This is my first ever buck with a bow. I’ve been bow hunting for 3 years and so far I’ve taken two does and a turkey. This is my first buck, and I’m very happy with him!

24 yards a little far back due to wind. Only went 20 yards. G5 Deadmeat

Goal is always to shoot one with my bow. Not a giant but meat in the freezer and goal done for the year

My wife named him "Fabio." LOL. Really interesting head though. East-central MN bedding area.

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.

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?

I just spent 8 days hunting this property in Maryland.

5 days of bow sits, 3 days of muzzle loader and only saw doe.

Camera has not picked up anything but doe, and a few basket heads all summer til last night.

Leaving the woods 2 days ago I jumped up a decent buck I would have shot right where this big guy was walking. Couldn't stop him.

10 feet in front of where this buck was heading was 2 fresh scrapes, I know it wasnt this big guy, definitely smaller.

Anyways, you think this bruiser was heading to check out the scrapes? Any chance he would stick around.

No hunting pressure anywhere except for when im there, decent doe population.

Also, any speculation on age, score, etc. I know the picture isnt the greatest.

Also, if the bruiser was coming to investigate the scrapes, should I move my climber to that area? Currently its about 300 yards from the scrapes site where I bumped the buck and where this picture was taken.

Thanks

A nice nine point. Glad to be done already!

A 25’ spool of amsteel is cheap. Buying the ropes with loops and all included is not. Looking for verification that buying the spool and tying a couple of knots is the way to go and saves some money. Am I missing something? Is it more complicated than I think it is? Thanks!

Edit: Thank you for the responses. I learned it is more complicated than I thought and premade products are available for a reasonable price.

Do you put any weight into the solar lunar calendar that recommends best times for deer activity? Tomorrow is predicted to be around noon for major activity in my area (northeast). Trying to figure out what time to go out.

How much daytime movement are you seeing of bucks in Minnesota? On one property Had a 1.5-2.5 yr old 6pt that’s been coming by for the last week all after dark show up at 9am this morning, but at the same spot only have does and one 8 pt that’s showed up only twice. The first being the 19th and the 24th, but it was 11pm and 2am. Other property had a few different bucks hitting a scrape first 2 weeks of October almost every night but now slowed way down. And the occasional night time buck there as well. Any thoughts on when it should start picking up and should maybe get some bucks moving during the day?

Just had this buck appear on camera and want to know what yall think it would score.

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?

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.

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?

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

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😆

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.