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Pathetic...

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
That word best sums up my season as a whole, along with putting an exclamation point on the cap to my season last night...

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to visit a farm I only hunted once this year in hopes I could get something moving. The plan was to stalk some of the standing corn, then let the wind push my scent in to a few draws and south facing slopes. I killed my first big buck with this technique and figured it was worth a try since I had nothing to lose. It didn't work. Major shocker... :smiley_boos:

I decided to scramble back to my parents place in hopes of using the same technique to get the deer up we had jumped all three days heading to the stand. The first attempt was a fail, as was the second. While I was contemplating what to do next, I took two steps around a big red oak and saw a tail fly in the air. A big doe had been working her way down the four-wheeler trail towards the bottom when I disrupted her journey. She took two big bounds and stopped in an opening 100 yards across the holler. I let the Optima bark and she hit the dirt like a ton of bricks.

As she floundered in the leaves, I reloaded the muzzleloader to take a follow up shot. Before I could finish, she was to her feet and off to the north towards a huge thicket. I knew before I even got to the impact site that I was in for a shitty evening. Sure enough, no blood or hair where she went down and next to no blood for the first 100 yards. I jumped her 200 yards in after finding very spotty muscle blood with no signs of bubbles. She didn't give me another shot before mixing with more does, leaving me with no real option to shoot again. The blood dried up once she left the thicket and after an hour and 400 yards of tracking, I turned back towards the house. Textbook high shoulder hit... :smiley_blackeye:

This is only the second time I have wounded a deer in 20 years of hunting, and the first time in a decade. I have never wounded a deer with a gun before yesterday and I've killed 20+ deer since the last time I wounded one. I've come to expect that when I pull the trigger or touch off the release, I'm taking home a deer. I have had a HORRIBLE season and it made a swift kick to the package hurt even worse. I'm done for the year and it left an even nastier taste in my mouth than I already had. I need a new hobby...
 

Ohiosam

*Supporting Member*
11,708
191
Mahoning Co.
The few wounded deer I've lost were neck shots and the deer reacted exactly the same way. You were close to the spine and stunned her. My guess is she'll live. Blow it off, maybe you've put all the crap together in one season and got yourself set-up for a fantastic 2012-13 deer season.
 
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moundhill

Senior Member
Supporting Member
5,327
103
Hebbardsville..
Jesse my dad has had a season alot like your's, missed deer..2 bucks..and his sightings weren't real high other than in muzzy season..and ya he has complained a little about it, I would TOO. But you gotta face the shit and get back out there and shoot a deer. I'm gonna relate this to my basketball season. We started out 2-7..beating 2 awful teams and losing 5 games in a row. We came into Nelsonville last night (most athletic team in the conference, and on a 5 game win streak) and wooped em. We knew that if we gave up and folded the rest of the season would be hell. We decided to face the challenge, play hard and it worked out. I'm probly not much help but ya know how I feel. Just keep after it man!
 

CJD3

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
14,630
201
NE Ohio
Jesse,
I've had my share of rough and bad seasons. Lost a shoulder shot doe once TOO. Bothered me quite a bit that year. (Frankly it should. If it doesn't bother someone I would just tag em a "slob hunter" and not have anything to do with them.)
Try to learn from it and figure out what happened but realize that this will probably make you an even better hunter. The next time you raise up on a kill zone, this may come to mind and cause you to dbl. check that mental check list before squeezing that release or trigger.
 

Milo

Tatonka guide.
8,184
157
I would pick up some new books that may contain some new ideas and maybe some new inspiration. There are lots of good books out there that might help work through this low point. I know the time I have spent reading and rereading has given me new hope at times as well as a newer perspective on what I am doing wrong and right.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Here's the thing... I suck at what I (used) to love most and it has reached a point that I am seriously considering giving up all aspects of deer hunting but gun season. No more food plots. No more cameras. No more bowhunting. Take all the pressure to succeed off and just enjoy the few days a year I do hunt. I have no desire to continue to sit three hours just to see a single deer during bow season when I can avoid that frustration by simply not bowhunting. If I don't plant food plots or run cameras, then I have nothing out there to give me false hope and build unrealistic expectations. I'm obviously a horrible bowhunter or I would have had some success at this point. I didn't even attach my release to the string this year in anticipation of killing a deer. That's the first time in 5 years! Bowhunting has become a hated ex-girlfriend to me and I'm ready to cut ties altogether. Its not fun any more and I have no idea how to make it fun again. I tried that and failed just as miserably as I have at killing big bucks. I simply can't win when I have a bow in my hand...
 

