My Manitoba deer season

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

Well I guess I can begin by saying that this was the toughest season I've had in a very long time. Hunting the remote woods of Manitoba generally doesn't bring nocturnal deer movement and lack of mature deer but this year was very different.

I purchased a Contour action camera this summer and thought it would make for some good footage of my fall hunts. I rigged up a system where it is attached to a plate on my armguard and you can see down the arrow as the hunt unfolds.

I'd reccommend this setup for anyone wanting to self video.

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

I don't do much for hunting deer until November as the area I hunt is a solid 10 miles from any agriculture and most movement is due to rut action and responding to calls. I rattled in this 2 1/2 year old early in November but was not about to end my season on such a young deer. I was using my #47 Tall Tines phenolic riser/myrtle limb in the video with FMJ 500's and 200gr. VPA's.

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

The season progressed and I passed on plenty of young deer and had typical response to calling and rattling. I had only seen one mature buck (over 4 1/2) and passed on a 130" 5x5 that was only 2 1/2. Dropping the string on a 2 1/2 year old deer was not in the plans regardless of what was on his head.

I guess I should add that I had almost the whole month of November off of work so could be as picky as I liked.

Mid November the deer movement changed unlike I've ever seen in the area. The general North to South travel patterns of the deer were now East to West. The area is "cottage country" and upon investigation found that a local developer had placed 5 tons of birdseed  near his cabins. He rents and sells cabins and the attraction of deer around the cabins helps his sales. Great for him but not for me as hunting within 900 yards of bait is illegal in Manitoba.

With this new found info I adjusted my tactics and stand placements and day one managed to have a mature buck cruise by. He was not a high scoring buck but very mature and just what I wanted. He came in like he read the script but 2 steps from my shooting lane stopped and began to head straight away. He doubled his distance and crossed my lane. I was so focussed on my intended target that I didn't even take into consideration the distance. I can honestly say that I've never missed a deer by so much as I did here. Unfortunately the shock of the bow doesn't allow you to see the arrow fly but I promise you it was no where near the deer.
 

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

You may notice that the bow is different. It's my Tall Tines 3 piece longbow, #56 and 62"s. I was shooting the same arrow as with the r/c.

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

Following this missed opportunity the deer movement slowed significantly. The 5 tons of birdseed and section of private land proved too much security and competition for a guy with some pointy sticks hunting public land 1 mile away!

I began to explore other areas to hunt that have less deer but no food source to contend with. As suspected, deer sighting went down as well as overall movement. I was still getting opportunities but only on young deer.

With only a few days left in the season, I had a buck cruise by at noon and didn't have time to turn on my camera. As quick as it happened he appeared mature and I reacted as us hunters do and went into shoot mode. The deer was walking at 15 yards and I'm not a fan of stopping deer with trad equipment so took the moving shot. The hit was back of my intended spot so backed out until the next morning. I found the deer 125 yards away at 1st light and he had obviously died quickly.

As it turns out he's likely 3 1/2 years old and was quite skinny for a Canadian deer. He weighed 200 lbs (guts in) and was never likely going to be a big deer. Sometimes the amount of effort put into a hunt for me determines what a trophy is. This buck... combined with my scouting time, set-up time, and hunting time... is certainly special to me. And also my 1st with a longbow! Thanks for taking the time to follow me through my fall....Ryan

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

The carpeted uppper lip is for "Movember" as I grew it to raise money for prostate cancer research. Glad it's shaved now! Here's another pic

[longbowben]

Very cool been thinking about filming my own hunts.Thanks for sharing.

[LV2HUNT]

That would definitely constitute a "big deer" in these parts. Congrats on the hunts and the fine deer.

[RM81]

Nice Buck.  Cool videos too, thanks for sharing them.

[KentuckyTJ]

Very nice Ryan, a sign of a great hunter compared to a average hunter is his ability to recognize something isn't working and adapt to find a way to be successful. Congrats brother.

Also wanted to tell you. Thought about you the other day. I was in our Walmart and noticed they are carrying your kind of hats. You guys have started a craze.

[steadman]

Way to go Ryan! It looks a bit warmer compared to last years pics    Looking forward to spring  

[snakebit40]

 Great season! Sorry about your luck with the land owner baiting. I really like your camera set up. I might have to do that next season. Thanks!

[rastaman]

Nice deer Ryan!!

[LITTLEBIGMAN]

congrats Ryan, a great buck non the less taken under hard conditions, I bet it was cold out there!

[cacciatore]

Congrats Ryan,I like tough hunters.  

[K2]

Congrats Ryan.  Nothing wrong with taking that buck.  Ken

[swp]

Congrats Ryan!

[Burnsie]

Ryan, Could you give some more detail on your camera setup.  Make of camera, how you rigged to the arm guard....etc.  Looks like a real neat set-up.

[bohuntr]

Congrats Ryan, way to stick with it!!!

[twitchstick]

Congrats! thanks for the vids,I do like the cam setup.