fly

Saw this - congratulate you.

Maniac - a person exhibiting extreme symptoms of wild behavior, especially when violent and dangerous. I guess whitetail deer would certainly agree Joe - LOL. Congrats on the buck Joe - I checked the pics you entered and from the racks on your wall I'd say you got a little mania going on as well. LOL

Thanks Al, I think the reduced numbers of hunters in the area might be a good thing as more young bucks might be making it to maturity. The genetics, and nutrition are there - they just need the chance to get past 3.5 years old.

This is my one and only scent success story. In 2006 I was bow hunting in October on the edge of a harvested bean field. There was an old fence about 3 feet high (down in several areas) at the edge of the woods. I placed a scent wafer (doe estrus) on the fence about 30 yards east from the tree I had my stand in (right on the fence line). The wind was blowing from the woods towards the field (south). The buck below came out of the woods about 60 yards to my east. He entered the field and started walking north about 50 yards and out of range. He then angled west and got down wind of the scent wafer. He stopped - sniffed - and followed the air currents right to the scent wafer I had hung on the tree. He stopped and as he was sniffing it I shot. I use them all the time and have never had any luck since - however, they also have never screwed up a hunt.

Fingers crossed!

I'm going to try to get him on one Tim. He had a nice buck at 25 yards back in October with the ML in KY and missed. I didn't hear any coyotes this season which is unusual. Probably the crazy weather we had. William, I've heard of Cairo but never been there. I truly have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Plenty of deer meat, two trophy bucks, a president-elect that isn't named Clinton, two great healthy kids, a wonderful girlfriend, and a satisfying job that gets the bills paid. Life is about as good as it's ever been.

For those of you that have been around a while you've seen my yearly Shawnee Deer Camp threads. The Shawnee is a federal forest in the southern part of IL with about 280,000 acres spread over many counties. My relatives used to own and farm some of the land but lost it during the depression. Now it's open hunting for anyone with a license and permit. Union county is where my father introduced me to deer hunting about 30 years ago and where I introduced my son about 5 years ago. The hunting was best about 10-15 years ago and the campground was always full days before the opening shotgun weekend. Recently there have been fewer and fewer hunters as the public grounds we hunt haven't produced the expectations for a Monster many desire. In the near 30 years I've been hunting the Shawnee I've only seen a few mature bucks hanging at camp that would score over 140 inches. Until this year the largest buck I've seen while hunting was a 131 inch eight point I took in 2008. Many of my friends have encouraged me to hunt other areas with better chances at a monster but I love big woods feel of the Shawnee and plan to always call it home for the shotgun opener. Take a look at this view from my tree-stand. The weather for this years deer camp was terrible with temps in the 70's on Friday, thunderstorms Friday afternoon, and north winds at 20mph bringing in below freezing temps Saturday morning. This year deer camp was my dad, my son, myself, and a friend (Joe) who is new to deer hunting. We were tent camping again this year which actually was much better using the propane fueled Mr Heater. Friday AM was a bust and we sat out the evening hunt due to the lightening storms. Saturday AM was very cold, but my son saw a fork horn from the tree-stand I had set up for him earlier in the week. The buck was a good 100 yards away in thick cover and didn't offer him a decent shot. Saturday evening was much better with cool temps and 10mph winds. I was going to place Joe in the stand but about half way up he decided he wasn't up for the hike and decided to hunt about half way up the ridge. Change of plans - I would now place my son in the stand. However, once on top he realized he had forgot his harness. While it's only 20 feet high I'm not comfortable with him in any stand without it. He therefore sat on the ground and hunted on the other side of the ridge. My plan was to move the stand closer to where he had seen the fork horn hoping that it would travel the same path in the morning. Moving the stand proved more time consuming than I thought. After making more noise than I care to admit I finally got it set up around 4:30pm just as the sun was starting to set. I figured my evening hunt was shot, but that didn't bother me, I had already taken a nice KY buck and was more concerned about getting my son and friend Joe on a deer. I'm not sure of the time but after resting/hunting for about 20 minutes in the newly placed stand it was getting dark so I started packing everything up for the trek to get my son and then Joe from their hunting locations and head back to camp. As I started to climb down I heard a rustling of leaves from the gully. I climbed back up and waited. Sure enough here comes a doe trotting along. I let her go hoping she would head my sons way - unfortunately she was headed a different direction. A few seconds later I heard more rustling. Experience told me this would likely be a buck. I waited and as it came closer I couldn't tell how big as he was in the shadows of the gully. After a few more minutes he starts walking right towards me and through the scope I could see thick wide antlers as he began to rub a sapling. I lifted the cross hairs from the antlers to his shoulder and BANG! He ran back down into the dark gully and I couldn't tell if he was down or not. The doe was still on top as if waiting. After 15 minutes it was too dark to see anything. I decided to climb down and check in the AM after my sons hunt. Camp was fun that night with stories of how big he actually was and if he would be there or not. The next morning I set my son up in the stand and after a few hours of no deer movement we decided to look for the buck. I walked down the gully and spotted him not more than 60 yards from the tree-stand. See if you can spot him. He's a main frame 10 point with a sticker off the back. He's an ugly old deer not unlike myself. He's one of the largest bucks I've seen taken out the Shawnee and certainly added some spice to this years deer camp.