Milo

Tatonka guide.
8,184
157
Failure only makes success sweeter.. you are reminding me a little of myself many moons ago. your comments remind me of the LSU offense on monday...
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
31,856
260
SW Ohio
Sorry to hear this Jesse. We've all had seasons like the one you had this season and have felt pretty down afterwards BUT come September my hopes and anticipation are right back up to a fever pitch. You'll see! Hang in there, Moe might still be alive and well.
 

lung buster

Senior Member
2,666
106
hocking county
Dude everybody on here knows better than that. I've never even met you and I know you don't suck at bow hunting. For the last few years I always looked forward to reading your posts about your season. I hope next year is different and you get the fire back in you! I think the kind of year you've had would try any of us. Keep after it!
 

Kaiser878

Senior Member
2,633
97
ohio
you say you wanna quit now. The bad taste is in your mouth, but whats nice about being human is our inability to remember everything all the time. By next August your fire will re-ignite and your desire to be in a stand will overwhelm you. There is no sense in talking such nonsense...because you know deep down your not gonna quit. so stop. Deer hunting and racing motorcycles are very similar. They are both passions and both leave an imprint on your soul. Once you start you can never stop. I quit riding all together in the fall of 08 and sold everything. It lasted about a year and I purchased another bike in spring of 2010. There is an old saying in motocross that applies 100%. " once a rider, always a rider." You cant beat it out of someone....broken bones and near death experiences are not enough to stop a rider or a racer.....atleast a die hard who is passionate about it....27 broken bones later and 8 concussions later....my fire to ride is still there...not like it once was...but I will never be without a bike...

The same applies to hunting...Once a deer hunter, always a deer hunter. The question is, are you a die hard? Has deer hunting been imprinted on your soul?? Only you know the answer to that...You dont need anyone on here to answer that for you.
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
247
Then quit. You only do it for fun, if it isn't fun....quit. No shame in that. After a couple weeks, I'm gonna quit too. We'll see what happens after that. I'll probably turn into a fisherman and 3d shooter for a while, I'll get tired of that and quit it too. Usually, shortly after I am tired of fishing I feel like bowhunting, but you never know, I may not feel like it.

Quit for now, find something fun to do. If you feel like hunting next year do it. If you don't, don't. Its your life, do what gives you a thrill.
 

Fluteman

Senior Member
Supporting Member
7,094
146
Southeast Ohio
Then quit. You only do it for fun, if it isn't fun....quit. No shame in that. After a couple weeks, I'm gonna quit too. We'll see what happens after that. I'll probably turn into a fisherman and 3d shooter for a while, I'll get tired of that and quit it too. Usually, shortly after I am tired of fishing I feel like bowhunting, but you never know, I may not feel like it.

Quit for now, find something fun to do. If you feel like hunting next year do it. If you don't, don't. Its your life, do what gives you a thrill.

Amen to that Brock!
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
Then quit. You only do it for fun, if it isn't fun....quit. No shame in that. After a couple weeks, I'm gonna quit too. We'll see what happens after that. I'll probably turn into a fisherman and 3d shooter for a while, I'll get tired of that and quit it too. Usually, shortly after I am tired of fishing I feel like bowhunting, but you never know, I may not feel like it.

Quit for now, find something fun to do. If you feel like hunting next year do it. If you don't, don't. Its your life, do what gives you a thrill.

I think Brock nailed it. Jesse, have you ever tried ice fishing? Think it over... it's pretty damn fun once you get into it. I gotta believe you have some prime panfish spots near you that would produce some great memories.
 

Fluteman

Senior Member
Supporting Member
7,094
146
Southeast Ohio
I think Brock nailed it. Jesse, have you ever tried ice fishing? Think it over... it's pretty damn fun once you get into it. I gotta believe you have some prime panfish spots near you that would produce some great memories.

Yeah, but it's gotta get cold enough for ice first...
 

Wildlife

Denny
Supporting Member
5,248
191
Ross County, Ohio
Sorry to hear your struggles over something that you devoted so much “TOO”. Sounds like you need a “PICK ME UP”. Can’t say what that is specifically; perhaps one of your closest friends would know. Regardless what you decide; you’re still the person that most on the “TOO” have come to respect and like. Good luck man!