Put it this way. If you shoot hawg, then later on doe hunting you have moe come in you had him dead to rights sh Would you be ok knowing you can't shoot him, or kicking yourself in the ass because you settled? I settled last year and missed out on a MUCH bigger deer.
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- Thread starter bowhunter1023
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Jesse- Things happen for a reason. You had some screw ups last year. So what? It happens. It is why we continue to bow hunt. If it were easy, I guarantee you this site would not exist. We would move onto a bigger challenge. Moe is back this year and he is bigger. Maybe someone was looking out for you and testing your ability to wait and be patient? Maybe there is something bigger in store for you?
There is always an element of luck involved. You cannot create luck. I don't care how much you know about this deer's movements. Winds swirl. Tree stands creak. Things happen. You can be in the right place, at the right time, and not be presented the right shot. This is where luck comes into play and this is where the difference between you making it happen through your own persistence, patience, and intestinal fortitude come into play, or. . . you settle. I was being honest when I said shoot what makes you happy. If another deer of equal caliber comes into your shooting lane that you have never seen before, then shoot him! There would be no shame in this. If you wait all season for Moe and it doesn't happen, then it doesn't happen. Nobody here is having the doubts in you that YOU are having. No one else is judging you except YOU! We would all love to see you with Moe, but if you shoot a mature deer and are happy with it, I cannot see anyone whispering in the shadows. Just not the way we are around here, and you should know that as well as anyone. We would all be happy for you either way. You have a somewhat unique ability to find some dandy hawgs every year. You already have a talent that many do not have. Best of luck this year in whatever you decide!
I edit to expand on "somewhat unique". There are certainly others that share this ability. Therefore it is not totally unique. However, there is a very small percentage of hunters out there I can think of that get onto big deer with consistency the way you do.
There is always an element of luck involved. You cannot create luck. I don't care how much you know about this deer's movements. Winds swirl. Tree stands creak. Things happen. You can be in the right place, at the right time, and not be presented the right shot. This is where luck comes into play and this is where the difference between you making it happen through your own persistence, patience, and intestinal fortitude come into play, or. . . you settle. I was being honest when I said shoot what makes you happy. If another deer of equal caliber comes into your shooting lane that you have never seen before, then shoot him! There would be no shame in this. If you wait all season for Moe and it doesn't happen, then it doesn't happen. Nobody here is having the doubts in you that YOU are having. No one else is judging you except YOU! We would all love to see you with Moe, but if you shoot a mature deer and are happy with it, I cannot see anyone whispering in the shadows. Just not the way we are around here, and you should know that as well as anyone. We would all be happy for you either way. You have a somewhat unique ability to find some dandy hawgs every year. You already have a talent that many do not have. Best of luck this year in whatever you decide!
I edit to expand on "somewhat unique". There are certainly others that share this ability. Therefore it is not totally unique. However, there is a very small percentage of hunters out there I can think of that get onto big deer with consistency the way you do.
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Shoot whatever makes your weener tickle man.....it's up to you and nobody else.....nobody here is going to be disappointed in you either way. Look at what just happened to Kaiser....there was certainly a good amount of luck involved there because he didn't know that buck existed.....same thing could happen to you tomorrow or the next day.
I don't know how you have stayed on Moe from early this summer until now and all of the sudden decide that you don't think he is killable....that is the doubt in the back of your mind....the same doubt that will live with you for years to come until who knows when. All it takes is patience Jesse. Look, it's only the 2nd of November, bucks aren't really even close to being in full swing yet and I am hearing you doubt your chances.....stop it man! You have the upper hand in this deck of cards....you know where he travels, where he beds, where he looks for does and where he eats. Keep your focus, hunt hard and smart and when the time is right it will come together for you.....half the battle is mental here, just like golf. You have to keep your head in the game.
Good luck bud.
I don't know how you have stayed on Moe from early this summer until now and all of the sudden decide that you don't think he is killable....that is the doubt in the back of your mind....the same doubt that will live with you for years to come until who knows when. All it takes is patience Jesse. Look, it's only the 2nd of November, bucks aren't really even close to being in full swing yet and I am hearing you doubt your chances.....stop it man! You have the upper hand in this deck of cards....you know where he travels, where he beds, where he looks for does and where he eats. Keep your focus, hunt hard and smart and when the time is right it will come together for you.....half the battle is mental here, just like golf. You have to keep your head in the game.
