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Nice gobbler! Saving the beard?

Congratulations! I remember those decoys - I had a couple and "upgraded" to the ones pictured below about 15 years ago. I didn't like blowing them up, prefer placing a stick in them to keep them open. You doing anything with this Tom other than eating it?

Thanks, Hope to catch him on camera in the coming months to see if he got any bigger.

This shed is from a 2021 buck I believed to be 3.5 years old. Should be a shooter in fall 2022.

Sweet!!

Congratulations!!! Great Tom!

I killed a jake in the past that went 22lbs, but this was the heaviest. Another 2 years and he might have beat the record of 37.6 pounds.

Yep, it has been a couple years since my 1100 got some action. Too bad my IL season is over now.

A cold AM at 37 degrees heated up nicely around 10am. Got on a couple birds early but couldn't get them in range. Was headed back to the truck and heard one sound off as I used my slate call one last time. I hid behind a tree and kept calling. About 5 min later here he comes, BANG! 35 yards and he went down. Just a 25 lb jake, but I'm happy!

I remember some of those old RT members.

I've used it - not extensive. Pretty cool.

I decided to skip the fanatic line (other than the hoodie which I have 2 of) and went to the re-designed in 2021 incinerator aerolyte jacket and bibs. It isn't as quiet, but it's quiet enough for me. I preferred the 100% rain proof over water resistant that the fanatic has and the better pack-ability of the new incinerator line. I hunt in stands year round - no box blind. It is expensive but as a veteran I get 40% off. I do prefer the KUIU base layers and have the merino wool t-shirts. Need to get a couple more when they have them in stock later this month.

Hi Tim - I check in about once a week. Not much going on lately. I am headed to New Zealand to hunt the Red stag in April 2023.

Yea, I had a taxidermist dip a camo print on a European deer mount a few years back and he did not have RT patterns. He said it was because the cost was too high. He said he would have to pass the added cost to the customer and that added cost would place him well above his competitors. I've always loved the RT patterns but not always the clothing it is printed on.

Ya know, I forget about this being a RT site sometimes (LOL). I wish Sitka had Realtree patterns as an option. The primary reason for the switch is that I need light weight pack-able clothes for my New Zealand Red stag hunt. The camo pattern isn't important on this hunt, but the layering, warmth, and pack-ability is. Since I'll have it, I'll use it for whitetail in the fall and see how it works out.

This is the stand. I have about 5 of them. I get them on sale at Farm and Home in the off season for about 100 bucks. They do the job and I leave them up year round. I just replace the straps every few years. Gator, I went with Sitka because Cabela's and Bass Pro carry it. I get a 5% veterans discount and earn points I redeem for free stuff. KUIU is right up there and is a little cheaper than Sitka. Again, I have the Bass Pro Black credit card and generally get close to 1000.00 of free stuff every year from the points I acquire.

Yea, I have older Scentlock clothes and they have holes in them. I've been using them for close to 10 years now. As I recall Realtree Extra came out almost 10 years ago now. It doesn't get real cold here in IL so I don't need the crazy warm stuff (which is very expensive). When the temps drop below 15 degrees (maybe 2 or 3 hunts out of a season) I get in my heater body suit. I'm looking forward to trying it all out next season.

Well, it's time to upgrade my hunting clothes and I have decided to go the Sitka route. Starting out with the stratus line up in elevated II. Anyone here have experience with it?

Hi Al, I will ask because I am not certain. I assumed all high fence animals belonged to the owner of the land. There is a point where the high fence no longer gives the hunter an advantage. I'm not sure what number of acres that is for me. The guide I hired has leased about 20K acres of private ground with a low fence. I just assumed the red stag are owned by the region (or country) as opposed to the land owner. I'm not sure if that changes when the fence gets to a certain height. Here are some pics of the free range / fair chase stags taken last year in the area I'll be hunting.

Well, I finally got to the point in my life where I am able to make a Red Stag hunt in New Zealand a reality! The wife and a buddy and his wife will be going as well. We will make it a hunt/vacation. The hunt is booked for April, 2023 and NZ opens their borders next month so hopefully they will stay open. It was not easy finding a fair chase / free range outfitter in New Zealand. Most operate high fence hunts (which are fine if it's your thing) just isn't mine. I don't like the idea of hunting a red stag and being told by a guide that that one is too big and costs more than I was willing to pay. The free range red stags generally top out around 320 inches with anything over 300 inches being a true trophy. We will be hunting the Otago herd near Queenstown on the South island. I realize we have a limited number of people here these days, but if anyone has been to the south island I'd love to hear about any non-hunting things to do.

I figured the deer would go to the center instead of walking an edge, which they did and gave me a 35 yard shot with the crossbow. Pretty much a gimme at that distance. I don't even worry about jumping the string with my xbow shooting 415 fps. I imagine you don't either with your 400+ Ravin. I'm sure I had let this doe walk on a previous day hoping a mature buck would be following. Only had 1.5 -2.5 year old bucks entering the field during legal shooting hours. I did see one decent buck on the first day, but it was a good 20 minutes after legal shooting time. I was trapped in the stand with about 5 does below my stand and I had to wait for them to leave before climbing down as I did not want them to blow at me. Of course that is when the mature buck came out. I could only tell how big he was when looking with my binos on a clear night with moonlight.

No big bucks, but I took this 150 pound doe off the island. Saw a lot of deer - one evening I saw at least 20. Interesting place to hunt as mid-day there were a lot of hikers and people walking their dogs. This will likely close out my season. Still have a few more weeks, but at this point I'd have to see a 5.5 year old buck to fill my last archery tag, and I'll probably only hunt a few more times. It was nice sharing my season with you Dave.

I'm really considering purchasing a larger chest freezer for the garage Al. Much of the venison goes to my family, as I'm the only one that consistently harvests a deer each year. This doe weighed 120 pounds field dressed which would make her about 150 pounds live weight. That's a good size doe even for IL.

For 15 years I have applied to hunt a 500 acre island in the middle of a lake roughly 30 minutes from my house. This year would be the first year my application was selected. I scouted the island the week prior to my 7 day hunt. I set up a couple stands (one in a swamp and the other looking over a 200 acre winter wheat field). The island is a popular destination for hikers and dog walkers as a nice 3 mile loop trail goes around the perimeter of the island. Each hunt I would watch as hikers and dog walkers traveled 60 yards from my stand never knowing I was there. Just about every night right around 4:30pm the deer would exit the swampy / wooded areas and enter the winter wheat field to feed for the evening. My stand was set up in a narrow stretch of winter wheat about 60 yards across. This proved to be the golden location as multiple deer filtered through the narrow stretch before entering the larger field. The first couple days I let several deer walk past hoping a big buck was in tow. It was not meant to be. Therefore on the 3rd eve of the hunt I took out this nice big doe with the same bolt and broad-head I have killed 2 other deer and and a pronghorn with. All animals were complete pass through s and none ran more than 150 yards. What a great way to end my season!

Merry Christmas William RT family!