fly

Merry Christmas to All!

Good luck Al - could this be the first season (that I know of) that Al doesn't connect on a mature buck?????

Congratulations! Nice buck

Looks great!

Just getting to this - looks great strut!

My land is in a timber program and I'm supposed to do that as well. Have done a little, but the stuff is everywhere!

Great looking 8 point! Would this be the biggest 8 you have taken from your property?

Congratulations! Great looking buck! You going to have it mounted?

Hope you and your family get free of this vile virus as well William. I'm going out to the stand today - trying some tessalon pearl for the cough. At this point if I run into the 3.5 year old 15 pointer (rib cage) I'd let him go and hope he turns into a 200 incher next year. That only leaves one 9 point I call Victor that is at least 5.5 and likely older. He'd score in the 150s and I hunted him hard last year and never saw him from the stand. He occasionally showed up on camera, but always at night. The main mission at this point is to get my sister some deer meat, so any mature doe will fill the tag.

I contracted influenza A a couple weeks ago and have a nagging cough that won't go away. Not a good thing to have while deer hunting. For the most part my season is over. I'll try to get on a doe for my sister, but doubt I'll shoot another buck.

As most of you know I purchased my own slice of heaven back in 2019. My slice consists of 32.49 acres of mostly mature hardwoods with a lot of terrain changes and a creek that runs north to south through most of it. Each year I learn more about how the deer relate to my property at different times of the year. Most of my hunts are 2-4 hour hunts either in the mornings (before work) or in the evenings (after work). Since my house is only a 40 minute drive, I can hunt a lot. This year (starting October 1st) it took me 37 hunts to finally bring a mature buck to the ground on the evening of November 12th. About half of the 37 hunts resulted in deer sightings while about 40% resulted in shot opportunities. However, prior to Nov 12th I had only had one other shot opportunity at a mature buck. That chance came early in the season on October 3rd. I hit the deer and after tracking and searching the deer was simply not to be found and I was sick. A felt a lot better when he showed up on camera a month later doing just fine. In early November I saw a nice buck at 50-60 yards, but he was in thick cover and did not respond to my grunt. Then after an all day hunt on the 11th and a AM hunt on November 12th I had seen zero deer and was discouraged. I decided to pull my trail cam cards and go home for lunch to take a look. Below is a video of what I saw. A new buck that had entered my woods and walked under a stand I already had in place. He was there at 7:17pm on the 11th. I sent the video to a friend and we both agreed the 8 point buck was 4.5 or older and in the 140s. I decided to hunt that stand hoping he would make an early appearance on the 12th as it gets dark a little after 5pm this time of year. At 3pm a nice 10 point walked through, but again slightly out of range. Additionally, I wasn't sure if he was mature and the tips of both main beams were broke. I grunted, but he was not interested and kept on his way. Then right at 5pm or a little after I stood up and hung my crossbow on the hook to prepare for my climb down. I was attaching my lowering rope when I heard something walking down the trail that runs 10 yards from my stand. The body was large and the antlers had good mass, my initial thought was that it was that big 8 but I did not have time to be 100% sure as he was moving fast. I did know he was a shooter so I quickly acquired the buck in my scope. He must have seen me shoulder the crossbow as he stopped at 20 yards and was looking right at me. He turned to leave and in doing so presented the perfect quartering away shot. A quick squeeze of the trigger and the bolt found both lungs. The buck jumped and took a couple quick bounds before slowing to a walk. He stopped not more than 20 yards from where I shot him and stood still for a few seconds. His tail flickered and down he went. It was so nice seeing him fall from the stand. While I could see his white belly his head was obscured by a large tree. I would have to get down to confirm if it was the big 8. That's when the shaking started. I'm 51 and have killed many deer and still... this sport tears me up (in a good way). I settled down after 10-15 minutes and was able to climb down. It was indeed the big 8. MFDC6351.MOV

Great pics and story William!

Congratulations William! Two dandy bucks back to back... impressive.

Fantastic news William! Team 1 is doing well this season! I'm headed to the Shawnee for Deer Camp today so I'll be out a few days. I look forward to seeing your pictures when I get back! BTW... the buck I shot ended up weighing 200lbs field dressed and scored 144.

