# Went scouting..... Now need advice.



## MEEN (Jan 27, 2009)

Went scouting 3rd-5th of July. See big game section for report + photos. Anyways, I am at work and thought that something unorthodox might be interesting for myself and others. I have a google aerial image of the area I will be hunting. I have added comments of what I have found from scouting and previous years hunting with 3 possible setup locations for the archery hunt. I think I have made a choice of what setup location I like best but thought it would interesting and entertaining to see others opinions. So give a vote and write a note as to why. I figured it would be helpful for everyone to see all of the opinions.

*Setup Location #1:*
Right on the edge of a small watering hole just on the lower end of where I believe the deer bed down for the afternoon. NOTE: There are several other creeks in the same area so this little watering hole is not the sole water provider for the deer.

*Setup Location #2*
This is right on a ridge at the edge of trees where the deer transition from feeding to bedding. I saw 2 different sets of bachelor herds (a set of 3 and a set of 5) pass this area. Both in the morning of the 3rd and 5th.

*Setup Location #3*
Three old trails converge right here from what appears to be different bedding areas. Watched a VERY large/wide 3 point and a nice 4 point funnel right past this area as they were feeding up the mountain on the morning of the 4th. There was a bachelor group of 4 the morning of the 5th that passed through the same feeding area but didn't go through the funnel.


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## Anaconda Pintler (Oct 29, 2007)

Is this Hotspotting? :mrgreen:


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## MEEN (Jan 27, 2009)

If anyone agrees I will take it down. I figured hotspotting would include a location.


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## jahan (Sep 7, 2007)

I think Anaconda was being a smart ass. :mrgreen: It was pretty funny though.  
Which ever setup you go with, I will gladly take one of the other two, you can just PM the coordinates. :mrgreen: :lol:


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## MEEN (Jan 27, 2009)

jahan said:


> I think Anaconda was being a smart ass. :mrgreen: It was pretty funny though.
> Which ever setup you go with, I will gladly take one of the other two, you can just PM the coordinates. :mrgreen: :lol:


It's funny you say that. While I was there I was thinking "Man, I wish I had a couple other people with me so there could be one person in each spot." If I wasn't going to be up there for two weeks and using all three spots depending on conditions I probably would. I had a buddy that was coming with me but he was one of the guys that thought he could get a tag OTC. Ha! Sucks to be him.

Maybe I could come up with a binding contract for you to sign that says something like "After the 3rd day of the 2009 archery season, I Jahan, will leave this mountain range and never come back for 30 years minimum. Furthermore, I will never reveal to anyone of the secret "hotspot". If I do, Meen can have all of my hunting gear I currently own and will purchase for the next 5 years.

x_______________ July 6th, 2009
_ Jahan_


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## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

Location 2, then 3, with one as a last resort if it gets godawful hot right before or during the hunt and the creeks go dry leaving your waterhole as one of the few sources left. Course, I have yet to kill a deer (2 seasons in), but it sounds like a good plan to me. I guess the best reasoning I have to offer is that this transition area sounds like something that will be part of the daily routine for SOME deer anyway, where 3 sounds like it depends on luck to funnel the deer in your direction (you said some fed by the area bypassing the funnel) and 1 is really only good if heat limits the other water sources. Sounds like you'll see or possibly have a shot at a few deer at each location though so good job on leaving yourself multiple options. Hope you get a shot at a bruiser this season.


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## inbowrange (Sep 11, 2007)

I like this. I would say keep scouting and make sure they keep this pattern before you decide now. If they do I would keep #2 as my first choice.


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

I scanned your image into a computer program that compares pictures to overhead satellite images and gives you the location and coordinates. Soon I will know where you are planning on hunting. :twisted:


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## MEEN (Jan 27, 2009)

Riverrat77 said:


> Location 2, then 3, with one as a last resort if it gets godawful hot right before or during the hunt and the creeks go dry leaving your waterhole as one of the few sources left. Course, I have yet to kill a deer (2 seasons in), but it sounds like a good plan to me. I guess the best reasoning I have to offer is that this transition area sounds like something that will be part of the daily routine for SOME deer anyway, where 3 sounds like it depends on luck to funnel the deer in your direction (you said some fed by the area bypassing the funnel) and 1 is really only good if heat limits the other water sources. Sounds like you'll see or possibly have a shot at a few deer at each location though so good job on leaving yourself multiple options. Hope you get a shot at a bruiser this season.


