I’ll be deer hunting until mid-January when our season ends every opportunity I get.

Nicely composed photo, Steve. Here in western CO the season is limited more by weather than by regulation. After being gifted with a lovely bull in mid-Sept. I immediately switched to an osage selfbow made by our own Clay Hayes, and started working on a cow tag, all weapons, good through Jan. 15. Finally the snow ended that since elk don’t come to drink when they can eat snow, so no ambush ops, and the frozen crusty snow makes stalking impossible. So a couple of weeks ago I got out the ought-six, walked up the hill, shot a cow, packed it out after dark with a friend and it was all done in half a day. (That’s not hunting, but only meat-gathering and I have no apologies.) Then I went to AR for a week of whitetail hunting. Had a great time but no buck. Now all I can think about is Coues deer in AZ in January. So for me, “late season bowhunting” increasingly means travel. I think I have what in the Marines we called “short-timer’s” attitude. 😀

The two week rifle seasons starts this Monday in Pennsylvania. It will be the first openning day I will have missed in thirt years due to work. Having said that, I am looking forward to our late season that starts the day after Christmas. Hunting with the longbow has definately made my hunting experiences fun again.

Dec 3rd marks the first day to shoot whitetail doe here in PA (in my WMA). I too will be out with the old ’06 collecting meat. But I can’t wait until the second archery season to continue the quest for a buck with my recurve from the ground.

I’m like you,Brennan,I’ll be out to fill my doe tag here in Ohio with my slug gun,then back out with the long bow to try for my buck. May go out after work at three if it isn’t raining like they call for tomorrow. I’d rather take my doe with the bow on the ground.
Wayne

I have a firearms antlered deer tag and an any-deer archery tag. The firearms tag has seven days left. I could use it on a bow-shot buck, but it’s tough given the crowds of hunters (late rut and now tracking snow), so I’ll be out with the -06 this week. Then I have until December 15 to do honor to my longbow, which I hope to work hard at doing. We have ideal hunting conditions right now. 😀

Bow season here runs through January. Rifle season is still going on. I am holding out on taking the .270 to “gather meat,” as Dave calls it, until absolutely necessary. Lord willing, I will get a doe with the longbow and be able let the .270 hibernate. It may be my imagination, but venison taken with a bow seems to taste better than that taken with a rifle, and is more satisfying.

Nice picture of your bow and Tuffheads Steve.

For the record, neither the weather nor the Arkansas deer are cooperating this year, at all. 😉

Beautiful bow Steve. Hope you get a shot with it.

I’m looking forward to the late season here in PA. I have not taken a shot yet this year, yet alone killed a deer. I’ll be out there with the 270 or my 8mm, if it’s raining, trying to get one on the ground. Then I’ll switch back to the bow. There are a few places here that the deer run heavily during rifle season, but are too close to residential areas for a firearm. If I’m lucky enough to shoot a deer with a rifle, I’ll work on these spots with my bow the rest of the regular season. Good luck to you all.
Yep, nice photo! dwc

I have hunted alot this season since the Oct 1st bow opener,I seen a lot of deer but most of the them the later part of October, passed on some does and a small spike!I did get a shot at a nice 4or 5pt last week, jumped one nice buck in early AM on Wed, but the deer around here have went nocturnal, weather has been warm 40s, 50s! Have used my longbows the whole time, buck I missed would have been an easy kill with a firearm,hope to hunt the late season,weather permitting last year Dec Weather in No Mi was brutal, very cold, windy and a lot of snow!Not many acorns this year so the deer will be looking for food sources!

This weekend was the end of Wisconsin’s general rifle season, and since the state finally extended bowhunting through the rifle season, my daughter and I grabbed our orange and bowhunted our property. It was cold, rainy, and oddly quiet for a Wisconsin gun season. With muzzleloader season and then a short any weapon antlerless season, it will be a couple more weeks until we can pack away the pumpkin suits for good. Personally, I’m looking forward to it.

