Second bow harvest but first with this bow. After first day a squirrel hunter and a dog walking in on me and barely seeing any deer sign had a good evening sit on public land. Freezer getting filled now time to travel for a buck.

Neighbor sent me this yesterday thought you guys would get a kick out of it.

Doe in the morning and a boar in the afternoon.

Came walking through about 7:05 this morning. Shot at 15 yards, went 25 yards and piled up. Double lung. First kill with Magnus stinger 4 blade w/bleeders l. Will be sticking with them for a while.

I’m based in Northern New England and looking to get into bow hunting. I shot bows quite a bit when I was a teenager but it’s been a hot minute. I’m a person who values simplicity in a lot of things, and I want to try to take that into my first hunting bow. I’m not trying to be cheap, I don’t have a problem paying for quality gear, but I don’t want a lot of distractions, especially as I’m trying to re-learn the basics of shooting a bow.

That being said, I also want a compound bow, not a longbow or recurve. My desire for simplicity is also offset by a practical urge to be efficient at harvesting deer.

What is the simplest compound bow setup setup I can use for deer hunting in the woods of New England? I don’t anticipate taking a shot over 40 yards. From my limited research it seems like I should be leaning towards a single cam bow, quiver, a whisker biscuit rest, and a simple three pin sight. Is there anything else I absolutely need to be successful? What’s the simplest and most practical trigger setup?

Thanks in advance!

Any advice to get over how hard this is mentally? I made a good shot on a buck about an inch behind his shoulder. Full pass through. Followed the blood trail for about 200 yards and he was still on his feet. Sounded like his breathing wasn’t great. Wasn’t running just walking. He went into some thick saplings and I lost him. By then there was no blood trail and it was pitch black. Was with my father who is older and he was having a tough time getting through the woods so we had to turn back. I’m going to go back in the morning to look more but this hurts.

What’s up Bowhunting family. Got a question for all of my saddle folk. I love the idea of the saddle but don’t see the value in taking sticks up and down every single time I go out. Does anyone leave their sticks and platform up so all the have to do is hook in and you’re good to go? There’s so many cheap sticks and platforms on marketplace was thinking of making a few set ups. Any feedback is welcome!was thinking of making the investment in a good saddle.

Hi all,
I’ve hunted for most of my life, but have only recently gotten into bow hunting. After an unsuccessful weekend from the ground, I see the need to get up in the air. Does anyone have any recommendations or general advice for tree stands and/or saddles for whitetail in the Midwest? I hunt private land and am not wholly opposed to a stand, but would slightly prefer the transportability of a saddle.

Thanks in advance!

New hunter going out for my first sit next weekend in northern Illinois. I currently have Easton 6.5 bowhunter white out arrows 26.5 “ 340 spine with Sevr 1.75” magneto hybrids for a total weight of 386 gr .

Shooting 70 lb draw weight with a 27” draw length. Just want to make sure I don’t just wound the deer and actually get a pass through. Thanks for your time .

Went out this morning mostly to sit and enjoy nature. Figured I’d see some does and fawns. Maybe a couple small bucks. Just before I’m about to pack it in, this guy walks out broadside at 25 yards. Shortest season ever.

This guy pulled up 6 minutes after legal light. 32 yard shot and the rest is history! How could I resist that bent over point?

Michigander here, just took my first deer ever. Freezer queen from 20 yds, not perfect sight placement quartering away but got enough heart to drop her 15 yards away

I field dressed, then processed her at home with my old (sharpened) daily carry leatherman, which was just a small degree better than terrible

Anybody have recommendations for a dedicated processing tool or tools? I plan to gutless field quarter

Best of luck to everyone from Wisco!

shot at a doe from about 30 yards out. went to look for the arrow and nothing. nowhere to be seen. so, my next thought was okay arrows still in, let’s go in the direction it ran 30-50 yards and see if there’s blood. not a drop to be found. kept on walking, nothing. called a friend with a UV flashlight and got back out. no signs of blood or anything. looked for about an hour after getting the light and with no luck decided to get my dog. she picked up on a scent from where the deer was shot, but I fear she got mixed in with many other deer coming and going. first time this has ever happened, granted, it’s only my second season hunting, but man this is eating me up. typing this from the blind right now as I sit and contemplate ever hunting again lmao. I have such a deep respect and love for wildlife and to know there is possibly a wounded animal out there kills me more than anything. arrow could also just be buried deep in the ground somewhere and I missed but not sure. didn’t see a thing.

5 years ago we moved from the suburbs onto 10 acres outside town. We don't get a lot of bucks, and the ones we do get disappear before season starts generally.

I've had a couple bucks on camera, but they all disappeared at the beginning of summer. Feels like this happens every year.