Location #2 is my first choice but #1 will probably get more enticing as the week goes on depending on hunting pressure. I moved my trail camera to position #3 while I was up there to see whats going through the funnel, but I think it's more of a gamble than the other two.



Mojo1 said:


> I scanned your image into a computer program that compares pictures to overhead satellite images and gives you the location and coordinates. Soon I will know where you are planning on hunting. :twisted:


Dangit! If I would have known you could do that I would have saved you some time and money and told you where it was. If you go up there will you post the pictures from my trail camera located in setup #3. It will save me a trip.


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

I would say go with number 1. get them befor going to bed.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

Location #2 is by far the best. It's a funnel and undisturbed deer use funnels on a regular basis. Be sure to approach from the down wind side, (surely the downhill side until 9:00am or so), and have your yardages marked out along the trail. (I'm assuming your a compound shooter).
If you can find a place afar to spot from and watch the trails they use for a couple mornings, you'll have the upper hand. Only move in when you know exactly which trail they're using. Don't pollute the area with your presence until you're ready to move in. Your approach and exit is WAY more important than you think. 
I've shot four P&Y mulies on the same hillside by just sitting back and waiting for them to give me a chance by making a mistake. Good luck. Chuck.


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## JERRY (Sep 30, 2007)

3rd spot sounds like more opportunities. Feeding area on ridge sounds vague. Where to set up on ridge sounds questionable. Not to mention the winds on ridges are unpredictable. :wink:


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## Anaconda Pintler (Oct 29, 2007)

Hello, I am Anaconda Pintler and I am a smart ass! :mrgreen:


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## north slope (Sep 8, 2007)

I think "hotspotting" is when these hardcore, tough guy whitetail hunters walk 200 yards from their house and sit over a acorn tree. :roll:


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## Anaconda Pintler (Oct 29, 2007)

Yep you are right that would be a "HOTSPOT" alright! 8)


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## north slope (Sep 8, 2007)

Anaconda Pintler said:


> Yep you are right that would be a "HOTSPOT" alright! 8)


 :roll:


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Anaconda Pintler said:


> Yep you are right that would be a "HOTSPOT" alright! 8)


And we can't wait! Can we AP. 

Dude, option #2 is by far your best one. Deer don't need water like other critters like elk and if there is water everywhere the deer will use it everywhere. Option #3 is a wast of time because big bucks seldom use heavy trails, especially when the pressure is on. Besides, after the opener all those deer you've been watching will have been chased around by 9 other guys and it won't matter any more... :? Unless you're lucky and have private land to hunt on... Set up in transition areas. Trust me, it's your best bet.


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## MEEN (Jan 27, 2009)

TEX-O-BOB said:


> Besides, after the opener all those deer you've been watching will have been chased around by 9 other guys and it won't matter any more... :? Unless you're lucky and have private land to hunt on... Set up in transition areas. Trust me, it's your best bet.


Yeah it's kind of a one day thing for #2 and #3. After opening day they are going to be using completely different routes. Then it's back to glassing or hoping they go by #1. In years past they have moved into the #1 area to get away from pressure.

It was interesting to see everyone's opinions. My first idea from scouting the first time this year was go with #1. I have watched the deer during previous years hole up in that area after some pressure. After the second scouting trip we were able to get a good pattern on them and thought #2 because of the fact it went from feeding area to cover where they move into their beds. However #3 was tempting because of the way it naturally pushed the deer through one spot and it appeared to be an area where they split up into their different bedding areas as well.

The evenings were weird though, never saw any bachelor herds or decent bucks. Just several spikes and 2 points. I think I will just take a high post for the evenings and glass for deer or elk and put the stalk on when I find them.


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## hunter_orange13 (Oct 11, 2008)

why only hunt one?


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## proutdoors (Sep 24, 2007)

horsesma said:


> 3rd spot sounds like more opportunities. Feeding area on ridge sounds vague. Where to set up on ridge sounds questionable. Not to mention the winds on ridges are unpredictable. :wink:


+1


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

I think you could bivy camp the first night or two over by "starting of a stream" area and sneak along the sidehill to option #2 in the morning. You'll only be able to pull this off for one or two mornings before the deer in the canyon sense you presents and melt off into more remote areas.
Or you could hike in from above "starting of stream" direction every morning and set up at #2 and then sneak out the same way. Lower impact that way. It's hard to make a game plan from a picture but it looks like a great area.
MEEN, sorry I didn't PM you back. I typed up my reply and hit send and it went into my outbox and I can't get it to send. Sumtin" jis ain't right with this here cornputer.
I really have no idea where this mountain is but it looks alot like the Pavant and east of Beaver where I hunt. I've killed around 30 deer during the bowhunt out of those two areas so I know it a great area.


