Rhino

Haven't hit the woods since my last post. Weather looks favorable for the end of this week so I'll probably relax in the woods some. Hope you had a chance to spend some time in the woods Cory.

Happy belated New Year all...didn't come home from the woods until late last Thursday afternoon.

Been catching up from a long holiday period hunt. Hit the woods the afternoon of 12/28 and hunted through the morning of 1/6. We had Indian Summer weather through New Years day with poor deer movement. Lows in the upper 60's to low 70's with high's in the upper 70's to low 80's. The only hunter fessing up to seeing a mature buck was me...this 9 point I had trail cam pics of I already decided to pass. He was inside the 40 yard line for about 10 seconds before I could get my phone out. I managed to get 12 seconds of video footage of him before he got behind cover leaving. Since the weather was better for fishing than deer hunting, a buddy and I decided to hit the lake and try to catch enough fish for a fish fry. We fished 2 mornings for a couple of hours. All total we caught 24 bass for a fish fry. On January 2 a cold front is finally supposed to be moving in before daylight with some nasty weather. While drinking coffee with buddy who had been hunting hard for meat (now down to his last day) I asked him if he wanted me to try to get a meat deer for him. He said sure! Although I saw about 6 deer that morning none were meat deer...mainly 1 year old bucks. I head back to the stand at 1:30 shortly before a light snow starts that windy afternoon. The snow quits shortly before 2:45 and within a minute or so this cull buck I had gotten on a cam ~3/4 mile away comes cruising through at ~100 yards. I had just enough time to get on him and take him out before he disappeared behind cover. Since my buddy wanting meat had to be at work the next morning, we did a rush job on him to the skinning shed and cleaned. Didn't take time for harvest pics. Obviously...no upgrade here but glad to help a buddy out. From that point on I saw better rutting activity through 1/3. Rutting activity began winding down the next couple of days. The last mature buck I saw was the afternoon of 1/4. It was pretty obvious by the end of the day of 1/5 mature bucks were in full blown lockdown. Ideal weather on 1/5 and the only deer a hunting buddy and I saw were a spike or 2 each. Needed a break anyway so came home Thursday afternoon. On January 3rd I saw a real nice 8 point while hunting a ladder stand on the edge of a river. He was too far for a shot from the ladder stand I was hunting...over 500 yards. He's bigger than any buck I have on trial cams so far there. Taking a rest break from deer hunting and I'll watch for favorable weather for the late season. Season is open through the end of January.

Merry belated Christmas to y'all and an early happy New Years. I'll be in the woods either side of New Years. ?

Thanks guys! Prime rut time is here for the area of Mississippi I hunt. Unfortunately, it's Indian summer weather here until Sunday. Highs in the mid to upper 70's...lows in the 60's. Headed to the camp Tuesday afternoon. Until it cools off, probably won't see much moving outside of the 1st and last hour of daylight. I'll be in the woods some after the front passes through and into next week.

Congratulations Frank!!! Santa needs to leave another freezer under the tree for you tonight! ?

Went and hunted a few days the beginning of this week in Mississippi. First chance I've had to be in the woods since Thanksgiving weekend. The 1st afternoon this big, mature 6 point appeared so I took him out of the gene pool. He weighed 210 pounds (very big for this area), has an 18" inside, and 5 1/8" bases. That should be enough sausage till next season. Should be heading back to the woods Tuesday or Wednesday. It's close to our peak rut period now.

Thanks William!

Broke in the new rifle with a very nice buck William. Congratulations!

Congratulations guys!

Congratulations! Great buck!

Thanks guys...been a bit crazy around here lately. I've finally gotten over missing the big 8 too. Here's what he looks like. I've had trail cam pics of him this year since my 1st trail cam run in September. Went to the Mississippi club Thanksgiving weekend. Pretty slow. Saw 3 does in 2 hunts. I set 5 cams out on scraps and pulled the card on 1 I had running while I was in MO. Got 1 mature 8 point on that cam that looks to be close to 130. Haven't been free to go back since setting the cams. Getting ready for the holiday season and I also have a baby shower at my house this weekend too. Not exactly sure when I'll be back in a tree yet.