Well, my season is over - at least for bucks anyway and I really don't need any more meat. First time I've used my buck tags before Thanksgiving. I'll put pics and the story under Shawnee Monsterbuck.

Oh no! I hope not.

Congratulations! Try those tenderloins fried in coconut oil after battering in flour, rosemary, and Cajun seasoning. You'll love it!

Well, it's only one point but here is my final upgrade as I am out of buck tags for the season. fly Team 2: Whitetails Matter 10 point (upgrade) - 15 points Main frame 10 with busted brow tine and a 1 and 1/4 inch point off the back.

Keep at it Martin, it takes less than a minute to change the outcome of an entire season. I'm not sure why the Lord chose this year to bestow His blessings upon me, but I'll take it. My luck was terrible during the opening shotgun deer season this past weekend. The weather was having a bipolar issue with 70 degrees on Friday turning to thunderstorms Friday evening with 40 mph gusts of wind, turning to 29 degrees Saturday morning with 20 mph winds. Not the best conditions for tent camping (LOL). Anyway, Saturday was a jacked up mess but somehow I managed to harvest the biggest buck I've ever taken from public ground which ends my season earlier than ever before. Those target bucks I posted pics of from private ground will have to wait until next season. He's a broken brow tine main frame 10 with a 1 and 1/4 inch sticker off the back which gives him 10 score-able points and an additional point for the team. Here's one just for our team - I'll put more pics and the story in the deer hunting room for anyone interested. It's been great sharing the season with everyone - thank you. Good luck to you all as we close out the season and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

I feel like I should just wait next year and save you some upgrade work William. fly Team 2: Whitetails Matters Nine Point (upgrade)

Very symmetrical buck! Congratulations! He looks like a mature buck for TN. The buck I just shot had the 20 G slug under the skin on the opposite shoulder. Not enough to get through. The slug looked a lot like the one in your picture.

Awesome place to hunt! Congratulations on 2 fine deer.

Got a 1.5 year old doe my first day hunting in KY during archery season. Got a nice mature doe in IL in October during archery season followed by a 1.5 year old 6 point a few days later. Then connected on a nice 9 point during the gun season in KY. Still have a buck/doe tag for IL and gun season starts Friday. Also have another archery tag for a buck/doe in IL. We can get two bucks per year in IL.

Great deer! Love the mass on his G-2's and 3's.

This makes the third year I've been helping Dave "my brother for another mother - (stole that from Michael Waddell)" manage his property in Kentucky. We have put in a lot of hours driving and working the ground to get it set up for deer hunting. It's only about 100 acres, so there is only so much we can do. One "problem" has been the over abundance of does. For two years the deer eat whatever we put in before it has a chance to come up. This past spring we decided to put up a fence and it worked great! We had beans 5 feet tall. While I missed opening day of the bow season (girlfriend stuff) we lowered the fence and Dave connected on a beautiful September buck. We both took a few management does but were not seeing any mature bucks in October or November while hunting or on camera. It wasn't looking too good for the modern gun opener last Saturday. Still we had great weather and some beautiful Autumn colors to enjoy even if the hunting wasn't going to go well. Saturday came and we saw little bucks and a bunch of does. Sunday - the same thing. The plan was to hunt a couple hours Monday and head back to IL. I had heard that the night before was what is called a "hunters moon". I heard the rut would break open on the 14th. Apparently the moon was as close to the earth as it has been in 10+ years and that being that close effects the rut. I didn't think much of it. At 7:25 Monday morning Dave texted me - he had seen 3 bucks cruising for does (nothing mature). Then at 7:30am I heard, then saw a buck coming up the trail. I thought - better check with binoculars as I wasn't expecting to see a shooter. When he came into view after clearing some brush at 30 yards I thought - yea I'll take him. Looked like a fully mature 4.5 year old (or older). This is when I raised my 20 G savage bolt action shotgun and made a rookie mistake on this frosty morning. My heavy breathing fogged the scope as my anxiety was high. With the buck still in the scope I could barely make out his body. I waited and within a couple seconds the fog started to dissipate and I was ready to fire. He stopped right behind a tree - had to wait. He started sniffing the ground and started walking - he cleared the tree and BANG! He ran 40 yards and i thought he fell over, but he was headed down the hill and I couldn't see him. I got down and was tickled to find him not more than 50 yards from my stand. It took me three years of hunting combined with food plot work, stand placement, barn improvements, brush hogging, fence placement, and other land management activities to finally get a payoff. I can't even begin to explain how much I love the entire process of planning, working, and cashing in on the reward that we are fortunate enough to collect from time to time. Let me know what you think he'll score.