Jody — Another reason not to use a rifle on big game unless all other meat options are exhausted, is lead contamination of meat. I recently went to a seminar on the topic, which included graphic photos and electronic imaging showing that microscopic specs of lead saturate the meat as much as 6″ from the pass-through channel and more if the bullet strikes bone. Only way to be lead safe is to shoot ’em in the middle of the ribs and toss the ribs and heart, etc., or carve out anad toss a lot of meat that appears perfectly fine. Unless you’re shooting poisoned arrows, no such worries with a steel broadhead. I hope your wind there in AR dies down and your luck pics up soon. Dave

David,

Since you mentioned lead bullets and meat contamination, I just want to point something out that a friend of mine who rifle hunts told me this year. A few manufacturers make lead-free hunting bullets (Hornady and Barnes are two, if I recall). So if someone is concerned about lead in their meat, there are other ammunition options readily available.

I have a leftover private land doe mule deer hunt starting here in Colorado on December 1st. Despite a month long lingering pinched nerve in my neck, I am excited and finally started shooting my bow again on Thanksgiving. It would be a real blessing to take a nice fat doe here in the next couple of weeks.

Dave

Thanks for the info on the lead. I had read a study a year or two ago about the trace amounts of lead that show up several inches away from the bullet’s travel path.

As to the non-lead bullets, I have purchased some to use if I use my rifle. For the casual record, as a pharmacist and chemistry kind of guy, I would offer that there is no such thing as any good heavy-metal being ingested. While heavy metals do not do instant damage, a long term ingestion of them causes an accumulation in the body. While it may not have any effect upon some, it will on others. There isn’t really, in my opinion, any good/safe metallic element to ingest in meat, whether it is lead in deer/elk or mercury in fish.

All the more reason fellas, to carry our trad bows and non-fragmenting/non-spreading steel broadheads!!! Even science favors the traditional bowhunter. 😆

I will most certainly be hunting til seasons end in mid january (texas). I’ve only been able to go a handful of times, and of those times I’ve been more or less scouting out a new WMA. Managed to jump a hog, walk right up on a spike buck in the twilight walkin out, and spotted a real nice buck in a power-line cut, but never could get an arrow loosed. Now that I’ve learned the area a bit I think I got a good strategy together, should have better chances.

The temperature is just now dropping, it’s been 60s & 70s up until this week, supposed to dip into the 40s this week, hopefully that will get ’em movin. At least hog season never ends!:D

I’ll be out there for late season. I don’t feel quite right sitting in a tree in blaze organge. I enjoy the muzzleloading season but bow hunting is where its at.

When the WI weather starts to plumet I may have to switch to my #45. Just thinking of pulling #70 in 0 degrees makes my elbows crack.

I am just got done hunting the last bull moose bow only season for this year -15 to -25 for 4 days spent 2 days across the river for the cow hunt 20 miles by Snowmachine to the legal hunt area [gun or bow] saw over 6 cows and 2 bulls before the hunt area then 2 bulls in the hunt area and a pack of 10 black wolves made i short stalk on them in to the thick timber and went back to the trail 10 to 1 not good odds but it was still awesome to see that many wolves and all black i have never seen that before some times 1 or 2 but not 10 these were the only wolves i ever tryed to shoot only be cause i had my bow i have had my crosshairs on wolves before but never pulled the trigger

I still have some more time to get a cow moose i could use a gun but i am not going too i will get it with my bow or not at all i have shot many moose with my rifle

As for shooting 70 pounds in -25 its not that bad its just the cold weather gear gets in the way harder to move your arm and keeping it out the way of the string and rubber arrow grippers turns rock hard

it doesnt help that this is the coldest november for fairbanks on record it was -42 last week well good luck i will be out this weekend trying for a cow

That is cold, much respect to you persevering in weather like that, I guess seeing that many wolves makes you think about your place in the food chain, good luck for the rest of the season, Mark.

Heading out for the last day of pheasants today. I can still chase whitetails through 12/19.

Hey Steve, I sure will be! Have not taken a deer yet. Very minimal sightings and the fact that I’m hunting state ground shouldn’t matter really. Still I’ve been carrying my old John Dodge straight limbed longbow this year and can’t wait to make some meat with it.

Nice to see you’re out and about as well.

