fly

Agree.

Good looking taxi work there. Good luck turning your garage into a man room! Your new addition sure spruces the place up.:clown:

Looks like 2.5 from the body, but sometimes those summer deer look younger than they are.

Took my youngest (7) out this evening and came home with a blank. Did get some important lessons in though. He's really getting into hunting which is making me grin ear to ear. He shot the 20 guage for the first time and nailed the target center dot using my new red-dot scope. Lesson 1 We saw one about 150 yards away and my son wanted to shoot it. I told him it was out of range and that it isn't right to take a shot at something, wound it, and cause it to suffer. He agreed. Lesson 2 We saw somehting crawling on the ground and climb a small tree. My son said in an excited whisper "lets shoot it it's a squirrel." It looked to slow and big to be a squirrel so I told him we had to be 100% certain of our target. We got up and walked over to the tree. Up in the brances about 10 feet high was a possum. Once identified he still said "lets shoot it." Lesson 3 I informed him it was not possum season and even if it was what would we do with it once it was dead? He said "eat it." I then explained that we don't eat possum and since they are not a problem animal and didn't cause any harm there really was no need to shoot it just for fun. He agreed. Anyway, I thought of tonight as the most successful hunt we have had to date and we didn't even take a shot. Better yet, he wants to go again in the morning. So of course cutting the grass will have to wait.

Holy cow bat man! You might want to take Luke up on his advice and get it checked. Looks pretty superficial so I doubt a blood clot would cut off any circulation. However, if you lose any finger feeling, have any tingling, or pain in your fingers head to the ER.

I love it Steve! Maybe place Jesus in front to appease the masses.

agree.

Shotgun season (IL) is Fri/Sat/Sun before Thanksgiving and Thur/Fri/Sat/Sun after. Bow season is October 1 ~ Mid January. In IL only 2 bucks can be tagged per season. No limit on does. First deer was in 1987. First bow harvest was in 2003. Total=26 (17 bucks, 9 does) Shotgun bucks = 10 Shotgun does = 4 Bow bucks = 7 Bow does = 5 In case anyone was wondering... In IL. the DNR used to issue a deer pin at the check stations and I always kept my pins with the year on it. Made it easy to go back and count since I haven't harvested that many. When they went to telephone check-in a few years back I started keeping a journal for each season.

Getting back to the original post Elkoholic was wondering "if we have begun to loose focus on why we hunt." Then explains his/her opinion on hunting.... "but we need not be all that concerned about the inches of antler. It is about the experience, not the amount of bone we can hang on the wall." I don't think anyone would disagree with my statement that an opinion should be a used in a singular context. So the word "we" should be replaced with "I". The debate ensues because "WE" hunters do hunt for different reasons and therefore have a different focus. We cannot expect all/most/or even some hunters to hold the same opinions on hunting or why all of us hunters hunt. If hanging bone on the wall is the only reason a hunter hunts then what's wrong with that? May not be my focus but as long as it is done legally why should I take issue with it?

Missed this earlier Tink. So sorry to hear. I'll keep those involved in my prayers. In IL helmets are optional. Prior to having kids I rode one and had some close calls. I only wore a helmet on long trips. A friend I used to ride with got hit one night as he was ridding home from work. He had a helmet on, but the only thing it did was allow for an open casket. I sold my bike after that and have not been on one since. I love to ride, but just don't feel like the added risk is something I can take at this point in my life. (maybe once my kids are grown)

Nice catch! Hold em out just a bit farther next time.:clown:

Thanks William, I'll look for sportwash.

Looks great! The colors remind me of Darth Vader. All this time I thought Matthews was the dark side.:hammer1::clown:

According to the link I initially posted: "The annual Perseid Meteor Shower peaks on the nights of August 11 – 13"

Hey nut sounds like you have a great resume'! I'd hire you. You didn't cross an ethical line in my opinion. Now if my wife were interviewing for the same job and was better qualified but you got the job. Well guess what... You still didn't do anything unethical in my book. The guy that hired you did.

