Hell, ill throw it out there, "i know something"
- Thread starter huntn2
- Start date
1hornwilly
*Supporting Member III*
ImpalaSSpeed96
Junior Member
Archertl
Senior Member
whack
Junior Member
ickle: :smiley_coolpeace:
Huckleberry Finn
Senior Member
- 15,973
- 135
Friggin awesome man, I was so pumped to get that text this morning.
They do get easier - as Milo told me once - now that you've got your first, the second is easy, so shoot the next brown thing you see!
They do get easier - as Milo told me once - now that you've got your first, the second is easy, so shoot the next brown thing you see!
dante322
*Supporting Member*
Alphamax10
Member
First, I would like to thank the TOO Family for the congratulatory messages.
This morning was very special for me. This is my 5th season bow hunting and hunting OH and up until today I hadn't found success in the Buckeye State. My father-in-law and brother-in-law (Alphamax) got me into hunting with deer and turkey in 2006 after I married their daughter/sister in 2005. Why I didn't start hunting with them back in 2002/2003 when I began dating Alyssa is beyond me. Either way, I started hunting with them in NY and PA and instantly became hooked. It was time to start bowhunting and find land in OH. The 4 month long season, quality of deer, etc. made it practical to hunt here.
In short, I quickly learned gaining access to land in NE OH isn't easy. My only land access due to city ordinances and willing landowners is a 45-60 min drive time away. This has made it challenging with starting/raising a family.
Over the years, I haven't found myself in positions where I have deer within bow range. Heck, I have had difficulty just seeing deer. Through 4 seasons, I had drawn my bow 3 times. One thing I have learned from the TOO brotherhood is to be more mobile. To that end, I picked up a Millennium this year (thanks JBrown) and was able to quickly increase my number of setups with ladders and receiver brackets. I hope to get a set of Lone Wolf or Muddy sticks for Christmas to truly become more mobile but felt I was headed in the right direction this season. I needed to be able to bounce around to different areas accomodating different winds rather than continusously pray something would change where I was setup getting skunked.
3 weeks ago, Greg and I had a nice conversation at Strouds Run. The summary of his message, forget the cameras and hunt the sign and hunt what your gut tells you. The weekend following Strouds Run, I was getting absolutely poured on one morning and decided to get down and use the downpour to do a quick scouting mission. I found a great rub line. I knew that this same section had been tore up with sign the previous year so it was time to make a move. Last Saturday I hung a 20' ladder and receiver with the intentions of hunting the spot hard this week. The adjustment paid off with me finally not only seeing deer, but getting them in bow range.
Sunday 11/4 - I had a good buck trailing a doe at 50 yards
Wednesday 11/7 - I had a great 8 pt work along the rub line. He laid a scrap, skirted me a bit and then came back in presenting me a 30 yard shot that I blew. Missed low and I was crushed. The quest for an OH whitetail with my bow continued...
Thursday 11/8 - I saw 4 doe and 2 bucks. One buck was in range 1st thing in the morning but it was too dark for shooting. One doe was in range just after last light.
Friday 11/9 - The journey put the final sentence on the 1st chapter. I caught movement across a thick wide brushy creek bottom full of tops. About 150 yards away I saw a doe in my binoculars. Looking to see what was trailing her, if anything, I find it to be 2 does and 2 little ones. They are working West to East to my North and fortunate for me they decided to head South. At about 8:30 the 2 fawns come out of the bottom and are milling around playing with one another 20-30 yards to my NW. The 2 doe finally come straight in and walk up to 10 yards from my tree. They stop, turn to their left (East) and start working completely downwind of me. Scent Smoker comes through again! As soon as they turned and began to walk away I drew. My feet were all goofy as they were positioned such that I had just stood up because I was anticipating a shot off to my left based on where the fawns were. Unable to adjust my feet with 4 deer within 20 yards, I rotated at the hips and the 2nd doe stepped into a lane.
I let out a bleat to stop her, I settled my pin trying my hardest not to rush the shot after the miss Wednesday night and touched the release. The two doe take off and one splits right and the other slight left at 60 yards to my East. I am fairly confident I heard the one peal left immediately crash. The little ones didn't know what to do and kept walking back and forth at 15-20 yards in front of me. The 2nd doe circles to my South and comes back in to collect the little ones. She is accompanied by a little buck that starts to run the 3 of them around as he is grunting. As fun as it is to see this little horny guy running in circles at 30-40 yards, I am dying to check my arrow and the spot the doe was standing.
30 minutes passed by the time the little buck, the doe and 2 little ones moved along. I climbed down, walked over to my arrow and find a lot of blood instantly.
I look right and see what I believe to be my first OH whitetail, my first bow kill. I follow the blood trail for good measure for 55 yards to what indeed is her. I was ecstatic. I couldn't believe the monkey was off my back. I couldn't believe that I finally got it done with my bow.
