How's your hunting season going?

[Granite]

Hunting sits higher on my priority list than my Jeep, I’m sorry to say but it must be true because my project is definitively paused while I chase deer (and moose this year!).

Figured since I’m doing a lot of WTJF browsing on stand I might as well start a thread where I can hear how everybody’s season is going!
Happy hunting!

 

[Granite]

Back when I bought my Jeep part of the reasoning/justification was to have a hunting rig for the miles of logging roads and rough terrain I travel up north for deer tracking (on snow mostly; when it’s dry ground I mostly stand hunt archery or sit to try to get my daughter her deer). The eternal dilemma is that I’d rather drive the hours of interstate to my spots in my comfy long wheelbase 3/4 ton, but once I go off-road the Jeep is the better vehicle. I might rig it to tow up there and then deploy the hunt-Jeep into the woods. Or I might end up modifying the pickup for tougher terrain as a do-all. Maybe both!
A small light Jeep is better for skid trails and easier recovery. But a big pickup is more comfy and fits more gear - and deer- in it. Decisions, decisions!

 

[Granite]

I was fortunate enough to get a moose tag in Maine this year and designated my good buddy as the subpermittee and shooter. We had a fantastic hunt! It was rough going and we saw lots of small bulls, cows and calves - about 15 over the week. Finally on the last morning of the season we spotted this guy crossing a cut, sprinted down and across the mountain and brought him home.

 

[Granite]

Deer season has been slow so far but it’s heating up. I had a nice buck in front of me in the dark this morning. I just saw he was big but the trail camera revealed how nice he was (for around here). I wish he came by 20 minutes later during shooting light! Hope he comes back!
The doe activity is heating up too. Brown is down for me!

 

[MaximusLJR06]

I've seen two buck so far earlier in October but nothing the last 2 weekends. Did get a turkey last weekend though. I am getting ready to head up to camp for an extended stay right now. Hoping to have some luck with my bow. The last 2 years have been good to me in archery, hoping to make it a 3rd year.

 

[Mike_H]

Been a good year for me. Dad and I have 50 acres we hunt. Couple years ago, we hung a stand in a new spot and have been slowly opening up the lanes. Every year we open it up a little more. The stand overlooks a creek bottom and this year I decided to push a bit more toward the creek and knocked down a bunch of scrub. went about 30 yards down

Sure glad I did, because Saturday morning I sat there and about 9 am. I saw a big brown buddy come up out of the creek bottom. He was coming up behind me, so I was craning my neck around the tree and watching between my ladder and the tree trunk. Once he picked up his head…I got real excited. He stopped about 50 years away and just stayed there. I had no shot at him and he JUST STOOD THERE for it felt like an hour, but was really about 5 minutes.

He started walking toward me, and eventually gave me a shot, standing broad side and about 20 yards away. Oh, it just happened to be in the newly cleared area! I was a bit concerned, just because I had to shoot between two bigger trees with about a foot and a half separation. I had a clear sight picture, but you just never know with branches and limbs. I knew I didn’t want to wait for a better shot though, cuz it just might not come. So I took it.

He ran about 40 yards. I didn’t see my arrow or a hole…and I heard a very loud THUNK. I was a little crestfallen, but I did see him stagger a bit, then turn south and I lost him in the tree line. There is always that doubt in my mind…did I hit a branch and miss him?

I gave it about a half hour then got down to check it out and start tracking. I found good foamy blood pretty quickly and it didn’t take me long to find my big Buck, piled up in some scrubby bushes.

I was super excited as this was my first archery harvest. Also the first one out of this new stand, which, by the activity we’ve seen so far, is going to be a good spot.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Hunting was never a big thing in my family growing up but I appreciate it and I've gone along with some of the guys in my wife's family just because I like the outdoors. I've thought about picking it up but it's not a good time to start a new hobby. I could harvest a deer right here on my property pretty easily but we also like seeing them around so I'd rather go do it somewhere else.

 

[Granite]

Been a good year for me. Dad and I have 50 acres we hunt. Couple years ago, we hung a stand in a new spot and have been slowly opening up the lanes. Every year we open it up a little more. The stand overlooks a creek bottom and this year I decided to push a bit more toward the creek and knocked down a bunch of scrub. went about 30 yards down

Sure glad I did, because Saturday morning I sat there and about 9 am. I saw a big brown buddy come up out of the creek bottom. He was coming up behind me, so I was craning my neck around the tree and watching between my ladder and the tree trunk. Once he picked up his head…I got real excited. He stopped about 50 years away and just stayed there. I had no shot at him and he JUST STOOD THERE for it felt like an hour, but was really about 5 minutes.

He started walking toward me, and eventually gave me a shot, standing broad side and about 20 yards away. Oh, it just happened to be in the newly cleared area! I was a bit concerned, just because I had to shoot between two bigger trees with about a foot and a half separation. I had a clear sight picture, but you just never know with branches and limbs. I knew I didn’t want to wait for a better shot though, cuz it just might not come. So I took it.

He ran about 40 yards. I didn’t see my arrow or a hole…and I heard a very loud THUNK. I was a little crestfallen, but I did see him stagger a bit, then turn south and I lost him in the tree line. There is always that doubt in my mind…did I hit a branch and miss him?

I gave it about a half hour then got down to check it out and start tracking. I found good foamy blood pretty quickly and it didn’t take me long to find my big Buck, piled up in some scrubby bushes.

I was super excited as this was my first archery harvest. Also the first one out of this new stand, which, by the activity we’ve seen so far, is going to be a good spot.

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What a great buck and a great story! Congrats on that bruiser!

 

[Granite]

New Hampshire’s archery season ended yesterday. My trail cameras were showing minimal activity and I was just doing the stubborn, definition-of-insanity thing and sitting my same old stand; the “you never know” strategy. It had been a good season with some close calls but I was accepting that I wouldn’t get a deer this year.
I figured I’d go in for breakfast at 8:15, but plans changed when some slickheads showed up at 8am! I popped a big doe and just like that I closed out my season with meat in the freezer! It’s amazing how quickly things can turn around.
I hope everyone else finishes strong. Good luck out there!

 

[DaveC]

Got shut out on my archery elk hunt in September. Passed on a good number of younger bulls and got busted on a number of stalks on nice bulls. Chased em hard for 13 days and it was blast even though we ate tag soup.

November's coues deer hunt was a totally different story. We found bucks late morning opening day and by 1:30, both my buddy and I had tagged out. Pretty typical non trophy coues bucks.

We'd both taken 5 days off for the hunt and with our deer tags filled on the first day, that left us with 4 days to hunt bear. We've hunted this unit three times before this season and have seen bear each of those times but didn't have tags. Of course, the year we've got tags and aren't focused on deer any more... we couldn't find any bear.

Next up is archery deer and javelina in January.