R2 wrote: Hey folks, some already hunting, a whole bunch more of us fixin’ to.

Just wanna say good luck, do it well, do it right, and everyone go home safe.

Let us know what ya do.

As long as yer askin’

Went out scouting my deer spot for the “warmer than usual” Georgia archery season next month…got a limit of grey squirrel with my 70# Howard Hill custom longbow and one, yes ONE judo tipped cedar homemade arrow…a good day and a couple of good stews!

I just sent off my permit application. It’ll be my first deer hunt.

Dove starts September 1.

YEEEHAAA! Good luck R2!

R2 wrote: Hey folks, some already hunting, a whole bunch more of us fixin’ to.

Just wanna say good luck, do it well, do it right, and everyone go home safe.

Let us know what ya do.

Thanks, you also. Have one of your TX boys coming up to Elk Camp in 2 1/2 wks. He is a great guy with lots of fun stories of TX pig hunts that keep us in sticthes at the cribbage table.

Good luck too all and happy days afield! Be well and safe! Hey, are we doing a bulletin board thread again this year?

Thanks. And good luck to you, too.

This year will be my first archery hunt. It will be my first hunt ever with the exception of last year’s dove/pheasant, and rabbit hunts.

Today was the first time in a long time that I took out the bow and starting practicing again. I got a new home last April after being on a three month layoff so I have been very busy. Every time I turn around I have something else that needs to be done.

However, I need to accept the fact that I will never be ready for a hunt until I am well practiced and hitting consistently.

I’ll just have to make time and put some other stuff off for a while.

I wasn’t doing too bad today. I probably wasn’t any further than 15-20 yards from the target. I was hitting relatively close to where I wanted to hit.

Mostly, I just need to get my form and consistency down. I was doing very well for a while over the winter but I had the time then. Now, I really am far from being where I need to be.

My elk, deer and bear tags start this Sat. I got out scouting this morning, and found water in places that are normally dried up by this time of year, due to the very wet August we’ve had. Vegetation is also much taller and thicker than normal, which will make things interesting.

Unfortunately, I also found very fresh grizz sign at one of the wallows I frequent behind the house. Arghh. Gonna have to be extra vigilant this weekend…

Bear tag you say? Sounds like the bear needs to be extra vigilant 8)

Steve Graf wrote: Bear tag you say? Sounds like the bear needs to be extra vigilant 8)

Well, my tag is for those wee little blackies, not them big ornery grizz types, but it’s my choice to enter their habitat, so I gotta accept it (and keep my radar on at all times).

On the plus side, I saw a fair bit of new black bear sign as well, along a well-worn bear trail where I almost took one last year. He was a bit on the small side, so when he was about 5 ft. away I stepped out from behind the tree and said ‘hi.’ It was a good example of just how fast a bear can move when he’s motivated! I got a good chuckle watching that fat black butt bounce around as he high-tailed it to the next county. 😀

Oh, and I watched a bull at a distance raking a tree. It seems like with the unusually cool and wet Aug. we’ve had, things might be starting to kick in a little early.

Anyone else seeing any elk activity yet?

I don’t care if the daily limit on squirrel is three — you are the man! I have killed a truck load of Missouri squirrels with all sorts of pistols, rifles and shotguns “back in the day” but doing it with a long bow is impressive.

Lbhunter63 wrote: [quote=R2]Hey folks, some already hunting, a whole bunch more of us fixin’ to.

Just wanna say good luck, do it well, do it right, and everyone go home safe.

Let us know what ya do.

As long as yer askin’

Went out scouting my deer spot for the “warmer than usual” Georgia archery season next month…got a limit of grey squirrel with my 70# Howard Hill custom longbow and one, yes ONE judo tipped cedar homemade arrow…a good day and a couple of good stews!

One last target session in the backyard.

Field points removed.

Meatheads touched up, wiped down with mineral oil.

Mounted on arrows and slotted in the quiver.

Alarm set for 5am.

Time to try and get some sleep.

Tomorrow, it begins…

Best of luck to all trad brethren in the coming months!

Best of luck to you SH! take lots of pics.

paleoman wrote: Best of luck to you SH! take lots of pics.

