A_bear

Area 2
37° 18mph wind
28 nosler

Set my brother up where I killed an 8pt last year, and then set up about 250 yards past him. He saw some does at first light. I haven’t seen anything yet. Hopefully the bucks start moving.
In my saddle, about 20ft up. Trying not to get blown out of the tree :lol:

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Lots of excitement before the shot and after the hit, but from the decision to get ready to draw to the release my brain went to "shooting" mode.

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That’s exactly how I am with a bow or a gun. When I see a deer that I’m planning on shooting, no matter how big, I start shaking. But once it comes time to shoot, I’m calm and steady. After the shot, I go back to shaking.

Area 2 public
37° SE @ 4mph
Mathews lift RS

In my saddle between 2 thickets. Had a couple does come out at first light. Could hear some grunting in the thicket, but one of the does spotted me, blew, and they took off. Guessing whatever was grunting went with them.
Yesterday midday, things got a little western. Was walking out to trade out my lock on for my saddle. Walked up on a doe and was watching her. All of a sudden she takes off. Another doe with a pretty big 6pt behind her came busting out of a thicket. They came straight for me! The doe ran by without noticing me, but the buck saw me and took a quick 90° turn. I ranged where they were at the closest point. My rangefinder didn’t read, and it starts reading at 10 yards. Thought I was about to get run over :lol:

Area 2 public
Cold and windy
Mathews lift RS

Got up here midday yesterday and set up in the rain. After the rain stopped I had a real pretty 7pt come in to 10 yards, but he was a young deer so I let him walk. Set up in the same spot this morning. Haven’t seen anything yet.
Good luck!

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The newer bows are usually hair slower than the old solocams

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You think the solocams were faster than the Lifts? My Lift RS has an ibo speed of 353fps. I have a short draw(27”), shooting a 503gr arrow around 275fps. You think a solocam is faster than that?

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whatever was the flagship two years ago

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Before the Lift, it was the Phase 4. It’s a slower bow. With the same draw and arrow mentioned above, mine shoots 255fps. It’s incredibly smooth and quiet though.
From what I’ve heard, the Arc is fast like a Lift but doesn’t have the big hump before dropping into the valley like the lift does. Supposedly, smooth on the draw, but still a speed bow. I don’t plan on owning one though. Between my phase 4 and my lift RS, I shouldn’t need a new bow for quite a few years.

Area 2 public
37°
Mathews lift RS
In my saddle on the edge of a thicket. Hunted Saturday morning and yesterday morning and evening. Saw deer on the walk in yesterday morning and the walk out in the evening, but nothing during the day. Hoping this cold weather gets them moving today. Giving it til about 1:30, then heading home to start packing for Missouri.
Good luck!

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Thats because there isnt 293759327 coonasses trying to kill them

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I think there’s a few factors that play a part in it. Hunting pressure definitely being one of them. Having 3 buck tags with no restrictions is another factor. People will shoot 1.5-2.5 year old 4-6pts on public land all day. I think there’s more mature bucks up there than down here also. Making them have to compete more with other mature bucks, which makes them more aggressive/prone to investigate calls.
Our long gun/primitive season, combined with our 3 buck tags, with almost no size/age restrictions(unless you’re in a club or on some federal lands), is what hurts us compared to the Midwest.
If you managed a property and let bucks reach maturity, and kept the doe population lower, you would be able to peak a bucks interest by calling during the rut.

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Can you give me any details of your call method in that area in early rut?

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Up there, I’ve had success calling aggressively. I haven’t sealed the deal on any, but I’ve gotten them close and not been able to get a good shot with my bow.
I usually throw out a pretty loud, fairly long grunt, followed by 2-3 short ones. Basically how an elk bugles.
Early on in the rut, I’ll rattle if I’m blind calling and hit a snort wheeze right when I stop rattling. I do that because I’ve heard bucks fighting up there and one snort wheezed right when they broke it up. So I mimic that.
The big one I called in last year, was after 3 does and I hit the grunt loud and stopped him dead in his tracks. He went back and forth a couple times between the does and wanting to come investigate, so I hit a snort wheeze and it was over. He came in on a string.
Don’t be afraid to get aggressive with it. My second year up there I called one in by grunting, rattling, raking leaves(I was on the ground), and breaking branches. Big mfer snuck up behind me and got to 25 yards before I heard him. I turned to look and he saw me move and it was over with.

Heading up the night of the 13th, scouting on the 14th, and staying until the 21st. I usually do a week or so of bow and then stay for a few days of rifle. That was the plan this year too, but being short staffed at work screwed that up for me. I would’ve gone for just bow, but my buddy’s coming and he doesn’t bow hunt. Confidence is low. Those deer go underground when the shots start popping off.

I also bought some after seeing this thread. I used it on an evening hunt in sherburne, and didn’t get bit by any mosquitos. It worked great. My only complaint is that it’s loud when you spray it. Sounds almost like a deer blowing. I was glad I sprayed it at the truck instead of packing it in the woods to spray before dark.

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Go take your sissy e-bike on the CA and let’s see what happens

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A lot of people do. The only thing that happens is they access harder to reach areas, more easily than people on foot. 3 people in our group, including myself, use them. Along with a few other people I personally know. It’s not illegal. The laws regarding them can be found online.

I’m with loup though. I wouldn’t be upset if they banned them altogether. I prefer how it used to be, where putting in more work than the next guy meant you could get to spots with less pressure. But until then, I’ll keep getting my moneys worth out of mine.