What do you like to hunt?

[StillWaters607]

Just wanted to say hello.  I found this forum from Plainsman's cabin. Looks like everyone here is specifically a hunter. I'm somewhat new to bow hunting but I like to hunt whitetails here in NY. I shoot a Matthews 50lb with carbon arrows. Anyone like to hunt anything else?

[Lawdog]

After busting up to many arrows hunting varmints like squirrels and rabbits I moved up to just going after bigger game.  Out west here I like to hunt Mule and Blacktailed deer, Black Bears, Wild Boar and Elk(although I have yet to take an elk with a bow and arrow).  I hunt using the spot and stalk method of hunting.  Don't hunt from tree stands at all and only every so often from a ground blind.  My favorite bow is my Oneida Black Eagle set at 70 lbs. using XX78 2512's and Wasp Hammer SST's in 125 grain.  I didn't get a deer this year with a bow but I did take a couple of nice hogs in the 270 lb. range.  Lawdog

[JeffG]

For the most part I have hunted white-tailed deer.  Lately, wild hogs on preserves.  Once a buddy and I were able to go to Catalina Island in California to hunt feral goats...that was challenging.  This winter I'm waiting to get out to bust cottontails.

[StillWaters607]

Thanks for the answers! I'd like to go after rabbits cause they'd be a challenge and good to eat. Lawdog, can you share some tips on hunting black bears? I was hunting from the ground, using a deer call this last season when a blackie ambled by. He actually ambled straight toward me before going off in the brush. I always buy the tag to support wildlife and the season is the same as deer, but it got me to thinking, "What would I do if the opportunity presented itself?" I would like to take one sometime as a sort of special moment in hunting. Everything I read is usually about bears and guns.

[myronman3]

where abouts in ne wisconsin are ya?   i used to live over there,  moved over to rice lake a few years ago.   just curious.

[njirilodge]

:lol: My best is to try and walk and stalk Warthog or Bushbuck along the limpopo River on my farm in South AfricaI I have posted an article on the Africa hunting section on a very strange thing that happened to me the other day check this out @ the above" Warthog hunting a strange story."

[Lawdog]

StillWaters607,

Black Bears are hunted differently in different areas.  The best tip I can give you is to read EVERYTHING you can about them.  Read about where they like to live and what they like to eat, especially at different times of the year.  Black Bears like fruit most any time of the year so to start you off what kinds of wild fruit are available in your area?  What time of the year do they ripen?

There is a place not over a mile from my house that has a small grove of apple trees growing there.  Every fall when the apples start to ripen you can go there and watch the animals come in to eat.  Deer will stay there or nearby all day but the bears don't come in till late afternoon.  Usually not earlier than 30 minutes before sundown.  Look for berry patches, wild strawberries grow or wild grapes that grow in many areas and the bears love them.  I killed my first Black Bear at the age of 13 and it so scared me BUT it so EXCITED ME at the same time that I’ve been hooked hunting bears, all types of bears, ever sense.  I love all kinds of hunting but bears just light me up.  Lawdog

[StillWaters607]

Lawdog, what a pleasure to get your response! Where I hunt in NY there are blueberries, some wild strawberries, and acorns. The berries are finished by the time the season rolls around. Other deer hunters in the area say the bears won't bother you, once they scent you they leave (of course these guys hunt in small groups). What can I expect if I'm on the ground, full camo, 15-20 yrds and I stick an arrow in one? Assume the bear doesn't know I'm there till I release the string. Some say only hunt bears from a tree stand. What has been your experience? I'm sure I'll feel more confident after I've taken my first deer. Thanks an awful lot!!

[Thomas Krupinski]

Here in Arizona it all depends upon what I can get drawn for.  Elk is a drawing for bow, rifle or muzzleloader.

Deer and turkey over the counter for archery, but a drawing for firearms.

Lion and bear are over the counter tags.

Antelope and javelina are a draw for either archery or firearms.

So depending upon what I am successful for in the drawing, that determines what I hunt archery and what firearms.  I apply for both archery and muzzleloader tags for elk and javelina.  

Now each year they change the hunt structure slightly and that in being determined now and should be announced in about a month or so.

