wtnhunt

Thanks. We have had a great season. Few more bucket pics, there was definitely no ground shrinkage with this one. Closest 8 pt I have to this one on the wall I scored at 118, wider but was not as well matched up. He is 17.5 inches inside between the beams.

Congratulations bug. Sounds like a memorable season for you.

Thank you Chris. This was definitely a nice addition to this season. I don't think we had any pics of the deer I killed or the deer Catrina killed. We had just a couple of the one Allison killed. Field pics and story posted here.

Weird sometimes how things go. I had a slip and fall walking down the steep trail from my stand one afternoon a couple weeks ago. Fell pretty hard on the slick wet ground and hit my scope and gun. Few days later checked my scope, it was a little high but was at 50 yards. Shot again and had a click. These are handloads I loaded in 2017. I looked at the round and the primer was dinged, weird should have went off. I remembered I sat in the freezing rain in 2018 with the same rounds in the gun. I had sat the day I fell also in the rain. Not sure why the round did not ignite. I tried another and it hit same height as the first, then racked in another to have another no fire. I ended up loading 10 fresh rounds to take the remainder of this season. Now, had I been in the stand and had not checked my gun, there might have been one of those no fire rounds in the chamber and possible I could have had a click. Sometimes luck breaks in our favors and sometimes goes the other way. Good luck to your son and daughter in the future, hope you will come back and share.

Too bad about that bug, but still sounds like a good time. Fwiw I don't suggest youth hunting deer with anything smaller than a .243. Really asking a lot for them to make great shot placement. Have heard horror stories of kids having their potential first deer lost with .223's. Be sure to check some of the other threads here. Been some really nice bucks taken by members and their kids this year.

Thanks Al. No doubt he is a nice deer for the backyard. I posted another thread with story and field pics. With the long beams and tine length I would guess he is around a 120 inch deer. Probably my best scoring 8 pt. And yes we are still hunting. Allison, Catrina and I each could take another buck. I told Catrina she gets to go as much as she wants this weekend, but she has to kill one bigger than the one she already killed. The wide 8 was still around Sunday.

A select few liberals from CA and a few from NY think they have the right to impose their will on ALL of the American people?

I am so sorry to hear this Dave. My thoughts and prayers for you and your family.

I pulled trail cam cards yesterday and to my surprise the big bodied wide 8 pt we had not gotten pics of since late October had been back around on Friday and again on Sunday night. So I was hopeful there may be some secondary rutting action kicking in and with the right wind forecast for our back field I planned to get in the stand early this morning and was going to sit until about 9. Had some morning obligations to take care of before heading to the stand which set me back a little and was halfway to the stand when I realized I forgot my phone. Still was in the stand about 30 minutes before legal shooting light. Was a hard frost and almost no wind, but the wind was light and mostly coming from the southwest when it was blowing, which had it mostly at my face. Not 5 minutes after getting settled in I could see a body in our clover. Single deer, and the shape was telling me it was a buck, but it was too far away to tell for sure. Neck looked slim though. Deer stood there just looking around. After a few minutes it walked off to my right. As it started getting light I could hear a deer coming from behind me. Our dogs were going nuts. I never could find the deer in my binoculars. Less than a minute later a body pops out of the thin strip of trees on my left and it heads into the brush pile in front of me. It was moving too steady for me to tell for sure what it had on its head, but I knew the way it was moving it was a buck. I had a suspicion that he would pop out the other side of the brush pile any time and had my gun up and binos in my hands. He came out about 90 seconds later on a scrape line opposite side of the brush pile about 185 yards away and was moving too steady for me to get a good look before he crossed the open and was back in more brush. I hit the grunt call a few times, then hit the can call. Did not hear or see anything for a few minutes. Probably 5 minutes later I could hear a deer moving through behind me in the gully. I am sitting in a large oak and cannot see without peeking around. Deer stayed higher in the gully than the main trail at the bottom of the hill that deer usually take. By the time I finally got a look at him with the binos he was in a fast trot and I knew he was good enough but figured my chances were done He disappeared and I quit hearing him and was not sure which way he ended up going. Few minutes go by and I call again with the can call and a few grunts. Not a minute later I hear more deer moving behind me, this time a doe and fawn on the main trail at the bottom of the gully. They were in a hurry, but they went the same way he went, last I could see or hear them was around 6:46. I figured I would see does come out and feed in the beans at some point and maybe he would come in and check them, it was still early. At 7:04 this buck comes out of the thin strip of trees angling towards the brush pile again, similar to how he had done earlier, but this time he takes a turn heading straight at me with his nose to the ground moving steady. I let out a meah and he did not even look. He started turning enough he would be broadside so I picked a spot with my scope just ahead of him and squeezed right when his vitals were in the crosshairs. He dropped in his tracks. Sunrise from the stand right after I shot him. Phone pic is not the greatest. He came out from near the tree at the bottom of the beans. Walking up to him as he lay. Best I could do with a 10 second timer and the camera on a tripod. Turned out to not be the deer I thought he was that we had gotten trail camera pictures of. I think this one actually has better antlers, even though he is not as wide. Been a good season for our family. Thank you Lord.

