jdavis

I think a lot of people are quick to blame their broadheads when they hit a deer and are not able to recover it. I'm sure there are cases when they may malfunction and not open but in my experiences with them they almost seem to open too easy if anything. I've shot 7 or 8 deer with the Rage heads and I've had great results, 2 of which I hit in the shoulder. If a deer is hit "perfect" it really shouldn't even matter if the broadhead opens, they still have a cutting diameter of close to 3/4" inch which is more than adequate to quickly kill the deer. I wonder how everyone can be so sure they didn't open when the majority of them didn't recover the deer. The blades can actually close after exiting the deer, similiar to the spitfires, I think a lot of people see this and assume they didn't open on impact. I'll continue to shoot the Rage's until they disappoint me which I don't see happening anytime soon.

Not bad for a first with the bow....or gun. I've shot many deer and that's bigger than any I've ever shot. Congrats

If you didn't find the deer what makes you think you hit it all 3 times? Unethical to shoot at a running deer especially at those distances. Next time wait until they stop, it's better to not get a shot than be in the situation of tracking a wounded deer and not finding it. Just my thought.

I have the Nikon Omega and the BDC is definitely helpful. More than likely it is not going to be right on, there are too many variables. The first circle is right on for me at 150 yards, but when I shoot out to 200 yards I have to use the circle that is made for 250. But I'm shooting a 290 gr. bullet and 120 grains of powder. If you get one you will just have to shoot it at those distances to see where to hold your aim.

Been tough hunting in Michigan as well; usually by this time of the year almost all of the corn is down. This year there is still probably 80-90% of the corn standing. Our shotgun opener was on Sunday and with all the corn still up I assume that it's going to get pretty slow for the next week or two.

Nice choice on the scope. Nikon's are hard to beat for the money

It's possible you may have hit him a little low, they will bleed like crazy at first and then just stop. But with bubbles in the blood I would think you definitely hit one lung, which would mean he is probably not going to be too far. And if you did hit low and got one lung the blood should stop. Tough call though, hate to wait and have the yotes get him but you don't want to push him either.

I agree. We never had this problem in our school, I grew up in a small town and the majority of my teachers were also hunters. Our school was always closed on opening day of shotgun season.

That's a great deer. I love the mass, congrats

I've given up on rattling; never had much luck with it. I use a grunt call blindly and there were several times that I don't think I ever would have seen that particular deer if I didn't. I've called in and shot many deer with my grunt and "can" call that I never knew were there. Doesn't always work but I won't go in the woods without them.

I decided to go out hunting yesterday morning to try and get a doe. The woods I went in has never really produced any good bucks for us. We pass on 8-10 year and a half olds every season and when gun season comes very few make it to the next year, but it's always been an excellent area to get a few does. Right at first light I see movement in front of me about 50 yards away. After it comes out from behind some brush I can see that it's a buck and he has a really bad limp. He followed the edge of the swamp on a trail that would bring him about 15 yards broadside. As he got closer I saw an arrow sticking out of his back leg which would explain the limp. I noticed he was the decent four point that I had seen all summer and a few times this fall; only a year and a half old but he had good potential. He was having trouble getting around with his bad leg so I decided to take the shot. I really don't think he would have made it thru winter and I could use the meat. After the shot I heard him splashing thru the swamp. Then it got quiet for about 5 seconds and I heard a big splash so I new he was down. I waited about 45 min and climbed down, met my brother at my house and we headed back out. He only went about 60 yards. Went thru the front shoulder and lodged in the opposite side shoulder. I skinned him down when I got home and his back leg was infected. The meat around the arrow wound had a green tint to it, there was a circle about 5" of the green meat around the wound, pretty disgusting. I'm glad I decided to take him after seeing that. The rest of the meat looks fine, should be good eating this winter.

I won't hunt without them anymore, they also work great for night time tracking. I stick the arrow in the ground at the last spot I find blood. If I lose blood I can easily get back to the last spot I found it.

You definitely don't want to be hitting high at this range, I sighted in my 7 mag a few years ago and if I remember right I had to hit about 1-2" low at this range to be right on at 100 yards. At this close of a range you will want to be hitting a little low. I would find someplace where you can shoot out to at least 100 yards to ensure that everything is sighted in, every gun is going to shoot different.

Sure looks like a bullet hole to me, that's too bad that someone would do that. My brother shot a doe with his bow earlier this season and he found two .22 cal bullets stuck in her.

Nice looking elk, I'd be happy with that one. Congrats

Nice deer..and you got it with a longbow!! Congrats

Well said, we had a few poachers around us last year. They shot a total of 7 bucks and 4 does. To make it even worse they just shot them and left them to rot. Thankfully someone caught on to what they were doing and they were eventually caught.

I'm actually going to be taking a long weekend as well and I can't decide on the 30th or the 6th either. I keep going back a forth, depending on how much of a heads up you need to give I'd wait and check the weather. I think that's what I'm going to do.

This pic was taken around Hastings which is Southeast of Grand Rapids

That's too bad, never easy losing a pet.

This was our first year planting chicory and so far it's been amazing. This area was covered in the tall weeds and scrub brush that you see in the background. We sprayed roundup and plowed it in early May, then planted on memorial day weekend. The deer seem to prefer this over our clover plot which is located right behind the camera. I typically get around 300 pics every week.

I agree, if this deer is using the bedding area it will be nearly impossible for you to get in their without spooking him. Even if he doesn't see you, you're scent will be around long after you're gone. The worst place to jump a mature buck is in his bedding area, this is the area that they spend the most time and feel the most secure. They have spent a lot of time finding the perfect bedding area which has allowed them to grow old and smart. You should check for trails leading from the bedding area to the feeding areas. Setup somewhere in between these and try to catch him leaving his bedding area and heading out to feed or vise versa. Good luck

#1 yes, #2 & 3 no

the pictures aren't showing up

I've been watching a pretty nice 8 point all summer and just last week a heard a rumor that our neighbor shot a really nice 8 point. We hadn't seen this deer since the end of September and we thought for sure that this must have been the deer. Last night I headed out a little early so I could check my camera, and look who showed up at 8:00 yesterday morning. He was out there Monday night at 6:30 too. I almost hunted a stand that is about 50 yards from where this pic was taken that same night but decided at the last minute that I would try another woods instead. That's one thing I hate about the trail cameras, when you see what goes by when you're not there and realize you almost hunted that spot but decided not to, oh well. Nice to see him moving around in the daylight though. Here is a picture of him back in late August on our chicory plot. Here is the latest picture of him from yesterday.