fly

Yea, William it does sound a lot like Catrina's 9-point. I can't explain why it was still in such good shape after a year and a half. All I can say is that we were very lucky. I didn't look real hard but didn't see any other remains in the immediate area. I just used a distance calculator and the skull of the buck was 265 yards from where my son shot it. After the shot I watched it run the field edge a good 50 yards in a different direction. If the deer ran a straight line from where we last saw it to where it died he would have ran 325 yards after the shot. I had walked the fence line back in 2015 but did not see it back then. Of course looking in Mid-October is a lot different then mid-January. The skill was about 30 yards from the fence line. If he died where I found the skull I would have walked within 30 yards of him.

This has got to be the most amazing conclusion to a hunting story I'll ever write. As parents introducing our kids to the fine sport of hunting we try to make sure we do it right. Our focus is on making the experience fun, safe, comfortable and educational. We focus on the rules, safety, and ethical shot placement. This was true back in 2015 when I was introducing my son to crossbow hunting. This is a picture of him that I took at the beginning of the hunt. The start of the hunt was rather warm but a cool front was moving in that evening which we had hoped would get the deer moving. About an hour after I took the picture above a beautiful buck came walking out of the timber along the field edge. Rather than write what happened I'll re-post what I wrote back in October of the 2015 deer contest thread... "My son was hunting with the crossbow Friday night and a huge buck came walking near our ground blind set up. I stopped him broadside at 30 yards and my son sent the bolt through him. We found the bolt covered in blood but the blood trail was terrible so we did not pursue. The next day around noon we tried to get on blood but no luck. We grid searched for a couple hours and searched again on Sunday morning. The deer was not within 300 yards of the where we saw him last in any direction and longer in the more likely directions. We have pics of a 140 inch 9-point and we think it was him. It would have been his first crossbow kill at 13 years old - bummer." Here's a reply from OKState: "bummer on the one that got away, but hopefully he is healing and you will run across him again." and one from hoytshooter09: " to bad about the buck you guys couldn't find." We kept the trail cameras running the entire season and never got another picture of the 140 inch - 9 pointer and never saw it while hunting. This confirmed to us that the picture we had of the 9-pointer a couple days before my son and I were hunting was indeed the same buck my son shot. Later in the 2015 season we searched again for the remains of the deer but wasn't able to find it. My son was rather distraught about it feeling like he had made a poor shot. Figuring this was the end of the story I tried my best to ease the pain, but as we all know that unfortunately is a part of hunting. Now we fast forward to 2017. I'm out scouting a corner of the property boundary about 400 yards from where my son shot the buck back in 2015. I'm walking the barb wire fence line looking for deer trails and hair as well as a suitable tree for a stand when I notice something white sticking out of the ground. I walk over to it and pull up a deer skull with antlers. It has a few nibbles on the back but overall it is in great shape. I immediately thought to myself... this looks a lot like the deer my son shot in 2015. However, it's been a year and a half and I can't remember exactly what the buck looked like (other than it was a 9 pointer). We look through old SD cards to try and find the pictures and unfortunately we hadn't saved them and the camera took additional pictures overwriting them. I was bummed because I was fairly certain it was my sons deer but needed that picture to confirm. Then I remembered that we had used the iPhone to take a picture of the computer screen of the trail cam picture and texted it to a friend. While I had bought a new phone my friend still had the picture and sent it to me. It's not the best quality but it was enough to make the confirmation. Here is the picture. After finding it and confirming it I told my son and then showed him the skull and rack. While a closer look tells me this is more like a 130 inch deer instead of a 140 it is truly a remarkable buck for a 13 year old to take with a crossbow. He wants to acquire a cape and have a shoulder mount done for his wall and that's what we will do once we get the salvage tag. While he rarely shows a lot of emotion (at least around me) I looked at his phone today and noticed he took a picture of the skull and has that set as his wallpaper.

Beautiful buck Okstate

Ha! Aaron, you were an active contributor regularly posting congratulations and reports. You certainly did not let any one down. This is all for fun and that is exactly what you helped accomplish. Actually, being tied made it even more fun for me. I am glad you were on our team.