Yeah, after looking closer it was definitely not the wide heavy bodied 8. I thought while in the stand because of the spread it was the deer in the tc pic. We had gotten tc pics of the wide 8 on Friday and again on Sunday night. He may also still be around. I don't think we had any tc pics of the deer I shot this morning, but he should have passed one of my cameras this morning. This deer I think may have only been a 3.5 year old, or he was rundown hard from chasing does. Inside spread is 17.5 inches and he only weighed 160 lbs if the scale I am using was right. That other 8 was a lot bigger in the body.

Pulled the Kubota right up to him, actually not too sure it is the same 8pt as in the tc pic, but too good for the backyard to let walk. Will post camera pics and story soon. Had to use timer and tripod. Fun part begins in a few minutes after I drink a cup of coffee.

Just popped back out tracking and would not stop. Picked a spot and shot as he trotted into it, the 308 eld x hand load dropped him in his tracks. Pics to come soon.

Saw this one this morning. Didn't get a great look with the binos but good enough that I am pretty sure it was him. Never had a chance for a shot. He popped out twice in front of me right after legal shooting light steady on the move like he was on a mission. Tried grunting, he circled around behind me and stayed just off the main trail in the gully.

Sorry to hear that about your wife Kevin. Hope she has a full recovery.

Great story and a very nice buck. Congratulations to your son and you too.

Secondary rutting activity should be picking up here anytime now. Went for probably 5 or 6 sits with seeing only buttons and young bucks, no does at all. Finally saw at least 3 different does yesterday and a young 7 i have seen the past several times I have been. Will hopefully have right wind to hunt the beans in our back field tomorrow. Wind this morning was supposed to be all wrong for that stand according to the forecasts I checked and turned out to not be the case. Sat over the bottom and saw the same little 7 again, all I saw. Was a fresh bed right behind that stand and some coke can sized cedars that were recently thrashed. Yeah funny how some years you get regulars you see often and get trail cam pics of a couple nice ones on more than one occasion. This year seems like we have more passers through that get a pic or two made only to never be seen again. Unfortunately the few that have been good enough to grab my attention have passed through at the right place but in the middle of the night.

Was the best one I have had opportunities on and at this point things are not looking so good. Not getting many trail cam pics of deer and not seeing all that many while hunting. Oh well the girls had a good season and that was what mattered most to me this year. Don't know with how things are going if I will be able to do any hunting next year, so would be nice to kill one but do still have about a month left.

Stick my fingers in my ears. lol Usually use muffs for target practice. Have several pairs.

mike posted a thread think it was titled "what's up". Martin was the only person to reply prior to myself. Not sure what happened, but I replied to the post with my phone. It stalled out and then when it finally posted, my reply was double posted. I checked the box next to my duplicate reply and deleted it. Now I go back to the lounge and don't see your post anymore. Sorry but I somehow accidentally deleted it. Anyway, I hope all is going well for you and your family. Welcome back. I would repost your thread if I could.

Timing here has been an issue with time I have and catching the right weather. The time put in to these plots paid off this year. Allison's buck was actually feeding in the beans with several does. That plot still has a fair amount of beans. Catrina's was moving through but she had several does feeding in the beans in the plot in the bottom that he was coming to. Not much left of the beans that were in the bottom.

Not that it does you any good now with the missed deer, but you need to contact Burris about your issue. I have had a few times I have had to get in touch with them for optics and they have always been great. I have never had any issues with Burris rings or mounts.

Congratulations Martin. Based on what I have been seeing here I would have a tough time letting an 8 past his ears walk too

Everyone have a good one tomorrow. If you're traveling be safe.

Good luck when you get back out there Frank. Would be too cool for your father to also tag a buck on your place.

Guess the wolves have given them a break? Sounds like your herd is in better shape than ours. Post some pics when you can Martin, sounds like a pretty good buck.