My land supplied more food

[helomech]

Got my first ever buck with a bow and arrow. It is not the biggest buck, but I took it because the right side antler is not right. If I had a rifle I would have let it pass, but decided it was a trophy with the bow. It was 40 yards away, but I miss judged it as 35 yards. The shot was a little low, but in the perfect spot. Arrow did not pass through, so it got broke in the process.

In the last 3 weeks I got the doe, buck and a turtle.

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii247/helomech1973/hunting/PA190013_zpsd7589148.jpg (http://s266.photobucket.com/user/helomech1973/media/hunting/PA190013_zpsd7589148.jpg.html)

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii247/helomech1973/hunting/PA190017_zps63e614db.jpg (http://s266.photobucket.com/user/helomech1973/media/hunting/PA190017_zps63e614db.jpg.html)

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii247/helomech1973/hunting/PA190007_zps16089004.jpg (http://s266.photobucket.com/user/helomech1973/media/hunting/PA190007_zps16089004.jpg.html)

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii247/helomech1973/hunting/PA190012_zps727f615a.jpg (http://s266.photobucket.com/user/helomech1973/media/hunting/PA190012_zps727f615a.jpg.html)

[Sniper-T]

nicely done my friend. any animal that puts meat in the freezer is worthy, in my books.

[helomech]

That dog in the middle of the last pic is a tracking machine. She has recovered every deer I put her on. Heck today I brought her to the area, (I didn't see much blood) and she sniffed around then took off. Straight to the deer. She gets better each time. She is a great dane /english mastiff cross.

[Onestep]

Helo, you are on fire. That's a hell of a buck with a bow any day.

[helomech]

Thanks buddy. This weekend is the youth weekend. I am taking my son to a friends place so he can get a deer. Not sure if they are going to let him take anything he sees, or just a doe. Will post up some pics if he gets something.

[Onestep]

Good luck this weekend, keep us posted.

[ElevenBravo]

Gat dam dogs are as big as the deer... wtf you feed them?!?!

Nice bag... Nicer tractor.

Im jealous and I hate you, but that will pass..

EB

[helomech]

Gat dam dogs are as big as the deer... wtf you feed them?!?!

Nice bag... Nicer tractor.

Im jealous and I hate you, but that will pass..

EB

Thanks man those are my perimeter defense first line. The smaller one is a anatolian shepherd and she weighs about 125lbs. She is fiercely protective, but not good for much else. The great dane/english mastiffs are still in that puppy stage, but are showing more signs of protection.

I love my tractor.


I believe they are bigger than the deer. They are probably over 150lbs, and they eat about a dozen eggs a day plus a big bowl of dog food.

[Katrina]

helo, you got some gorgeous dogs there. Congrats on the deer. One of the guys in the office,who does a LOT of hunting, went around asking if any of us wanted some venison. Needless to say, I raised my hand twice. Can't wait !!

[helomech]

Thanks Katrina. We liked the great dane's but they are a little high strung. So we bred them with the english mastiff so they would be more calm. It worked well on one (the darker one) the lighter one has lots of energy.

[Katrina]

How old are they now? Do they drool a lot?

[helomech]

How old are they now? Do they drool a lot?

They will be 2 in January. They only drool when they are excited, or drink water. Before they come in the house they have to calm down, that takes care of the drool problem.

[Onestep]

What size Kubota is that Helo?

[helomech]

What size Kubota is that Helo?

It is a mx-5100, 50 hp, 4X4 with a hydrostatic transmission. No gears, it is sooo nice.

[Onestep]

Sweet. I bought mid 80's L235 (23HP-2WD) from a buddy that upgraded to a bigger/newer one.
It's old but has less than 400 hours.

[izzyscout21]

Nice bro. Ive yet to attempt taking any game with my bow.

[helomech]

Nice bro. Ive yet to attempt taking any game with my bow.

It is just hard to get the distance right. I have spots marked for distance, but the deer never seem to walk on my marked lines, and 10 yards wrong can mean a miss. Luckily I aim a little high because I new it was more than 35 yards, but I never guessed it was 45 yards. Kind of like shooting a rifle out to 800 yards, just a little error in ranging and you are off target.

[Sniper-T]

even moreso if you're shooting down from a stand.

How many pins do you have on your bow?

[helomech]

even moreso if you're shooting down from a stand.

How many pins do you have on your bow?

I only have 3 pins. 25, 35, and 45 yards. I have a hard enough time with just three. I saw a friends bow this week and I think he had 6 pins. I would never get the right one. My stand was about 20 feet up, not real high. I was in a tree climber.

[Sniper-T]

have you shot a lot from that height? extrapolating between pin sets isn't too hard with a bit of practice.

you can also use flagging tape, or even spray paint to mark distances along sight lines. one dab on the ground for every five yards, or a dot at 5 and a dash at 10. it's a quick and easy way of marking an area without placing a bunch of 'non-native' looking stakes.

