Hunting!

[mainbutter]

'Tis the season, when men (and plenty of ladies too!) take off into the woods, sit in trees, get cold, fall asleep, walk countless miles, eat meat, and drink beer.

I'll be taking part in my second ever year hunting, and boy am I excited. Last year I was introduced to hunting whitetail deer during MN's two-week long firearm season. This year I'm giving bow hunting a try.

I've been practicing with a relatively low-poundage compound bow (41-42lbs right now) and am able to comfortably make my shots at 30 yards. I'm super stoked to get a few days in a row off of work to hit up the woods where I'm going to be trying to 'luck' a deer close enough to take a safe shot.

Last year I sat in a lone permanent stand, about 10 feet off the ground, wearing blaze orange and sitting on a bucket.

This year I'll be hunting in comfort and style, with increased mobility, using a "climbing" tree stand. I'll be taking this weekend to practice getting in and out of trees, but ideally I'll be able to put myself 15-20 feet up and out of sight of what most deer pay attention to.

I'll also be spending some time this upcoming winter trying to harvest a few small mammals for their pelts.. I have this kooky idea that I can tie flies for fishing out of all natural materials I harvested myself, and use bone hooks that I carved out of cow leg bones as well to up the "all natural" factor a bit. Getting at least one cottontail or snowshoe hare is on the list of goals!

Anyone else hunting this year?

[carlson]

You know I am! I've hunted deer every year since I was 12 its mine and my dads activity we still do together now that I've moved away from home and I love it every year.
My last bucks skull

[DooLittle]

I grew up with my family hunting elk. I have many memories from it, good times. Carving pumpkins while up hunting, it was always SO cold to stick your hand in and dig out the pumpkin guts up there!! Also, the only time I ever beat my Grandpa at chess. He had an old green Army tent, and it had a wood stove that went in it. And, maybe rather morbid, but I had the hoof of a kill, and I remember they had put duct tape over the "cut off" end, and silly me was using it to "make tracks in the snow, so other hunters thought and animal had been there" (never mind the pint sized boot prints on either side of them, lol). Good luck on your hunt. And I like the natural fly idea.

Hubby used to duck hunt, I've got a shotgun too, but just haven't managed to find the the time for that either.

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[Andybill]

I am! I will be trying to get my first dear this season while I have 3 day weekends I can go out more often. I will also be doing some elk hunting and my favorite duck hunting. I havent been hunting deer very long but I have been hunting duck and upland bird for 10 years (mostly duck) and I love it! But I really want to get a deer so thats my goal for this year.

[Zombie]

Ill be bowhunting next year, going to buy myself a new rig in a month or 2

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[gopherhockey03]

I'll be shooting some geese tomorrow hopefully! I feel bad for the little buggers flying through North Dakota =) Bow hunting season is also right around the corner! Any of you are welcome to come push woods for me if you wanna make the trip to East Grand Forks!

[carlson]

I wanna try geese hunting so badly, I've never done that or duck hunting. I mainly wanna goose hunt because they are a mean bird and I've heard it's a fun hunt added on to they taste good.

[Wicked Constrictors]

My husband has been hunting for years but this year is going to be my first and i cant wait

[kevinb]

I went out last year because they legalized crossbow hunting in NY and I saw nothing. This year I will sure be out again. But this time with a rife.

I even dreamed about hunting last night....yeah it's gotten that bad already! And the season doesn't even start till November 17th up here!

[rlditmars]

I love hunting. I started going with my dad about 40+ years ago. Duck, pheasant, deer , bear, turkey, you name it. We still hunt together today and he is 75. We have done the tent thing in the UP in MI and you want to talk about cold. When its 3 outside and your sleeping in a tent, you better be doing it right with the heaters, sleepeing bags, and gear. Seemed like my feet never warmed up the whole week we were gone.

Now to the OP. Good luck bow hunting it is absolutely my favorite thing to do. However, if I may, at 42 pounds you are using very light poundage compared to some of todays bows. That being said, while you may be proficient out to 30 yards, there is a good possibility that at that range your arrow will lack the sustained kinetic energy to get good penetration. I would suggest keeping it at 20 yards or under, and be extremely selective when taking a shot. Make certain you have an unobstructed clear heart/lung shot. Passing on a marginal shot is always a better choice than wounding and losing an animal. You can always hunt an animal another day so long as you let it walk, but if you take a bad shot and wound, there is a good chance the opportunity of getting that animal will be lost forever.

Best of luck to you.