I just found a trail cam picture of this buck from the night before I shot him. MFDC6351.MOV

Thanks guys. Seems you all are able to navigate to the forums. I've been having a heck of a time using Firefox on my computer. More on the story... I don't have any pictures of this deer on trail camera. The eve of the 12th was my 37th hunt for the season. Most only 2-3 hours before or after work. On the 11th I hunted all day 11 hours and didn't see a buck. It was very cold so I was about ready to warm up on the 12th, but my trail camera showed 3 bucks under a stand on the night of the 11th with a hot doe. I hunted the AM, and saw nothing, but the evening hunt was different. I passed a 3.5 year old 10 point around 3pm and just as i stood to climb down he came trotting down the trail. I identified him as a mature buck with binoculars and grabbed the Xbow. He saw my movement as he was eye level coming down a hill but it was too late. He turned to leave presenting me a quartering away shot at 20 yards. He jumped and walked (not ran) 20 yards and stood for a few seconds making odd breathing noises and then fell over dead. It was one of the fastest kills ever for me. I am truly thankful to the Lord for all the blessings He has given me. Here are a few more pictures.

fly Team 1 11 points over 1 inch.

Well boys, I'm not sure if you all will see this, but I delivered the smackdown on this brute tonight! More later.

I have to use Microsoft Edge - Firefox browser will not work. I also thought the forums had finally died! LOL

Still no luck on a mature buck. My buddy Dave took this nice one on Nov. 6th. Weighed 270 pounds prior to field dressing. My cameras are showing a lot of mature buck activity, but so far it's all at night. Need one to come out early. Next weekend is deer camp in the Shawnee where the first deer seen gets a tag.

Great AM today! Had a beautiful 3.5 year old 8 point come right under my stand after I grunted. Needs another year. Then another mature 8 point was walking through at 50 yards. Probably a 130 class buck and 4.5 years old. I had a shot, but just wasn't comfortable as there were several small twigs between him and I. I had the safety off but elected to not take the shot. As he walked out of range I grunted hoping to bring him back. It wasn't meant to be. Then a couple does came trotting by, but no buck in tow. This coming week is the week we wait all season for. I'll be out there as much as possible.

Great potential William and great picture. Things are still good here in IL. Was hunting in the rain a few days ago and Saw a 2.5 year old 11 point I call spare rib (spare, because he gets spared this year). Here is video of him walking past me at 15 yards. Pat, the angle on the unicorn back was about 20 degrees. I was 25 feet high, but he was walking away (quartering away) going up hill so when i shot at 50 yards I wasn't much higher than him. Here is another picture that shows his back. I simply can't make out the entrance hole, but based on the exit and fairly flat angle I think it was below the spine. 1643093028_SpareRib2022.mp4

Things are really heating up - saw a nice 2.5 year old 10 point that has a lot of potential this AM. Also got the unicorn buck on trail camera on October 25th (I'm very happy to see him doing well). Can't really make out the entrance wound, but the exit is visible. Must have hit just below the spine and above the vitals.

Congratulations Pat! That's a beauty! My horizontal rub has been working. I've had one small and one decent buck rubbing it for about 5-10 minutes and it's only been up 3 days. I saw a 5 point bust a doe from her bed and chased her this evening. The rut is starting in my area.

Grunted in a nice buck yesterday. Looked like a 3.5 year old 130-135 inch. He came in as I figured he would on the edge of a field. He stopped about 50 yards away (behind thick brush) and stood there nose in the air for 10 minutes. The wind was light and NW which was perfect, but at times gusts would come in from the W. Sure enough her patiently waited until that gust came and her got a bit of my scent. Not enough for him to run away, but enough to make him take 2 quick bounces and slowly walk the other way. He would stop and look when I grunted, but easily walked out of sight. Below is a picture I believe was him. This picture was taken in the area he came from earlier in the morning on that same day. On another note.. below is a horizontal rub I created with a fresh white pine branch. I'll keep you posted if it gets any action.