TN velvet hunt Aug 25-27

[Bgoodman30]

It's said 90% of big bucks are killed by 10% of hunters. Not coincidentally only 11% of hunters in TN attempted the velvet hunt and only 3.5% of them succeeded with a bow, 4% overall. These aren't weekend warriors, meat hunters, old guys who enjoy their coffee in a shooting house, or the guys who think deer hunting is done only with firearms in cool weather. They're hardcore, dedicated, serious bow hunters. And they grossly failed. 17,000 of them had three days to kill an easy to pattern buck and less than 1,000 got it done statewide. If you asked all 17,000 of them if they had a buck picked & patterned before the hunt, what do you think the overwhelming answer would be? Of course they did. Nobody's hunting a buck that doesn't exist. They all believed what you believe, that they could get on a buck that was doing the same thing over & over.

Trail cameras or even watching a buck from distance is exciting and gives a hunter a sense of optimism. Getting your body within bow range, drawing the bow, and getting an arrow released that finds home in the vitals is an entirely different thing. No doubt when your camera shows you that the buck is doing the same thing at the same time over & over again, then obviously he's an easy mark. Every hunter whose ever tried the velvet hunt once believed that to be true. Then reality smacked the gross majority of them hard up side the head.

Do you mean 3.5% of TN hunters or 3.5% of the 11%? I would put that mostly on the weather. All the die hards were giddy like Christmas morning for opening day and probably burned their spots up sweating in their stands Friday & Saturday. I have had zero bucks on camera in the last week including Friday and Saturday until the weather changed Sunday. I have recent pics from this spot with a dozen bucks in one pic..

I can tell you with 100% certainty if I tried to access this stand 3 days in a row that buck isn't showing up anywhere close.

But you're right its not easy to get one in bow range and make it happen but yes in August it's still much easier...

 

[Ski]

Do you mean 3.5% of TN hunters or 3.5% of the 11%?

The 11% is the 17,000 of hunters who participated. Of them, only 588 (3.5%) were able to score with archery equipment. Regardless of reason those are very, very tough odds. We can disagree to disagree on how tough August deer are to hunt. Perhaps if you ever try it you'll update us on your thoughts.

 

[Bgoodman30]

The 11% is the 17,000 of hunters who participated. Of them, only 588 (3.5%) were able to score with archery equipment. Regardless of reason those are very, very tough odds. We can disagree to disagree on how tough August deer are to hunt. Perhaps if you ever try it you'll update us on your thoughts.

I tried in first year before I had many cell cams. Had a nice morning when it was 52 degrees. Went back on afternoon sit and one time sweating, swatting and stinking up the place was enough for me. Zero interest in velvet antlers I just tried it because I love to hunt.

 

[jb3]

The 11% is the 17,000 of hunters who participated. Of them, only 588 (3.5%) were able to score with archery equipment. Regardless of reason those are very, very tough odds. We can disagree to disagree on how tough August deer are to hunt. Perhaps if you ever try it you'll update us on your thoughts.

I think part of the reason for the low percentage is selection. Seems most the guys I know that take part in the velvet hunt are after a particular deer.

 

[Ski]

I think part of the reason for the low percentage is selection. Seems most the guys I know that take part in the velvet hunt are after a particular deer.

Agreed. Myself included.

 

[gatodoc]

I drove 5.5 hrs from east TN to Fayette Co Friday for the "velvet hunt". It was 103 degrees outside as I drove through Nashville Friday midday. We decided to skip Saturday because of the heat. I looked at the low temp for Sunday at it was 78 at 5 am.

We didn't hunt at all. I wouldn't have shot anything less than a wall hanger and I doubted I'd see one based on pix, but I had a wonderful weekend visiting with my good friend and will be there hunting later in the year….

 

[Outdoor Enthusiast]

Agreed. Myself included.

Yep. Same.

 

[Andy S.]

I think part of the reason for the low percentage is selection. Seems most the guys I know that take part in the velvet hunt are after a particular deer.

Guaranteed!