Thanks! You too!

Got out this morning for opening day, but things are still pretty quiet. Found a smattering of fresh elk sign in the usual places, and that was about it. Still, I had the place to myself, which I’m always grateful for.

Getting up bright and early tomorrow to hit a high ridgeline over a couple wallows and spend the morning glassing for a good vantage point…

Smith had an elk whistle 3 wks ago – It’s been wet and cool here – as CH says ( feels good ) Good luck

Well, what wasn’t supposed to be much rain this morning turned out to be a real frog-choker by the time I got to the top of the mountain. Fog also made glassing next to impossible. Hunkered under a tree for a while, but it kept getting worse, so I finally sucked it up and hiked down.

But the hunting gods smiled on me on the way out, and a fat blue grouse offered itself up. I showed up on the front porch, soaked to the bone, holding a bow in one hand and a very wet bird in the other, to the great bemusement of my better half…

Might have to grab the scattergun and the shorthair and head back out in search of a few more this afternoon if the weather eases.

Smithhammer wrote: Tomorrow, it begins…

“…it begins…”

Two words, and my heart rate rises; the quickening.

I haven’t been around much lately –been hard at it, canning/dehydrating/freezing garden & orchard produce every day for a month straight– but Smithhammer’s September is reason enough to join back in. Best fortune to you, friend. It’s gonna be awesome.

My season begins in two weeks. Let’s keep this thread rolling!

-Ben

Best of luck to you too, Ben!!

A few pics from yesterday.

Greeting the dawn:

Another blue grouse for the larder:

Came across this little guy’s tracks shortly before I shot the grouse:

A mid-day break in the hammock seat:

Yesterday evening a few cow calls brought a bull in, no more than 50ft. away, in some thick aspens. First action of the season. Everything was going right. The wind was still moving upslope, and he was approaching me from the same direction. I was beginning to think that it might actually all come together. I couldn’t reposition at that point, surrounded as I was by lots of dry vegetation, so I started identifying shooting lanes to either side of me, depending on which way he made his final approach. And then as soon as the sun disappeared below the mountains on the other side of the valley, the wind did an immediate 180º switch, and I could hear him walking away and that was that. But the season has just started…

Love it. Nice to see “live” hunting pics. Keep em coming, folks.

I have exactly a month to go til deer opens up in my section of PA. Loving the photos and the stories already coming in. R2 said it right. Best of luck and safe returns. Looking forward to more good words. best, dwc

S Hammer – what happened to using that straight gripped longbow? I thought that was “the one”…

I have been spending my time in a new zone with a little less pressure. My Archery Only season is ending this week. Then we shut down until the 20th when the fun begins again. I was up getting a birds eye view of things before heading down into the thick. I have a deer tag and bear tag. I saw 4 does and managed to get to within 15 yards of two of them – but we can’t mess with the does only bucks. I also got within 75 yards of a nice big black bear.

Using my 3 piece takedown Cocobolo bow I crafted a couple months ago.

Steve Graf wrote: S Hammer – what happened to using that straight gripped longbow? I thought that was “the one”…

😳 😳 😳

Umm…well…by “The One” I think I actually meant that it is in a very small rotation of 2-3 bows that I consider to all be “The One” depending on my given mood, the solar azimuth angle, Toltec calendar date and who’s hosting “The View” this week.

Great looking country, Cameron – good luck!!

Out glassing at first light this morning:

Heard one half-hearted bugle pretty far away, and that was it. The bulls are still being pretty quiet. Briefly glassed a nice bull on a ridgeline so distant that it would have taken me half a day to get to him, and then just as quickly he vanished. Still, I love being out, miles from the nearest road, at that time of day.

Smithhammer wrote: [quote=Steve Graf]S Hammer – what happened to using that straight gripped longbow? I thought that was “the one”…

😳 😳 😳

Umm…well…by “The One” I think I actually meant that it is in a very small rotation of 2-3 bows that I consider to all be “The One” depending on my given mood, the solar azimuth angle, Toltec calendar date and who’s hosting “The View” this week.

You need to learn to be faithful in a committed relationship!