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## MEEN (Jan 27, 2009)

hunter_orange13 said:


> why only hunt one?


I will most likely be hunting all but opening morning will be the most important because they might still be holding the patterns I found. Only problem with #2 and #3 is hunting pressure. I tend to agree with Tex in the fact that after the first day or two they will go MIA and those 2 spots will be useless.



proutdoors said:


> horsesma said:
> 
> 
> > 3rd spot sounds like more opportunities. Feeding area on ridge sounds vague. Where to set up on ridge sounds questionable. Not to mention the winds on ridges are unpredictable. :wink:
> ...


I definately agree with the sporatic wind on the ridge which is one of my concerns. I hiked up there after the deer went through to make note of the wind but it was after 9:00 a.m. so the thermals had already stabalized. I am thinking maybe I can position just on the other edge of the ridge where the cover starts. One thought I had with #3 is I could move down onto the edge of the feeding area and even if they didnt go through the funnel I would be within range.


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## MEEN (Jan 27, 2009)

longbow said:


> I think you could bivy camp the first night or two over by "starting of a stream" area and sneak along the sidehill to option #2 in the morning. You'll only be able to pull this off for one or two mornings before the deer in the canyon sense you presents and melt off into more remote areas.
> Or you could hike in from above "starting of stream" direction every morning and set up at #2 and then sneak out the same way. Lower impact that way. It's hard to make a game plan from a picture but it looks like a great area.
> MEEN, sorry I didn't PM you back. I typed up my reply and hit send and it went into my outbox and I can't get it to send. Sumtin" jis ain't right with this here cornputer.
> I really have no idea where this mountain is but it looks alot like the Pavant and east of Beaver where I hunt. I've killed around 30 deer during the bowhunt out of those two areas so I know it a great area.


That is an awesome deer and shot with a tree limb no less  . It looks a lot like the one I was telling you about in the PM. I think I will end up hiking in and out from the top. I tryed to talk my wife into staying where she can scope the whole area while I stay midway between #2 and #3 and then have her radio me as to what feeding area they were in. That way I could get set up before they came through but she just laughed and said I am coming with you. Now if I can just figure out a way to not let my stink crop dust them on their way up to me. :wink:


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## Anaconda Pintler (Oct 29, 2007)

longbow said:


> I think you could bivy camp the first night or two over by "starting of a stream" area and sneak along the sidehill to option #2 in the morning. You'll only be able to pull this off for one or two mornings before the deer in the canyon sense you presents and melt off into more remote areas.
> Or you could hike in from above "starting of stream" direction every morning and set up at #2 and then sneak out the same way. Lower impact that way. It's hard to make a game plan from a picture but it looks like a great area.
> MEEN, sorry I didn't PM you back. I typed up my reply and hit send and it went into my outbox and I can't get it to send. Sumtin" jis ain't right with this here cornputer.
> I really have no idea where this mountain is but it looks alot like the Pavant and east of Beaver where I hunt. I've killed around 30 deer during the bowhunt out of those two areas so I know it a great area.


Come on longbow, you honestly expect us to believe that you can kill a deer with that kind of bow? :mrgreen: :wink: Nice buck dude!


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

No kidding Longbow, those old, slow, grandpa bows don't kill... :roll: 

Who was holding your compound while that picture was being taken? :mrgreen:


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

Accually the buck saw me with it and thought I was no threat so he wandered over to see what I was doing and I whipped out my...cough..cough..(I can't say it)...compound and shot him.


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## north slope (Sep 8, 2007)

Gee... Tex and caveman looks like there is a new sheriff in town. :lol: ............. :roll:


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Bah, I still think he's full of crap. There's no way he killed all those nice big mule deer with that old clunker! They just don't kill that good. They are slow, they aren't accurate, and they don't shoot an arrow hard enough to penetrate. I think he is a fraud! :twisted: :mrgreen: 

Nice bucks Longbow. What is your preferred method of attack?


