Jesse's 2016 Hunting Adventures
- Thread starter bowhunter1023
- Start date
Update to reflect Missouri and this morning.
Things are looking good at the farm. Fun hunt today seeing 3 basket racked 8's, one of whom was hard on a doe who wanted nothing to do with him. Best rut action I have seen in 11 years on that farm. It was also my first morning sit of the year, second sit total and first in a new stand. We have a bumper crop of young bucks, so I should see at least one cruising every hunt for the rest of the month. A few other things I've done in recent years are starting to pay off as well. I have realistic, but high hopes for what lies ahead.
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2016 Stats
Antlerless Sightings: 17
Bucks Sightings: 4
Different Bucks: 4
Shooters Seen: 0
Total Sightings: 21
Deer Killed: 0
Morning Hunts: 5
Evening Hunts: 5
All Day Sits: 0
Skunked Hunts: 3
Total Hunts: 10
Hours on Stand: 30
Average Time Per Hunt: 3 Hours
Deer Seen Per Hour on Stand: .7
Stands/Blinds Hunted: 8
Properties Hunted:4
Things are looking good at the farm. Fun hunt today seeing 3 basket racked 8's, one of whom was hard on a doe who wanted nothing to do with him. Best rut action I have seen in 11 years on that farm. It was also my first morning sit of the year, second sit total and first in a new stand. We have a bumper crop of young bucks, so I should see at least one cruising every hunt for the rest of the month. A few other things I've done in recent years are starting to pay off as well. I have realistic, but high hopes for what lies ahead.
_______________________
2016 Stats
Antlerless Sightings: 17
Bucks Sightings: 4
Different Bucks: 4
Shooters Seen: 0
Total Sightings: 21
Deer Killed: 0
Morning Hunts: 5
Evening Hunts: 5
All Day Sits: 0
Skunked Hunts: 3
Total Hunts: 10
Hours on Stand: 30
Average Time Per Hunt: 3 Hours
Deer Seen Per Hour on Stand: .7
Stands/Blinds Hunted: 8
Properties Hunted:4
Today is not the day to whine about trivial things like deer hunting, but today went from such a high to one of the lowest lows of my life outside being laid off. Pulled a cam last night that said I should hunt the blind at K's spot today, which I did. At 7:05, Wilson followed the script and took arrow through the chest cavity. This is now the second Montec tipped arrow to go through a deer's chest cavity this year that I've not found. Greg came out to help and we decided to come back in the AM when it's easier to see. Just grid searching at this point. Walked close to 3 miles myself in 3 hours of looking this morning.
175 yards of blood trail dried up and we searched a 15 acre area for a body or other sign with no luck. No guts on the arrow. Small bubbles in the blood. Found no beds in an area where he should have laid down to die. Simply at a loss for words. I'm done for the year regardless. Either I put a tag on him, verify he survived, or never know for sure. When I released that arrow today, my buck tag went with it. I have some serious evaluating to do right now cause I'm not sure how much longer I want to do this stuff. You would think this would lead to a dead deer and only with my luck would it not. You can only invest so much of yourself and your resources in to a pursuit before the investment begins to bleed you dry. One of us bled dry today and only time will tell which one it was...
175 yards of blood trail dried up and we searched a 15 acre area for a body or other sign with no luck. No guts on the arrow. Small bubbles in the blood. Found no beds in an area where he should have laid down to die. Simply at a loss for words. I'm done for the year regardless. Either I put a tag on him, verify he survived, or never know for sure. When I released that arrow today, my buck tag went with it. I have some serious evaluating to do right now cause I'm not sure how much longer I want to do this stuff. You would think this would lead to a dead deer and only with my luck would it not. You can only invest so much of yourself and your resources in to a pursuit before the investment begins to bleed you dry. One of us bled dry today and only time will tell which one it was...
Looks and sounds identical to what I've done twice this year also. Right now I have a huge pull on just hanging up the bow. Build a smokeless and start hunting like Kim.
I was in the blind drinking coffee with the heater at my feet this AM. Cam pics confirmed he was bedding where I suspected. Sure as shit, he came out of there and marched through my food plot. For 11 years out there, and 16 total, I've worked towards today: Kill a buck I had history with and do it on my terms. I'm simply cursed...
Your not cursed buddy. Just bumped your head a little. Get straight back out there today! You'd get back on a wrecked 4-wheeler wouldn't you? Get Dressed.
I know how you feel. Same thing happened to me last Saturday. Have not been back out as I just can't get past the sick feeling. Have been driving past the farm everyday this week hoping to see buzzards or some other sign. Looking forward to pulling cards tomorrow to see if he showed up anywhere. The biggest thing is I keep replaying the whole thing over and over trying to figure out what went wrong. Still not for certain what happened.
Yep. I'm an emotional guy. I've fought tears of frustration all day. The amount of time, energy, blood, sweat, money and self I've put in to this quest over the last 11 yards has created a monkey on my back that carries the weight of a thousand men. To some, it's a laughable situation. To me, it's soul crushing. I know there are worse things in life, but right now, I've been in much better situations.
I puked 3 times last night... Bought my first brick of Busch Light of my life. Drank all 30... Might do it again tonight.
lung buster
Senior Member
Joel
Senior Member
Really sorry to hear that man. You're one of the good ones for caring as much as you do about it. Try not to let it tear you up too bad and I hope and pray that you find him.
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Nope. But the neighbor from NC who once again, on the last day at the last hour, shot a buck found him. Turns out, we shot the same deer. Me high and him through the guts/liver over 24 hours later. Waiting now to see him. Same duo that was here when the other guy killed DD. Great dudes who obviously have way better luck than I.
At the end of the day, I need to become a better archer. I got good at shooting dots and no so good at killing deer. I will be switching broadheads to something with a larger cutting diameter to assist with my failures to execute. I've paid my dues and it's not been enough. At this point all I can do is suck it up and keep on keeping on. It's obvious this ain't my gig, but there's no turning back now.
Will follow up with pics and more details later.
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