Your Best Season?

[Singing Bridge]

My best season (4 yrs ago) included the taking of three bucks, two on public and one on private. I had been invited to a piece of private that was heavily hunted, located adjacent to a large chunk of private that was also heavily hunted but intensely managed. The private next door has held many hunting "celebrity" hunts, with big names in the industry- not interested in going there with names though . As I mentioned the celebrity property is overhunted as well as the property I was on. The entire area had the first buck that came along getting shot IF the opportunity presented itself. Overanxious to demonstrate my mettle, I moved onto the property where I had permission to hunt on the opening day of Michigan's bow season. I had no intention of "holding out" for an older buck (2 is old there, 3 is a grand daddy). I spent twenty minutes on stand and arrowed a Michigan junior buck (6 pt) with 96 degree air temps. I scrambled the buck to a cooler, but was glad to be off and running...

Next I went to Ontario, Canada for a do-it-yourself public land hunt. After spending a couple of days scouting, I located quite a spot with a heavy rub and scrape line going through it. A vertical bluff sat next to a series of beaver ponds, with a saddle falling down to one of the dams, which is where the rub and scrape line powered through. The top of the bluff held a clearcut with head high regrowth and a lot of does... I spent one hour and fifteen minutes on stand before taking a 3.5 year old nine point heading for the dam...

Back in Michigan for the firearms deer season, with my second buck tag in hand, I headed for my stand on opening day. It was located on the downwind edge of a doe bedding area that dropped off the back of a very steep ridge whick I scaled for a stealthy approach. I sat on the ground and shot a Michigan heavy pressure 3.5 year old 8 point an hour and twenty minutes into the hunt.

I really enjoyed that season, and found myself shaking my head a lot.

[kenn1320]

My best public land memory was back when I was a young kid. We had some relatives by marriage that lived up in Grayling Mi. They talked about all the deer they shot(actually more like bragging) and when I showed them a few of my little bucks, they said bow hunting is easy. I said really, have you guys ever shot a deer with a bow? They said lots of them. Anyway they invited us up hunting on public land up there. They walked us out to some prehung stands and I climbed in one the next morning. I had deer come by and long story short, shot a spike and it went 50yds and piled up. When I walked out to meet up with them, the guy said your joking, you shot a deer with a bow? I said yeah, lets go get him. He was more excited then me and when we got back to the house they went crazy. I cant believe it, he shot a deer with a bow was a phrase I heard several times. Looking around the house, there werent any racks or pics on the walls and due to their reactions over me shooting that deer, I learned they likely had never shot a deer, let alone one with a bow. I was on cloud nine that day.

[wibowhunt4me]

My best season was the Wi 2009 season. I had just gotten into bow hunting a couple of years earlier and with this new season to me really started my addiction to hunting. I had spent alot of time scouting new areas of public land or should I say not the same areas my family has been hunting for over 50 years. It was also the first year I got to actually experience the rut. I saw 13 bucks following one doe and then the next day 6 bucks were chasing a doe. It is really hard to get them bucks to stop when they are chasing. About 20 minutes after they left I had a pope and young class buck come walking in to check things out and I missed. Hit the tree. That was such a great weekend I called My Dad and said thanks for taking me hunting. It was unbelievable. That year gun hunting I decided to pretty much slowly walk the edges of the woods and marsh keeping the wind in my face. I walked one point and heard deer in the marsh so I bleated. The deer stopped and I could hear a buck grunting. I eased my self into position so I could shoot out into the marsh and here he came. I saw one side knew he was a shooter and waited for him to hit an opening. He stepped in I pulled the trigger and the marsh exploded with deer. I ran into the marsh to get a better view and I watched a buck run onto an island 50 yds in front of me but he seemed to circling around. I made a plan to make a stalk along the edge of this thicket and maybe I could get one more shot. I took one step in the direction I needed to go and heard a thump. I turned around and walked 3 paces and there laid my buck. I had ran right past him. The deer dressed 218lbs, grossed 144 5/8, 11 point frame with a split brow and took me over 5 hours to drag him the 1 1/2 miles I was in the woods. He is now proudly gracing my living room wall and is bigger than any of the bucks my family has shot in the past 50 years on this piece of public land. One uncle gives me crap because he did shoot one with more points than mine but no where near the size or mass of mine. And yes this was the pope and young buck I missed with a bow.

[FRH]

My best was 2006. Although I didn't get anything I picked a spot out on a map the winter before scouted it and kicked up a bunch of deer. I found a shed that was a typical 4 pt with 2 kickers on it with lots of mass. Probably only a 2 1/2 yr old. I waited all season to get to sit it and picked the first Friday in November. My brother dropped me off in morning and I managed to find my tree. As soon as I got up in the climber I had a doe come through. I had action all day seeing a bunch of forks basket sixes a really nice 9 but the best part was about 9:30 I heard a deer coming down the hill. It was a doe followed by a buck. They were about 75 yds away in the brush and at first didn't think much of him. As they got closer I realized it was the one that I had the shed from. I would guess him to be about a 130" 13 point. The doe came 10 yds from me but he skirted the edge of some brush and stopped 17 yds from me, behind a fallen limb which of course blocked his whole chest. Never did have a shot and never seen him again.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[UPbowhunter]

Its been a few years since Ive killed a really good buck, but every year is better than the last. This year will better then last year. I WILL self film a monster this year! I will have his sheds in my pile allready as a 2 year old, and I will have velvet footage of him this summer, naw Im dreamin now, just want to tell the story on film.