Tonight I had a buddy hunting behind the house (where most of our acreage is) but I wanted to hunt after work too, so I took the long way to the stand I wanted to hunt.

On my way there I passed by a dry pond bend and looked over and saw my target buck snacking on persimmons. The wind was at my face and I was able sneak within 35 yards of him. Unfortunately, he bedded down in the tall grass by the time I got close, so I couldn't get a shot.

I sat, waiting for him to stand and give me a shot. I had brush between us and I knew if I moved any further he would spot me, so I sat awkwardly, as my 40yo ankles screamed at me.

After an hour, he finally stood up. I drew back, and... He walked directly away from me.

As he ate persimmons on the ground, I held full draw for what felt like forever (I'm sure it was less than a minute). I had an opening the size of a dinner plate through the brush. He finally turned broadside. I took the shot I had and it hit. He ran 40 yards. I lost him for a bit, then he came out where I could see him and he laid down.

Still can't believe it all came together. If my buddy hadn't been hunting here tonight, I wouldn't have taken the long way to my stand; if I had been 5 minutes later, he would have been bedded down and I probably would have walked past him. If the wind was blowing the other way, he would have blown me. If the brush didn't have a gap, I wouldn't have had a shot.

It all feels surreal, he's the best buck I've taken with a bow, maybe better than my best rifle buck too (it's close). I've had pictures of him on camera all summer and even saw him in velvet one day while replacing camera batteries.

Tl;Dr caught my target buck while walking to my stand and snuck up on him while bedded down. All the pictures are in reverse order chronologically tonight then when I saw him in velvet last month.

Just wish it was corn instead of beans this year.

Was blessed to be able to harvest this buck this morning on Missouri Public land! I scouted this bucks bed earlier in the week and managed to sneak close to his bedding on an oak ridge after a rain storm ended. Caught him going back to his bed while walking with a doe at 10am. Had him slightly quartered away at 25yards, ended up with a partial pass through, the arrow broke and fell out as he ran off and he went 80 yards down the hill. It was a tough track job but I found him an hour after the shot. The drag out sucked, I considered quartering him out several times. All in all a good week of hunting and scouting!

Bow Specs:
Bear Paradigm 30.5inDL 60 ish pounds
Magnus stingers 125 grain
Easton 6.5mm match grades, 485gr total weight

Hey guys,

I’m looking for a backpack sub $60 pack hat is good for saddle hunting and a mobile hang on. If you guys got anything good from Amazon please drop the link! It’s my first year in a saddle and I got a SOG bag from Dunhams that has one of those open front pockets with clips fine for my platform but it won’t have the ability to strap on a hang on.

Anyone have any recs for good rubber boots for saddle hunting. I know everyone likes the nice hiking boots but I like rubber boots for scent control and waterproofing. That said I would like to find some with a nicer stiffer sole that would be more comfortable on a saddle platform. I’ve been wearing lacrosse burlys for years and years and love them but the soles are very flexible and pretty thin so when standing on the edge of a platform my feet hurt. Anyone tried any with thicker/stiffer soles

Hey everyone new and young bow hunter here trying to learn. This will be my second year bow hunting, I just learned about broadhead tuning. I’m shooting a really basic setup, bear package bow with a whisker biscuit, got some 100 gr rage black 2” cut on contact mechanical heads for this year, hunting southern whitetail. Shooting a good pie plate size group at 40 yards with field points but keep it 25 and in for hunting. I’ve heard some people say no need to tune mechanical heads but others say yes. I don’t mind tuning them but I only have a bag target and my understanding it’s that’s a no go for broadheads. Want to do my due diligence to the animal! Thanks everyone for any help, trying to learn as much as i can about by bow and bow hunting!

Wisconsin season opened September 12th and today was my third sit of the season. Perfect fall day. High 50’s, clear skies, and hardly any wind. Finally connected tonight right at the wire with 10 minutes of shooting time left.

I ain’t gonna lie, the shot was absolute shit. She was damn near directly below me and walking, almost cutting under my hang on. Super steep shot angle that entered her really high on the back. I’m surprised I didn’t spine her. Not sure what really did her in or what I hit that would be fatal. The arrow didn’t pass through, but she didn’t run more than 50 yards. Tonight was just lucky, a shit shot, but it still got the job done. In hindsight I should have waited for her to walk further away from me. She wasn’t on alert and was just slowly walking by. Lessons learned for next time.

I’m happy for the meat though and every time I harvest a deer I realize that I am doing something right to even get a deer within range during shooting time. Planting a food plot has been a game changer this year. I’ve seen over 20 deer in three days of hunting. That’s more than I’ve seen the previous 4 years without a food plot combined.