:P:P:P

I too “look at the menu”, but I just don’t order! 😀

I look at the menu, too, but it’s not only the budget that keeps me with one bow, it’s the fear that all the work I’ve done with this one, I’ll have to do over! dwc

New on the forum and just wanted to say good luck to everyone also! My 8th years chasing blacktails here in Oregon and still waiting to get my first deer ever. Hopefully this will be the year!

Opening weekend is in the books here in Wisconsin. Had a very entertaining and interesting couple of days. Took my daughter out opening morning and had a deer sneak in behind us which caught us both of guard. In the afternoon I took my girlfriend out and she had her first close encounter with a wolf. We hunt on the ground so you can imagine she was quite wound up when I got back to her at dark! Needless to say, she doesn’t want to hunt by herself anymore, LOL!

I went out this afternoon for my first solo hunt of the season and had quite an exciting hunt! It was windy today so I decided to do some stalking around a clearcut and as soon as I got to it I spotted 4 turkeys. There is no fall season up here for turkey so I decided to just sit and watch them. A few minutes later a 6 pointer came out into the cut and was grazing along behind the turkeys. I maneuvered into a position to try and cut the buck off which took about an hour and a half but a swirling breeze finally did me in. I got to within about 50 yards. Too fun!

I went to the other side of the cut trying to get the wind in my favor and as evening set in I watched 2 more smaller bucks come out of the woods and graze away from me. A few minutes after that all H*LL broke loose and there were deer running and snorting everywhere! I stood up on a stump to see what the commotion was and there, trotting toward me, was another wolf! I couldn’t have asked for a more exciting day! As much as the wolves add to the challenge of being successful in harvesting deer with a longbow, I wouldn’t have traded today for my biggest buck ever!

Great story, what a day for the memory bank:D

Mike

Great stories guys,,,I spent openning weekend of archery deer, scouting for a Hunt with my lovley wife/hunting pardner. For Nov/Dec. white-tail hunt here in AZ. drew a third choice hunt coues hunt. Wow, a new hunt for us, the area is normally a 500yd shot rifle hunt, so looking for some springs or whatever for an ambush hunt, this will be different.

Fall Turkey tag opens on the 3rd of Oct. my hunting area is now a forestfire burn area.

Things always change,,,,and why not.

Deer and turkey opened here in NH on Monday (9/15), and I finally got out this morning for the first time this season.

It was a beautiful day, temp was around 35 degrees (that would be Fahrenheit, ausjim …)when I entered the woods before dawn. As per usual – no deer or turkeys sighted, while a moose spent the better part of an hour browsing about a hundred yards behind and alongside me. 🙄 And yes, I had a heckuva good time!

Southern NY opens Oct 1st. NJ is open and look at this backyard buck!!! Pic taken by a friend in Teaneck, NJ , a densely populated suburb 2 miles from manhattan!!!!

Congrats to everyone who has already harvested! Here are a few pics from the past week of elk hunting:

We had an unseasonably cool August, and I was hoping September would be the same, but it’s been pretty darn hot lately. Not really helping the rut. Many days, there has been a little activity at first light, and then absolutely dead till evening, if it picks back up again at all. Still, I’ve had a few “almosts” with bulls called in this past week, and we’re at least starting to hear a little bugling now and then. Looks like cooler temps are on the way. Heading into the backcountry for 5 days starting tomorrow – gonna hike up to higher elevations and farther off the beaten track. Hopefully, that will be enough to make it happen!

We covered a lot of ground and hunted hard the last two days, and got into a place with tons of fresh sign and (finally) a fair bit of vocalizing going on. Glassed a nice bull at daybreak this morning across the drainage, and then in the process of trying to get on him I came “this” close to taking a spike bull at less than 15 yds. But alas, as is so often the case, he was in thick cover, and I didn’t have a clean shot at him. If he’d moved left or right it would have been a done deal, but of course, as he eventually walked off, he kept that tree perfectly between me and him…:roll:

If you look real close, you might be able to see our camp down in the valley 😉 :

9 days left, and the most recent forecast shows more warm weather on the way this week. Argh…

Bruce, it looks magnificent as usual. The last photo is gorgeous!