Entry for Team 6...Rhino...9 scorable points (actually the 2nd kicker is 1" but no pic with tape to verify that)

Back home from 15 days in a row of hunting in MO. Slept for 11 hours last night. Here's the short story from the hunt. I'll post pics later after I catch up here at home. The good news...I bagged a main frame 8 point with 2 kicker points (1 on each G2) 2 days before the MO gun season opened (morning of Nov. 11th). Got pics but I failed to take a measurement pic of one of the kickers that only measured exactly 1" so, as per the rules, I'll need to enter him as a 9 point instead of a 10 for the team points. My buddy Ernie, shot one of his 2 top target bucks the 1st morning of the gun season. His buck was a main frame 5x6 11 point but the buck had completely broken off his one G5 sometime within a week or so from the morning he killed him. The bad news...I missed the big 8 point I have on cams the 4th day of gun season (11/16). I saw the same big 8 the afternoon of Nov. 5th but he never got inside the 50 yard line. My son also shot twice at bucks (both 9 points) during the week before gun season opened. One was hit through the backstraps on the afternoon of 11/10. He was seen seen chasing a doe at ~4:45 the following afternoon shortly after he and I finished making a grid search. The last morning he also shot over a big 9 point when the upper limb of his bow hit his RT bow hanger.

Here's the only picture he sent me of that buck.

Here's my plan for bowhunting Missouri now. A buddy is meeting me here Wednesday morning. We should arrive in MO Wednesday afternoon in time to check a few of my cams. The 2 of us will have it all to ourselves through next Sunday. I'll be in the woods until Friday the 12th unless my 1st bow season buck tag is filled before that. Then after a short trip back home, I'll head back for the MO gun season. We closed on the sale of the house my brother and I inherited from our parents this past Thursday afternoon. Only problem is I'm waiting on the bank to set up an estate account so I can deposit the check. Met with them Friday. That should be ready Tuesday. I talked to my buddy Ernie several times this past week. He hunted in MO with his son, brother, and a friend this past week. His brother (John) killed a 156" 10 point Thursday afternoon in the rain. It wasn't a buck we had on trail cams. They were seeing a lot of younger bucks but except for John, the few other mature bucks seen were outside bow range. The young bucks were getting into it but the mature bucks weren't quite ready yet. Also, due to the rain this past week, they haven't cut the corn yet. They should be cutting it as soon as it dries later this week. They already cut all the beans.

Congratulations Martin!

Congratulations Joe!

Congratulations to your dad Pat! Great buck! Hope to see trophy pics of you with that other bigun!

They sure have a will to live! The response you got with the pics and age information is really cool. Sounds like some good neighbors to keep in touch with. I could share some stories with you about survivors. Besides that, in my lifetime, I've cleaned or assisted cleaning 3 does and 1 buck that had broadheads still in them. The 3 does were completely healed over for at least a year. The buck was wounded in MO several years ago by a guest...another guest killed him about 2 weeks later. That broadhead was in the thick spot at the shoulder joint. Congratulations again Frank! Great old buck!

Congratulations to both of you!

Went to the Mississippi camp this past weekend to finish a few projects. Didn't hunt since it was so hot. Checked the 2 cams I had running...one had dead batteries (less than 25 pics)...the other cratered on me. Have to send it back to Reconyx but it is about 10 years old. Set up 2 new stand positions and flagged a 3rd spot for the next available crew to set & prep the stand. Bucks are just starting to scrape in that area of MS. I set my 1 operational cam on the 1st scrape I found. Found a couple more scraps near a place I typically run a cam but don't have a cam available to set on it yet. My other 6 cams are running in Missouri right now. The closing on the house my brother and I inherited is Thursday afternoon in Louisiana. I have to be there for the closing. After that...pack for Missouri. I'll Probably head up there this weekend. My buddy Ernie and a couple of his guest are up there right now. Weather has been poor since he got there. Rain and winds not favorable for the area he wanted to hunt...so far. That may have changed by now. He checked the 4 cams he had running. He got several new bucks on his cams but no fully mature bucks except for the one he's been after. His target buck only passed by 1 of his cams once though. That buck is getting into his head. Here's a few pics of his target buck from earlier runs. I've been calling him the antenna buck. He was a regular before mid September...since then the area where he prefers to spend his time has been hard to figure out.

Congratulations Frank! That's an old toad.

Yep...you sure found one...congrats Pat.

That is really cool! Smack one for Exturk!