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Old December 22, 2018, 02:56 PM   #1
Linegrind
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Join Date: February 2, 2016
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 61
Good season

I hunted from late September until I finished out my season last weekend on the 16th. Tried some new things this year.

I tried some spot and stalk and still hunting with a bow. I've had success using a muzzle loader in the past but I've learned that I'm about as stealthy as a drunken moose when it comes to getting into bow range on the ground.

I kept at it though and eventually firearm season came and I switched to stand hunting again. I saw a lot of deer but nothing I was interested in shooting. I had one of my uncles boys with me too who's about 12 and was looking for his first deer so anything I could let him kill with good conscious I let him take a stab at. Poor little guy wasn't able to close the deal on downing one though but we tried.

Then came muzzleloader and it was windy and bitterly cold. I went back to still hunting with minimal success. I did end up posting up in one of the many stands on our property one night on a well used fresh trail. I saw one small sickly coughing and wheezing doe though. I chose to let the wolves have her and let her go.

Starting to get down to the wire though with the middle of December and some warm weather rolling in didn't help. I went out to the woods again the 14th with my bow. I saw a whole lot of nothing that Friday and Saturday. Even just scouting around and tracking the deer in the snow yielded no results. I ended up finding more dog/coyote tracks than anything though. Sunday morning I sat in a stand and saw nothing. I got down and wandered around again to see if I found any new sign. When I was done I wandered back to my stand and noticed a small set and a bigger set of hoof prints that were in my own tracks from that morning.

I got excited because clearly these deer hadn't been startled by my scent and they'd come through within the last couple hours. I figured that it was a doe/yearling fawn combo. In my experience does generally continue using the same trails at each stage of the year until the next stage so long as they arent spooked off. So I went in for lunch while the deer were bedded.

I came back out and reexamined the tracks. Didn't look like anything had changed so I set up about 25 yards off the trail in a hang on stand and waited. The wind shifted on me though and I decided to make a move with an hour left of shooting time. Once I had re positioned in a crosswind I sat back and waited about 15 minutes before I heard twigs snapping in the swampy brush to the east of my stand.

Thankfully I was spot on, here came that doe and the yearling. They weren't on the same trail at first though. So I got a bit concerned they wouldn't come in range but the doe made the last mistake of her life and crossed over to the trail she had taken that morning where I was lying in ambush.

I had a bonus tag with so my goal was to leave no orphans behind and take them both out. I drew back and waited for a broadside shot on the doe. She obliged me and I smacked her with a 100 gr ramcat at 20 yards. Shot landed a tad farther back than Id of liked though so I got a bit worried.

She ran about another 25 yards away before she dropped and did the death shakes to my relief. At this point her yearling was hiding back down the trail they had first come down. I spent the next half hour watching the yearling walk up to his mom's corpse and give it a sniff before wandering back into the brush and heading directly into the wind. Thankfully I was in the cross wind and the yearling cut the approach up shallow and would be passing about 30 yard in front of me. So I drew back and aimed at the opening in front of me waiting for the shot.

The little guy made a good choice though and ended up quartering away from me and heading back towards the bedding area. By the time the little guy crossed the opening it wold of been about a 45 yard shot quartering away. So I figured even though I could make that kill it wasn't worth tracking that deer in the dark if my shot goes a little to far off into the guts or shoulder.

All in all I got a doe down so I'm content with my season. I spent it chasing big bucks but never did get the opportunity I needed. The only time I came close it was still 30 minutes before legal shooting hours and I had a nice big 9-10ish point come grunting through my shooting lane. I'll admit Id of taken a shot if it was 3-5 minutes early but not 30. Really would of been a solid deer. Probably a 200-220isd pound buck.

Anywho that's my season, howd yours go?
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Old December 22, 2018, 04:27 PM   #2
sako2
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Join Date: April 12, 2009
Posts: 733
Linegrind how do you like the ramcat broadhead?
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Old December 23, 2018, 11:58 AM   #3
Linegrind
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Join Date: February 2, 2016
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 61
I really liked it. It shoots very close to my field points out to about 40 yards before it starts to deviate. The wound channel was impressive.

That being said I would strongly consider a different option for next season. The blades are very very fragile. The damage they do is amazing and the pivoting blades are no joke. The blood trail was mediocre though after the arrow fell out and clotted pretty quick but I blame that on my shot placement for now.

I think I'll give them another couple seasons and try replacing the blades. I know I've seen other people complain about how the blades would come loose. I never once had that issue myself.

Another thing I just thought of was they didn't fit very well in my quiver. The blades are too wide and stick out. I actually popped a blow up mattress in the hunting shack when picked up my quicker I had sitting on the top bunk. I also had the blades catch on my clothes if I got lazy with how I held my bow while walking.
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