Good luck bud.
I guess it depends if you consider yourself a trophy hunter or not. I say if your a trophy hunter then I say stick with Moe. If deep down you don't think that you can swallow shooting something smaller/non target then by all means don't. Why let yourself down twice?
I had a buck I have been after for two years. Trophy. I now realize I don't have it in me. I am a deer hunter without the passion to be a trophy hunter. I just wanna enjoy my time and not be bummed about ANY deer I take.
The only limitations I have if it tickles my pickle. One bad thing about a site like this for me...comparing myself, land, abilities, deer, etc against others. Not doing it anymore and I am a much happier hunter.
I hope this is making sense. Lol. Basically do what makes you happy and don't let peer influence, or an artificial/outside influence change your perspective.
Don't worry be happy, and shoot what tickles the pickle!
My enjoyment comes from the act not the size of the rack. Sure, if I kill a slunger it will add to the enjoyment.
I had a buck I have been after for two years. Trophy. I now realize I don't have it in me. I am a deer hunter without the passion to be a trophy hunter. I just wanna enjoy my time and not be bummed about ANY deer I take.
The only limitations I have if it tickles my pickle. One bad thing about a site like this for me...comparing myself, land, abilities, deer, etc against others. Not doing it anymore and I am a much happier hunter.
I hope this is making sense. Lol. Basically do what makes you happy and don't let peer influence, or an artificial/outside influence change your perspective.
Don't worry be happy, and shoot what tickles the pickle!
My enjoyment comes from the act not the size of the rack. Sure, if I kill a slunger it will add to the enjoyment.
Buckmaster
Senior Member
Welcome to the world of Deer Hunting Jesse. In retrospect, you are still just getting started. With failure; comes accomplishment. With accomplishment; comes confidence. With persistance; comes payoff.
Boone
*Supporting Member*
Lots of good advice here. It IS still early. Make your own luck by sticking with your high-level effort!
It's not about size. (Completely...) It's about the story. Moe's story grew to the level I was at in 2008 with Deuce, and then some this summer. When I first started bowhunting, the goal was a wall full of 130's and up. Then it evolved to the chase for several OBB caliber deer. With Deuce, it took a turn down the road of building a story-line with a deer and taking the story from Day 1, to the taxidermist. Moe rekindled that flame after last season, and then threw gas on the fire this summer. I decided after the hunt for Deuce that I would give up the wall full of respectable "happen chance" deer, for a much smaller wall filled with a few deer that had stories that would stand the test of time.
I appreciate the great advice offered herein. What is running through my head is October 28th, November 14th, and November 15th of 2008. The 28th, I get a pic of Deuce under a stand an hour after last light after two months of nothing. I hunted hard and let the big 10 go on the 14th, a deer I would have shot any other time if it had not been for Deuce. The next night, I find out he had been dead since Halloween. I can't help but feel like I'm headed down the same path...
But Jesse... if you had shot the big ten and found out Deuce was still alive? That would be the way the tables are turned in this case. If you shoot Boss in the next 7 days and then Moe comes back to your corn and chomps away like the Moe Fuggar he is, then what?
You got a big decision to make....
If it were me and I did decide that I was going to shoot Boss, it wouldn't be until after the last week in November. I would give Moe the benefit of the doubt that he is just off breeding an early doe or chasing some poon in the next hollar over... but he will be back. I would stick to my guns, if not for the whole season atleast until the rut is out.
Just my two cents, best of luck with whatever you decide!!
You got a big decision to make....
If it were me and I did decide that I was going to shoot Boss, it wouldn't be until after the last week in November. I would give Moe the benefit of the doubt that he is just off breeding an early doe or chasing some poon in the next hollar over... but he will be back. I would stick to my guns, if not for the whole season atleast until the rut is out.
Just my two cents, best of luck with whatever you decide!!
It's great to be able to think these kinds of things through with the voice of so many other like minded folks. Thoughts are not decisions until you put them in to motion and nothing is moving just yet; same goes for the woods apparently! LOL!!! All I know is November better be good to me!!!