Going with something different was my thinking as well Tim. Additionally, a double pedestal takes up less room than two shoulder mounts on the wall and I'm hurting for wall space. Still not certain where I'll place it - will try to get it in my living room but that will mean a wall mount currently hanging has to go elsewhere. LOL

Very nice mounts Tim. I remember those threads as well. It doesn't seem like that long ago. 2009... "Glad that red dot worked out for you! Nice buck"

Close William - $25.00, which I felt was too good to pass up. He'll only wear it hunting which is about 1-2 weeks out the year so it should last him throughout high school.

Picked this large adult men's coat up for my son for next season. Tag says waterproof/breathable. WalMart had about 10 of these on sale. Take a guess how much?

I've shot 33 deer with a bow and I can remember about 6 that I hit and did not not recover = 81%. I've shot 32 with a gun and have recovered every deer I've hit = 100%. Of the 6 I did not recover two had no blood trail to follow and the rest I lost the blood trail after 50-100 yards.

Al, sounds like I need to be on your team for the deer contest in 2017! (LOL) William, Mckenzie makes the best forms IMO. Going with them myself. Decided to try a double pedestal mount with my IL buck on the bottom in McKenzie's 8900 and the McKenzie 9800 for the top KY buck. I'm going with a base like the one in the picture - only a little less color. http://www.mckenziesp.com/Semi-Upright-8900-Series-C5916.aspx http://www.mckenziesp.com/Upright-Wall-9800-Series-C789.aspx

So what's the plan with the heads / antlers William? (i Have no idea why it's trying to quote Al)

I think most of us are done for the season. To follow up on Stut's (Where are you at in your season thread) I thought I'd put a season in review one up. Add pictures and hunt details as you like.

Well here's to the Capricorns! Thanks and Happy birthday to you too Al.

Went out yesterday morning looking to fill my last doe archery tag (funny how fast I go through venison when all my family and friends know I hunt). Didn't see a deer after 3 hours of hunting in the AM. Had to head home at 9am as an ice storm was moving in. The IL deer season ends tomorrow but with the ice storm I decided to call it. I spent yesterday evening cleaning gear and putting everything away till next season. Been a great year though - here are my harvests. Kentucky Archery Doe... Illinois Archery Doe... Illinois Archery 6-point (not a fun recovery)... Kentucky Shotgun 9-point... Illinois Shotgun 10 point...

Velociraptor!

Ice storm hit the St. Louis area Friday through Sunday. All my teenage kids activities have been cancelled for the weekend which means they are here at home with me which is so nice for a change. We played poker for hours last night and watched movies. My birthday is tomorrow and will be more of the same - I love it!

I've always tried to remove as much fat as possible and never add other meat to the venison. I started using crushed Rosemary (moderate - not a heavy amount) with every venison preparation about 30 deer ago and have never had a problem regardless of the age of the deer.

Thanks everyone - Tim, the screwed up 5 day (really 3 day) season is a big reason I stopped applying 5 years ago. If it rains, or something work related comes up I'm out. However, I'm also applying for a 3rd lottery tag for an additional season of 5 days. I've never been successful getting one in the past. If I get it the second season starts on a Monday which means it will be for the full five days because it will not include a weekend. We will see...

Hi Joe - I'm not as "old" as the others but I remember you - welcome back.

Tim, I've never been to Hidden Valley but my son broke his arm there a couple years ago at a school skiing trip. I hear it's pretty lame and not a good place to learn. If you ever want to take the kids I recommend Chestnut mountain in Galena IL. I've never been on a snowmobile or a snowboard. Would like to try both someday.

Welcome back Mike - looking forward to seeing that Monster buck!

I guess it's been about 5 years since I've chased after turkey's here in IL. While deer hunting in a special draw area close to home last November I saw about 30 turkeys. This sparked me to send in a spring application for the special draw area. Just got the permit a few days ago. IL permits are only good for 5 days and unfortunately there is NO weekend hunting in the special draw area I was selected for which means I will only have 3 days to bag a bird. still... will be nice to get the old Remington 1100 out again.

I could see the deer growing that rack at 3.5 or 4.5 years of age. It could be a tumor or something biologic that resulted in excessive hormones that are responsible for antler growth.

Welcome back Ross! Glad to see this place going strong again.

The Wasatch Mountains - Park City Utah. We go in late February each year.