Thanks to all in the TOO family for the support over the years. Whether it be knowledge/insight shared, Jesse opening his house and land to help in my quest, or just the fellowship that this place fosters, I can't thank you all enough.
This morning was very special for me. This is my 5th season bow hunting and hunting OH and up until today I hadn't found success in the Buckeye State. My father-in-law and brother-in-law (Alphamax) got me into hunting with deer and turkey in 2006 after I married their daughter/sister in 2005. Why I didn't start hunting with them back in 2002/2003 when I began dating Alyssa is beyond me. Either way, I started hunting with them in NY and PA and instantly became hooked. It was time to start bowhunting and find land in OH. The 4 month long season, quality of deer, etc. made it practical to hunt here.
In short, I quickly learned gaining access to land in NE OH isn't easy. My only land access due to city ordinances and willing landowners is a 45-60 min drive time away. This has made it challenging with starting/raising a family.
Over the years, I haven't found myself in positions where I have deer within bow range. Heck, I have had difficulty just seeing deer. Through 4 seasons, I had drawn my bow 3 times. One thing I have learned from the TOO brotherhood is to be more mobile. To that end, I picked up a Millennium this year (thanks JBrown) and was able to quickly increase my number of setups with ladders and receiver brackets. I hope to get a set of Lone Wolf or Muddy sticks for Christmas to truly become more mobile but felt I was headed in the right direction this season. I needed to be able to bounce around to different areas accomodating different winds rather than continusously pray something would change where I was setup getting skunked.
3 weeks ago, Greg and I had a nice conversation at Strouds Run. The summary of his message, forget the cameras and hunt the sign and hunt what your gut tells you. The weekend following Strouds Run, I was getting absolutely poured on one morning and decided to get down and use the downpour to do a quick scouting mission. I found a great rub line. I knew that this same section had been tore up with sign the previous year so it was time to make a move. Last Saturday I hung a 20' ladder and receiver with the intentions of hunting the spot hard this week. The adjustment paid off with me finally not only seeing deer, but getting them in bow range.
Sunday 11/4 - I had a good buck trailing a doe at 50 yards
Wednesday 11/7 - I had a great 8 pt work along the rub line. He laid a scrap, skirted me a bit and then came back in presenting me a 30 yard shot that I blew. Missed low and I was crushed. The quest for an OH whitetail with my bow continued...
Thursday 11/8 - I saw 4 doe and 2 bucks. One buck was in range 1st thing in the morning but it was too dark for shooting. One doe was in range just after last light.
Friday 11/9 - The journey put the final sentence on the 1st chapter. I caught movement across a thick wide brushy creek bottom full of tops. About 150 yards away I saw a doe in my binoculars. Looking to see what was trailing her, if anything, I find it to be 2 does and 2 little ones. They are working West to East to my North and fortunate for me they decided to head South. At about 8:30 the 2 fawns come out of the bottom and are milling around playing with one another 20-30 yards to my NW. The 2 doe finally come straight in and walk up to 10 yards from my tree. They stop, turn to their left (East) and start working completely downwind of me. Scent Smoker comes through again! As soon as they turned and began to walk away I drew. My feet were all goofy as they were positioned such that I had just stood up because I was anticipating a shot off to my left based on where the fawns were. Unable to adjust my feet with 4 deer within 20 yards, I rotated at the hips and the 2nd doe stepped into a lane.
I let out a bleat to stop her, I settled my pin trying my hardest not to rush the shot after the miss Wednesday night and touched the release. The two doe take off and one splits right and the other slight left at 60 yards to my East. I am fairly confident I heard the one peal left immediately crash. The little ones didn't know what to do and kept walking back and forth at 15-20 yards in front of me. The 2nd doe circles to my South and comes back in to collect the little ones. She is accompanied by a little buck that starts to run the 3 of them around as he is grunting. As fun as it is to see this little horny guy running in circles at 30-40 yards, I am dying to check my arrow and the spot the doe was standing.
30 minutes passed by the time the little buck, the doe and 2 little ones moved along. I climbed down, walked over to my arrow and find a lot of blood instantly.
I look right and see what I believe to be my first OH whitetail, my first bow kill. I follow the blood trail for good measure for 55 yards to what indeed is her. I was ecstatic. I couldn't believe the monkey was off my back. I couldn't believe that I finally got it done with my bow.
Thanks to all in the TOO family for the support over the years. Whether it be knowledge/insight shared, Jesse opening his house and land to help in my quest, or just the fellowship that this place fosters, I can't thank you all enough.
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Great read Ryan! I'm glad your encounters have increases greatly and you finally connected on a dandy doe! Good luck in your continued quest for a whitewash buck deerz!
P.S. That last picture is awesome!
P.S. That last picture is awesome!