rad_112176

I guess if you are trying to pick one week then you are talking about bow season and not gun. My choice would have to be the the second full week in November if i was coming from out of town. This usually sets you up to catch the rut at some point of the hunt and the big boys seem to be on there feet. Don't turn down hunting in Oct so fast either though. Have taken many good deer in early october depending on the weather.

Keep your head up spcfoor. It has happened to all of us at one time or another in our hunting careers. I got in a bit of a hurry myself on one of my deer this year and took what was probably one of the nicest 2 1/2 year old 10pts that i had seen. Just seen his horns and got excited. Never looked at body type and size to be sure i was shooting a mature deer. Any deer with a bow we should be proud of.

Good luck too you also. Have doe and buck tags left for second season and muzzleloader. Will be taking out the new Traditions all weekend so hopefully i can stack up some meat for the freezer. Hopefully the cold temps will have them hitting the food a bit earlier in the evenings. Maybe even try to kick in that second rut. Will probably hold out till saturday evening before i start taking does though. Never know when the big boy can step out. Good luck all.

Sambar, There are some states that do not allow us to use rifles during gun season. Here in IL it is shotgun or muzzleloader only. MI is devided where you can only hunt half of lower MI with shotgun only but can go north and use rifle. Just some of our crazy laws over here in the states.

Good luck Tony. The farmers have been hitting the fields pretty good the end of this week but we are calling for rain in this area ( Jefferson County ) today. I think they say they have around 70% of the corn off in our county as of mid week. Hopefully the second rut will kick in next weekend to get the big boys back on there feet. The only good thing i see so far is next year should have some good bucks running around.

It sure has been a wierd rut this year in southern IL. Seems like the bucks were in the searching stage off and on but never did really get in the chasing stage. Not sure if it was the bucks or does cause even with the bucks that i seen crusing walked right up on some doe trails, checked them and then just kept moving on but when i had some pass the scent trail i laid down they came right in but nothing worth shooting. Hoping maybe we will just have a better second rut this year with more does coming in.

Good luck Airman. Keep us posted on how it goes. It's amazing what those deer can do. Had a brother of mine shoot a big buck a few years ago and dropped it in its tracks. About 5 minutes later as he was sitting there waiting to get down he heard a noise and looked up and the deer was on all fours and getting the heck out of town. Tracked it for 2 days through the corn and it never did die. Hopefully you will have better luck though.

Congrats on the doe. Days like that can always be fun.

Thanks for the hints guys. That was a good web site on looking at body type and size wtnhunt. I can see the differences. I am sure the real truth is just get my finger off the trigger/release and don't be scared for a shooter to get by me while i am trying to figure out age and size. Still interested if anyone else has any other ideas.

LOL. Would love to know the story behind this one.

Hey guys, I am wondering what some of you do to field judge bucks on age and size when they come in on short notice. I took a nice buck last week but after everything i was a bit disappointed in myself for not letting him walk. If it wasn't for taking him with my 44 magnum then i may have even kicked myself. It all happened kinda quick but what is the first thing you look at to be sure that you are shooting a 3 1/2+ year old deer and i kinda have my goal set for a 130+. I have just recently started getting to where I am trying to hunt for "mature" whitetails and not just a buck with the most points. I was able to shoot a nice buck earlier in the year that didn't score all that well but was at least 6+ years old and was on the down hill slide. I was able to watch him for a little while so i knew he was a mature deer. I hunt in many different states so have learned what a mature buck means at each place i hunt but in IL it is a whole different story. I let bucks walk that i would love to see in MI. Thanks for all the help.

Thanks all. I appreciate all the great comments. Anyone know how to post on here without that advertisement covering up part of your story? I have seen it like that on a few posts. Kid, I used a rage 2 blade and it smoked right through that shoulder. Surprised me a little there. Didn't catch that bone dead center but did cut through part of it. Think the good lord was just on my side a little there. MichiganHunter, He was very much a fatty. When i caped him out he had a layer of fat that was over an inch think at the top of his hind quarters. One of the thickest layers i have seen this early in the year. Think it might be a cold winter.