[helomech]

have you shot a lot from that height? extrapolating between pin sets isn't too hard with a bit of practice.

you can also use flagging tape, or even spray paint to mark distances along sight lines. one dab on the ground for every five yards, or a dot at 5 and a dash at 10. it's a quick and easy way of marking an area without placing a bunch of 'non-native' looking stakes.

I sight it on down hill behind my house. Not quite as high, but pretty close.

It isn't remember what pin is what that is the problem. I just get too excited and sometimes pick the first pin I see. I am getting better about it, but don't think I will ever have more than 3 pins.

[Sniper-T]

lol. I had my bow set with 8 pins. four coming off the left for distances set for horizontal shooting, an four from the right for shooting from elevated positions. It's actually amazing how much of a difference there is from one to the other. I used to leave a note in the case to remind me what they were. lol

[helomech]

Dang that is crazy. I just use Kentucky windage for the in between shots.

[Sniper-T]

oh there was still guestimates for in between, but the pin for 45 yards from elevation, was almost at the same place as the one for 35 horizontal. The one for 45 from horizontal was almost bang on for 60 from elevation.

I just found it easier to run two sets of pins, than try to extrapolate back an forth. I love stalking so I could/would do that for a couple hours before jacking up a tree to sit and wait... and when I got bored of that, I'd carry on stalking.

[helomech]

oh there was still guestimates for in between, but the pin for 45 yards from elevation, was almost at the same place as the one for 35 horizontal. The one for 45 from horizontal was almost bang on for 60 from elevation.

I just found it easier to run two sets of pins, than try to extrapolate back an forth. I love stalking so I could/would do that for a couple hours before jacking up a tree to sit and wait... and when I got bored of that, I'd carry on stalking.

I never stalk, not enough land. I only own 64 acres, and most of it is too thick. I always hunt from a elevated platform.

In my back yard the target is probably 10 feet below where I stand to shoot, maybe a little more. Guess I could just climb up a tree and sight in at a more elevated position.

[Sniper-T]

what do you border on? neighbours? crown? can you get permission?

I stalk on my 80 acres, just cause I can. Nothing like the rush of sneaking up on an unsuspecting deer or bear or wild cat... or rabbit or squirrel.

Once you start stalk hunting, you'll never go back to tree stands! It is a serious rush!

[helomech]

what do you border on? neighbours? crown? can you get permission?

I stalk on my 80 acres, just cause I can. Nothing like the rush of sneaking up on an unsuspecting deer or bear or wild cat... or rabbit or squirrel.

Once you start stalk hunting, you'll never go back to tree stands! It is a serious rush!

My property borders lots of paper company land that is leased out to hunters, so no permission. It is also just way to think to try to stalk in. Lots of it you have to crawl to get through.

[Possom]

You say you would have passed on him with a rifle. Where I am from that is a big nice buck. Apparently we don't grow deer down here like y'all do there.

Any deer that puts meat in the freezer is a good deer to me.

[helomech]

You say you would have passed on him with a rifle. Where I am from that is a big nice buck. Apparently we don't grow deer down here like y'all do there.

Any deer that puts meat in the freezer is a good deer to me.

I have killed lots of 8's, wanting to get a bigger one eventually. Only way to get bigger ones is to let the young ones grow up. This buck was only about 2.5 years old. Want to start letting them get to 4.5 years old before I take them.

We are going to put 4-5 deer in the freezer this year, even if I had let him pass, I would have still killed another buck. We got 3 in the freezer right now, and will probably put another in this weekend.

[Possom]

I wish I had that option here. Even hunting on private land deer wander and get killed before they turn 3 here. In my part of Arkansas we do not have that many deer. I mean we have a healthy population but not in great numbers. If I were hunting in Kansas or Missouri I would have passed on him as well. But here that is a big deer.

We have a 3 point rule here in Arkansas but in my opinion it is only making things worse. I have pictures of 3 year old deer on my game cameras with spikes a foot long. He will never make a good rack. From genetics or food supply something is wrong and he needs taken out of the population. But it is illegal for anyone to kill him. So they will wait for the first small racked one year old 5 point they see and kill it. The young good bucks are being taken out of the population while the bad genetic deer get a pass.

[helomech]

We have a 13" spread rule here. If both antlers fork than the inside spread must be 13" or greater. If one antler is slick (like a spike) then it has no requirement for the 13" and can be killed. It can have points on one side, as long as one side is slick. I think the 13" rule is doing good things here. We have good genetics, I have been here 8 years only seen one spike. Most of our 1.5 year old deer are 6 or 8 points. They seem to get stuck at 8 points till after about 4.5.

[Possom]

That makes a whole lot more sense then the only requirement being it has to have 3 points over an inch long on one side like we have. Button bucks are also legal here. As long as the horns are under 2 inches long. I never got my mind around how a button buck with 2 inch spikes are legal but 3 inch spikes will get you a $600 fine and loss of license for 3 years.

[helomech]

That is crazy. A point here also has to be longer than 1" to be considered a point.