Follow the Sign (first bow kill)

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flyin9
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Follow the Sign (first bow kill)

Unread postby flyin9 » Tue Oct 20, 2020 4:22 am

Hey Guys and Gals,
I have lurked on here for a long time, read many threads, finally bought some of Dan's DVD's and have used some tactics I have learned about on here in my little time I have bow hunted. The thing that keeps showing its self is "follow the sign!" I'll give a little background on myself.

I have rifle hunted my whole life on my families 450 acres in Central MN. I got a bow for Christmas when I was 16 and "bowhunted" a couple times in high school. That consisted of sitting in a rifle stand and crossing my fingers. I gave up on "bowhunting" after a couple of times in high school. I got involved in racing cars across the country which took up every free minute I had and the bow went in the closet. Fast forward 10 years, I rifle hunted every year in November just like I have my whole life with little success, shot a couple does and year and a half's. Walking into my stand opening morning I took one step into the woods and I hear a crash, crash and splash... the biggest deer I had even seen on our property I watched through my scope swimming across a moonlit lake. I was upset but just said "that how it goes..." Fast forward a couple more years, I started a family, racing slowed down, I found myself with some more time on my hands being able to do things closer to home. I wanted to shoot a big deer, I picked up my bow because I knew I'd have a better chance to get on one before the orange army hits the MN woods the first weekend in November. So what does any good millennial (I bite my tongue when I say that as I'm an 88' baby, I love Motley Crue, Van Halen, and Metallica) do when they want to learn something? I took to YouTube and starting watching videos. Being that we have private land I immediately shifted to habitat management to help bag that big buck. Several years of food plots, I thought that would be the end all. I was wrong... More digging into habitat management, I learned I needed bedding... I still didn't punch the big buck tag. While I still love doing habitat management to this day because it's my "getaway" from home, I realized that I was a terrible hunter. No amount of food plots, travel corridors, bedding areas, hinge cuts, scent control, etc... would shoot a big deer for me. Enter Flyin9 on the hunting beast, bowhunting forums, archery talk, etc... I need to make myself a better hunter... Last season I got out 8 times with a bow with a few sightings of small deer and i never released an arrow. Shot a doe during gun season and had a blast with my family as gun hunting is a big tradition. But, I never saw a big deer like my goal has been. We got to drinking too much and BS'n around the camp fire at the "Deer Shack" last fall and I told the story about the deer of my dreams swimming across that moonlit lake several years ago and a family friend who bowhunts a lot said "why do you think that deer was there?" I couldn't answer him. he asked me "was the wind blowing?" Heck "I don't know." It was at that moment I started asking myself those questions and trying find the answers.

Fast forward 2020 bow season. I spent the summer tending our food plots, hinge cutting bedding, hanging cameras... you know that kind of stuff. However, I listened to every podcast that Dan Infalt was on (many others as well, but I like Dan's dont let them come to you, go to them" Some of them I listened to several times. Trying to understand wind, thermals, why deer would move from point A to point B. Dan I work in a machine shop, on the sales side. But, we are rock and roll busy so I have to deburr a lot of parts right now to keep them moving through the shop to get out the door. So have been listening to these podcasts day in and day out, soaking up the info.