I was lucky enough to take this very mature 8 pt Saturday morning at 7:11. I seen him and another smalller buck working torward me across this grass field that is on the back side of a corn field. My cousin had seen this buck with another good sized 7 pt the weekend prior but wasn't able to get a shot. They had turned and went into the back bedding area about 70 yrds out and would not respond to anything. When i first seen them i wasn't sure which way they were heading and wasn't sure if i wanted to use my first IL buck tag on him or not. He had great mass and spread but didn't have much for tine length. Well it didn't take me long to talk myself into it. LOL. He walked the tree line torward me until he hit that same trail at 70 yrds and then turned to go to the back bedding area. I grunted at him and he looked my way. He just kinda stood there and licked a couple of branches before he put his head back down. I decided to grunt at him one more time just to see if i could get his attention not knowing if it was a little early for it or not and didn't want to get to aggressive with him. After the second grunt he picked his head up, looked my way and started walking directly to me on a string. At 25 yrds i was a little worried since he was directly at me i was not going to take a bad shot and i really didn't want a shot directly under me. Well just as i was trying to think of how our chess match was going to go once he got to close he turned perfectly broadside to rub a tree. Not the typical odds i get. He was at 24 yrds, broadside and never had a clue i was there. i had climbed up a pine tree and when i had reached the level that i wanted i took one of the branches that i had cut off and hung it on the front side of the tree so that i could hide myself behind it. The shot was a little lower than i wanted but i wasn't real high in the tree so it managed to do its job. The deer made it to the opposite end of the grass field where it piled up. The unfortunate thing was i was hunting alone and on public land so no help and no use of vehicles. My deer dolly was back at my house. After dragging him about 80 yrds i called a friend and went and picked up his deer dolly to use. This was probably the biggest bodied deer i have shot to date. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Congrats. Good to see your management worked out for you.

I guess it all matters what you are wanting to catch. Size or Quanity? For size cut bait, goldfish, sunfish and things like that are the way to go. We fish mainly for 2 to 5 pound cats and mainly use chicken livers. The trick with using chicken livers is you have to keep it cold. As soon as it starts to ge warm the fish can pull it off much easier. Also be sure to use hooks that have bait holders on them. On a average day for 2 of us in the boat you are looking at catching 30 to 50 cats. Skipjacks are real good for bigger cats and they can be caught right by the damn. Just find where your fast water is moving and use a rod set up with 2 to 3 jig heads with white tails tied directly in a row about 12" apart. These fish are real oily so they are great cut bait. Don't get to upset if they hard to catch cause with there small mouths they can be hard to get in the boat. Hope it helps.

I will have to vouch for brother mike and tell you he was dead on just a couple days earlier with the bow. He has been spending plenty of time at the range but think that the issue was a combination of things. I typically hunt much higher in the trees than he will so when he climbed he just went up to the bottom of my stand which probably through him off a little. Also after the shot we kinda went over the yardage of what he thought they were at which was off by a few yards. A am sure between the angle and the yardage it is probably why. A little harder to tell yardages when big brother moves you 10 feet further up the tree. LOL. Things happen and it all worked out in the long run. Congrats bro and it was a true pleasure to be with you when you took your first deer of the year. Now if we can just work on my camera running abilities. LOL.

Congrats on the doe. This just goes to show how easy it can be to hunt togather on state land if we are all true hunters. Once you know you have invaded someone elses area that they have a stand set up then you just move to find your own area. Glad to see it worked out. I had a guy shoot at a buck one time just 60yrds in front of me when i was getting ready to shoot. This was in MI so i was using shotgun. What i hadn't noticed was some yahoo that was 150 yrds away trying to sneak down the edge of a field and took the shot at that distance. Needless to say neither of us got him.

WvBowhunterKE, I have a bunch of mags laying around the house and just didn't want to throw them away (why i don't know. lol ). Send me an address and i will get a little care package togather. It would be my pleasure and Thank You and the men over there with you for all you do. Bobby

This is truely a sad moment for both families. What we have here is a young hunter that made a horrible MISTAKE. Sounds like the shot was taken right at last shooting light and i am sure the kid thought that he had identified his target before he took the shot. This just goes to show that there is so much more that a hunter needs to know about the woods before he needs to be in them, more than they can learn in a safety class no offense. I spent many years in the woods with my father before i could hunt which taught me things like this. Lets all keep this kid and both families in our prayers.

This is truely a sad moment for both families. What we have here is a young hunter that made a horrible MISTAKE. Sounds like the shot was taken right at last shooting light and i am sure the kid thought that he had identified his target before he took the shot. This just goes to show that there is so much more that a hunter needs to know about the woods before he needs to be in them, more than they can learn in a safety class no offense. I spent many years in the woods with my father before i could hunt which taught me things like this. Lets all keep this kid and both families in our prayers.

Well after having to work opening day and this morning, I am leaving Memphis at 10 this morning and should be in my tree stand by 4 in Central / Southern IL. Weather was windy yesterday and this morning but suppose to let up around 6 so thinking the woods just might come alive. Tomorrow moring is suppose to be the low of the year so far also so looking like a good weekend. Good luck to everyone this weekend and will hopefully have a good story for all. Bobby

Congrats. You will never forget this moment.

Congrats. Glad to see the Rages came through for you.

I hear you guys. I am working in Memphis today so i will have to miss opening day but will be in the stand tomorrow afternoon. Looks like Central and Southern IL is going to be having great weather for opening weekend. Good luck and be safe.

I will have to give him mid to high 140's easy. May barely push into 150's net. He will be an awesome deer and a very good score for a main frame 8. I have always loved main frame 8 pointers. I think they can grow the most impressive racks of any of them. They just don't score out but sure look like they should. Go get him....