Well the Utah Archery deer season starts tomorrow and my wife has her tag and has been practicing up all summer. Hopefully we can get her something. She had never shot a bow before about 3 months ago so shes pretty nervious about the whole thing. It should be alot of fun, my expectations are high that she will get one... she is going for any legal buck... and there are a million of them around this year.

Will be back late sunday hopefully with some good picts, there is a 26" wide muley with a 5x4 rack hanging around but I think hes a bit too wiley for us to go for... going to give him a wide berth so my brother and father can take a shot at him during the ML and Rifle seasons. Probably 2 more 4x4's of varing size and at least 4 3x3's ranging from 12 out to 20" wide... and tons of 2x2's. Its a boomer year for sure, glad to see the populations ... BUCK populations on the rebound.

Cya everyone


-DallanC

Best of Luck!! Get a biggin

Dallan,

Best wishes for Heather on her first archery deer hunt!
From past her experiences I know she will do just fine. You all have a great time. Looking forward to a report… regardless!


Take care buddy...
Chet

Well we are back.

I wish I could say we were successful and post some great picts of her first archery buck... but it didnt happen. I got her within range of several probably 8 deer (saw +15 bucks)... and either she couldnt get the arrow knocked and ready in time, or she got several shots but it seems Buck fever and being a novice contributed to a ton of clean misses. Generally she had trouble determining distance in situations where it wasnt possible to range them with the rangefinder. Shooting with a 20 yard pin on a deer at 30, using a 40 pin on a deer at 30 etc etc.

I felt really bad for her as she tried so hard over the summer to practice each day and get good at it (she can drill a target easy out to 40), but it was obvious she was mighty frustrated about it.

The biggest deer she missed was a nice 3x4 muley. Still a few more weeks of the season left so we'll play it by ear. We'll go reshoot those broadheads into some hay and make sure they are flying clean... I suspect they might be flying poorly (even though we tested them) as she was a better shot than what I saw in the field.


-DallanC

Heather,

In the excitement it's often easy to misjudge distance in the field. Don’t tell anyone but I've done it a few times myself.
Archery hunting can be very exciting and rewarding. You gained a lot of field experience on this hunt. Hang in there, it will come together.


Dallan,
How about one of those life sized deer targets... might just be the trick.


Chet

Well we shot into some hay tonight. At 30 yards she grouped 3 within 5" of the bullseye with two of those exactly in the center, in fact she shaved a fletching off the 2nd arrow with her 3rd arrow. I'd say the muzzy 100's were flying pretty good. We re-adjusted the 40 yard pin as it was hitting 6" high and right.

Quote::

How about one of those life sized deer targets... might just be the trick.

I actually did buy a TuffBuck that she's been using along with a hanging bag target. The TuffBuck is pretty darn small compared to what a full size muley is... I checked into a lifesize muley target and ruled them out when I found out they cost around $300. The TuffBuck was $90 locally.

Anyway I thought a deer target would be good too and she has been using it... she's just a victim of buck fever and just cant put it all together. Hopefully we are comming face to face with enough bucks it will wear off a little bit and she can let the air out of one.

It was really heartbreaking to watch her miss the big one last night though...


-DallanC