IllinoisHunter

I'm thinking of switching to a fall-away rest this year, never used one. Do you all have any suggestions? I hear good and bad things, most of the bad things I hear have to do with slapping noises that can be fixed with felt, etc., inconsistent arrow flight and the arrow hitting the rest. Should I go with a full containment rest or not? One other thing that's held me back is how the arrow sits - or doesn't sit up on the rest when hanging in the tree. I'm in love with all the positives I hear though. I shoot a standard Mathews Switchback at 65 pounds.

Yea, I've got it set-up on public ground. That's why its the 1.2 mp $59 special. I've been using it for over two months and gotten a lot of good pics. So far got 4 bucks and tons of doe's on it.

Here's another pic.

I shot at this guy last year on public ground and it looks like he's back and has even added a few inches. Unfortunately, last year I hit a limb and the arrow went under him...way under. I'm hoping to get another crack at him with a little more daylight. Since I only have one side and partial of the other, what do you estimate his size at.

I'm trying to upload a picture to the site and I keep getting this message: Error creating thumbnail! Error code: 1 Command: "/usr/bin/mogrify" +profile "*" -size 100x80 -quality 60 -geometry 100x80 -unsharp 10 '/home/realtree/public_html/img/500/thumbs/101309_bigun_3.JPG'

Hey guys! I just bought myself a 454 Casull and I'm looking for a place to go on a nice handgun hunt that isn't too expensive in 2008. I live in Illinois and have never had a chance to go out-of-state on any kind of hunt. Any suggestions on outfitters or places? Deer, Bear, Elk or whatever. I would like to find somewhere reasonably priced so I could bring my father along as well.

Congratulations! It's a great feeling, isn't it?

I would agree with the high hit theory. My dad an I had a similar situation take place this year. He shot a 9-pointer and said it looked like he hit a little high. I told him to get out of the woods and wait for me to get there. I got there about two hours later and we started the search. It was dark and we only found a pin drop of blood where he hit the deer. After 2 hours I found the deer laying, not 90 yards from his stand. He hit one lung and clipped the aortic artery, I think. Anyhow, that deer lost virtually no blood outside of his body, not even a sign of blood on his fur. Upon field dressing it, it was apparent that all the blood filled inside of him, messy!!! Sorry to hear about your loss. That's the first time I've ever experienced a high hit, no blood situation.

That's beyond a monster buck, that's ridiculously massive. Wow!

Don't worry, he'll be back. Granted no other hunter gets lucky. I had a similar situation take place a few years back, and eventually shot that buck about two weeks later. Good luck!

My dad just called me and said he shot a nice buck. It was semi-quartering to him at 15 yards, and he had a good view of the heart area. Well after he shot the deer jumped, but when it walked off, casually, it was carrying its front leg. Do you think he should start tracking or wait until morning? He got a complete pass-through. I asked if he thought he got leg only, and he wasn't sure.

Man, you guys are pretty close. My guess was low 130s, but when I got to measuring him he turned out to gross 149 and net 143 6/8. I was shocked! Score doesn't mean all that much to me. I was just glad for the opportunity.

I'd have to agree. Those G2s and G3s look to be about 12 inches. You may even get close to 150, depending on deductions. Congratulations, man! That's one awesome buck

Great job guys. That makes me scared of the reaper.

Congrats! I think those 5 yard shots are the toughest.

Trust me, that's a face you don't wanna see!:eek:

This is the 10-pointer I shot last Saturday. I decided to try and measure him. He scored a lot higher than I thought he would, so I'll let you guys guess what you think. That may give me a better idea if I totally screwed something up when measuring. I'll let you know what I came up with after you all give it a shot.

That's a great deer, and thanks for sharing the story. Congratulations!

Man, sorry to hear that. That's happened so many times to us that my dad and I gave up and hunt public ground 95 percent of the time. If you don't have extra cash in your pocket, it's hard to find private ground anymore.

I'm pondering whether to or not. I would like to, but my fiance doesn't like the idea. I've been fortunate enough to have killed three others similar and/or bigger, so I don't know yet. I caped him out and stuck him in the freezer just in case. The only obvious deduction I can see on his rack is that his G4 on one side is about 3 inches shorter than the other.

I just throw them in my backpack. I figure if my clothes smell like it, it's better than the deer smelling me. Not very smart though considering the chance of a buck trompling me.

When I was bow hunting Saturday, I saw an Axis Deer, IN WEST-CENTRAL ILLINOIS!! The picture quality is terrible as it was done with my cell phone. I know some of you are real good with editing pictures, do you think you can make this a little clearer? It was about 35 yards away, and when I was done taking the pic, I looked over my left shoulder and there stood the ten pointer I posted earlier.

No, Spitfire 100 grain. I double-lunged him at 24 yards. The hole was roughly 1 1/2 inches, but when it hit blood shot out of both sides of him about 10 feet. That's why it looks like one of those Rage attacks. Been thinking about switching to Rage's, however, these Spitfires have never given me a reason to.

Got lucky and harvested a ten-pointer on Saturday morning. He was coming in directly downwind of an HS Scents Estrous wafer I put out. I highly recommend those things. I have always had great luck with them. Cell phones pic, sorry!

I had two sisters growing up. You gotta love 'em. Did she post the thread. You must have left your computer unattended.