My first year I hunted with a 47# Bear Alaskan which I did not shoot very well then. Due to the lack of a real mentor and inexperience I did not connect that year. The next year my buddies talked me into one of the new compounds and I lost the first deer I shot. Inexperience again. After the next season I became frustrated with the compound and went back to my recurve. I practiced hard and then one day everything clicked. A nice doe walked by me quartering away and I drew and shot my arrow straight through her. It was a great day of hunting for me. I guess that was about 3 years of trying. Today it would be easier because the deer density is much greater per square mile than when I started. Maybe that is a factor in the number of opportunities you have.

It took me 3 years. First year I shot over 3 deer backs. The next year I cut hair, heart shot a limb, and shot high again. The third year I harvested 3 doe and a buck. For me it was a hard transition from compound to longbow. I had 25 years of habits that had to change. I also wasn’t used to not getting a deer. I had gone about 20 years in a row filling my freezer during bow season.

But you are in good company. Fred Bear took 5 years to harvest his first deer with a bow.

For me, it was worth the aggravation and effort. Compound bows were my bread and butter (literally and figuratively). And I can’t say anything negative about them as I made my living from them. But the joy of archery has returned to my life with the longbow. I just don’t get as many deer. But that is ok with me (and the deer too I suppose:oops:)

Above all, archery and hunting for that matter are elective sports intended to enrich our lives and make us happier people. So relax and do what makes you the happiest. You can always pick up the muzzle loader or rifle later in the year…

I first started bowhunting at 11 years old with a compound and didn’t get a one until I was 15. Last year was the first full year of using a longbow and missed one at 15 yards. First time missing in a number of years. So far this year I had a nice 6 pt about 15 yards away but blew the opportunity because I failed to trim a couple small brances (I didn’t shoot).

This is my 10 year old son’s first year hunting and he shot a nice 6 pt, earlier this year. 8 yard shot. Unfortunately, I think he shot it back aways, and it bled VERY little. We found it a couple days ago, thanks to a due East wind (I could smell it). He’s excited that we found it (any 10 year old would), but I’m disappointed in myself for not finding it for him. Bitter sweet. He’s using a compound, but only because of monetary constraints. I’m going to get him a nice longbow this winter or spring.

I started bowhunting in 1996, and didn’t kill my first deer with the bow until 2001. I was pretty much self taught, and looking back I really didn’t have a clue what I was doing (not that I do now!). Just keep at it. You spend enough time practicing, and stumbling around out in the woods, and it’ll happen!

When I was 15 years old I took my first step into the woods as a traditional archer, that first day I shot a 5 year old buck with my 40 pound recurve. Lucky? Hell yes, but I was more than prepared for the shot. I was a kid, still am a kid, that has nothing better to do than shoot all the time. So I was good after 4 months of training. I was shooting aerial targets by then, and was actually going for grouse that day. Never did see a grouse!?

I am definatly a outlier in the stats though. I think last I heard the average is 4 years, and that is just hunting. I know it took my 3 years to get my first deer, that was with the 30-30, it was a year later that I picked up my recurve, and that season I scored? After that we had to buy another freezer and it has been 3 years since dad and I have harvested a deer, simply because we didnt have room for the meat. The rule was that we couldnt shoot unless is was a wall mount.(for our area, that was a one in a million shot) and wouldnt you know I found a wall mount, saw him 4 times and the last he came within bow range, only for me to miss, he ran up the mountain only to be taken down by a fellow with a rifle? I suppose that is the down side from hunting with a stick during gun season? I want to end with one thing though, my friend told me that hunters who are unsuccessful after 5 years, most of them quit, please do not become one of those stats! Best of luck to you!
Chris

Patience is going to be a virtue I see. This will be my first year,but I am really hoping I will get a shot. Then its up to me. I am looking at it a experience and then everything else will be icing, but I wont lie, I want to shoot a deer.

I just came back from a trip that was probably my best ever hunting trip, both dad and I missed turkeys, and we both saw nice bucks but we both came home empty handed. all we wanted was a good 5 days in the woods, some animals around us and a good time. I have said it several times before and this is very appropriate now, someone somewhere said that if you have a day/trip in the feild that is memorable for a lifetime, than it was a successful hunt! I try to live by that almost and I am never disappointed!

