How long did it take you to get your first archery animal?

[pinpoint6713]

Shot my first deer (doe) during second season. Following season missed a buck and have not had a chance since. 6 years have gone by.

 

[Eyeman]

I got my first Elk this year with my Bow! Yes happy. Got him on the first day of Hunting.
He was small but dont care. There was a bigger Bull that maybe I could have got a shot on but the smaller one gave me the perfect shot.
I am not a archery only guy but it was my goal this year.
Before that I have taken a couple of Mule Deer and a Javelina with bow.
Like some other folks I am not too picky about antler size and want my meat.
No matter how much I practice I always have that bad shot thing in the back of my mind so that weighs in more than antler size.

 

[Fingershooter23]

6 years. I started at 12 and didn't get my first archery deer until 18... but then things clicked and I feel I am more successful than not. I'm more of an opportunistic hunter though and not much of a trophy hunter so that probably makes it easier to fill a tag.

 

[Yoder]

I hunted a couple seasons when I was a kid and never got anything with my bow. Didn't really take it seriously. This was in N.E. PA all on Game lands. Between work, family and moving around I didn't hunt for about 8 years. When I moved to Virginia I started hunting again and killed a doe on public land with my bow the first year. Every year since I've bow hunted in either VA or PA on public land I've either missed, killed small bucks, does or passed on both. I haven't had a year yet with no shot opportunity (which I'm really grateful). Lately I've been more focused on shooting a mature buck. I don't think it's too difficult to get a shot at something. It is more difficult to regularly kill bucks especially mature bucks. Hopefully one of these years I'll kill a big buck. Last year was the first time I had one in range but couldn't get a shot. That was a huge success for me.

 

[Venator]

Been hunting my whole life primarily rifle and slug in MN as a weekend warrior with my dad and bro’s. Loved it every year and wanted it to last longer so bought a bow. Took 5 years to thread a buck albeit I was horn hunting with bow but it was my first opportunity at a mature buck and was biggest whitetail to date with any weapon.

 

[Beendare]

…..

 

[Mountainbuck]

2-3 years

 

[*zap*]

First season, whitetail deer x6 or so..

 

[CodeMonkey]

This is a sore subject.

I killed an antelope on opening day the first day I was out with my bow after a few months of practice and working with a coach.

It's been a 2+ year dry spell since. I feel like the hunting gods are getting back at me.

 

[LONE HUNTER]

I didn't get my first animal with bow until year 4 of hunting with it. I shot a spike elk.

 

[roosiebull]

New to the forum and pretty new to hunting in general, currently living in Salt Lake City after moving from Cleveland 3 years ago. I’m in my second season hunting out west and was lucky enough to draw a dedicated hunter deer tag in Utah. After an unsuccessful first year, I’m itching to get a deer with a bow this year. How long did it take you to get your first archery big game animal?

4 years for my first big game archery kill (an elk) they came a lot easier after that first one

 

[AttackMode]

Took me until opening week of my second season to kill a doe and Nov 5 of my third year bowhunting to kill a buck.

 

[deadend88]

10 years. I picked up a bow @ 28 years old and didn't kill my first animal with one until 38. First Elk with a bow this year at 48 years old. AZ Elk tags are hard to come by. For me anyways, the switch flipped after all the hard lessons of misses and blown stalks in the first 10 years. I still make plenty of mistakes and blow it all the time but I recover faster and stick with it. I will still take tag soup hunting with a bow over anything else in my life. Well except my wife and kids, but it's pretty close there too

 

[Recluse]

Started hunting last year at 40 years old. Killed 4 deer last season and so far 2 this year. All 6 were public land deer and 1 was a nice 8 point.

I hunt A LOT and see deer only 40% of the time

 

[Hoytboy247]

All of an archery season and two shots over the back before I got a whitetail doe down for my first archery kill.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[streetdoctor]

I focused a LOT on the shooting part of archery when I first started and not actual hunting. That made me a real shitty elk hunter. I harvested a pronghorn my first year spot and stalk at 70 yards. At the time I was routinely shooting out to 100 with 7” groups. Took me 5 years to harvest a bull elk (this year). Over the last 5 years I’ve probably spent 4 months in the woods chasing them and at least 250 miles on foot.

 

[PurpleDriver]

I was fortunate and harvested a small 8pt my first archery season. But I paid my dues as a youngster many years prior. It took me 7 years with a gun before I shot a deer. But my family were all bird hunters. Funny to think I sat over a cornfield with buckshot for years.

good luck to you!! Archery hunting is an addiction!

 

[Where's Bruce?]

3 yrs for me.

 

[jnawalaniec]

Update: Year 2 was unsuccessful in the sense of getting an arrow into one. Learned a lot about animal behavior, glassing, and stalking. There was no lack of encounters this year, I was on elk in August and September, passed on a number of does in september and october and had some awesome stalks in November during the rut. Two clean misses, must be the buck fever.

had the bull in the picture push a herd of cows by me at 60 screaming the whole way

 

[Desk Jockey]

Don’t give up. It will happen soon.

I am an adult onset hunter and started bow hunting in an area that had a lot of whitetail deer and a very liberal doe policy. First day out, I was Walking a game trail through a thicket and saw a nice 6 pointer walking toward me on the trail at 30 yards. I am pretty sure I forgot to use my rear sight and sent an arrow through his antlers like I was kicking a field goal. He gave me a look like I was the idiot that I was and bounced off.

I grazed a doe across her back the next day. I had a forky and a button buck down the next weekend and a doe a few weeks later. I have been primarily a bow hunter and averaged 2-4 whitetail a year since, on top of other hunting.

I would pause to say that my success has a lot to do with hunting an area with a lot of deer, more so than anything else. I would also note that I started with a couple of buddies around the same time in the same area and they hadn’t hunted as hard or often and have been lucky to get a deer a year.

just keep at it. You will get something soon And then you will be hooked at a whole other level.