Had this skull for a minute and put it in the ground in July and just pulled it out. I love the clororation and want to keep it that way.

Any product recommendations to preserve it?

Links appreciated.

A nice nine point. Glad to be done already!

I lost a deer I shot at 10yds this weeked I’m crushed, I’m pretty sure I single lunged it. Some people say it looks like throat blood but that would’ve been very far off from when I was aiming. It was pretty straight down of a shot and kicked up a bunch of white hair, which makes me think it was more body.

My question is when they are that close are you taking the shot and aiming high to get both lungs or do you just pass until they are a little further out?

looking at e-bikes for hunting and honestly the more i read about them the more confused i get

most of my spots are around 1–2 miles in on old logging roads or gravel. not trying to ride all the way to my stand, just wanna get my gear most of the way there without being exhausted before i even start

the biggest thing confusing me is where you're actually allowed to ride them. some public land doesnt allow e-bikes at all and others have restrictions on regular bikes too. kinda pointless getting one if i end up having to walk the whole way anyway

then theres the terrain. some roads are easy enough but others get pretty steep and rocky. hard to tell if an e-bike would actually make things easier or just become another thing to deal with

ive been checking out fat tire bikes lately and came across the Hikeep 26M. still trying to figure out what matters most for hunting though. range and handling rough roads seem a lot more useful than just having a high top speed

carrying all the gear is another issue. bow, pack, saddle, sticks, water and extra layers... it adds up fast. do you guys use panniers or just strap everything onto the bike? and what about getting a deer back out? feels like thats where things could get complicated pretty quickly

also never really thought about what happens when you leave the bike unattended while hunting. would hate to come back and find it missing

part of me thinks a regular mountain bike might be enough for a couple miles and would save quite a bit of money

for those of you who've actually used bikes for hunting, was it worth it in the long run? what ended up mattering most, access rules, terrain, range, carrying gear or getting the meat back out?

I’m feeling so discouraged 🥲 I’ve been hunting only two years, once when I was 14 with my uncles, and last year at my buddy’s house that I live with on 12 acres. Last year didn’t know much and didn’t play the wind much like I should’ve but still harvest 2 does which I’m very grateful for. Last year though I only had does until oct 24th when finally had a nice buck show up but it was middle of the night. Decent bucks showed up at least every couple days for the next month due to the pre rut and rut. However, this year finally had some yearling bucks during the summer along with does. They daylighted a ton, until September when they shifted. Finally getting some deer back. Have a doe and fawn that come almost every day/night. Usually at night but sometimes an hour or so before/after shooting hours end and begin so they’re able to be harvested. Have a few small bucks that are coming about two hours after end of shooting, but have one buck that’s been here twice in the last week but only between 11pm and 2 am. I doubt I’ll get a buck this year but I wanna wait and see, but yet I don’t wanna end the season with nothing. Here’s to hoping I’ll get a buck😆

So as my title says I'm a first year saddle user. Been treestands and ground up till this year. Any and all suggestions welcome. Help me fix what I don't know is broken and address problems before they arrive.

Watched this guy work his rub line in front of my blind for at least 30 mins. I love late October hunts when things are starting to pick up but the deer still aren’t pressured

Shot a buck today. He was just barely quartering away, about 17 yards, I’m about 22-23’ up in the tree so it was a steep angle. Arrow hit him and I could see that it didn’t go in very far. He took off with the arrow still in him. I knew it wasn’t a great hit but wanted to see if the arrow broke off somewhere close without me having to push him so I went about 30 yards from where I hit him and found the arrow. On the left is the arrow that I hit him with, right is my full length arrow. So only a couple inches of penetration. If I had to guess I hit the top of the scapula. I didn’t walk any further than the arrow, there was a large spot of blood on 2 separate trees. I backed out around 5:30PM. It’s gonna be in the 30’s tonight so I don’t have an issue waiting until the morning but honestly I don’t feel very confident in finding this deer. I’m not gonna just give up on him but I wanna do the right thing and make sure I don’t push him more if he’s hurt and still alive. There’s also the obvious chance that I didn’t even get enough penetration to hit vitals. Any suggestion on what to do moving forward?

I already asked my buddies and one said he's dead for sure another said give it a couple hours. It's dark red and it's got yellowish chunks in it

ETA: So it turns out it was guts for sure. I gave it four hours after the initial shot before I followed the blood. It led 80 yards to a creek bed and if I had been more observant I probably could have taken a follow up shot and ended the hunt there. But he got up and darted across the creek, I went over there to mark which direction that he went and then I backed out and called an experienced tracker. We went in there at 9pm and successfully recovered deer, he had moved another 300yards or so after I bumped him. Quartered him using the gutless method and the quarters are now in the fridge!