Wow, what an incredible place to be and to hunt. Beautiful. dwc

Yes! Great pictures in beautiful country!

Had this little guy wandering around about 20 feet in front of me for a while last night where I was set up calling for elk:

Shortly after discovering a new wallow this morning, we heard the characteristic bark of a rutting bull moose. Sure enough, he came out into the clearing and began raking his huge rack on everything in his path and tearing up trees not far from where we were sitting. He was really worked up!! Such an impressive thing to see at close range.

The aspen are really turning in the last few days. By far, my favorite time to be in the mountains…

We got on a bugling bull this morning, but he seemed to be on a mission, and not interested in our calling. With a week left to go in the Idaho archery season, vocalizing elk in our corner of the state continue to be few and far between.

I sure do love chasing Pennsylvania whitetail, but those pictures sure do make me wish I was in the mountains chasing elk. That territory is something else. In the fall I’m sure it’s seriously amazing. Already looks like it’s breathtaking.

Good luck on your last 9 days!!

One more weekend on the road before NY October 1st opener!

Dallas tomorrow, Kansas City Saturday, Oakland, CA Sunday.

I will be able to hunt a full 3 maybe 4 days before having to travel again! After missing Elk hunting this year, boy am I ready!!!

Today I organized my clothes in 3 piles according to month and warmth ratio: October pile, November pile, December pile. I’m using new, low maintenance 225gr stainless steel single bevel broad heads from Steel Force this year. Coming in sharp and staying sharp, which suits me just fine!!:D I still have my Eskimos ready to go at a moment’s notice!! 😀

Bow quiver on the Shrew, but if for some reason I have to use my spare bow, the Super Kodiak, I like it naked, and will be using this beautiful leather quiver made by my friend in France! Check it out:

Alex –

That’s a great looking quiver!!

Smithhammer wrote: Alex –

That’s a great looking quiver!!

Isn’t it! it’s made by my friend and homie Virgil, owner of North Archery in Paris. He’s a born hunter and great bowyer!

http://www.Northarchery.com

Gorgeous quiver Alex, and how good is the french word for bow? Arc, it describes the shape of the bow and the flight of the arrow. There’s a succinct aestheticism to that 😀

Well, it wasn’t meat (although we had a bull @ 25 yds. this morning), but at least I got to pack something out of the mountains today:

Dang you guys! Stunning pics and places to be. And that quiver Alex has…ugh…I didn’t need/want anything but that beauty has me about convinced to carry my bow naked too! The lightness of a good bow makes me wonder how I ever carried a rifle around. I’m spoil’t these days and it’s good:D

R2 wrote: 😀 That’s just pretty cool. Wolf kill you think maybe? Or drops?

It was especially lucky to find the pair laying on the ground within a foot of each other! Pretty sure they are sheds.

paleoman wrote: I didn’t need/want anything but that beauty has me about convinced to carry my bow naked too! The lightness of a good bow makes me wonder how I ever carried a rifle around.

Indeed. A bare longbow has me spoiled on carrying just about anything else! And Steve – you’ll be glad to see that I’ve reunited with “The One,” along with an appropriate amount of shame for my recent daliances…8)

OH that’s good to see! No shame required… But how have you dealt with the quiver issue? I took my recurve to Colorado for elk cause I just couldn’t figure out how to carry my arrows and a backpack.

I sure would have preferred my longbow. But it just don’t feel right with a quiver on it.

Shot a wee little buck today with the home made american semi longbow… Thought it was a nice doe. It’s head was behind a tree, and I didn’t ask any questions 😯

Steve Graf wrote: OH that’s good to see! No shame required… But how have you dealt with the quiver issue? I took my recurve to Colorado for elk cause I just couldn’t figure out how to carry my arrows and a backpack.

Steve,

For big game hunting, I use a Safari Tuff side quiver in conjunction with a day pack. I really like it, and I don’t find that it interferes (much) with a pack. You can also strap it to the side of a pack, if you prefer, and still be able to remove an arrow from it.

I have a hard time seeing it working. Those safari tuff quivers look like golf bags to me. Sooo big. I would think it would be constantly clanging and banging into your legs and always in the way.