Fast forward 10/19/2020, I went and pulled all of our cuddelink's to change the batteries and I found some good sign. Followed some sign and decided I needed to get in the woods. Got my gear on and headed out in the woods, followed a scrape line that was opened up in the last 12/24 hours because the dirt from the scrapes was on top of the snow we got on Saturday. I could actually follow his tracks right down a logging road, he made 5 scrapes over 400 yards right on the road. He turned off into the woods where I had a decent idea buck bedding would be. I had a ground blind in the area from a few weeks ago so I decided to set up there, ~200 yards from where I thought the bedding could be. I had 2 fawns come through early, a doe went behind me, plenty of action early on. At this point I was playing some of Dan's interviews in my head "you need to shoot a lot of deer to become good at shooting deer" popped up. I decided I was going to take a doe if I had the opportunity. "I know, I know... you guys are thinking what an idiot follow buck sign and shoot a doe" I have never had a bow kill, so at that moment "you need to shoot a lot of deer to become good at shooting deer" took precedent. Sure enough two does came across the front of me and I took a shot. 20 yards quartering away, front third, half way up the body, good shot! about 5PM sunset is 6:30. She went 100 yards and crashed. The other doe ran off but not far. I still had eyes on her. I was watching where I thought the doe crashed through brush and I saw feet walking, one way then a minute later the other way. Back and forth a few times, finally I saw horns through the bino's. The dead doe was playing decoy for the buck. 15 -20 minutes of that he finally got interested in the other doe that was hanging around and came out into the woods from behind the brush and I could see he was a good buck. He made his way to about 60 yards and was going to start heading out of the area so I grunted at him, that got his attention, he came to 50 yards, became uninterested again and started walking off. Hit the grunt again, now he's pissed. We had a grunting match for about 20 minutes but he never got closer than 45 yards. He started snort wheezing, I started snort wheezing. After 3 exchanges of snort wheezes he had enough and called it a day, he trotted back to the bedding area.

I didn't kill the big buck but I had an encounter with him for over an hour while I was on the ground. I got my first bow kill on a doe last night, and had an amazing experience with a target buck. It was a success in my book. I followed the sign, used the wind and put myself in the right spot.

Thanks y'all for this site to become better hunters!
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Re: Follow the Sign (first bow kill)

Unread postby A5BLASTER » Tue Oct 20, 2020 11:49 am

Congrats on your first archery deer sir.
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Re: Follow the Sign (first bow kill)

Unread postby Ghost Hunter » Tue Oct 20, 2020 11:59 am

You will never forget first deer. Good read too. Congrats. :clap:
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Re: Follow the Sign (first bow kill)

Unread postby greenhorndave » Tue Oct 20, 2020 12:03 pm

That’s awesome stuff man!

Congrats!

Is that you in the sprint car? Always wanted to drive one of those things...
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Re: Follow the Sign (first bow kill)

Unread postby welded34 » Tue Oct 20, 2020 1:26 pm

Congrats!
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Re: Follow the Sign (first bow kill)

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Tue Oct 20, 2020 1:29 pm

That's a winner!
Congratulations. I think you had an unforgettable hunt.
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Re: Follow the Sign (first bow kill)

Unread postby Moose » Tue Oct 20, 2020 1:36 pm

:clap:
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Re: Follow the Sign (first bow kill)

Unread postby muddy » Tue Oct 20, 2020 1:44 pm

Congrats, good eats
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Re: Follow the Sign (first bow kill)

Unread postby Ack » Tue Oct 20, 2020 4:20 pm

Congrats! :clap:
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Re: Follow the Sign (first bow kill)

Unread postby hunter_mike » Tue Oct 20, 2020 11:59 pm

Congrats on the deer and having a great hunt!!! :clap:
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Re: Follow the Sign (first bow kill)

Unread postby Huntress13 » Wed Oct 21, 2020 12:22 am

Great story!
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Re: Follow the Sign (first bow kill)

Unread postby flyin9 » Wed Oct 21, 2020 1:57 am

greenhorndave wrote:That’s awesome stuff man!

Congrats!

Is that you in the sprint car? Always wanted to drive one of those things...


Yes sir, I started racing sprint cars in 2010. 360's and 410's. I have put on a lot of miles over the midwest, traveled the west coast a few times hitting races. It is a lot of fun but it takes a toll on you that's for sure. Missed weddings, parties, family reunions, fun events... I raced hard for 2 years after getting married knowing that we would be having kids and since I was not racing to put food on the table I made a commitment that my family would come first and I wouldn't raise my kids in a car seat and race tracks across the country. No disrespect to the guys that do that, just not my thing or my wife's idea of raising a family. I'm still heavily involved with a team, our machine shop is always making some R&D stuff and my dad owns the engines and truck and trailer for a high level 410 team based in southern MN.

