Rhino

Congrats Martin. Upgrade or not he'll do. Not much chance of an upgrade here but I should get some chances at some mature bucks on my home turf.

Ditto!!!

Congratulations to both of you!!! There's going to be a lot more memories made with that rifle now too! Awesome.

Hummm...not sure...but more than a Bakers's dozen on whitetails. Some are in Missouri, some are hanging in the camphouse at the Mississippi camp, and some are home.

Your call William. I understand your concern about hunting pressure but bucks are pretty good at avoiding it. As with any buck, there's no guarantee this one will. He'll be better next year if he makes it through the season though.

Congratulations to your son too Frank! Doesn't get much better than that!

I'll eat my Missouri gun season buck tag this year. I've only seen young bucks, does, and fawns lately. Heading home tomorrow. For the rest of the season, I'll be in the woods in Mississippi. Left 3 trail cams running on my home turf while I was hunting Missouri. We'll see what happens this year there.

You guys are on a role! MCH bags potentially his best with a bow, NS whitetail puts a goodun down, and Pat bags his 1st trophy on his own place after documenting his growth into full maturity. Assume job guys...Congratulations!!! Pat...that's a memory that will last a life time.

Thanks Pat...I'm going to be house shopping soon in north MS. I have a grandson on the way now. Due date is in early May so time to move closer to my son's home in Memphis. I need a bigger trophy room too. Down to the last couple of hunts here in MO. We'll see what happens.

Saw one of my target bucks yesterday here in Missouri...a huge 8 point. Unfortunately, he broke off most of his left G2 since I got the last pic of him on 11/5. Decided to let him walk. He might have walked past one of my cameras to get where I saw him so I may have some before and after pics. Pic posting will have to be when I get home. Getting ready for the afternoon hunt.

Shaun started a post in the lounge about taking off to hunt. Don't think he's checked into the team thread though.

Congratulations...Pat and and Joe. Like those short tracking jobs Pat.

There was more fat on those deer than I recall dealing with in the past William.

"JUST"...LMBO...nothing wrong with that at all! Got some of those sort of "travel corridor" stands in Missouri too. You know how those bucks are there...cruising from around the last 3 days in October though early November. You can have action just about any time of the day. I have noticed on those type of stands that I have in Missouri, the 1st 30 or so minutes in the morning and the last 30 or so minutes in the afternoon are slower for movement than other stands closer to a crop field food source. Trail cams show that too by those stands.

Good luck to you too Shaun. Bag a niceun!

Same with each of the 4 bucks and a doe taken by our Missouri group recently William...1.5" to 2" of fat.

Ditto...sure helped for them to turn belly up in the creek.

