Arkansas 2011 Deer Season

[LeeBishop]

I see there are some others on here from Arkansas, so I thought I'd start a thread for the deer season.

I just got back from spending 11 hours out in the woods and I come back empty handed.

I almost had a coyote, but he was trying to come under my stand after I called him over and the bottom tip of my bow struck my tree stand when I released and threw my shot off about 6 inches.

I was lined up to shoot him between the shoulder blades from above him, but the arrow landed to the left  :(   I missed. Bummed me out.

You guys have better luck?

[LeeBishop]

Had a doe come up to about 26 yrds. I didn't take any shot because there were a few small branches between her and I.  So, I just watched and decided to not risk it.

Will try again in two weeks. I spooked more deer in the last two days than I've had the opportunity to shoot at in two years.

[m midd]

I had a pretty good weekend. Saw several turkeys and deer Saturday, No shot though.  Sunday my brother and i went to our favorite spot. I settled in to a root wad hole at the end of a big blow down. I shot a judo to make sure i had good bow clearence and when i went to retrieve it all i saw was deer running the oppisite way. They where 60yds and i never saw them before the busted. Between me and john we saw nine deer total in about 3 hours of hunting.. He is fired up about it, Its his 2nd year with the longbow and he is still looking for his first deer.  He did manage to head shoot a fox squirrel at about 17yds.  I was impressed

[Dave Lay]

I was in the woods all day friday scouting then hunted all saturday and sunday didnt see a deer, I was huntin clark co.  i did have a group of pigs come in then a couple coyotes,both to far to shoot. On sunday morn i mouth called a coyote in and killed it, but still havent seen a dang deer... hopefully things will pick up, i plan to get back to hunting the mountians around home...

[LeeBishop]

Originally posted by Dave Lay:
I was in the woods all day friday scouting then hunted all saturday and sunday didnt see a deer, I was huntin clark co.  i did have a group of pigs come in then a couple coyotes,both to far to shoot. On sunday morn i mouth called a coyote in and killed it, but still havent seen a dang deer... hopefully things will pick up, i plan to get back to hunting the mountians around home...

I hunt over in Dirty Yell.

I wish I had capture my coyote miss on video, but it came up off camera. I have the loud "ding" sound of when my bow hit my tree stand upon release though. I'd have a coyote at the taxidermist if my shot wasn't deflected.

I think next time I head to the mountains it will be better. I was hounded by gnats in the evening after it warmed up and they were biting me all over and trying to get in my eyes. They drove me to stop hunting on Sunday evening.

[buckster]

I am going to get out Thursday and Friday for the firt time thus far.

This year I'm hunting these areas:

Hurrican WMA (Augusta)
Quachitas near Paron and around Winona
Truston Holder

I also want to plan a few days to try out Fensenthal for pigs and deer.  I took a walk in the Quachitas yesterday with my tracking dog Chowder.  

Looks like a pretty good mast crop, but not as much as last year.  I haven't made it over to Hurrican yet, but the overcups were just jam up like I've never seen before last year.  So much so, it was hard to predict where to set up a stand as the deer didn't have to work to get at them and trails were "to and fro".

Good thread and I hope others will chime in for updates and keep this one alive!

[sweeney3]

I've seen a few but not got a shot yet.  Played "who's the biggest retard" with a young doe for an hour yesterday.  She was all alone in the field, prancing around all nervous and wound up from 5 to 15 yards from me.  Just never put her head down long enough in the right posture for me to get a shot.  She's turn her head when she was straight away, or put her head down when she was broadside but jerk it right back up.  Never did settle down enough and finally pranced away after an hour or so.  Pretty fun though.

[StephenG]

I was out yesterday afternoon and all I saw was a small yearling doe. But I saw here for 2 hours and 10 minutes! That little hefer stayed right there under my tree for that long just munching away. She never got any farther away than 18 steps and as close as about 5 steps.Good thing she left when she did because she kept looking bigger and bigger everytime I looked at her....

[DanB]

Had a spike feed under my stand for about 20 minutes on opening morning. In the afternoon a doe with twin fawns came within about 40 yds up wind. Strange, the doe looked right up at me and began the stomp, bob and weave dance! She decided it would be prudent to give my tree a wide berth and feed on acorns about 45 yds up hill. The rest of the evening I spent listening to owls hoot before their hunt.  One attempted an attack on a young grey squirell just below my tree. The owl's meat pole was as empty as mine. All in all a great opening day

[JamesKerr]

I hunt in Arkansas, and it has been a great season for me so far. I shot twice on opening day and killed both deer.

[LeeBishop]

The last morning I was out I had five deer walk up behind me from a cane thicket along our creek onto the bluff.

I thought it was going to be an easy kill for the morning, but I was wrong.

I stood up when I heard the deer walking through the leaves so I could get a better shooting position (found out that trad bows don't exactly clear your knees while sitting on a lean-to) and the older doe, leading the herd, caught my scent.

She was stomping her leg and snorting at me for about 10 minutes while she was about 20 yards away. I stood there as still as possible, trying to breathe slowly, but it seemed like she wouldn't calm down. I was telling her in my head,"Just start walking already, damn."  I was standing with my legs bent, so I wouldn't wobble, and after ten or 15 minutes my legs started to shake from being stiff. I could hear the pins in the latter rattling the slightest bit.

I finally heard her walk a few feet and then I turned my head, thankfully, to see a deer butt. I then sat down quietly and watched.  The lead doe had finally put her head down to eat something and she wasn't spooked by me moving.

she knew something was fishy though, and she lead the little herd around my stand instead of taking the path through my stand area. I was really bummed to see that there was a buck following in the rear too.

I had zero possibility to take a shot because I was watching them through a patch of briers and I wouldn't have been able to hit anything. Plus they were off to my right side I'm right handed and shoot to my left.

I hope it will get better next time I can go. I need to pick myself up a camelbak to wear while on the stand. I have been meaning to for about 10 years now.

I also was fortunate enough to have Mr. Black Bear leave me a gratuity at my newest deer stand that I put on a bluff a month ago.  He left the gift right where I had missed killing my coyote.

 

This is only like 7 yrds away. Annoying.

 

And here is a video not showing the coyote, but you can hear him running and me missing and almost damaging my bow

 

[ymountainman]

Hey DAN B i went thru the tunnel the other day going north and at the 44.5 mile marker on the east side of 540 i saw a giant buck deer along the fence at the woodline. He was a stud. I think that is at winslow? The woods look good there i don't no if it's private or the forest. Good Luck!

[sweeney3]

Ymountain, there is LOTS of Ozark National Forest all up and down there.  Right there off the highway isn't, not that it would be much fun to hunt within a couple miles of that blasted autobhan anyway, but east of there a bit is where it starts.  Pretty much runs from Fayetville to Alma.  Course there's little towns and private tracts strung throughout, but there is a ton of public land in that vicinity, a lot of it pretty good hunting.

[allen newberry]

I'm hunting in Crosses (Madison Co.) I've seen several little does and fawns.

[DanB]

ymountainman, that area between 540 and Hwy 71 has a good population of deer but is mostly private land, I believe. East of Hwy 71 are large areas of Ozark National Forest land interspersed with private tracts.  I live on 71, 4 miles south of Winslow and hunt east of the Hwy.  Have seen a couple of big bucks on camera here below my house. Probably won't see them until nearer the rut.  Good luck to ya!

[LeeBishop]

You guys get anything yet?  I wasn't able to hunt this last weekend, but I'm going to head back out of town the end of this week to try and get myself some venison.

[Dave Lay]

hunted around Mt. Ida this weekend at a friends house, got eaten alive by skeeters and no see ems.  busted deer out going to stands in mornings..my buddy saw a 8 pt chasin. which is kinda typical a month b4 the main rut, but thats about it, they arent moving alot during the day it seems, huntin 3 days this comin weekend.. hopefully will get on something..

[sweeney3]

Got a nice doe this evening.  Sorry but I don't know how to put pictures up on here.  They are up on the primitive archer sight though.

[arky714]

been seeing 4 to eight deer a evening on farm...no shots think I will go on De Gray lake tomorrow try some spot and spook hunting I will fish till about 6 pm and start looking for deer around lake..

[LeeBishop]

@ Sweeney,  all you have to do is upload the photo online to a site like photobucket.com  and then post the IMG link or the direct link to the uploaded photo.

if it's the direct link (URL) then place directly after the URL. That way the image will be "hotlinked" on this forum. That means it's actually hosted on another web site, but you have it linked to show on this web site.