Otherwise, gun season for me is a whole lot of hiking the lands I can hunt looking at how the sign has changed over bow season, occasionally sitting on my nif-t-seat to see a sunset or sunrise.
Turkeys, that's different, all gun all the time and enjoy the heck out of it... But deer, it's just time to go for hikes for me - for the most part.
20 minutes after legal shooting I hear running in the leaves
I grab my bow, stand up and clip the release on. She stops 2 yards from my stand, falls 15 yards away.
I look up to see a 150-160" class deer at 20 yards with no shot opportunity. He gets nervous, circles down wind at about 40 yards, and then leaves.
Congrats on a nice buck Jeff!
I would not pass on the buck you shot this year on my own farm. I have taken some really nice bucks, all by luck. I am not a trophy hunter at all, but have no problem with others doing their thing.
Good luck on a doe. That was my third anterless for this season, two off our MO farm one from our KS home.
I use a climber but on private property I built two stands on opposite sides of the 14 acres. I’ve switched mid hunt some days.
Paul, congrats to you as well if that is you and your results.
Nice to see CF guys getting it done!
Congrats all.
On public land up here (northern MI) I'll rifle hunt from stands and blinds. Depending on my view and who is around me....I'll rifle and bow hunt from the same stand. I do not bow hunt from blinds. I have set up blinds further back away from my bow tree stand for a rifle hunt.
I was out this morning checking cams in the fresh snow SE of Cadillac on some private land I get to hunt on. The deer were up and moving mid day.
Unless Louis knows of many people just handing over good does for the freezer
my tree was seriously swaying too, no gals but had this toxically masculine brute giving me the business at 100+ yards, i started flinging arrows with fervor and, yes, out of fear....
he felt my intensity and was able to sidestep all of my shots and scamper swiftly, albeit nervously, away
i will never forget this day and hope to never see that animal again
I have not hunted with rifle in decades, so I really cannot answer your question. The fun in hunting for me is to figure out how they use the habitat, i.e. bedding, food, travel, so I can get close enough for a shot. I think I would still do that even if I hunted with rifle. Not sure really, sorry.
Like JTV I prefer hang on stands. Up until last year I always used 20’ ladder sticks with them. Now I use a lone wolf with quick sticks. With this set up I can be hang and hunt in 20 minutes or less.
When I did rifle hunt there wasn’t many times I sat a stand but when I did it was in the same set up I used for bow hunting.
But I rifle hunt out of box blinds most of the time.
I only use ladderstands and don’t rifle hunt. I’m just more comfortable on a ladderstand. My kids have used my archery ladderstands for rifle when they were younger. It’s good for younger hunters so they aren’t taking long shots before their skills are caught up with thier drive for hunting. Now they only bowhunt because in KS the best hunting (rut) is bow only. They like the challenge of bowhunting over rifle...me too.
To answer the Op's original question, I do in fact hunt from the same trees with a bow as I do with a gun. Here it is so steep and thick, shots are usually close anyways. Regardless of weapon. I use mostly climbing stands and, move year to year with the deer. Dang bear tore my seat off my Summit Viper last week. So, I'm back to just standing in the tree now. :^) I hunt with rifle and bow with equal enthusiasm. I love them both.
FWIW, Ii often pack my deer out. Sometimes for miles. I use a Kifaru pack frame/bag combo or, an Kuiu icon pro frame/bag combo. I put the stand in the meat shelf with the deer meat cinch it down and come out. Weights vary but, an 80 pound pack is common. Both of the bow kills came from the same tree and was 1.57 miles as the crow flies back to the truck. It was the 700 foot of elevation gain that made it tough though. When we go to the big woods to bow and rifle hunt, many of the pack outs are 3-4 miles according to a GPS and marked trail. Its why I like hunting with both weapons. You earn them regardless of what you shoot them with.
They Hibernate. We get a lot of snow and cold weather here. But, in years where food is scarce, they are often going to sleep about now. In years where soft and hard mast do well, they will stay out for awhile longer until the truly cold winter gets here in late December. Yes it is 100% legal to hunt them. I have a bear tag and always buy one. However, they are like deer in that around the last of September, they really start to move only at night. I've spent a fair amount of time hunting them with dogs but, by mid to late December, it is hard to find them. So, you give up a lot of deer hunting to drive and walk a bunch of miles trying to find a track to run. So, I quit doing it.
Yeah I hunted 1 day and 1 1/2 hours. My buddy with his buck he shot 42 minutes after climbing into his stand the day he got here.
Are all those deer from Indiana?
