Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Regrets: Live and Learn

gundog870

gundog870

Premium Platinum Member
Well another season has come and gone. (I hope you guys are done hunting:moon:) But what did you do this year that you would take back, and what did you learn from it? It seems these thoughts come up a lot with bowhunting because we put so much time into it and it is really only for a few seconds of glory. Understanding that it is in the hunt and not the kill.


My bowseason this year was short and sweet. I tagged out the 14th on a great buck for me, and my number one target on that farm. So no regrets as far as that goes. But I do regret being tagged out that early. Making sure everything is as scent free as possible and not being afraid to hunt "not-perfect" wind is what enabled me to tag out. I knew what he was doing so I made a move before things changed. Also, taking the shot when you know you can kill is the biggest thing from this particular hunt. I think to many guys wait for them to get in their lane. If he is in range and you can kill, then by all means get it done!!!!


Shotgun season I killed a buck that I hadnt fully Identified first, and should have let him walk. Simple case of excitement.


Late season, I need to know my gun better. I missed a bruiser the second day, and I am pretty sure I shot right between his legs as I misjudged the yardage. Another takeaway here was if you cant get into the woods in time. Than just sit in the truck and watch. I blew one other good one by getting there to late and still trying to make it happen.

Live and learn.
 
Although I didn't fill my anysex tag for bow this year, I had a fantastic season and learned some good lessons, mainly relating to my bow season. Take risks! Calculated risks. I took a doe this year off of my second ever hang and hunt. I had been seeing deer use a particular hillside a lot and decided to put up a stand and hunt it. Worked perfect! The buck I hit in the shoulder was shot from the ground while standing behind a tree in a pocket deer like to funnel through. Again, kind of a risky hunt but it worked, I just didn't do my part.

My main learning lesson was to TAKE MY TIME on my shots. I believe that is the main reason why the buck I hit is still running around rather than sitting at the taxidermist.

Late muzzy season I tagged out on Christmas eve, with an awesome morning hunt. The deer I took was not the caliber I thought, but he's still a great deer. Being tagged out early sucks!
 
I learned no matter what, on a marginal hit, let the deer lay over night. I let my liver shot buck lay for 3 hours and that wasn't long enough. I bumped him out of his bed aftar about 300 yards. After that, I tracked him over 2 miles for 2 days and never found him.
 
I learned simply don't pass on the first day a buck that you would shoot on the last day. My first day out this year, opening weekend, I had an low to mid 150s 10 point walk by at 25 yards and I decided not to take him because I knew what the farm could produce. Long story short, I will be cooking up his tag for a little tag soup.
 
I harvested two nice bucks this year, one being my #1 target buck. The other one, I sort of have a little regret not passing because he would have been a PIG next year with super deep forked G2's. Either way, he is still a sweet buck and will look great on the wall. Next year, I will be much more picky at least on my own property. I will probably lower my standards a little on public land however as I do not run trail cams out there and have no idea what's around.
 
I would of been a little more pateint When taking a shot. Got lucky on the buck i shot this year but Both times i drew i either spooked does or alerted the deer. Never got a shot on a old 6 becas once he hot 20 yards i went to draw and spooked does and spooked him.
 
If you shoot a 165 inch buck and he drops like a rock but moves a bit, consider another shot immediately as he may run off and never will be found!

That was my learning experience!!
 
Agree with several guys here, "take your time on shots". Missed two decent bucks bow hunting and one late muz, major target panic??? Would add practice, practice, practice. First time in 12 years without a deer in my freezer, no one to blame but my self. Feel fortunate to be able to have spent time afield though as an uncle of mine, 30 year bow hunter, was not able to spend one minute in the woods due to a heart condition. On the bright side the bucks should only get bigger.
 
Do a better job on trimming shooting lanes. The smallest twig will get you every time. If I would have done a better job this buck would have been dead at 30 yards....
5846-buck_297083.jpg
 
The biggest thing I took away just not letting a unsuccessful year consume you. The two biggest bucks on the farm were shot this year, and I was pretty bummed for awhile, but looking back I got really close on one of them obviously not by me, one during 1st shotgun and the other I don't want to get into). Similar to what some of you have mentioned, I should have probably pushed the limits a little more instead of hunting so conservative.