Buckmaster
Senior Member
To be honest Boss looks like a good management buck, big body and small spindle frame. He'd be ideal for Tracie or one of your Sandridge clients. If he is indeed 4.5 he's more management potential than trophy potential next year. Hopefully that should help your decision to keep the focus on Moe till death do you part.
I agree with this. He did not add much to his frame this year and that was a disappointment. I can tell you right now if he would have made the same jump and been an upper 140's 8, I would not have to ask. He'd be dead given the chance. But he failed me there...
Only you can decide what's right for you, Jesse. If it's about stories, then you're going to have to accept the fact that you'll let a lot of nice bucks go. And not every story will have a happy ending... Hell, maybe some won't have an ending at all. I know it's cool to have a history with a certain buck, but I would forget about it if it were me. My opinion may be biased because I've not yet had any kind of history with a particular buck... But I say just go for what you consider a trophy, because in the end, they're all going to be epic stories. Even the ones you never knew existed until the day they bite the dust... that's a fuggin story too, brother.
Anywho... Quit worrying about Moe... the second act hasn't even started yet!
Anywho... Quit worrying about Moe... the second act hasn't even started yet!
There is some truth in that line. Sometimes the story unfolds after you tag your buck. I shot mine last year in a woods I had had tons of problems with trespassers, kids playing paintball, neighbor lady walking her dog through there every night. . . the list goes on. The story unfolded a couple weeks later though. My buddy called me up and said "We have a picture of your buck on trail camera!" He was the first shooter buck we had on camera at the farm he bought last year. We first saw the trail camera picture and were like kids at Christmas. Then he disappeared. On November 21, 2010 he was relocated and is now permanently located in my home on the wall! It is pretty dang cool to have harvested this deer. It makes it even better knowing he was first witnessed at the farm 1-1.5miles down the road on trail camera in early September. Not only that, but Hank found my buddy's deer last year. Well, his dog Tucker found my deer last year. Little did we know that our dogs would find each other's deer for the other last year, and not only that but my deer was the first we had on trail camera at his new farm! Sometimes the stories keep expanding after you tag the deer!
I understand. However for me It's all about the moment. The original target for me was chief however that goal seemed very unrealistic 2 weeks into the season when he was no where to be found. I had several other bucks that I had pics and footage of and basically gave up on him. 2 weeks ago I had him at 40 yards broadside. Was an amazing moment that had the heart pumpin but after 4 more sits in the same area in the last 2 weeks I have lost hope. Not all hope because he is still somewhere but He is sure as hell not gonna stop me from dropping the hammer on a 125+ buck either. To each their own
It is. I'm certain of that. But then again, developing a relationship with a buck might not appeal to you the way it does to me. I think you'd love every minute of it and it would leave you wanting more and more. That is exactly what happened to me. I'm not in any way saying that shooting a buck with zero history up to that second is any less of an accomplishment. However, there is something much deeper and far more spiritual about hunting and killing a buck you "know" IMHO. You begin to feel like you know their personality, almost like they become a friend/enemy all in one package. It is something that is hard to put in to words unless you have been down that road, but it is a feeling I would have a hard time living without as a bowhunter. That being said, the biggest lesson I learned with Deuce was to shoot "big enough" deer when given the chance. I'm not going to let for sure OBB deer walk just to hunt one deer after a certain point in my season. I'm nearing that point. Come the 12th, it is game one for any OBB qualifier I can find. Until then, it'll need to be BIG to get me to shoot.
There is an inherent risk that goes along with this "method/style" of hunting and I know that as well as anyone. You'll not hear me complain about that fact. Whine, bitch and moan, maybe! But never complain. My greatest passion in life is building the story around one deer and working to finish the story with my own hands. I'll leave a lot of partially written stories in the archives over the years, but the ones that do get finished will more than make up for those...
Rutin
Senior Member
Any updates or patterning on Moe here lately Jesse? Is he still being just a frequent around the farm or is he becoming hit and miss with the rut fast approaching?
I haven't seen him in 10+ days. I am checking cams later, so I'm hoping that changes in a few hours!
Yea, I gotta believe that if I were in the same situation as you, or went through something like you did with Deuce, I would be in the exact same state of mind. I think you have the right attitude and approach, Jesse. I really hope that Moe shows back up soon so you can write the final chapter to this one!