It you want to imagine it. Sit on a 5 gallon bucket in your bathtub, imagine 4 wheels around you and a rocket strapped to your but, it's pretty close.

Thanks for the support on the deer! I feel I owed a write up to the forum to share my story.
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Re: Follow the Sign (first bow kill)

Unread postby greenhorndave » Wed Oct 21, 2020 2:57 am

flyin9 wrote:
greenhorndave wrote:That’s awesome stuff man!

Congrats!

Is that you in the sprint car? Always wanted to drive one of those things...


Yes sir, I started racing sprint cars in 2010. 360's and 410's. I have put on a lot of miles over the midwest, traveled the west coast a few times hitting races. It is a lot of fun but it takes a toll on you that's for sure. Missed weddings, parties, family reunions, fun events... I raced hard for 2 years after getting married knowing that we would be having kids and since I was not racing to put food on the table I made a commitment that my family would come first and I wouldn't raise my kids in a car seat and race tracks across the country. No disrespect to the guys that do that, just not my thing or my wife's idea of raising a family. I'm still heavily involved with a team, our machine shop is always making some R&D stuff and my dad owns the engines and truck and trailer for a high level 410 team based in southern MN.

It you want to imagine it. Sit on a 5 gallon bucket in your bathtub, imagine 4 wheels around you and a rocket strapped to your but, it's pretty close.

Thanks for the support on the deer! I feel I owed a write up to the forum to share my story.

Racing is a crazy time commitment so I get why you stopped. Heck, I had a shifter kart that I only raced at a local track for about a half season after daughter made two kids. And that is a low-maintenance vehicle in comparison to your cars.

The sprint car sound like a hoot. A midget would be a blast. I think Brad Doty or someone has a school in California, but I don’t see myself going out there despite the interest. Kids and hunting are about all I can swing.
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https://youtu.be/d4tSE2w53ts
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Re: Follow the Sign (first bow kill)

Unread postby flyin9 » Wed Oct 21, 2020 3:28 am

greenhorndave wrote:
flyin9 wrote:
greenhorndave wrote:That’s awesome stuff man!

Congrats!

Is that you in the sprint car? Always wanted to drive one of those things...


Yes sir, I started racing sprint cars in 2010. 360's and 410's. I have put on a lot of miles over the midwest, traveled the west coast a few times hitting races. It is a lot of fun but it takes a toll on you that's for sure. Missed weddings, parties, family reunions, fun events... I raced hard for 2 years after getting married knowing that we would be having kids and since I was not racing to put food on the table I made a commitment that my family would come first and I wouldn't raise my kids in a car seat and race tracks across the country. No disrespect to the guys that do that, just not my thing or my wife's idea of raising a family. I'm still heavily involved with a team, our machine shop is always making some R&D stuff and my dad owns the engines and truck and trailer for a high level 410 team based in southern MN.

It you want to imagine it. Sit on a 5 gallon bucket in your bathtub, imagine 4 wheels around you and a rocket strapped to your but, it's pretty close.

Thanks for the support on the deer! I feel I owed a write up to the forum to share my story.

Racing is a crazy time commitment so I get why you stopped. Heck, I had a shifter kart that I only raced at a local track for about a half season after daughter made two kids. And that is a low-maintenance vehicle in comparison to your cars.

The sprint car sound like a hoot. A midget would be a blast. I think Brad Doty or someone has a school in California, but I don’t see myself going out there despite the interest. Kids and hunting are about all I can swing.


Jimmy Sills did it for a long time, I went out there and did that one. He has since stopped doing it. Cory Kruseman still does his at Parris in SoCal, Non-wings and Midgets. if you want to do it close to home look up open wheel racing school by Randy Sippel, he's in Elkhart Lake.
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Re: Follow the Sign (first bow kill)

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Wed Oct 21, 2020 3:43 am

Sweet!
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