Stinger-Hunter

Great Job!! Looks a little deflated, though. LOL. Congratulations!

Fantastic!!! Congrats

Amazing that deer can be so paranoid and then something like that happens and they don't even flinch. I had a bad shotgun barrel in 2000 and shot at a doe from 5 yards and she didn't flinch. Slug went right over her back and she did not make a move. Kept eating in front of me. I reloaded and shot again. Same result. Amazing.

Jesus Crimeny!! That thing is huge.

The end of October is usually when it picks up. This weekend will be perfect. I'm doing a morning hunt on both Sat and Sun. I've sworn for years that I wouldn't hunt until the last weekend in October, but always hit it early and am disappointed. So far, I've done a good job this year. Only been out 4 times. Also this is the time when doe urine will bring in the bucks (and does). They start getting curious about right now.

Nice job. Love it!

Great buck. Would be a shooter in Indiana, Illinois, Virginia, Minnesota for sure. Outstanding job.

Better luck next time. It happens. At least you're seeing some action out there.

Been hunting near Momence and haven't even seen any rubs lately. No scrapes near the hunting stand (where there is usually a big one). I say one more week and the hunting, seeing, and shooting will improve. I may go out in the morning as well. I saw 4 does yesterday 25 yards from my stand - too many branches to take a shot. Looking forward to out-flanking them.

Please include me as well. I'll be good, I promise :-)

If you hunt it, make sure the stand is 30-50 yards downwind of the scrape. I have read (never witnessed) that a buck passes downwind to get a scent of it to ensure that does are coming in without adding risk to himself getting seen or shot. This means he'll be passing right by your stand. Never, ever, ever hunt directly next to a scrape. Supposedly 80% of the time bucks check them at night for this reason. I would also hunt that baby around noon as well. Bucks get up and do a little round-a-bout about that time. Tagged a couple nice ones that way.

After a few more trips to the fields, I can see that the deer are hitting the beans a little heavier. The trails leading in and out of the beans are getting more defined as well. I hope they don't cut them for another couple of weeks.

I've set up a few, but I have not ever put buck urine in them. Just doe urine. It worked according to the tracks, but they never return the next year. Overhanging licking branch and all. I was trying to reset a new pattern of scrapes that were centered around my tree stand. I was just never there when the buggers came to visit.

Nice Job! Way to sum up the story. I could use a lesson in brevity.

Better to get 2 bottles of Tinks 69 and 2 Bottles of Code Blue. Mix them with water in large jug (that you won't use again). Get a couple drag rags, put a rope around the corner and soak the rags. While walking to your stand, drag the rope behind you. When you get to your stand walk around 360degress, leading the trail back to your stand. Leave the rag in a bush 1-2 feet off the ground and poor the rest of the water/urine combo on the ground. Get back in your stand - stay out all day if possible. Come back the next day if the first day didn't pan out Guaranteed a deer if you do this after October 15th.

I have a situation right now where there are cut corn fields and uncut bean fields right next to each other. I say, they will eventually make their way to or from the beans each night since they are still uncut. This puts my stand in a great location. Hopefully, they will walk by and pay a visit.

The other part of the story is that I tried, but wouldn't you know it, I missed! Point blank range and I only had one bullet with me. Before walking all the way to my buddy to get another bullet, I took a few pics. It tore my heart out, seriously, my buddy had to field dress her cause I couldn't do it (emotionally).

I paid $125 for a used PSE Nova and it lasted me 7 years. That is a month of beer for some people or one night on the town. Gasoline and tags are the only expense I have now. My trip to South Dakota was free, cause I sold a few things. It paid for the flight, tags and gasoline. I don't buy any of the things they sell on hunting shows anymore. I learned my lesson. Scent free soap has gotten me busted by more deer than a smelly sock. I haven't gotten busted by a deer (for scent) since I stopped using it. The climbers: I use other peoples' or I build my own with nails, a hammer and a chainsaw. total cost $1.00. This is because I have already purchased numerous stands and many of them are far from the quality of the advertisement. The stands I use, I've purchased years ago. Others have been stolen outright. 11 years of hunting, scouting, purchasing equipment and clothing has helped me limit further spending. I have learned that it is better to spend your time scouting than roaming the aisles of sporting good stores.

Good Stuff! Congratulations.

Great videos, but I think you're trying too hard with the product placement. You're trying to pass yourself off as someone not having sponsors, but you're selling them like you want the companies to see and sponsor. It comes through on the videos. They are good, but no need to push anything. If you're not looking for sponsors and will never have them, then state that in the video. But I think you're hoping you either do or you get offered a job somewhere. Sorry, but that is how it comes through.