Greattree, I thought about exactly what you are saying last sat. when I walked the bank for 2 hr or more and only got 2 shots on tilapia, and I missed one. I would have probably stayed longer , but I had to go to halloween party.
I got out of the subarbs,,, I was in the quiet, and heck just had a good time. Living in a neighborhood, these things are very stress relieving.

that is awesome, tilapia are great tasting fish, but I have only eaten them in the super market! Where are you located where you have them? I thought they were a ocean type fish? But then again I know absolutely nothing about them other than they taste good. Great looking fish though!

Greattree, I shot this one about a hour sw of houston. They are a invasive species, but as you say, tasty. Your supossed to get them as soon as you catch them, according to TPWD . They are a fresh water fish though. considered a “roughfish”

hmmm, invasive species. Seems like that is all america is anymore, invasive species and illegal immigrants. I suppose it is good that we can use tilapia and someother invasive species. Like the asian carp, an invasive species that bowfisherman have found a use for. Personally I dont think they should be there, but sooner or later I think that some type of managment will get put into place? I really have no problem with invasive species, I do understand why they are a problem, but if we could find a way for the species to be controled, then I think having the variety would be cool. But isnt that the problem, no way to control them. I suppose we have found ways to control pheasants, and sika deer. I am sure there will be some way to control the asian carp. Anyway, that was way off topic,

I dont know where tilapia are from, but the aian carp & asian this & that, they are tough. Asia must be a place where only the hardy survive. Only fish we can shoot in TX that are fit to eat is tilapia & gar.& goo,”gaspergou” carp ,buffalo aint worth eatin
heres anothe invasive I shot at a bayou close to my house , nasty water, but plenty plecos

wow that is a wild looking fish, all we have here are carp, and catfish. But in the bay, we have carp, gar, stingrays, sharks, and all that jazz, I tried bowfishing the bay a couple weeks ago when crabbing. Too murky there, I wanted to see what rays tasted like. Couldnt see any and I think that I was too far up the bay? Anyway good looking fish, again weird looking!
Chris

Wow, that looks like the algae eater I have in my aquarium only alot bigger.
What type of bow are you using?

Duncan

Duncan,, it is the same kind of fish, a plecostemus sp?? they are all over in the bayou/drainage ditches down here. bow in pic is a woodbow.com bow ,, cheapy , and will shake your body when released. Ive “upgraded LOL” to a pse kingfisher. I got that longbow , cause I am so interested in the history of bows & found the english bow interesting. and it was cheap 85$ I will not take it hunting though , shoots too slow at 45#
kingfisher is better,

I think these little critters are too darn fast for my arrows 😆

Actually had a really nice 8 pointer 12 yards in front of me, broadside and …….. Yeap, I dropped that bow arm, lightning speed and the arrow hit way below, got a nice shot on a leaf but that’s that 🙂

I’m still looking for my first deer !!!!!

Patience and practice…..well get-r-done sometimes in the future 🙂

Wishing all of you a great day, that includes you Rick 😛

SB

StandingBear wrote: …got a nice shot on a leaf but that’s that 🙂
SB

No trophy photo w/ you holding the leaf? 😀

Good luck!

Im counting the days til Thanksgiving , so I can at least make my first try. But my 4 days has been shortened to 2 1/2 day , due to a selfish niece, a Obama supporter

Steve J wrote: But my 4 days has been shortened to 2 1/2 day , due to a selfish niece, a Obama supporter

Do we want to know?

my first deer was a doe in 1991 when i was 14 with my cascade superblackhawck which i still shoot

Steve J wrote: Duncan,, it is the same kind of fish, a plecostemus sp?? they are all over in the bayou/drainage ditches down here. bow in pic is a woodbow.com bow ,, cheapy , and will shake your body when released. Ive “upgraded LOL” to a pse kingfisher. I got that longbow , cause I am so interested in the history of bows & found the english bow interesting. and it was cheap 85$ I will not take it hunting though , shoots too slow at 45#
kingfisher is better,

Well I’ll make sure mine stays in the aquarium. Are they edible? Mine is about a foot long and about 16 years old.
Yeah, that type of longbow can have a good bit of hand shock. Good luck with deer hunting the week of Thanksgiving!
Duncan

Sold the compound & treestand in ’92 & bought a recurve. Have yet to kill a deer with trad tackle, hence my handle:wink:

It took 2 years with a longbow. I did shoot a couple of squirrels before that though

Greatreearcher wrote: [quote=Steve J] But my 4 days has been shortened to 2 1/2 day , due to a selfish niece, a Obama supporter

Do we want to know?