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## MEEN (Jan 27, 2009)

Geez longbow your giving me buck fever already and I wont be able to hunt that hillside for over another month.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

I usually sit back and spot an open bowl or a canyon side and wait for the buck to make a mistake I can capitolize on. If they don't bed where I can stalk them or head in a direction that I can intersept them, I back out and wait for another morning. I NEVER go after them unless I have the upper hand. These buck are WAY easier to hunt if they don't know I'm there. So it's really important that I stay back and out of the thermals until it's time to move in.
Of course I get freebes like the buck in the bottom picture. I happened to have my longbow across my lap when I heard a sound to my right. I looked and there he was feeding along. He stopped 21 yards in front of me. I couldn't raise my bow to the vertical position so I shot him with my bow completely horizonal. (If your an instinctive shooter, you know that's one of the benifits of this shooting style.) He just waltzed in and 15 seconds later I shot him. I just about fudged my slacks.
Lately I've been hunting out of treestand. I killed a few animals but I really haven't done that well. I'm not sure why.
I'll tell you this though, I'm not THAT great of a bowhunter. I just try really, really hard and I stay out all day. I'm really not a ace shot either, but I practice and I know my max yardage and stay within that range, (20-25yrds and maybe 30yrds if I'm shooting good). If I shoot past that I'm asking for trouble.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

I just got a PM from a guy who blames me for being a high-and-mighty longbow shooter and an anti-compound shooter. I'm FAR from that! I'm sorry if I came across like that. We are all bowhunters, shooting what we like and what we feel comforable with and that's the way it should be. I just love my setup and it's served me well for more than 20 years. Compound shooters have the upper hand in some situations and stickbows have it in others.
As far as wounding more animals because of lack on penatration....BBWAAAHAHAA. I shishkabobed an elk up Logan Canyon in the chest and it plopped out the inside of his back leg. That's four feet of penatration! My 750gr arrows are lumbering along at a leisurely 190fps, BUT they're like a freight train, they aint stoppin'. Penatration has never been a problem.
I'm extreamly opinionated about one thing and that's broadheads. Other than that, no matter what you shoot, I'm perfectly fine with sharing a hunting camp with you.


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## jahan (Sep 7, 2007)

longbow said:


> I just got a PM from a guy who blames me for being a high-and-mighty longbow shooter and an anti-compound shooter. I'm FAR from that! I'm sorry if I came across like that. We are all bowhunters, shooting what we like and what we feel comforable with and that's the way it should be. I just love my setup and it's served me well for more than 20 years. Compound shooters have the upper hand in some situations and stickbows have it in others.
> As far as wounding more animals because of lack on penatration....BBWAAAHAHAA. I shishkabobed an elk up Logan Canyon in the chest and it plopped out the inside of his back leg. That's four feet of penatration! My 750gr arrows are lumbering along at a leisurely 190fps, BUT they're like a freight train, they aint stoppin'. Penatration has never been a problem.
> *I'm extreamly opinionated about one thing and that's broadheads.* Other than that, no matter what you shoot, I'm perfectly fine with sharing a hunting camp with you.


So you are in love with the EPEK broadheads too? :mrgreen: :lol:


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## MEEN (Jan 27, 2009)

longbow said:


> I just got a PM from a guy who blames me for being a high-and-mighty longbow shooter and an anti-compound shooter. I'm FAR from that! I'm sorry if I came across like that.


However they determined that from any of your posts beat me. I have seen nothing but help and respect from your posts and appreciate the photos and input you have provided. Kids these days.....

So here is a question for everyone. How do you follow the bucks to their beds? All of the bucks I watched would move from the feed into the thicker areas and then they were gone with the wind. I would be able to follow an ear or a rump for a few feet and that was all. Is it more that you see where they are heading and then start scanning that area for bedded deer?


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

EPEK broadheads? Are those made out of obsidian and lashed to the end of an Port Orford shaft? 
Accually I hear a lot about them on this forum, they must be good broadheads. Hopefully they're durable, razor-sharp and fly like a fieldpoint. Not like the old mechanical Vipers or some of the other money-making gimmicks from days gone by.
I don't care how you get the arrow to your target, It's the broadhead that takes care of business!


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

> I just got a PM from a guy who blames me for being a high-and-mighty longbow shooter


Wow... I never gathered that... And I would know, because I am a high and mighty recurve shooter and you're nothing like me. :mrgreen:

It's always a sign for me when someone criticizes someone else's accomplishments. To me that is the first indication of a second rate individual.

