MUDRUNNER

Well, that's a wrap. The season ended yesterday here. I hunted for one last time on Saturday, but did't see a deer. Only harvested one deer this season, but i guess I can't really complain.

17,000 is quite a mile stone. I joined the same time as you and barely have 5400 lol. Man, that's coming up on 11 years now....time flies when your having fun.

Well I didn't make it out last weekend, and probably won't make it this weekend either. Our season goes until the 17th, so might try and take one of my kids out one more time on the last weekend. Looks like we ended up being a three person team. Oh well....still enjoy the contest anyways.

Man, that thing is massive! The re-introduction in Kentucky has really taken off. From what I hear from my buddies in Minnesota the wolves are out of control up north and have put a hurt on the deer and moose.

I brought my oldest boy (9) out for a sit Saturday afternoon. The weather was perfect, and we seen a small buck and 2 does.He got busted fidgeting around both times we saw deer lol. Clearly if he wants to hunt I'm going to have to get a blind up.....the kid has ants in his pants.

Hah! I love it lol.

We actually had our windows open for a bit last weekend lol. Supposed to get back down to normal for the next few days and then warm back up to into the 50's by Sunday. It's not looking good for a white Christmas around here.

Congrats on a dandy buck!

That a way Mrs. William! Now we're making our move. I believe that puts us into second place.

No does for me over the weekend. I seen a little buck and 6 does but nothing close enough to get a shot at. This coming weekend is muzzle loader season so I'll be sitting out. My boy has basketball and my daughter has her birthday party and softball camp so my weekend is booked anyways. Still have a few more weeks to bowhunt so we'll see what happens.

Congrats on the buck! It's nice to reap some rewards from putting in the work. We're finally putting some points on the board!

Sounds like a great hunt. Congrats!

This pretty much re-caps my year thus far. http://forums.realtree.com/forum/general-discussion/deer-hunting/2053197-mud-s-illinois-monarch

I only managed to get out for a hunt on Saturday morning, and once again didn't see a deer. The weather has been pretty crummy here for several days with rain, overcast skies, and wind. This coming up weekend is our second shotgun season, but I only have a doe tag. If I get another buck it's going to have to be with the bow.

Man, that is awesome! Congrats to the young lady!

Thanks everybody! I think the stand will stay were it is for one more year lol. If I make it out this weekend I'm going to check my trail camera and see if I got his picture where I shot him at. I think I've worn the same Under Armour shirt and merino wool shirt over it for like 10 years. Those pants have to be about 15 years old. I think if I held them up to a light I could see right through them. I tend to wear things a little too long sometimes lol. It is about time for a few replacements.

This is hunting...it's supposed to be fun and enjoyable. A lot of people (myself included at times) take it too seriously. People need to shoot what makes them happy. I admittedly went through a stage of trying to talk people into passing on small bucks and shooting does instead. You know....."kill a doe so the herd won't grow"...we all heard that. What a crock. Looking back now it was a mistake. If your feeling it, then pull the trigger. Now, guess what situation the area I hunt is in....no does and too many small bucks. I'm talking like 4 bucks to 1 doe ratio. I am actually thinking about shooting a dink to put in the freezer for the first time in years and not shooting any does at all the next few years. Does money make it easier? I tend to believe so. I have 80 acres to hunt on. It's pressured fairly heavily, it's all ridges and creek bottom, and no crops or tillable ground. The deer don't live here, they just travel through. I may see a handful of bucks each year that are over 2 1/2. Across the road a young guy has 360 acres that his grandpa owns to hunt. Four people hunt it, and only in November, so the pressure is pretty light. They have access to tractors, and have acres of crops left in and big food plots. They take 160+ deer consistently.

Congrats Ruth! You know it's cold when you have to wear three hats lol.

We actually use the big buddy heater pretty regularly. We have the hook ups to use a big gas grill lp bottle instead of the little bitty bottles. It keeps a room about 15X10 at deer camp (we call it the poker room) fairly warm.

I’ll try to make this short and sweet. I could go on and on about my struggles deer hunting the last few years. The lack of deer, missed shots, always in the wrong stand, neighbors ruining hunts, the list goes on. I can’t remember ever being more discouraged deer hunting than I was this year. I can’t even get a doe in range for some reason. I had been pressing a little bit trying to get a deer with the bow before gun season, but it just didn’t happen. As I sat in my trusty oak tree Saturday morning with my old Winchester I was contemplating moving that stand after the season was over. I’ve had a stand in this tree for over 10 years, and it’s produced for me on a regular basis…even a few nice bucks. It’s kind of been my go to stand for years, but just hasn’t been that good since the neighbors blocked off the draw that the deer used to use to put in a lake. About 7:15 I heard a buck roar from behind me. I’ve heard this only 4 or 5 times in my 20+ years of hunting, and it’s an amazing vocalization. However, it is gun season and the woods are full of hunters, so I figured it was just somebody using a call so I didn’t really think much about it. About 10 minutes later I hear a deer walking behind me, and turn to look over my left shoulder and there he stands. I didn’t really look him over very good. I knew he was big, and his rack was almost glowing in the rising sunshine. I turned on my red dot, flicked the safety off, and put it on him. As he walked in front of my trail camera about 60 yards away I gave him the bahh and got him to stop. I squeezed one off and knew he was hit, but he didn’t go down right away. I shot two more times out of desperation, but neither of those hit their mark. Fortunately the first shot did hit home and he crashed after a 50 yard run. I was a complete wreck for about 15 minutes. I sat in my stand for another hour and a half and decided to get down and collect my prize. I had no idea he was that big until I walked up behind him. He is my biggest buck to date, and will make a sweet shoulder mount. I’m no pro at scoring, but came up with 156”. He field dressed 210 lbs. To make the story a little cooler, one of the neighbors had a shed and some trail cam pics that he gave me. By looking at his shed from last year and the pictures he actually lost a few inches and some tine length this year, but gained a little more mass. We are guessing he may be 5 or 6 and was past his prime and on his way downhill. This ends a little bit of a drought for me….first firearm deer in four years and first buck in two. To top everything off my 88 year old grandpa went up with me and I got to celebrate, play cards and have a few beers with him and some close friends.

Congrats on the doe Frank! Even with a few obstacles it sounds like it was still a fun deer camp. I don't know about that tent business lol. We did it a few times not long ago, and it made for some long miserable nights. Second gun season can be especially brutal in a tent.

Well I guess we are on the board. I was finally able to drop a nice buck Friday morning with the shotgun. I'll post the story in the deer hunting room later.

Mudrunner Team 5 9 point buck shotgun deer

I finally had my chance on a nice 130" or so buck and wiffed. I snort wheezed and he came in fast, but I miss judged the yardage. Talk about frustrating. I am just about to the point of the year where my standards may drop to put some meat in the freezer.

Congrats William! He's a fine looking buck.