Tru-Glo 3 pin is what I use. If you can, shoot from an elevated position. More work, but you have a lower chance of loosing arrows. An old piece of carpet in front or behind of the hay/straw will help prevent them from going through. New hay/straw will stop an arrow, but after a few rains you will be sinking them through which can damage your vanes and lead to arrow loss. Also start out shooting real close (10-15 yards). Then gradually work back as your accuracy improves.

Neat! You don't see the guy at the bottom of the slide. That is where he rolls off. Computer graphics take it from there. Another guy is in the pool and comes out.

Rem had a great tip about starting out with the stand at a 30-40 degree angle so it will be level higher up. All trees are different and good judging takes time. John hit the nail with his fanny pack suggestion! You can add a 6 inch folding saw (Gerber makes a decent one) to the pack to trim small branches as you climb. I also take a longer tree saw to clear shooting lanes. I like to use a hang it all belt. Small and allows me to hang up my grunt call, range finder, binoculars, etc... I wear a head band flashlight while climbing in the dark.

Gary, most in not all of us place the animals we hunt on some type of hierarchy for different reasons. An example: 1. Deer 2. Rabbit 3. Prairie dog To me the way to demonstrate good hunting ethics is make a clean quick kill regardless of how I rank the animal. However, I must say if I was a cattle rancher and Prairie dogs were making holes that were causing my cattle to be injured I wouldn't be as worried about taking the perfect shot as I would be shooting a deer.

Doc, I have to respectfully disagree with your comment. My 7 year old son likes to play video games and he is always trying to top his high score. He plays alone, there is no one else to compete with. He keeps track of his score because when he tops his previous best score he has a feeling of accomplishment. Why couldn't deer hunters that keep score do the same? The issue of a pumping heart when a deer approaches is specific for each individual and will likely change over time. A doe still gets my heart going, but a 180 inch buck places things on a whole different level. Look at last years RT Monsterbuck video where Spook Span harvests 2 deer. A nice one and a REALLY nice one. Compare his emotions (heart pumping). I'm curious, of my friends here on the forums that indicate every deer gets their heart pumping. Do you all mean a spike buck will get your heart racing "THE SAME" as 180 inch buck? If so how many 180" bucks have you seen to know this to be true?

Great show last night! No moon and not a cloud in the sky. Also cooled down to 60 degrees keeping the bugs at bay. Smack according to NASA the things travel at 44 miles per second and are visible between 40 and 75 miles above the earth. Most are only the size of a pebble. http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/meteor_worldbook.html We went out to my dads place in the country from 10-11pm and saw one every few minutes. We drove out in the midle of a field and put blankets, pillows, and a bean bag in the back of my truck. Some were small, some medium, some large and bright, and one that was truly amazing! The tail was so long I thought it was going to hit the earth. The kids start school today so we couldn't stay out too late. I could have stayed out all night! Should be a good show again tonight.

Likely you know this Red and even if not many hunters could care less. However, I did find out last fall that Pope and Young will not accept a deer that was harvested via a lighted nock.

Don't over do it. Plan for a 3-4 hour hunt. As William said take her to a blind, but if you already purchased a 2-man stand you may not want to now. The whole safety harness issue can create added expense but a MUST when you introduce someone to stand hunting. If a heater is not practical get those hand warmers that can be activated and placed in a boot that is a little big. Tight boots = cold feet. Walk slow and don't wear her out. Don't be harsh if she screws up (falls, makes noise, etc...)

I can respect your view on hunting. Perhaps your grouping all trophy hunters into the same pot is a little misdirected? I'd bet my perspective/focus on hunting is not that different than yours with the possible exception that a big antlered deer gets my heart pumping more than say a spike buck will. I personally believe that one can be a "trophy" hunter and still have a good "focus" on why hunters hunt. The meat source my family eats comes primarily from deer that I have harvested which makes me a meat hunter. I also like the challenge of shooting a big antlered buck that I can hang on my office wall which makes me a trophy hunter. Being both is a great place to be in my opinion.

Page 4 ($50.75 + $5.50) http://dnr.state.il.us/publications/pdf/00000714.pdf