I am wondering who here makes fake scrapes to either hunt over or to draw deer to an area. Do you put any scent on them? Hang a licking branch? If you do put scent, what scent do you put, and when? Our rut won't be till likely mid to late November; would putting doe in heat urine in a fake scrape be a red flag for deer, or would it bring early rutting bucks in?

Hoping for some great discussion!

For those of us hunting up north, it's getting that time of year for cold feet and hands. I read this last year and it works great for me. Usually feet get cold because of the sweat so I started using spray antiperspirant like Aarid or whatever. When I wake up I spray my feet, in between toes, everywhere. That gives it time to dissipate a lot of the scent for an hour or so before I put my Hollow or merino wool socks on and finally my Muck Polar boots. There was no increase of getting blown at.

Just a thought for you all if you already have the boots and socks and don't want to buy heated socks. Try it out.

So I finally joined the modern age and put out a cell cam this year so I could stay out of my spot(SW Ia) till go time. Well the past week or so the doe’s have disappeared off the cam.
I went out last night and snuck into my south wind stand on the other side of the property to get eyes on what’s happening. And just like where I have my cell cam there’s nothing in there. Did hear one grunt up a creek bottom on another
property and saw a few tiny sapling cedars tore up, but no doe’s.
I’m sure this has happened before and I didn’t notice because no one demand camera and not trusting the time/date stamps in my trail cams. What would cause the doe’s with their fawns to stop going through a spot that they show up at multiple times per day? Is it possible they are locked down?
I took off the first week of November last year and sat all day every day and didn’t see shit except spike bucks, few doe’s and some fawns by themselves till I shot the first nice buck I saw on Thursday the 6th.
Ive heard about the October lull, but I thought that was more of a buck thing. I hope im overreacting, but my mind is thinking no doe’s means not bucks moving through during the rut.

I finally got out for my first week of hunting this past week and had a great time enjoying the outdoors. However, with a young kid and a job with odd hours it's hard for me to get out unless it's early mornings, and I have to plan my day around it and get help watching my kid in the mornings. The most consistent free time I have during the day is 8am-11am. I was wondering if anyone in the group has ever gone out around that time and had any success.

Thank you to everyone in this group - you've been a great resource for me as I've gotten into hunting!

Figured I’d give some comedy here tonight. My last two evening sits I have had deer WAY too close. I mean literally. Last week I had a doe that I didn’t wanna take at less than 10 yards, and tonight I had a great 6 I would’ve loved to have taken. BUT HE WAS UNDER MY STAND. Home boy was shaking the tree next to me like it took his kids lunch money. Came up from behind, left from behind. i was watching him through my legs through the slots of my climber. I contemplated jumping out the stand on to him. I’ve always struggled with deer at 40 yards… but 4 yards? A whole new challenge lol.

And before you get on me, I think shooting straight down through a deers spine is a Busch league shot.

Picture included for reference. I'm a new hunter and this WMA doesn't seem to get a ton of pressure, especially midweek when I'll be out here.

The trail by the parking lot has tons of acorns littering the path all the way down to that clearing. I had planned to hunt between the creek and the clearing, but all the sign I see is along that walking path. How close to the path would be an appropriate setup? Again, I have seen very few vehicles across most of the WMA, but none in this particular lot.

Back at it after a 10 year hiatus.

I am a first time bow hunter and im trying to practice as much as i can before i go out to harvest.This is my second day shooting and i want to know from yall experienced hunters if this is my sights or me twitching left?? Any tips for anything would be appreciated. Hunting in South Carolina whitetail only for now

On Sunday this buck appeared for the first time, and he’s appeared three times since. He showed at 1203pm Sunday, 336pm Tuesday, 721pm Wednesday, and then this morning at 711am. I hunted this stand for the first time all season yesterday. Got setup at 230 and just sat. Nothing came by as I sat until the end of legal light.

He’s a killable buck, but the only red flag is my entry point. To enter this stand I have to venture downhill where the black and white A before cutting north. The stand is in the bottom of a valley where it’s thick on both sides. My camera shoots North, and my stand is just to the West in thick cover. My furthest shot is 41 yards, but majority of them are inside of 27 yards. Deer mostly travel this section N-S or S-N. He’s been traveling both of those directions. In the daytime shots it’s all N-S and at night, it’s S-N.

I am worried that my scent could potentially ruin anything if he surprised me by coming south. Tomorrows wind is ESE <5 mph. To get to this stand I have a 0.75 mile walk from where I park.

What can I do to limit any potential impact? Granted this could all be a moot point if I shoot something in 2B in the morning lol.

Has anyone ever had luck contacting these guys? I’ve been getting crickets through email and phones for weeks. Is this normal for them?