If you're getting a 750 grain arrow to travel at 190 fps you must be shooting a 90# bow! :shock:

That's the only thing I would call BS on so far... :twisted: :mrgreen:


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## Anaconda Pintler (Oct 29, 2007)

Tex I have a 67# Robertson purist that is chrono'd at 211 fps with a 670grain hunting arrow! Want to see it sometime? I will make you a believer! :mrgreen:


PS Get out of your little world Tex Widows are not the fastest bows out there anymore, and besides that they are production made anyway, might as well be a comp............I cannot even say it but you get the point! :wink: :mrgreen:


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

Your right TEX-O-BOB, my bow dosesn't shoot 190fps. Since I haven't cronographed my bow for a long time, I set up my Chony and this is what I got. Not quite into "sizzling" catagory but not down onto the "lumbering along" speeds either.
I use to shoot a compound back in the early '80s so maybe that's where my tendency to exagerate speed came from. Just kidding "wheel shooters", just kidding.
I better by kind to the compound shooters, they can shoot farther than I can. Like my first instructer told me in sniper training, "you can run from us, but you'll just die tired"


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## Anaconda Pintler (Oct 29, 2007)

Don't sweat it longbow, I am sure you might have just short drawed it a little! :wink: As for Tex he is just jealous cuz he cannot shoot a longbow to save his arse and admits it! But he an **** sure shoot that crooked limbed bow I will tell you! :mrgreen:


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

TEX shoots one of those high-tech, high falootin' recurves huh? It just seems like an unfair advantage to me. :wink: I have a beautiful Brackinberry Shadow that Jim and Linda made me before he died. I think I'll get that out and see how I do with it. Might be fun.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

Boy we sure dragged MEENs post off into the weeds, didn't we? Sorry MEEN.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Weeeell, 178 fps for a long bow with that heavy an arrow still isn't bad. I'll bet they hit like a truck!
Ol' AP made me a self-bow out of an old Osage tree and sent it to me. I've been messin round with some different arrow woods and I think I've settled in with some ash shafting. I should have about a 650 grain finished arrow when I'm done with em. Out of that little 45# self-bow they will have the trajectory of a shot-put, but they'll hit hard being that heavy. Good thing I'll be in a tree ten yards away. :wink: 

Sorry about hijacking your post Meen.


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## MEEN (Jan 27, 2009)

longbow said:


> Boy we sure dragged MEENs post off into the weeds, didn't we? Sorry MEEN.





> Sorry about hijacking your post Meen.


No worries. All this tree limb talk kinda makes me want to hunt with one. Now all I got to do is figure out how to hit a deer with a longbow when its 80 yards from me.

Assuming velocity is 180 ft/sec  I only have to aim a little over 30 feet high above the deer.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

> Now all I got to do is figure out how to hit a deer with a longbow when its 80 yards from me.


Nobody should be figuring out how to hit anything with any bow at 80 yards. :? Lucky slop shots is about all that can occur at that range. Unless your Tim Gillingham...

But, that's just my "high and mighty" recurve shooter opinion. :twisted:


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## bwhntr (Sep 12, 2007)

TEX-O-BOB said:


> > Now all I got to do is figure out how to hit a deer with a longbow when its 80 yards from me.
> 
> 
> Nobody should be figuring out how to hit anything with any bow at 80 yards. :? Lucky slop shots is about all that can occur at that range. Unless your Tim Gillingham...
> ...


Idiot.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

bwhntr said:


> TEX-O-BOB said:
> 
> 
> > > Now all I got to do is figure out how to hit a deer with a longbow when its 80 yards from me.
> ...


Shut up Shane, nobody asked you.


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## MEEN (Jan 27, 2009)

TEX-O-BOB said:


> > Now all I got to do is figure out how to hit a deer with a longbow when its 80 yards from me.
> 
> 
> Nobody should be figuring out how to hit anything with any bow at 80 yards. :? Lucky slop shots is about all that can occur at that range. Unless your Tim Gillingham...
> ...


Not even with my Spot Hogg SDP mounted on a longbow? :mrgreen: Darn, it worked for my XT.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

> Not even with my Spot Hogg SDP mounted on a longbow? :mrgreen: Darn, it worked for my XT.


 :lol:


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