best lesson learned from 2017

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hambone
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Re: best lesson learned from 2017

Unread postby hambone » Sun Jan 14, 2018 2:29 am

Biggest lesson learned, I already knew, but failed to put into application...what I thought was a Montec, ended up being a CHONG-tec instead. I found a "Montec" sitting on the rail of the porch, where we keep our hunting stuff. I've not bought anything but Montecs since giving up Thunderheads, so I am not sure where the head came from. But I put it on an arrow, and the fletchings lined right up. Cool! I've never had a Montec spin untrue or not all fly the same, so I didn't bother checking the arrow flight. I BROKE THE RULE and paid the price. The buck I was after, stomped off unscathed, after I watched my arrow miss underneath him by a foot, wide open at 30 yds. Only after trying to figure how I could possibly have missed so badly did I find, that the fake Montec hit a foot lower than the rest of my arrows, at 30 yds. I struggled to get over the ordeal for the remainder of the season. If my Son hadn't ended up killing the buck, it would have been a lot worse on me. fyi, the deer was a 165" 11 pt., 4.5+. So I learnt: Just because it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, doesn't necessarily mean that it absolutely is a duck...btw, I did "redeem" myself, somewhat, with a 32yd quartering away shot on a good buck. I watched this one fall within 40 yds.


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cbay
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Re: best lesson learned from 2017

Unread postby cbay » Sun Jan 14, 2018 4:28 am

There is no certainty with big bucks.
The nutritional value of tag soup has lots of ingredients, some of which cause loss of ego and an increase in humility.
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Lu Rome
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Re: best lesson learned from 2017

Unread postby Lu Rome » Sun Jan 14, 2018 9:10 am

Jonny wrote:1. Be more comfortable with my gear and confident in my ability
2. Failure is okay. Wasting time second guessing isn't. Make a decision, go with it and learn from it.
3. Don't let stupid stuff get to you. Hunting is fun and a way to get my mind off life

I'm really bad at #2. I know it and still fail.
“Curiosity never killed the cat. The cat died from stupidity, or maybe an overdose of mice.” -The Old Man
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Lu Rome
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Re: best lesson learned from 2017

Unread postby Lu Rome » Sun Jan 14, 2018 9:17 am

mainebowhunter wrote:My lesson? Don't hunt Nebraska with a bow during the firearm season.

Public land here can definitely be tough/crazy in that stretch.
“Curiosity never killed the cat. The cat died from stupidity, or maybe an overdose of mice.” -The Old Man
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vtbuck
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Re: best lesson learned from 2017

Unread postby vtbuck » Sun Jan 14, 2018 10:49 am

Things I learned from the season.
The front shoulder of a mature buck is evil. It’s not a shot with the bow worth trying. IMO
Keep grinding and never give up. It ain’t over till the fat doe bleats.
Perfection is a dream, practice is hard work, and achieving a goal is making that goal a reality.
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IkemanTx
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Re: best lesson learned from 2017

Unread postby IkemanTx » Sun Jan 14, 2018 4:55 pm

My lesson was a big one...
Don’t get hung up on one deer!

I burned dang near the entire season chasing a single buck. I didn’t have access to much land in that area either, so I knew the chances were slim to none. But, he was easily the biggest buck I’ve ever seen on land I have access to. I sat times the wind/weather was wrong just because I had the day off to sit. Did EVERYTHING you aren’t supposed to. Sat the same trees several times a piece, used bad access routes, let my wind blow into possible bedding locations. The works. All because I got antler drunk. This little area had 2 definite shooters and 2 possibles (even being very picky).

I could have easily have taken some deer on public land in the number of days I used up. No guarantee they would have been nice bucks, or bucks at all for that matter, but I could have definitely gotten something. An entire year’s scouting and I used none of it.....
Go where none other dare to go, and there you'll find success.
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tgreeno
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Re: best lesson learned from 2017

Unread postby tgreeno » Sun Jan 14, 2018 5:06 pm

Try to get more mature buck intel before the season starts. This year I had very few mature buck sighting & pics. So most of my sits where basically going in blind on bedding areas I had scouted. Not having confirmation of a mature buck in the area. I hope to get more cameras out this year. And have better visual intel that a mature buck is actually using an area, before heading in. I had only one camera last year. This year I have 3.
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Wild public
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Re: best lesson learned from 2017

Unread postby Wild public » Mon Jan 15, 2018 12:58 am

tgreeno wrote:Try to get more mature buck intel before the season starts. This year I had very few mature buck sighting & pics. So most of my sits where basically going in blind on bedding areas I had scouted. Not having confirmation of a mature buck in the area. I hope to get more cameras out this year. And have better visual intel that a mature buck is actually using an area, before heading in. I had only one camera last year. This year I have 3.

This sounds like my season. I too set some good spots but didn’t know if any good bucks were using them..only to find out the area that actually held the biggest deer I only hunted once ,,could have hunted it more from different stands if I knew he was there,,..and would have ..next season my goal is the same as yours. Although I have scouted multiple stand sites I’m going to gather more intel( I got cameras now for the first time) and focus on the stands where the biggest deer are when I can..the lesson I learned is you can be hunting a great stand set up and no mature deer in the area using it ,,so hunt the deer not your favorite stands..
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Re: best lesson learned from 2017

Unread postby Dan T » Tue Jan 16, 2018 7:57 am

I was force fed a tough lesson that I will never forget this season. I learned that if you know you made a decent shot, you shouldn't delay in retrieving your buck in some areas. I shot a beautiful perfectly symmetrical 10pt, a true beast, took the safe play and gave the deer a few hours and came back with help. After arriving back at the scene, and a short blood trail, I found my high 170's class buck ravaged by coyotes, I also learned that when you shoot an old buck in subzero temps, and he gets ravaged by coyotes the antlers can also fall off of your Booner. UGH!!! I wish I could go back in time, just climb out of that stand after a short wait, size up the blood trail and retrieved him right away, unless the sign said to do otherwise. Bummer, tough one to swallow.
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wmahunter
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Re: best lesson learned from 2017

Unread postby wmahunter » Tue Jan 16, 2018 9:39 am

I use to go a distance to get away from the parking lot. All the bucks I saw this year were with 100 yds of the parking lot. Lesson learned, hunt closer to the road.
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SD_Bowhunter
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Re: best lesson learned from 2017

Unread postby SD_Bowhunter » Wed Jan 17, 2018 6:30 am

Top lessons learned this season:
1. Sitting all day during the rut is a must. Most of my mature buck encounters occurred between 9am and 2pm.
2. I think I finally nailed down the peak rut time for my area. I hunted November 11-17th. I hunt farmland terrain and it appeared that since a large percentage of the does had been bread and the mature bucks were cruising through the small shelter belts I hunt at least once per day. In the early part of the rut it appeared the bucks would come through every 3rd or 4th day. I am assuming they stayed a little closer to their core areas if there were does available, so if you were not hunting near their core area your odds were significantly lower.
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westmichigander
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Re: best lesson learned from 2017

Unread postby westmichigander » Wed Jan 17, 2018 9:05 am

That a 2.5 Year old buck tastes a lot better than a green tag.................
gotta let em grow they say
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ghoasthunter
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Re: best lesson learned from 2017

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Wed Jan 17, 2018 10:38 am

my lesson still makes me shake my head... when your scouting midday on ledges in a wind storm and you see a buck bedded 50 yards below almost strait down off a cliff and you broke your good range finder and your new one does not cut yardage don't guess 30 yards and find out you should have cut to 15. I had close to a minute to make the shot and still missed. guess I'm getting another range finder this year. o well nothing you can do but laugh at this point. :violin:
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