Fantastic buck! Congratulations - your dad seems like a great guy. Glad you all had a great hunt.

I'm very thankful for a great season. I haven't got him scored yet but I think he'll go 130 inches. I'll put some more pics in the deer hunting room. My first post back on Spt. 12th. " Goals for this year are to get 4-5 deer in total for meat. Then to bag a 130 inch or bigger buck. We'll see." I've reached my goal with a lot of season left! If I get any more I'll be giving away a lot of deer meat as Christmas presents this year.

Beautiful Buck Marty! Congratulations! I got a nice Kentucky buck this morning. Nine points - will be another upgrade from the 6 point.

Al, great deer you posted in the contest thread - Congratulations! If your MO group ever has an opening for a redneck with a PhD keep me in mind. LOL You're certainly right about the terrain looking different once you get down. I do the same things you speak of. Too many times I've had to get back up in the stand to figure out where the shot spot was. Dan, I agree - stick with what you are most accurate and consistent with. Mr. Luke, Sticking with the hybrids for the rest of this season as they are already paid for - I'll look into those Toxic heads for next season - thanks.

William, the doe I shot and harvested had absolutely ZERO visible blood on the arrow. First time in my life this has happened. I looked in the field and couldn't see any and then took the arrow home and looked in the bright light - not a drop. No hair on the arrow and no hair at the shot spot, no blood either. The mature doe jumped and kicked just like you said yours did. I heard the THWACK and knew I hit it which is why I slowly walked the path into the woods it traveled to. After 20-30 yards I picked up a spot of blood. Then more, then a lot, then some intestine on the ground (maybe 2 feet in length). Then more blood, and a section of intestine maybe 5 feet in length about 200 yards from the shot spot. No kidding, an eagle was eating the intestine section as I walked up about 4 hours after the shot. Then more blood and finally the deer. The shot was low and back as I mentioned going through the guts. As I walked up to it I thought I wouldn't need to field dress as it as half the guts were already outside. Sorry for the graphic details, but it's hunting sometimes. It was only a 20 yard shot, but I had to crouch to avoid limbs which put me in bad form. The ML doe I took last year had no blood at the shot spot and none except where it fell in the thickets maybe 60 yards from the shot spot. There was snow on the ground so I should have seen some easily. When I rolled it over all the blood came out. I think a piece of fat had been severed and blocked the exit hole which was low. The entry hole was high as with most tree stand shot deer which often leads to internal bleeding. So I will always grid search if I think I hit one - regardless of what I find from now on.

After killing over 30 deer with a broadhead I have come to the conclusion that there is NO broadhead made or ever to be made that will reliably produce a track-able blood trail even with the ideal shot (which in my opinion is a double lung pass through with a low exit). I've tried them all - fixed blade, expandable, and now hybrids. Last year I double lunged a doe with my smokepole (in the snow) and had no blood trail. I hit a doe back and low this year with a hybrid and the arrow was clean - not a drop of blood. If I hadn't seen the arrow go through I would have thought i missed because the blood trail didn't start until she ran 20 yards from where hit. A six point I shot (see picture) was a pass through with a hybrid. Not a drop of blood until he started to fall about 50 yards from where hit. My conclusion - shoot a head you are MOST accurate with and do not give up looking if you can't pick up a blood trail but know or even think you hit it.

Nice buck - Great picture! Congratulations Ruth.