This is the last doe we took. Facing toward me and off to the right about 5 inches, created a spine shot and she couldn't go anywhere. I snapped a couple photos to delay the inevitable.Probably one of the best photos I've ever taken. The two mountains are (about) where we were hunting. They were probably 10 miles away from where we were, but seemed closer. Our spot was just off to the left a bit.We saw 11 mule deer does out there on the way back as well. They were hanging out here in the morning, too. Next year: Mule Deer/Antelope Combo HuntFor those of you out west, this is nothing new, but the first time I was able to see Mount Rushmore. Fantastic!My hunting buddy, Mike, actually looking for the antelope we got. He's got hawk eyes without binos, so those antelope never had a chance with 10X Nikons.Hope you enjoyed the pics. The hunt was great. Next year is in the works.

The hunt went better than we could have expected. I'll post pics in a few minutes, but I wanted to get this out ASAP. We were able to get permission on 7,000 acres, but it turned out to be a total of about 15,000 or so. We hunted a few sections and we saw 3 or 4 herds before arriving to the spot we wanted to hunt. There was a huge male that was hangin' around the fence-line, then he saw us and bolted. A female (young) wouldn't stop running back and forth. I couldn't really figure it out, then it was pretty obvious that she just wouldn't hop the barbed wire and she felt cornered even though she had plenty of room to run away. Young-ins? We worked our way down to her and finally within about 75 yards, I took the shot and was able to put her down. The next day, we decide to go out even further on the land, about 2 miles this time. We chased these goats all over the place and ended up in the back corner of this landowner's property. We finally were able to out-flank the herd of 7 (3 males and 4 females), creap over the edge of the hill and take a gander. After 10 minutes, they begin to walk away. We jump up and begin to take our aim. We downed 2 females before they all bolted up the hill. One of the males stopped and turned around to urge the females to hurry up, but he quickly realized they weren't feeling so good. Wanting to see where the antelope were, we walked to the other side of the hill and one of the does begins to come back, looking for the others. I waited until she got within 150 yards and was able to hit her in a decent wind. Now that was the fun part. Next... I had to carry two of those antelope (with the heads) back to the van through cow pasture filled with rattlesnake and prairie-dog holes. Prickly-pear cactus and running shoes don't mix well but I don't think I could have made the trip back if I had boots on. It was horrible back breaking work. My buddy (63 yrs old) couldn't carry anything besides the guns (his admission). So I lugged those bad boys on my back for 2 miles up and down the hills and we were extremely short of water. My buddy, Mike, said the next day he didn't want to say anything at the time, but he literally thought we were not going to make it. Hot, no water, miles from civilization, horrible terrain getting back and it was getting dark. It was serious. I had my doubts as well. We drank 3 beers when we got back to the truck and then went back for the other antelope and equipment. Then all the way back to the truck again where we quickly finished up the other 7 or so beers that we had left. (Sorry guys, we ran out of water and had to drink the only thing we had left. Warm Coors Light in the Bottle. Thank you twist off cap!) All in all, it was a pretty good hunt. We swore we were not going to ever come back and hunt antelope and would never, ever, ever hunt in the West again. That was while we were field dressing, dragging, and carrying the antelope. We soon began planning next years trip before we hit the expressway. :-) Pictures in a few minutes. See below for pics and commentary.

I'm starting this thread now since I think it will be pretty cool. I'm taking pictures of this hunting trip, so I'm excited as all heck. Interesting things have happened so far and we're not hunting 'til Sunday. My buddy drives to SD from MN by himself (a couple of guys canceled) and he starts asking people where is the best place to hunt. LOL. I figured he'd reach a dead end since that is about as cliche' as anything I've heard in the hunting world. (Go to a new state and start asking people where the best places to hunt are ... Yeah Right!) Well, guess what. He discovered a little trick that I'll use from now on. He stopped asking the guys and started asking the women. And boy did they spill their guts. One woman asked him if he had a map and pointed out a place that few people hunt, but her husband took 2 antelope only a few days before. Then he asks the waitress, which so happened to grow up 30 miles from where my buddy lives. She says, "Hold on a second." and gets a landowner who comes by and gives me and my buddy permission to hunt his land - 7,000 acres baby!!! Private land with full access and permission. The only people out there PLUS he received 3 or 4 places on public land that he already scoped out and there are a ton of antelope just waiting for us. It pays to open your mouth and it pays to ask. I'll keep this post open for my pics and stories. I sure hope it is fun, I'm excited as ever. To Be Updated!!!

Sometimes better that it happen that way. New hunters that happen to get "lucky" on their first few tries think its easy. I guess it is a state of mind. I have a cousin that got a deer with a bow his second year and thought he was Fred Bear cause of it. Later he said he wanted to go Bear hunting. (he's from Indiana). I said, "Why do you want to go bear hunting?" He said, "Cause I already got a deer, now I want to get something that's hard to hunt." Great attitude to have, but man, it took be a few years to get a deer with a bow and then it has been everything but easy since. You have to get those buggers within 30 yards and a clear shot. They can't see or hear you pull your bow back, then you have to hit them right. And after all that, you have to find them. It ain't easy.

Nice job! That's a keeper everywhere I've hunted. Hard to beat that, but I bet in OK there are a lot of those buggers.