fly

I put in brassica turnips and kale. My lawyer wrote the neighbor a letter. I found a law that states it’s a class A crime to remove survey posts. I had my lawyer add that to the letter. That was back in early August. Haven’t heard anything since. The corn field you see is a different neighbor. I gave him permission to recover from my ground and he did the same. So odd that that buck ran from the wooded bottom up to the corn field to die.

The payoff of a lifetime dream happened Sunday, November 3rd. For those that may not know... after saving and prioritizing other things my entire life I was finally able to purchase a small parcel of ground (32 acres) to make my dream a reality. I've spent many hours making trails, hanging stands, and putting in food plots. Finally decided to stick this buck with my crossbow at 30 yards. He was quartering away pretty hard - took out liver, lung, and even grazed the heart. The tip was sticking in the upper left leg. He's not the giant I had seen on camera or from the stand a few days earlier but he will do just fine. Thinking about something special like a Texas mount dipped in camo paint. I really like this picture.

Team 3 - fly 9 pointer = 14 total points

We are on the board team! He's not the biggest buck in my Whitetail Woods but he showed up during daylight hours and presented a nice 30 yard hard quartering away shot. The shot looks back in the pic but it exited right behind the left front leg. Got liver and lungs. He weighed 225 pounds (prior to field dressing) and I'm putting him at 3.5 years. It sure feels good to harvest a nice buck from your own ground. I saw at least two other giants earlier this week but couldn't punch my tag. I've hunted every day since October 30th and have seen a 3.5 or older buck on each hunt. So much fun!

No luck so far. Seeing several does and even a couple mature bucks on trail camera when I'm not there or at night. There are does and mature bucks in my food plot every night between 11pm and 4am. Frustrating.

Nice buck Martin!

Opening day today - I went out for a few hours this evening. Temps at 90 degrees so I didn't expect to see anything - and I didn't. All my cam photos show the deer are only in my food plot at night so I hunted over acorns and a corn field that hasn't been harvested yet. While I did not see anything it was so nice to be in the woods hunting for a stand on your own land.

Indeed Chris! Time to have some fun. For the sake of camaraderie lets get out first names out there. fly: Frank Maine Hntr: Chris mrswtnhunt: Catrina Elkoholic: Sorry - I forget. My season starts October 1st and I'm hunting my own private land for the first time. I put in for several public ground draw hunts every year and this is the first time I haven't been drawn for any of them. All my cards are going to be played out on 32.5 mostly wooded acres in the bluffs of the Mississippi. I did manage to get a 1/2 acre food plot in and it's looking decent for a first year. I also have 4 bucks I would shoot on camera and 1 that is my main target I've named Mule because of a forked G-2. Attached are some pics of the deer I'm after. Good luck everyone!

Thanks Catrina - The food plot camera is near the entrance to my property so it will not be a problem checking it. The other three I wont check for a while now. Glad you all have some bucks back in the area.

fly "Frank: 48 Illinois - maybe Kentucky October 1 - mid January 19

I've been busy making trails and hanging stands so the woods are full of my scent, and noise. I also walked the property with a forest ranger - placing it in a forest plan for the next 10 years to lower taxes 90% and manage for a (potential) future timber harvest. There doesn't appear to have been a timber harvest in at least the past 20 years (the place is loaded with mature black walnut and oak). We estimated about 30-40K for a timber harvest in 10 years. I''m sure all the activity has spooked a lot of the big deer away. Haven't got those bucks on cam in the last card pull. Plus one of my older Moltries went dead. I bought 2 new panoramic cameras and placed them along with my 5th stand last week. My 1/2 acre food plot is in and off to a great start. I knew all that activity would not be good but the trails wont appear on their own. My hopes are that the food plot draws in the does and by me staying out for the next 3 weeks the does will stay and bring those bucks back in. Then again the turnips might bring in a buck or two come December. The primary trails are all in and now - I just need to create some connectors but that will be after hunting season ends. I must say I am very excited for this season. I'll be loving every minute even if I don't see a mature buck the entire season.

A few I'll be after.

All of you get over to the lounge and sign up for the Deer contest! Looking at you Al!?

I'm sure Al would sign up once he hears about it. I'm in and even if William is running it he can still be on a team so that's 5+Al. What about your Katrina William? Can she play this year? I think running 5 on a team is the way to go. That means 10 people for two teams and 15 for 3 teams.

I know we lost the turkey contest and participation on the deer contest has dwindled but will this be the first year without a deer contest (that I know of) since the beginning of time?

First I've heard of EHD Al. No one has had any die off in IL (east of the St Louis area). Generally EHD is bad in drought years and this past summer was not that. However, the biting bugs were as terrible as they have ever been - wonder if that might be the reason.

So far so good - it really does well on the creek crossings. It's certainly isn't a speed machine and to be honest isn't much to look at. However, it does exactly what I need it to do and hopefully will do it for many years. Got my clover/mix seed from amazon this week and my field is almost ready for planting. Can't wait to see the results in a couple months. My expectations are not real high given this is the first year.

Had it out on the trails today. It did what I needed it to do. I had to do a little digging at a couple creek crossings but all in all it worked well. I had a little trouble shifting from Low to reverse when at an idle - I just hit the gas a bit in low and it shifted very easily then. Seems to be normal and common for a lot of utility vehicles from what I found on an ATV forum.

Yea, the Mule is several thousand cheaper compared to the other side by sides.

Spent a lot of time researching the options and went with this 2019 Mule 4X4 with Fuel injection and a 5.5 X 10 foot trailer to haul it. Was going to get a Yamaha Kodiak 700 for a sale price of 6500.00 but ultimately went with the mule. Sacrificing the fun factor and paid 1000.00 more for practicality. Test driving it this weekend. Hoping it does well on the hills and creek crossings. Might end up with a small tractor but it will be a couple more years due to space limitations at my current residence. Borrowing my buddies tractor this year to get a fall food plot in.

I hope that changes soon William. If you have the does you’ll have some bucks come November.

I have three cams out and only getting pics of decent bucks on two. Still figuring my new place out. Nice to know there are some shooters in the area.

Love it!

Some of the better pics from our vacation in the RMNP last week.

Painted my chest green Saturday and ran through the city streets punching and stomping stuff while yelling Hulk Smash. Then I let a greased pig loose in the piggy wiggly store and attempted to catch it. Planning to end the month sleeping here in this jail cell. Actually what I really did was so boring I had to come up with something else. Next week will be better though... Headed to Rocky Mountain National Park on Friday for some mountain hiking, boating, and wildlife watching!