I should of left out the last part there, I dont know everybodys political affilation & this is a hunting forum , not political.
Wow 16 yrs and 1foot long!! I wonder how old the fish in my pic is then, .
Im selling that hickory longbow, Im shooting my Kingfisher ,much better,, and when I shoot it a electric jolt doesnt go down my left arm, have a warf in the mail, cant wait to shoot it.

Steve J wrote: I dont know everybodys political affilation & this is a hunting forum , not political.
Im selling that hickory longbow, Im shooting my Kingfisher ,much better,, and when I shoot it a electric jolt doesnt go down my left arm, have a warf in the mail, cant wait to shoot it.

no worries, I would be willing to bet that alot of us are thinking what you are thinking. Anyway, is that kingfisher all synthetic? I thought it was and if so have you conographed it before?

Hubertus wrote: OK, 3 seasons later & I still have no meat to show for my efforts :x. This year I even had 4 straight days to pursue the ghost of the forest. Conclusion, I think you guys are all part of a conspiracy designed to make me pursue a mythical beast :lol:.
So to the meat of the matter: how long did you have to pursue the whitetail with stick & string before your first harvest? And don’t try to make me feel better; if you got one your first morning out, good on ya’! If you’re in my boat, lament with me & then let’s go at it all the harder next year!

Long time lurker first time poster here.

I started deer hunting (gun and bow) at 16 in 1993 and took my first deer (8 pt buck) with a rifle in 2001. I went all the way to 2005 before I managed to connect on a 5 pt with my Martin Rebel. Used to drive my father and my friends nuts because I’d always start the season letting the smaller bucks go waiting for “that big one I saw during summer” and they rarely saw anything. 🙂

Greatreearcher wrote: [quote=Steve J] I dont know everybodys political affilation & this is a hunting forum , not political.
Im selling that hickory longbow, Im shooting my Kingfisher ,much better,, and when I shoot it a electric jolt doesnt go down my left arm, have a warf in the mail, cant wait to shoot it.

no worries, I would be willing to bet that alot of us are thinking what you are thinking. Anyway, is that kingfisher all synthetic? I thought it was and if so have you conographed it before?

I believe the Kingfisher is all synthetic. I have been making improvements in my shooting with it , to where I feel I will be able to get a shot & dont choke.
Never chroned it though , Im loooowww tech LOL

I hunted 10 years to kill a deer. Started in 1967, and killed my first in 1977, 76 was the first year tree stands were legal here in Michigan, that made it much easier to get a good close shot.

First deer was a big doe. I shot her with a compound(I’ve only killed one with a gun). She was quartering away but when I shot she jumped string(Pearson Spoiler bow sounded like a .22 when it went off). I thought I’d missed again but couldn’t find my arrow when I stumbled across a stick smeared with blood. I was in shock. Went to get help and toilet paper cause I always heard you need TP to help mark the blood trail. We get back and tie toilet paper to a tree next to the blood smeared stick. Thats right, we tied the TP to the tree and took off unrolling as we went:D. The blood trail was good enough I could have followed it blindfolded, nevertheless, we kept unrolling TP. Upon finding the deer the woods looked like someone had TPed them for Halloween. My buddy asked me where I hit her and since I wasn’t sure we proceeded to look all over that deer but could not find a wound anywhere, then I lifted her tail…..I could not have centered that arrow in her butth..e any more perfectly if I had walked up to her and done it by hand! Nuthin but the nock sticking out!:lol::D LOL!!! The infamous Texas heart shot. I don’t recomend trying this shot on purpose but the deer only went about 150 yards and died on the run. A double lung shot the hard way.

Oh yeah, took 2 years for the first and 2 years for the longbow. It gets easier once you start figuring things out. After that first one I started killing them pretty consistently with a compound, but this longbow is a whole nuther’ critter.