I obviously learned a few areas that I will definitely hang stands in for next season.
 
I would say i had a lot more learning experiences this year than regrets. I have learned that you can not be to patient while waiting to recover a deer. Every buck that we arrowed this year seemed to be a struggle to find. In the end all of them were accounted for but not as easily as the could of been. I was fortunate enough to harvest my #1 hit list buck that i had been after for 2 years. But i do in some ways regret it all happening on Nov. 8th! It cut my season short since we only get one tag here in KS. But in all it was a great year, i watched my GF shoot her first mature buck with a bow. My dad and a close hunting buddy stepped up and put arrows in the other 2 hit list bucks. In all, it was a great season for us.
 
I learned the benefit of not overhunting your area.

In prior years, I've always taken off a week in between the 1st and 2nd weekends of November and hunted 9 days straight plus every weekend before and after that I was able. This year was different as my son was born so with that responsibility I was forced to spend less time in the field. I didn't even step foot into the woods until Halloween and hunting no more than 2 consecutive days. I saw more deer and bigger bucks hands down with this approach and was able to harvest my first 200" with my bow. I was always one of those guys that thought the more time I put in a tree the better I would do and this year made that outlook totally change. I will always keep as much pressure off of the woods as possible and hunt when conditions are right and give the place proper rest before re-entering.

Of course bigger tracts or multiple tracts of land this wouldn't really apply to as you can move around more. I'm working with under 80 acres.
 
I need to revise my trail cam strategy. I have a good spot that big deer use, but only have one camera in the area. It's a huge timber, so I really don't know where these deer are bedding at. I have ideas but I need to place more cameras around so I can get a better idea of where they are coming from. My camera is on a pinch point and my stand is close, so the spot is on, but I need more info on those deer so I can hunt them better in early season and late season.

I also got fooled by my trail camera's and an especially large buck that was using a small finger. Spent too much time hunting that deer and spot when I should have been spending more time hunting this "Old Faithfull" spot during the rut. My camera there was on fire the week I was off hunting this other deer.

Next year will be different and I hope to have an actual harvest picture to post next year. I did have a good shotgun season, but Bow and Late Muzzy for this year I can't forget fast enough..
 
I learned quite a few things last year, Ive been hunting for four years and this is the first year I've gotten a deer, the first thing I'd say I've learned is patience, the second is don't buy wally worlds cheapest broad heads (I learned that when I shot a doe this year and I hit her shoulder blade and the arrow cracked in half and the broad head only went in about two inches, I am switching to muzzys next year), and the third thing is don't rush the shot Ive lost more then probably four arrows last year because I rushed the shot, and that about sums it up for my hunting year.
 
I would litterally DIE!!!! if i had one that big on camera, or let alone even get a shot at one i would also cut the tree that had the "little limb down, then burn it!! ok maybe thats going a little overboard idk (talkin about the 200+ inch bruiser above) this makes me itch for next fall cant wait to see what next year yields for me...
 
I lined up a new property for the fall 2012 season. I hunted it once, first hunt of the year and should have killed a doe. Arrow hit high and had a complete pass through above the spine.

Second hunt of the season, shot my best archery buck. So Oct. 12 and my statewide archery tag is punched. No problem, I have my landowner archery tag yet. Best buck I saw from stand within range was a 1.5 year old scraggly 7 pointer. Didn't fill that tag or a second archery antlerless LOT.

Got a first shotgun season, passed lots of young bucks and tons of does early. Took off work the last day of season, rushed to the farm and dropped a button buck in the last 20 minutes of season. Some are probably sucking air reading that, but with deer numbers being down, I feel better about shooting a button than shooting a doe.

Wanting to shoot does, but not in my area ;), I looked into a local urban hunt. Jumped through all the hoops to be able to participate, bought two tags that I filled with a double on December 22nd. I'm kind of looking forward to the 2013 urban season. :way:
 
I tagged out fairly early this year too (Oct 20th) on a good buck. It was actually my first trip after being in WY going after antelope.

I still had a couple doe tags left to fill and learned that I can have a great time hunting even if I'm not looking for a monster buck. I also learned that I need to hunt the wind better and keep all my clothes scent free.

My only regret is not taking my traditional bow after tagging out on the buck. In 2013 I will dedicate my season to harvesting with the trad bow.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom