2024 lessons learned

[Wolc123]

It’s been a long time, since I learned as many deer hunting lessons the hard way, as I did this past year.
 

1) Mid-September, Early Antlerless gun season, target doe #2:  Everything went according plan on target doe #1 on opening day evening over at my parents place.  Not so the following weekend when I planned on hunting from my west side truck cap blind.

 

I was carrying my scoped Marlin 512 and shooting sticks.  Walking south on the west ditch lane, a 1-1/2 4-point buck approached out of the back corn plot and stopped 60 yards away, about 20 minutes before sunrise.  
 

Next, two 1-1/2 year old does trotted out of the corn towards the west, just over 100 yards away.  I set up the shooting sticks but couldn’t get steady enough standing up for a shot.  They disappeared into my neighbors woods, after crossing his dad’s big hayfield.  
 

I continued on towards my blind and my target doe stepped out of the corn with her two fawns.  She stood there broadside at about 125 yards.  I adjusted the shooting sticks lower, knelt down, held the crosshairs on her shoulder, and squeezed of the shot.  
 

Her tail went up, she turned 90 degrees and departed into the thick cover behind with her two fawns in tow.  No hair, no blood and no signs of a hit.  Not sure what I did wrong there, but maybe bumped scope off after previous (chip shot) kill.  
 

Also may have been inconsistent ammo.  I always use 2-3/4” Hornady SST’s, date the boxes, and use the oldest ones first.  Post shot range work showed some inconsistency.  Still not 100% sure what went wrong.  This wasn’t to be my last miss with that gun this year so it’s out now and I plan on trading it towards a savage 220.  
 

2) Mid October Northern zone target doe #3:  a couple years ago, I finally managed to close the deal on my prior NZ target doe, on about my 4th attempt.  This one very likely was one of the offspring of that one because she’s showing the same tendencies and hanging in the same spots.  She has two fawns just like her mother had most years.  

I had a 40 yard shot at her about midway thru early ML week, less than 1/4 mile from where I missed her mother the first time with the same gun by the same likely cause (branch strike).  

I had killed an EAG doe, a month before, on the edge of a field with a camo net over my orange hat.  There were no branches in that field to deflect my bullet that time, but not so in those NZ woods.  My big mistake there was obstructing my vision with that camo net in the dark woods early morning light.  It was right around sunrise when the probable branch strike occurred.  

3) Southern zone crossbow season target buck #1:  I made two mistakes the second time I encountered this buck.  I first saw him opening day morning, shortly after I issued my only “pass” of the year on a tiny bodied 3-pointer that fed on wheat 15 yards away, broadside for about 10 minutes at sunrise.  This 3.5 year old, stout 8-pointer cruised by, head up, about 75 yards away.  I tried my grunt call but he paid no attention to it, and never broke pace or altered course .  
 

I made my first mistake the following Sunday morning, by trying to squeeze in a quick hunt back in my popup blind, before church.  Jesus should always come first. 
 

About 10 minutes after sunrise, he cruised by again, about 40 yards out.  I let out a short yell to try and stop him.  He slowed down and stopped about 60 yards out.  I grunted a few times and he cautiously approached, stopping broadside at 40 yards.

I released the bolt thru the camo mesh window (mistake number 2) and he ran off with his tail straight out.  He stopped, turned 90 degrees, and walked up to the back hedgerow.  He paused a few seconds there with his tail held to the side, then slowly walked out of view thru the hedgerow.

 No bolt, blood, or hair found.  Thankfully, that wasn’t my last encounter with the “Baseball 8” and he was out on our next one.  
 

4) Southern zone regular gun season, target doe # 3:  I suffered thru my worst ever SZ gun season with only one deer sighting.  What I think was one of the two 1-1/2 yr does that I had seen on the day I missed #2, made a lone appearance, 10 minutes after sunset, on the last Sunday.  
 

She was 120 yards away, quartering to me, and feeding on an awp/wheat/clover plot.  I was up in my poplar tree blind in the front hedgerow.  I had yet to kill a deer from that blind, but everything pointed to one now.  
 

I calmly cranked my scope up to max magnification of 7x, held the gun an a solid rest, and steadied the crosshairs on the hair over the center of her shoulder blade.  I squeezed off the shot.  She trotted off to the west, tail up, and stopped briefly, before walking out of view thru the back hedgerow. 
 

Once again, no hair no blood, and no signs of a hit.  No “baseball” for this gun and that will be my last hunt with it.  That’s actually it’s 4th strike because twice it froze up and failed to fire on does at point blank range.  No idea what I did wrong that last time so you can bet your bottom dollar that I’m blaming the gun entirely.  
 

5) Friday of Holiday ML week, target doe #2: Another “2 mistake” deer, one minor (underestimating the yardage of my first shot) and one major (going for a back of the neck finishing shot thru cover from 15 yards away in her first bed after being wounded in the front upper leg by my first shot). 
 

I really should have learned that lesson the year before with the same ML up in the NZ when I tried to shoot the head off of a grouse.  This doe has a huge body that I don’t see how I could have missed.  I wanted to “save some meat” so I aimed for her  neck, which turned out to be a very dumb move.  
 

I’m thankful to be alive after the 3.5 mile blood trail thru lots of nasty cover, that ended with her loss, when I had to call it in order to make a prior appointment.  
 

Keeping that appointment paid off very well tonight, in the form of a fresh button buck liver from the buddy who I met on time on that Friday when I gave up the chase on that doe.  I’ll give her about a 75 % chance of surviving the winter.  She certainly earned her freedom.
 

 I hope that I can avoid repeating at least some of the mistakes that I made this past year, and better yet, help others not make the same ones.  Fortunately, I did enough things right on two, above average sized deer, so that we will be eating pretty good this winter.  
 

None of the meat that I provided for our family will match that button buck liver from my buddy on my taste buds though.  That right there is about as good as wild game gets. 

 

 
 

 

Edited January 2 by Wolc123

[dbHunterNY]

some lessons learned in 2023 i applied to my 2024 season and it paid off. getting equipment ready and pre-season shooting practice. different ones that hit hard in 2024.

this year i passed over a dozen small bucks even during bow season and then stopped counting into rifle on the family farm. went through the motions hoping some bigger 3.5 or anything older was going to show up that never did. i did my normal trail cam placements and routine, but didn't really scout other places for bucks like I have in the past. this is something i did last year too with no buck dead kind of results that didn't get through to my brain. it was fun having many encounters with smaller bucks and it made me wish bow season would never end. now i'm left with a season that in my opinion presented no real opportunity, which is kind of leaving me in a state of partial failure.

a big one was my bear hunt. shoot me down but i was trying to do everything by the legal book and let a 500 lb bear of a lifetime walk. all because it was 6 minutes (probably less) after legal shooting light. 2nd sit he was passed again but a legitimately over 10 minutes past legal shooting light. hard to see my watch hands too which burned time to read my watch. 2nd wounded a black bear. another screw up with my bear hunt was having piles of past google searches of shot placement on bear burned into my head, saying "middle of the middle" and vitals were different than a deer. F*&^ that advice. I aimed for middle of the middle and put the bullet right were i intended on a smaller bear, that we ended up not finding. After findings from the track gone cold, talking with a guy that's shot dozens of bears, and talking through shot placement with the outfitter back at camp with a full body mounted bear to point at I likely drilled it in the liver and guts too far back. i should've shot it tight behind the front shoulder half way up just like a deer or per the outfitter squared right up on the front shoulders. Blows my mind that I'll be heading into my 4th season specifically going after bear and this past fall was the perfect conditions compared to prior couple years. 

 

 

[Wolc123]

Interesting on the bear shot placement.  I’ve never had a chance at one, but have also heard the “aim for the middle of the middle” a lot on this and the old site. 
 

Pushing the boundaries of the current 1/2 hour before sunrise and 1/2 hour after sunset limits is certainly beyond my imagination with the equipment I have.   I loose the ability to see the crosshairs on any of my scopes about 10 minutes inside of those boundaries, so I usually knock off a little early.  
 

Maybe a full moon night, on edge of a snow covered field would help, but it seems that we now have plenty of “legal light”.  It really does amaze me though, how quickly the deer have evolved around those new hours.  In just (4) years, “first light” and “last light” action seem to be just a fraction of what it was before that change.  
 

There also seems to be a slight uptick in late morning sightings, especially towards the end of SZ gun and one ML & Holiday ML, starting around mid December.  It seems like hunger and need to feed, coupled with increased first light and last light pressure, is causing that uptick.  

14 minutes ago, dbHunterNY said:

some lessons learned in 2023 i applied to my 2024 season and it paid off. getting equipment ready and pre-season shooting practice. different ones that hit hard in 2024.

this year i passed over a dozen small bucks even during bow season and then stopped counting into rifle on the family farm. went through the motions hoping some bigger 3.5 or anything older was going to show up that never did. i did my normal trail cam placements and routine, but didn't really scout other places for bucks like I have in the past. this is something i did last year too with no buck dead kind of results that didn't get through to my brain. it was fun having many encounters with smaller bucks and it made me wish bow season would never end. now i'm left with a season that in my opinion presented no real opportunity, which is kind of leaving me in a state of partial failure.

a big one was my bear hunt. shoot me down but i was trying to do everything by the legal book and let a 500 lb bear of a lifetime walk. all because it was 6 minutes (probably less) after legal shooting light. 2nd sit he was passed again but a legitimately over 10 minutes past legal shooting light. hard to see my watch hands too which burned time to read my watch. 2nd wounded a black bear. another screw up with my bear hunt was having piles of past google searches of shot placement on bear burned into my head, saying "middle of the middle" and vitals were different than a deer. F*&^ that advice. I aimed for middle of the middle and put the bullet right were i intended on a smaller bear, that we ended up not finding. After findings from the track gone cold, talking with a guy that's shot dozens of bears, and talking through shot placement with the outfitter back at camp with a full body mounted bear to point at I likely drilled it in the liver and guts too far back. i should've shot it tight behind the front shoulder half way up just like a deer or per the outfitter squared right up on the front shoulders. Blows my mind that I'll be heading into my 4th season specifically going after bear and this past fall was the perfect conditions compared to prior couple years. 

 

 

 

[cervidchasers]

Lesson learnt for this yr for me is just because one doesnt find hair or blood doesnt mean deer is not hit or dead.
We found one almost 200yds dead. Shot was high with a 243 and it died down the hill.
So going forward I will always try and track 3-400yrds just to make sure.

Second injured deer do run up a hill not always down.

[Swamp_bucks]

Don’t focus on so many pieces of land and narrow it down to the best 2 or 3.  I spread myself too thin this year with equipment and time. I’ll scout 5-6 pieces again but will only focus on the best 2-3.  One I already know will be on the list since I found a great pinch and there’s also a ridge that gets over looked during bow loaded with scrapes the last 3 years. 

[dbHunterNY]

14 minutes ago, Wolc123 said:

Interesting on the bear shot placement.  I’ve never had a chance at one, but have also heard the “aim for the middle of the middle” a lot on this and the old site. 
 

Pushing the boundaries of the current 1/2 hour before sunrise and 1/2 hour after sunset limits is certainly beyond my imagination with the equipment I have.   I loose the ability to see the crosshairs on any of my scopes about 10 minutes inside of those boundaries, so I usually knock off a little early.  
 

Maybe a full moon night, on edge of a snow covered field would help, but it seems that we now have plenty of “legal light”.  It really does amaze me though, how quickly the deer have evolved around those new hours.  In just (4) years, “first light” and “last light” action seem to be just a fraction of what it was before that change.  
 

There also seems to be a slight uptick in late morning sightings, especially towards the end of SZ gun and one ML & Holiday ML, starting around mid December.  It seems like hunger and need to feed, coupled with increased first light and last light pressure, is causing that uptick.  

past lessons learned had me setup pretty to where i could still clearly see. not always the case in the thick Maine north woods. I was 35 yards away up in a tree, backed up to an open clear cut. I love the spot. Scope is a higher end Vortex with great glass, set to lower power, with a red dot set on the dimmest setting. if I just had black crosshairs at low light trying to shoot a jet black colored bear it'd be much harder to make a clean shot. the very experienced bear hunter I mentioned made a good post on a youtube about shot placement.

 

[Belo]

I learned that sometimes taking a second to be sure of your shot isn't always a good idea because the deer might move and you black out and hit him in the ass instead of the vitals. So now I'm just going to gun hunt all year.