spikes that have moved through there. I’ve seen them out in my front lawn down by the street 100yds away. No idea if they feed through the side yard with the meadow or the other side yard.

    The area is a feeder from the state park maybe 3/4 a mile away. Whole valley (200yds wide) is woods maybe 600yds long. A LOT of deer move through their filtering in and out of the neighborhood.

    Generally it is about once every 2 weeks I’ll see bucks. Does and fawns I see almost every day and usually several and usually more than once in a day. That doesn’t count all of the ones I am not seeing. I finally put up a trail cam on modal evening. I am going to pull the card in a week or so and then turn it to point in to the meadow. Right now it’s at the edge pointing towards my shed/house. I’d imagine it caught the doe I shot this morning as it walked right by the trail cam and couldn’t have been 10yds away from it when I shot it.

    I have a ground blind right next to the trail cam and of course shot the doe from my garage window instead. I spread a bit of corn in the meadow the last two nights and some of the deer are eating it. Maybe 4lbs of corn each time (I use a laundry detergent container with the bottom cut off as a scoop for the deer corn and also chicken pellets). Also a mineral salt lick in the middle of the field. First time I saw a deer actually use it was last night. They’ve mostly been waking right by it since I or it out last week.

    The side yard where the big bucks have been moving through is off limits to hunting. I’ve only talked to two neighbors about hunting and they are fine with it (one encouraged me to shoot every animal I can find, she hates animals. Other one doesn’t mind hunting and hates the deer eating all her stuff. I have permission to hunt her 4.4 acres, not just retrieve). Fortunately those two are the ones closest to my little meadow.

    The other neighbors over there I’d need to talk to probably 5 neighbors and one of them I am pretty sure wouldn’t be okay with me if a deer dropped dead on their property. It also happens to be the neighbor who’s daughter is good friends with my 7yr old daughter. So I don’t want to mess that up either by having a deer run on to their property or ask permission.

    So I’ll keep all my hunting to the other side or down deep in the woods where it is likely to stay on my property, go on to the property of the neighbors I’ve talked to or at worst manages to make it across the creek to the property where the two neighbors have a deer stand hung right between their property lines...that’ll probably be an easy ask to retrieve (most of the creek bank is 4-7ft high and 30-40ft side. so if the deer doesn’t run to a ford, it probably isn’t jumping back out of the creek after taking an arrow).
     

    Pale Ryder

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 12, 2009
    6,234
    Millersville
    Congrats. 2nd pic, did the blades not extend, or did you push them back in place?
    Yesterday afternoon was my first time out this season. It was warmer than anticipated, didn't see anything but one skrawny squirrel, and a turkey. May head out Friday since it's supposed to be cooler.
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    Congrats. 2nd pic, did the blades not extend, or did you push them back in place?
    Yesterday afternoon was my first time out this season. It was warmer than anticipated, didn't see anything but one skrawny squirrel, and a turkey. May head out Friday since it's supposed to be cooler.

    They retracted when I pulled the arrow out. Good sized hole in, perfect 3 limbed hole through the heart and the same in the opposite ribs. Looks like the blades pushed all the way through the opposite ribs, but couldn’t quite make it through the rest of the meat and hide after breaking the ribs.

    Slightly closer look at entry

    Also hoping I can lure a turkey in during the season. I’ve never seen or heard them in the neighborhood, but I’ve seen them back in the park and along the pipeline 3/4 mile away. I’ll be happy enough just deer hunting the property, but if I can turkey hunt it too...heaven.
     

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    newmuzzleloader

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Apr 14, 2009
    4,765
    joppa
    True. And in the future I doubt I’ll shoot a fawn. Tasty, tender, but not a ton of meat and I just got excited about harvesting my first deer ever on MY property. I’ll be hunting public land later for ML and gun, but certainly feels exhilarating, like freedom to hunt my own property.

    Yearling seems to be where it is at. Twice the meat, bigger target, still tender. At least close enough together with the doe I shot this morning to pick it all up from the game processor at once rather than make two, 50 minute long round trips.

    Also probably done till early ML unless one of those bigger bucks show up in my yard in range again. Only really need 1 more deer to fill my freezer. 2 more I can use (and give some to a friend). Any more would be donated, so I figure I should wait to get any more ;)

    Don't wipe 'em all out in your first season, you'll want to shoot some next year..... I remember gutting a deer my daughter shot when my son was about 5 or so, "can I poke that with a stick" he asks when I'm pulling the stomach and organs out. Lol
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    Don't wipe 'em all out in your first season, you'll want to shoot some next year..... I remember gutting a deer my daughter shot when my son was about 5 or so, "can I poke that with a stick" he asks when I'm pulling the stomach and organs out. Lol

    Lol.

    Not a chance. Pretty sure there are only a couple of guys who hunt in the neighborhood plus me. I count >>>20 different deer coming through my property not counting what’s coming through theirs.

    My plan is to try to get one of the bigger bucks I’ve seen. Otherwise the rest of my hunting this year will be public land unless I get in to later December or January and didn’t connect on public land. Or one of my friends/neighbor wants one, but everyone I know who might either has gotten one already or they swear up and down they’ll be hunting this season.

    Well I guess the caveat if my family eats more venison. The boys often love it and one is hitting adolescence. Last couple of years we’ve been so busy I haven’t cooked much compared to normal. My wife will only cook with ground (any further deer I am getting back straps and grind the rest). Got maybe 20lbs from my 5-pt from last year still. I am hoping to eat through it fast now that I have two coming from the game processor soon and I am pretty confident I can get one or two more if I set my mind to it (and I’ve got 3 days of early ML I am for sure hunting on public land. Going to try to de eastern shore for the late gun season. Might try a little late ML season hunting also).

    So this could end up being a year of 4 or 5 deer.

    Anyway, after 3 unless the 3rd is small or we start really hitting the venison hard, I am done hunting unless I find a friend who wants a deer and doesn’t mind paying the butcher.
     

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