Stay in touch!! todd

you can count on me to be out there till the very bitter end 12/31. Nothing better than December whitetail hunting here. I can hardly wait till the muzzle loader season ends 12/11 and I have the final 20 days to myself ( we could use some snow though)

here in Idaho I start Dec 1 and we run until the end of the month. We are getting snow tonight and a cold blast after.Should be fun

In Manitoba our late season which is a firearm season ran from November 14 til this coming Sunday. You can use firearms or bows but have to dress in the blaze orange apparel and follow the rules set for this season. Warm days I took my recurve, cold days my rifle. I had one shot with the bow and missed an 18 yd. shot from a treestand. Shot high ! I think this year I hunted the most I ever have. I’m almost glad it’s over and ready to get out the ice fishing gear:wink:
Good Luck to everyone still hunting !
Bruce

Steve Sr. – what is this bow? Bear somethng or other? Beautiful!

Here in NY Bow season started on Oct. 15th, it ended on Nov. 18th, where gun season kickes in and ends on Dec.13, then the Late Muzzleloader/Archery Season runs from Dec. 14 thrugh Dec. 20th. Luckily I can hunt with my Longbow through all the seasons which is what I do. But, each season has it’s own qualities, by the late archery season most hunters have either filled a tag or given up, I like this season best for peace and soltitude it provides. Which to me is appropriate as we approach the winter solstice and Christmas season.

Well, PA rifle season ended minutes ago here on the Jersey side of the state. It’s probably still light out near Ohio. I didn’t hunt this afternoon, since it was pretty windy. We took the kids for walk in the woods to cut a small White Pine for a Christmas tree instead. Good times.

This morning I took my bow and watched a spot I thought deer would move through to avoid other hunters, but didn’t see a deer. I did get to see a bunch of crows chase a Barred Owl through the woods about 50 yards away. That was neat. I’ve also been seeing a lot of black Grey Squirrels here this season, too.

So, meatless here, so far. I’m really looking forward to the late season, which opens the day after Christmas. I’ve become very fond of that season, since I built my first flintlock probably a decade ago. Nothing like January weather to cut out the riffraff.

Good luck to all of you! To the rest of the PA hunters, enjoy two week rest before kicking it back in. Don’t forget to ask Santa for plenty of merino wool! dwcphoto

I’m finally starting to see deer here @ 6200′ in eastern Idaho, though still not in great numbers. No one I know has been very successful on deer this year. We still haven’t seen much snowfall, but enough, combined with cold temps, to start bringing them down.

But I still have a week left to chase whitetail before it’s off to NV for a week of chukar. Either way, the next couple weeks will be a blast…

I’m headed to AZ again in January to chase coues and maybe some quail. I used to hunt there every year but haven’t in about the last 5 years. I am really looking forward to it.

This has by far been my slowest season as far as deer sightings. I have not even had a shot opportunity. Late season has brought more deer sightings, but no shots yet. I did a walk-about yesterday and located some active trails and while ground hunting this evening, I actually roosted 25-30 turkeys. So tomorrow morning I am going turkey hunting and hope that deer wanders by! Mike

Our whitetail season stays open untill the end of Feb, so I’ll be out hunting untill then, or as long as these last two tags last. I’ll be on public land for the next couple or three weeks, even though it won’t ammount to much, to let the deer around home settle down after our 57 different varieties of gun seasons. After New Year I’ll be mainly on my place. And of course there’s still small game and tailrace trout to chase, but since our deer season is open two and a half more months, why not?

I’m in Pennsylvania too, and I’ll definitely be out there with my longbow the day after Christmas and for three weeks after. I was almost relieved not to take a buck during the rifle season, because I so much want to take my first traditional buck this season (having taken four traditional antlerless deer in the last three years, including two this fall). I don’t mind sharing the woods with the flintlock guys; they’re a pretty responsible bunch. But I agree with the writer who said there’s nothing like some serious cold to keep the rabble out of the woods. And nothing, I repeat, nothing, can compare to a blood trail in the snow following a double-lung shot.

I’ll be out with the bow once or twice I figure after muzzleloader ends this weekend here in Mi. As for all this talk about lead, I’m not planning to pull the round ball out of my .54 any time soon. I’m sure I’ve already been poisoned by 6 dozen other things I don’t know about too:)