We had some great rutting action in MO during our late October/early November bowhunt. My buddy (Ernie) and his guest (John) arrived a day ahead of me (10/28). I got a call from Ernie mid-day on the 29th brainstorming where to send John for that afternoon's hunt for a N wind. We settled on one of my ladder stands near an old stock pond. Late that afternoon he shot this 10 point that fell within sight of the stand. I arrived there just in time to help drag. Fortunately...a real short drag. After we got ~3" of snow that evening, activity slowed down for the next 2 days. The bucks we were seeing were all young. The wind was perfect for one of my favorite stands the afternoon of Nov. 1st. It's positioned in a brushy flat where 2 bends of a big creek creates a large peninsula...great bedding area. I headed to the stand shortly after lunch. The 1st buck I saw was around 2:45...a 3 year old 10 point I have on cams. Real short G4's but nice to finally see a buck over 2 years old. About 30 minutes later I see movement in brush about 100 yards away SW of me. A rack buck behind a doe. Wow...he's tending her! I finally see he's a nice 10 point (didn't see the split brow tine yet). She slowly works her way toward me, pausing to feed along the way. The buck just maintains a 15 yard distance or so behind her, watching her every move. Seemed like forever but finally the doe passes trough a trail to my right and stops to feed a bit just inside my 28 yard tree NW of me. The buck pauses just beyond my 31 yard tree W of me slightly quartering toward me with his eyes fixed on her. Then I felt a wind shift...this gig is about to be over if she winds me so it was now or never. I turned my arrow loose and he hits the ground after a loud "CRACK". My 1st thought was...reload!!! That kind of sound and his hitting the dirt had me thinking spine shot so I didn't hesitate to stick a 2nd arrow in him. Turned out not to be spine but he didn't go 10' from where I 1st hit him. I like those kind of tracking jobs! Ernie had seen a big 8 but well out of range in early October. During that trip we set a Millennium 360 Revolution hang-on stand covering the trails he used to enter a bean field to be ready for the rut. The wind was perfect for it the afternoon of Nov. 3rd. Around 4:00 he said he saw the big 8 chasing a doe (he thinks it was that buck anyway). The doe came trotting in and stopped 15 yards from the stand...squatted and dropped some fresh doe urine. A buck charged to the spot and stopped and he said he assumed it was the big 8 and put an arrow in him. Obviously, Ernie was real confused to find this 10 point instead of the 8 at the end of his tracking job. We all are!!! Gotta love it! We are down to the last afternoon of the trip now (Nov. 7th) with just 2 hunters left with buck tags. My son (Bailey) was hunting where I got a huge 8 on cams a few days earlier. Our young buddy Scott decides to hunt a stand in the timber between 2 standing corn fields where I'd been getting pics of a mature main frame 9 point with split brow tines on both sides. They both decided to head to the stand early. Around 2:15 I get a text from Scott asking if I can come pick him up...he'd just shot his target buck. He hadn't been in the stand 15 minutes when the buck came cruising through on a trail inside the 20 yard line. Flash hunt. That's the 3rd buck he's killed on the last afternoon out of the 4 Missouri bucks he's killed there with us. Bailey didn't see a shooter during his limited time of 3 days to hunt but he did pass a 3 year old 8 (135 class) we have on cams. I was proud of him for his decision to pass that buck. Made it easy looking a daylight trail cam pics from 2 days earlier of that big 8 that's somewhere around there. That 8 will be one of the bucks I'll be looking for come the MO gun season opener this coming Saturday. Headed back Friday.

Congratulations Catrina, Chris, and Elkoholic! Great week for your team...stacking them up like cord wood! Congrats on the assist in tracking too William.

Congratulations again Frank. Yep...some states allow and encourage recovery. For some that do, you can't take a weapon past your property line to recover game. Bummer you got one bad neighbor Frank. We do too in Missouri and in Mississippi. Just thankful to have the good neighbors we have. Over the years, seen a lot of strange actions by deer after they've been hit. From running out into fields then dropping to running right back toward me and bounce off of a tree. Not sure how many just trotted off 10 to 40 yards and stopped but didn't even have a clue an arrow blew through them until their legs wouldn't hold them up anymore.

Got home from Missouri Friday evening. Catching up on home chores, etc. Headed back to Missouri on 11/15 for their opening of gun season on 11/16.

Back home for a break and posted my entry pics on this 11 point. The kicker on his right brow tine is under an inch. There's also an unusual drop growth on his left main beam. You can see it good here. It was a judgement call not to count that short drop as a point due to the odd shape. Although the longest part measured 1 1/8" from the front side of the main beam, it's a judgement call about where to start from the main beam. For that reason, I called him an 11 point for the team score instead of 12. I'll post a story about the hunt in the bowhunting forum when I catch up on chores at home.

Team 2 - Rhino 11 points over 1"

Since my last post, my buddy (Ernie) killed a nice 10 point. I'll have to share pics when I get home. My son (Bailey) arrived yesterday afternoon. He and another friend of ours are the only ones still hunting. I told them this morning before they left to hunt...if there was any 1 particular date I'd choose to be on stand here to bow hunt, it would be November 6th. Past hunts here and trail cam pics have shown that there's great daylight action on that date every year. I plan to be home by Friday night so they have 2 days to fill their tags.

Congratulations Frank!!! Sounds like you have a real nice honey hole of your own to hunt. Seeing the number of deer liken that sure makes it easy and fun to put more time on stand.