Legacy -The 2026 Deer Season Thread-

Legacy · 2026-09-16T10:37:08Z

Well here we are again. Not sure how many years this thread has been going but I suppose we need to keep it going! I encourage you guys contribute to help keep this thread going. Last year I shot one of my target bucks on October 2 so it kinda killed the thread for me for a month plus until I had a fresh tag for regular season.

Every year I mention that I am way behind with field work and this year is no different. In the past couple of weeks I have hung 11 cams and I still have 2 that need to be hung. I hung 1 new set late last week and have completed about 90 percent of my needed "field work". Im starting to see some good ones on cams already and almost every buck is still in velvet. I have seen a lot of scrapes in my travels. I have one cam on a mock scrape that has been getting regular visits also.

GOOD LUCK! LETS SEE SOME TRAIL CAM PICS!!!

GAMBLER · 2026-09-16T10:48:59Z

Good luck this season Rob!

Legacy · 2026-09-16T10:51:06Z

The 2025 season was one to remember. Here is some pics and stories to share!

Ohio September 27

My luck in Ohio has been far from good but that ended last evening.

After a decent walk from the road and through 2 corn fields I found my set. It was a turtle blind on the ground 30 yards off the field edge in a thick staging area. The woods is extremely thick there and it is on a ridge leading from bedding into the crop field. First deer to come through was a 2.5 year old buck about 545. He seemed preoccupied by something behind him. And eventually my target buck showed himself. I could just make out his tall brows through the thick stuff. About 605 he finally made his way past the blind and I smoked him with the new Xbow at 27 yards. I saw the bolt enter behind the shoulder and I knew he was a goner. He ran about 40 yards, stubbled, and tipped over. Couldn't have asked for a better playbook from the boys here at Southern Ohio Outfitters.

NY

October 2 PM

70 Degrees

NE wind 10-15 becoming calm

sunny skies

High Pressure 30+

Sat out the AM hunt due to the fact that SE winds work for none of the sets I need to be in. However, unfortunately for me, one of my target bucks walked past my stand at 738 am yesterday morning. The wind was supposed to switch from SE to NE for the PM so I made the move to hunt that stand yesterday afternoon and boy was I rewarded. All in all yesterday was quite slow until about 6pm. Then the flood gates opened. Cameras were firing and deer were on their feet. I kept a close eye on my right assuming that if I was going to get a shot opportunity it would come from my right (bedding). Cameras have been showing me this pattern for almost a week with multiple shooters crossing just past my stand during the daylight. From west to east in the AM and east to west in the PM. On opening morning I was one step away from closing the deal however I never had an opportunity of a broadside shot present itself. At approx 620 I put eyes on one of my targets. He was on a string and I knew where he was headed. I patiently waited for him walk past me and stopped him with a mouth grunt once he was in my shooting lane. The rest is history. I hit him maybe 3 rib back quartering away. I saw blood pouring out of him 20 yards later and figured he wasnt going far. I never saw him drop but I figured he was just inside the wood line. I snuck out after dark to give him time. Tommy joined me on my search and we returned 3 hours after the shot to find him piled up just before the hedgerow. Game over! What a week!!!

PA

November 9

Pa buck down! 2.5 year old 8pt.

Since my kid and I were tagged out here in NY we headed to Pennsylvania to hunt with a small outfitter in Millville, Pa. I didn't have any major expectations but my hopes were for a possibility of a 3.5 or older buck. I didn't see anything more than a handful of young bucks but my kid saw at least one shooter everyday. 2.5 year old 8pt on Thursday, a tall thick racked 8pt on Friday, a solid 8pt on Saturday, and a hammer 10 on Saturday. The biggest deer he said he's ever seen in the woods. Each of the first 3 days he saw some chasing. He just never had a shot at them. The hammer he saw on Sunday chased a doe past him at 25 yards!

We hunted all Thursday Friday and Saturday. I never saw anything worth shooting in those first 3 days. Sunday we planned on just hunting until 10 and then heading home. My kid hunted the same place he had been hunting the past 2 days but with a slight adjustment to his set to the drainage ditch the deer had been using. I hunted about 200 hundred yards in between him and where we thought the deer were coming from. I was just on the ground tucked into a downed tree on the hillside just above the logging road. At 730 this 8pt made his way along the Ridgeline adjacent to the logging road. 23 yards and he didn't go 6 feet. Something odd about the shot. It was 23 yards and I would say I was at least 10 ft higher in elevation than the deer. I would say the arrow entered about 1/3 down on the chest but somehow the arrow ended embedded in his spine. So one lung and spine on that angle? Strange...

I gave the meat to the outfitter who was happy about filling his freezer with burger and jerky. A win win for everyone.

Great ground down there. We will be back Im sure.

NY

November 20

The past 3 morning sits have been great. After seeing the weather predicted this week I took some time off from work. My plan was to hunt the same stand 3 days in a row. Cameras have been showing at least one of my shooters walking past my stand each day since the week prior to gun season. From that stand I saw 5 bucks Tuesday, 12 bucks Wednesday, and 6 bucks today. However today was different. This big guy showed up about 730 and I watched him tending a doe about 300 yards out. They slowly worked their way (which took about 45 minutes) from the timber to the field through the hedgerow and finally getting a clear shot. 90 yard shot without a rest ended up low, double lung shot. He mule kicked. And ran into the timber. Text my kid and had him meet there an hour later. Unsure of the shot and not seeing him go down i wanted to give it an hour at the least. I walked to the shot site at the end of the hedgerow and in disbelief no hair or blood in site. After scratching my head for 5 plus minutes we made out way into the woods and there he was piled up 20 yards in. Good stuff! Tag punched!