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Bowhunting the Rut: Challenging?

UTGrad

UTGrad

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Question: Anyone find bowhunting during the rut more challenging?

It seems to me easier to bow hunt when deer are on more predictable feeding patterns. I find the food source and set up to wait for them to come in.

During the rut they can be anywhere so I've had a tougher time ambushing them. It sure is easy with a rifle lol

Thoughts or ideas?
 
Didn't see a buck till the rut started picking up, guess I was just in a doe sink. Still bow hunting the spot and deer are less predictable now, but I've killed 2 bucks since it started heating up and seen about 4 other bucks either roaming, following or chasing. The only thing more challenging for me is predicting the deer. Sometimes I only see one deer, sometimes a bunch of does and fawns and sometimes a buck or two going after the does.
 
The pre rut when bucks are just starting to scrape and make rub lines are more predictable and easier to pattern , than they are during the peak of the rut when they are chasing does and can be miles away .

A couple weeks ago while bow hunting here in the KC area during the rifle season , I did an all day sit from the summit stand . I saw deer all day , bucks chasing does , I had two young does bedded down within 40 yards for half the day .
I had one nice mature buck chase a doe within 30 yards , but she took a hard left to try and get away from him and he took off before offering a clear shot at a good angle . I then watched him lock down with her for a couple hours on the other side of a hollow .

It was an exciting hunt ,even though I didn't release an arrow , but that's what bowhunting is all about to me . I have passed up dozens of shots on yearling bucks and does this year , just to limit myself to shooting mature deer in an area that has suffered some EHD loses during the summer .

If I wanted to go out and shoot a deer every hunt , I would just rifle hunt . Sometimes I question my dedication to the sport and weapon of choice during the firearms season , because it can get tough at times , but in the end it is all worthwhile when you can harvest deer during the firearms season . I have done it 3 years in a row now .
 
Radar said:
The pre rut when bucks are just starting to scrape and make rub lines are more predictable and easier to pattern , than they are during the peak of the rut when they are chasing does and can be miles away .

A couple weeks ago while bow hunting here in the KC area during the rifle season , I did an all day sit from the summit stand . I saw deer all day , bucks chasing does , I had two young does bedded down within 40 yards for half the day .
I had one nice mature buck chase a doe within 30 yards , but she took a hard left to try and get away from him and he took off before offering a clear shot at a good angle . I then watched him lock down with her for a couple hours on the other side of a hollow .

It was an exciting hunt ,even though I didn't release an arrow , but that's what bowhunting is all about to me . I have passed up dozens of shots on yearling bucks and does this year , just to limit myself to shooting mature deer in an area that has suffered some EHD loses during the summer .

If I wanted to go out and shoot a deer every hunt , I would just rifle hunt . Sometimes I question my dedication to the sport and weapon of choice during the firearms season , because it can get tough at times , but in the end it is all worthwhile when you can harvest deer during the firearms season . I have done it 3 years in a row now .
Click to expand...

This is the first year since I started bow hunting 4 seasons ago that I have not killed a deer with a bow (yet). The lease where I hunt has large corn fields that is great for firearm season. I killed 4 deer in less than a week.

Now that I have meat in the freezer I want to focus on catching them in the woods with a bow.

Unfortunately I lost one in mid October when I hit a buck square in the shoulder with a large mechanical, lesson learned.
 
UTGrad said:
Radar said:
The pre rut when bucks are just starting to scrape and make rub lines are more predictable and easier to pattern , than they are during the peak of the rut when they are chasing does and can be miles away .

A couple weeks ago while bow hunting here in the KC area during the rifle season , I did an all day sit from the summit stand . I saw deer all day , bucks chasing does , I had two young does bedded down within 40 yards for half the day .
I had one nice mature buck chase a doe within 30 yards , but she took a hard left to try and get away from him and he took off before offering a clear shot at a good angle . I then watched him lock down with her for a couple hours on the other side of a hollow .

It was an exciting hunt ,even though I didn't release an arrow , but that's what bowhunting is all about to me . I have passed up dozens of shots on yearling bucks and does this year , just to limit myself to shooting mature deer in an area that has suffered some EHD loses during the summer .

If I wanted to go out and shoot a deer every hunt , I would just rifle hunt . Sometimes I question my dedication to the sport and weapon of choice during the firearms season , because it can get tough at times , but in the end it is all worthwhile when you can harvest deer during the firearms season . I have done it 3 years in a row now .
Click to expand...

This is the first year since I started bow hunting 4 seasons ago that I have not killed a deer with a bow (yet). The lease where I hunt has large corn fields that is great for firearm season. I killed 4 deer in less than a week.

Now that I have meat in the freezer I want to focus on catching them in the woods with a bow.

Unfortunately I lost one in mid October when I hit a buck square in the shoulder with a large mechanical, lesson learned. [/quote

Dont feel alone.This is the first year in the last 6 i didnt taken a buck in the second week of november.Gun seasons over in Ky so i will be back in the woods saturday.
Click to expand...
 

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