Does this sound like good bowhunting land?

[willypete]

I have been leasing some land for gun hunting for 5 years now and i bought a bow last year and think i am going to go hunting with it this year. I think i have some pretty good land for bowhunting from what i know and was looking for what you guys thought: (80acres)

It is bordered by fields on 3 sides. Two fields are corn and 1 is soybeans The other side borders a small section of woods which after some cutting i think i is about 20 acres.

The 80 acres are mostly pretty thick and swampy. Which makes some predictable trails.

It has 2 major water sources a very large pond in the middle and another that sits towards the other 20 acre wood down toward some swamp.


Most of the bucks live on the side near the other 20 acres of woods and this is where they usually do the most of their rutting activity.

[Jslotter]

From your description, I would say yes. Food and cover. The food nearby will probably bring some good action next season for you. Bowhunting is a lot different form regular gun season and I think chances are better to close in on decent deer.

[pgchambers]

I am not sure how you gun hunt, so I am going to give some unasked for advice as it concerns bowhunting. If you are already aware of this stuff, just consider it a friendly reminder. Given it is 80 acres, I would try and locate as many possible "stand" sites as possible, have at least one available for each wind direction, and pay attention to how you plan to enter and exit the locations. Try and get in and out where you think the deer are least likely to cross your trail. If you keep your presence as light as possible, you should be able to get multiple opportunities on the land you described. Good luck, and keep us updated next season!

[ranwin33]

Sounds like you have a nice place there.

Don't forget, practice, practice, practice with that bow.

[Jslotter]

I would get started as soon as you can and start shooting bow. Work out the tweaks and get your form down for next season. I started bow hunting about 3 years ago and my heart now lays in it. Gun season is now just F-- off time for me now. I put all my serious hunting into bow season. I hope you find bowhunting awesome like many of us here.

[willypete]

Yah i have almost grown to hate gun hunting. I just find it so aggravating to put 3 months of scouting in just to have the deer go into hiding the second season starts. Never seeing any deer of decent size. The Bow pressure around me is nothing, but as far is gun hunting goes it is horrible. Like most places it is crawling with people everywhere. Usually towards the end of the season they trespass on top of that. There is usually 4 trophy bucks, and i have never seen one in gun season. I will probably end in the same boat as Jslotter and wont really care much about gun season. Bow season is just more peaceful and quite and you can just relax and have months to hunt, unlike the 9 day chaos of gun deer season.


Thanks for the tips too, come July or so i will defiantly be around looking for some pointers from you guys.

[Jslotter]

I found out quick that the deer I shoot during regular gun season are usually running away from other hunters. I thought my crap didn't stink for a long time because I seriously thought I was "God's gift" of a hunter to be able to fill my tags on opening day. The truth is, I was far from a good hunter. Bow hunting revealed to me a whole spectrum of things I never knew about myself until I began hunting by myself in the woods with a bow and arrow. I learned how deer really move without pressure, I learned about scent control and how the wind flow can make or break a hunt, I learned more about deer and myself while bow hunting than I will ever learn from reading a magazine or watching a video, and I learned the hard way by learning from mistakes. You have to have a good conscience and good patience. You must accept the fact you will make mistakes out there. There is really no easy way to better yourself as a bow hunter but to learn thru trial and error. Bow hunting will make you into a better hunter. I will guarantee you that.

[willypete]

I found out quick that the deer I shoot during regular gun season are usually running away from other hunters. I thought my crap didn't stink for a long time because I seriously thought I was "God's gift" of a hunter to be able to fill my tags on opening day. The truth is, I was far from a good hunter. Bow hunting revealed to me a whole spectrum of things I never knew about myself until I began hunting by myself in the woods with a bow and arrow. I learned how deer really move without pressure, I learned about scent control and how the wind flow can make or break a hunt, I learned more about deer and myself while bow hunting than I will ever learn from reading a magazine or watching a video, and I learned the hard way by learning from mistakes. You have to have a good conscience and good patience. You must accept the fact you will make mistakes out there. There is really no easy way to better yourself as a bow hunter but to learn thru trial and error. Bow hunting will make you into a better hunter. I will guarantee you that.

Yah you basically summed it up right there. Gun deer season is all about the deer going away from other hunters or it is going to get up and run from you. Your probably never ever going to get a deer to go past you on it's daily route. It just takes some of the fun away.

To me if you want to just shoot a deer gun hunting is what you need to do, but if you want a real challenge and want to be a skilled hunter you have to bowhunt. I mean last year I just realized how much time I waste scouting for gun deer season. Because really I could shoot a deer if I just slapped a stand on just about any tree. Doesn't take much to kill something with a bullet, but a arrow you need to know what your doing. Bowhunting you will encounter lots of situations and different scenarios. Gun hunting that gets pretty limited and gets boring kindof fast.