[Lawdog]

StillWaters607,

Of the 14 Black Bears I've taken with a bow the all reacted the same when hit.  They wheeled their heards around to bite at where the arrow entered.  Then they would take to running and it is at this time that it can get dangerous.  The bear usually runs in the direction he was facing when shot.  So if the bear was facing you when you shot, 90% of the time he is going to come at you.  I don't hunt from tree stands, got a thing about heights, and I prefer to take my game using the spot and stalk method.  I've been hunting bears now for over 40 years and have taken them using rifle, muzzleloader, handgun besides using a bow and arrow.

Other deer hunters in the area say the bears won't bother you, once they scent you they leave (of course these guys hunt in small groups).

Don't believe them.  PERIOD.  I have hunted bears where ever I could in the U.S. and Canada and have had three incidents from three different species, a Brown Bear in Alaska, a Mountain Grizzly in Colorado and a Black Bear not two miles from my house.  The one that surprised and worried me the most was the Black Bear.

It was a female(most likely why the bad temper, PMS you know) about 200 lbs. and I guess I surprised her at MY favorite black berry patch.  She left no doubt that she meant business.  She came with that cat like rush from 30 yards away, her head was down, pointed straight at me and the only sound I remember her making was the popping sound of her teeth.  Two shots from my .25-06, 115 grain Nosler Partition at 3180 fps., put her down.  After another shot to the head I found myself twenty yards closer, standing over one dead bear wondering what I had done to piss her off.

Not six years ago the wife and I were shaken from a sound sleep by braying and screaming of our horses and mules in the barn.  A black bear was trying to get into our barn to get at the animals inside.  This bear had every chance to run away.  But no he looked at the flood lights when they came on and went back to tearing at the boards on the side of the barn.  When I Stepped outside the bear was still sitting on his hunches tearing at the siding.  I moved to get a clearer line of fire and the bear finally stopped to watch me.  I raised my .30-06 and sent one 180 gr. Nosler Partition through the bear's head.  Scratch one would be barn raiding bear.  In my experience you can't trust black bears.  Lawdog

[StillWaters607]

Lawdog,

Thank you for ever word! You've answered my question and confirmed my suspicions. I'm printing this one for reference.

To everyone else who responded with their favorite game animal, I'd like  to pass on something I do, you may already do it too. When I buy my hunting license, I go ahead and get the "extra" tags. here it's bear and turkeys. It doesn' cost much and the money goes to a good cause--HUNTING! Hope you are all successful in the coming seasons! It's great to come and visit here.

[Bowhunter57]

StillWaters607,
Welcome to Graybeard Outdoors message boards!

If it isn't nailed down or painted, I like to put an arrow in it. Groundhogs catch the most of my hunting experiences. I feel that they just don't have enought holes in them.  :lol:

Good hunting, Bowhunter57

[StillWaters607]

Hey Bowhunter57, now there's something I've been dying to try--groundhogs. They're tough to sneak up on and not to big a target either! Got one in my back yard and by the time I get the bow, he's gone! How do you do it?

[freddogs]

:grin:  I think moose are really fun to hunt with the bow. You have a nice big target. They live in beautiful country. They don't seem quite so smart (wary) as a whitetail (a good thing). Best of all, they taste really good.

[BOWZONE.CA]

In the mountains of Alberta we have such an abundance of game to hunt...I hunt Mule Deer, whitetail, elk and moose.  Love all big game, but haven't tried bear yet with the bow....Still a wuss I guess LOL!

 

[BowElkDwn]

I hunt here in Idaho, mostly for elk with a bow. I hunt deer and turkeys also. I enjoy all of them but those bugling bulls make my the hair on the back of my neck stand up and I just can't get enough. You can see some of the ones we've gotten in the past at my website below.
BowElkDwn

[StillWaters607]

Nice site, BowElkDwn! And nice elk! You sure get to hunt in some rugged country.

[JACKNZ]

I could go on all day about the critters I would like to hunt but the humble
rabbit is my number one.I regularly hunt wild goats,pigs,an three types of deer but the rabbit is always avalable where ever I go.Well thats my vote.
cheers all .JACK. :grin: