Opening day results

[Contender375]

Post the results of your opening day here.

I should be back around 9:00am with some meat for the freezer!!! If you smell backstraps cooking in the woods early tomorrow it is probably me!!!! ;D ;D

[huntingfreak]

Nothing here but a guy I work with and my brother-in-law both shot does this AM thats it for now

[fasteddie]

I had a doe and a fawn 50 yards downwind from me at 7:10 am but they headed north . Around 8 another doe was in the same area and headed the same way . About 8:30 there were 7 turkeys in that same spot . Dang !
There is a small scrape approximately 25 yards straight out from my ladder stand . Around 4 pm a red fox came down the trail , sniffed the scrape and went within 4' of the ladder . That was it .
I saw about 15 deer on the way home on Yellow Mills rd and Walworth / Palmyra Rd .
I am heading to Geneseo Monday .

[Hollywood]

I had my son in the hotspot- we set up at 4 pm. He had 3 big doe, one with triplets & 2 with twins all come within 30 yards but never took a shot. He drew on one that stood right where I put the target for him to practice on last week (under an apple tree) but a little one stepped in front of it. I told him not to rush a shot as they are coming to feed here & not just cruising through. He had an awesome night on stand but could'nt believe he had that much activity without getting an opportunity for an open shot. Welcome to bow hunting, Kid! I saw a couple from a distance about a half hour before dark then had what I thought was a yearling doe come in just at the end. Turned out to be a button- but it will probably be the best tasting deer of the season. We're going to try again tonight- hope to report back that he got to close the deal.

[bubba]

well it wasnt opening day for me but here goes. I was out saturday with some friends making drives on state land. In the northern zone right now it is muzzleloading season. I bumped a small deer going in to get on a watch. It was tiny, so I let it walk. We made 3 drives with no results. I made the second drive and slipped on a rock and twisted my knee. I did not even go out saturday evening. Sunday morning came along and no one went due to a lot of late night beverage consumption. I stayed home and rested my knee. Now for the good part. I went out this evening and decided to go old school. I took my t/c hawken with 80 grains of black powder and a patched round ball. It has a tang peep site on it so no scope. I went to a private place I have and set up on the down wind side of the corn field with the alfalfa behind me. The farmer does not chop the corn, he picks it and just bent the stocks over. Anyway around 6 pm I started hearing shots so I figured the deer were starting to move. Around 6:15, I saw a deer working its way up the edge of the corn on my right. I was simply sitting on a chair behind a round bale that was pushed off the field when it was not used. The deer popped into the corn about 60 yards from me. I checked it out with my binos and it was a decent 6 point. He worked down to 50 yards from me and started feeding. He turned broadside to me, so I let the hammer fall. With real black powder it takes forever for the smoke to clear it seems. The deer ran about 25 yards away from me and just stood there while I was reloading. He did not appear hurt, but confused. I reloaded as quick as I could, while keeping an eye on the deer. As I pushed the ball down, the deer fell over. I walked up and he was dead. A great heart lung shot with a roundball pass through. I am so glad I took the old sidelock out tonight. Meat for the freezer.

[zemmer18]

So I visited the AT (Archery Talk) forums today and someone was asking about the rut in Southern NY. Another hunter from Western NY said he has seen more scrapes and rubs this year already than in seasons past. Also another poster said he has seen bucks chasing does already as if the rut or pre rut is in full swing. ANyone on here witnessed this yet? All I have seen are does and my trail cam has had 4 different bucks on it but no does in the vicinity within several hours before or after their visits. Plus the usual and surrounding areas have no rubs or scrapes yet, although the bucks do not have any velvet in the pics.

I'm thinking they are just trying to start some false stories out there, but different areas yield different results. Let us all know what you are seeing

[Contender375]

I was lazy on Saturday and got up but decided that sleeping was more interesting at the time....Went back to bed and kicked myself later when I saw how nice it was....Didnt go out in the afternoon as it was quite windy...Went out Sunday and it rained most of the time . With the wet leaves and the rain hitting the fully clad ttrees, I couldnt hear a thing. Had a small 4 point and 15 minutes later a small 6 point come down the trail and passed on both. At 10:00 , a small button and small doe bedded about 10 yards from me. I wanted to get down and tried everything to get them outta there when I wanted to get down. Whistled, yelled ,shook the trees, played taps on the grunt call and even threw the batteries from my flashlight at them...They just wouldnt go!!! I finally started banging my arrow against the stand and finally the doe came to investigate, so I waved at her and they finally wandered off...

As for rut activity, I took a walk and found alot of scrapes but didnt see alot of rubs . It did seem there were more scrapes than usual for this early. At 2:30 as i was sneaking along, I saw something move ahead and saw a deer about 30 yards away moving right to left. There ended up being 8 deer 4 of which were young bucks...a 4, 2- 6's and a small 8. These deer were traveling , I didnt kick them from their beds.. I went up to where they came from and found the motherlode of acorns and deer DO - DO. Picked a tree, cleared a couple quick lanes and marked the trail out. I know where I will be Saturday and I wont be sleeping like this past week.

Good luck everyone.