Can you carry your bow on the side that the quiver is on?

Steve,

I have a SafariTuff and like it a lot. I use a lumbar pack and carry the quiver across my back. It works well. I’m pretty clumsy, so a bow quiver seems like more to catch on brush and stuff, so I want to keep the bow free. dwc

Steve Graf wrote: I have a hard time seeing it working. Those safari tuff quivers look like golf bags to me. Sooo big. I would think it would be constantly clanging and banging into your legs and always in the way.

Can you carry your bow on the side that the quiver is on?

Actually, mine doesn’t hit my legs at all – the quiver is no longer than my arrows are, and I adjust the strap so it rides snug and almost vertically behind my shoulder next to my pack, not low and swinging around. I carry it on my right shoulder, and I carry my bow in my left hand, so they don’t get in the way of each other at all. Carrying a side quiver takes some getting used to (as does any quiver option, imo), but the Safari Tuff is the best I’ve found if you don’t want a bow quiver, and find a back quiver impractical because of other gear you need to carry.

Also, I have the “Duiker” model which is a little smaller and more slim than the “Arrowmaster.” The Duiker will still carry 1/2 arrows.

This whole past week we’ve had 80+ degree days – unusually hot for the end of Sept. here, and it hasn’t helped the hunting at all. It also feels like there are fewer elk in the area I typically hunt – whether they’ve moved elsewhere, or are staying at higher elevations due to the heat is anyone’s guess. Been a tough month for chasing elk with a bow, and I haven’t talked to anyone yet who has taken one in our zone.

And now, for the next 4 days (the last days of our archery season), the forecast is calling for lots of rain.

But it ain’t over till it’s over. Hope springs eternal…

Its been slow around here. We had a nice storm roll in last week, and I was out for most of the 3 days, and including my walk this morning, I’ve only seen 3 deer and 0 bears in the past 4 days of hunting. There’s still plenty of time but I’m getting nervous with nothing in the freezer. Well, no red meat.. My wife caught us some rock fish!

R2- I like the porcupine photo. Its weird to see them down there where the trees don’t grow very tall.

Welcome to the site Hunt1321! We can’t see your photo though.

Hunt1321 wrote:

Very warm opening day Arkansas archery season. This is my friend and mentor with a nice five point( sorry can’t see rack)that he harvested with a Bear grizzly and Razorhead broadhead. He is “technologically challenged” so he doesn’t get on the forum but has been an avid reader of Traditional Bowhunter Magazine since it’s inception. He is the local recruiter in our area for the sport of traditional bowhunting and has mentored several young men over the years.

Good for him! Tell him us Yanks here in Michigan give him a Hi Five:D

R2 wrote: My first sighting today, 1st day of archery season here in Texas.

Then I spotted these gals about 500 yds. across a canyon so I hid behind a yucca and fawn bleated with my coyote call and here they came. Two came within 50 yds. before getting nervous.

Wrong gender, mule deer is buck only, whitetails 1 buck-4 does.

By the way, the porky, didn’t check gender. It can be whatever it wanna be:D

Thought about Larry today

Most what you read about calling deer is about whitetails.

I was calling coyotes years ago, kind of “mewing” the call and I nearly got ran over by two muley does. They were ready to kick butt.

Since then I’ve called muley does to me a lot of times, shot a nice buck once (rifle) that followed a doe in. I’ve turned down small bucks numerous times.

Today I crawled out so as not to ruin the day by spooking those does. That sucked cause of cactus and rocks but the things we to for the Gipper” 😀

I would’ve never thought of Texas having porcupines. Thought you guys were all Armadillos down there. Thanks for the edumacation!

Now I can see the picture, looks like a great man!

I missed a big alpha doe yesterday morning, from the tree stand I just put up a few days ago. It was very windy and all of a sudden, her, two fawns and another younger doe were under my tree, but behind. They milled around for a few minutes,, smelling and looking. Then the big one walked away. When she was about 7 yards behind the tree base, I got ready. The thing is, I was facing the tree. That makes for an awkward, and steep shot. I did bend at the waist as much as I could, but I was worried my limbs would hit the tree stand or branches. I was concentrating on that instead of concentrating on a spot low behind her shoulder, and of course the arrow flew right over her back! I actually should have aimed for the leaves under her chest!!

Anyway, better that than nightmare wounding shot! It was fun. I saw a lot of deer coming up the hill both mornings, most of them about 100 yards away, walking directly in front of my ground blind!!:D:D:D

Back at work today, and going to Cleveland for 4 shows Friday and Saturday, going to a friend’s wedding Sunday, and the rest of October is mine! Strictly Bowhunting and training for the Oct 26th Marine Corps Marathon!!!

Sunday morning I had a little four or six point come in. Just as I started my draw when he was about 15 yards from me, he busted me, and leaped back about 5 yards. Then proceeded to walk casually through brush, as if he knew he was just out of harms way (because of the brush, not the distance). 😥

The season has just begun though. 😀

Went out yesterday morning. Even with 2 rainstorms, the woods are back to snap-crackle-pop when I walk. Finally saw a legal buck but he was heading away from me and fast.

Unlike some of you guys, the acorn mast here failed. 3 years ago it was a larder, 2 years past half the trees had fruit, last year 1/4, now not a single white, black, or canyon oak has fruit and only a few tan oaks have some. Seems like the bears have all gone in search for food and left the areas I hunt.

Next week I’m heading into the wilderness with a friend. Looks like its going to rain for a day+. Really excited to get back out there!

Preston

Good day here, folks. Chopped firewood in the morning, hunted in the afternoon. Things came together for me; 10 yard shot, complete pass-through, dead in about a minute. Butchered with my son.

-Ben

Congratulations Ben, and it’s cool you got your boy in on the butchering 😀

Sweet! Ditto what Jim said about including the boy!

Almost had a shot at a spike this evening. He came running into where I was sitting and stopped broadside, 10 yards, looking away from me, and with 2 sapling oaks blocking his vitals! When he walked out her turned really quick directly away from me and walked off into the swamp. So close.

Congrats, Ben!!

X 4 Ben. 😀

congrats!!

Congrats Ben on a fine harvest!

Thanks, guys.

Some of you may remember that I surprised my boy with a Buck #112 on opening day this year (Trad Knife Thread). He loves that knife more than just about anything he owns and he never passes up a chance to use it. He’s been helping me and my buddies butcher all season long. Sometimes he even sleeps with that knife (folded and in its sheath, of course)–what a kid.

Besides steaks and roast, we made Italian brats and chorizo this week. Half the chorizo is Mexican style, half is Spanish style.

Alex,

Congrats!! Is the other antler broken, or not growing, or tiny? Was it a male? My friend killed a deer last year with one spike antler about the size of yours, and the other was a tiny little thorn spike, and the deer was a female.

Ptaylor wrote: Alex,

Congrats!! Is the other antler broken, or not growing, or tiny? Was it a male? My friend killed a deer last year with one spike antler about the size of yours, and the other was a tiny little thorn spike, and the deer was a female.

No this one was a male with huge balls both literally and figuratively! Figuratively because he dared to walk in daylight while everybody was blasting away all around us on the gun opening weekend!!!

Alex,

Congrats and great job!!! Great buck and story. Glad you sorted things out.

Well done, Alex!

And I have to say, that’s a good looking BW! 😉

Alex

Congrats. Now when you visit bring some meat.:D

It’s great to hear all the stories and see some successes.

SmithHammer, please stop posting pics. You’re making me homesick….more than I already have been for the last 5 years. Seriously, though, I love to see pics of my old stompin’ grounds. Some day I’ll get back home. Some day…..

I’ll be heading to the Del Rio area Dec. 12, at least that’s the plan (gotta get the days off from work). I’ll be taking a new recruit with me. He’s gun hunted before in WA where I’m from, but never bowhunted before and wants to do traditional, so I’m really stoked! It should be……interesting (like the-blind-leading-the-blind interesting), as I’m fairly new to it myself, but the learning experience will make up for any missed animal. That, and being away from the city.

I wish everyone continued success, and I’ll post pics if I get something, and figure out how to do it.