fly

" I had to know if you got him on your property. " Indeed - It is a very rewarding experience! All the hard work to save enough money to buy hunting ground, the hard work to put in trails, food plots, and stands. All the time spent moving cameras, etc... It's a special moment.

Welcome back Gator and Good luck!

fly Team 3 Buck: 10 points longer than 1 inch 212 pounds field dressed / hanging weight

Thanks everyone! spent all day Sunday butchering him up. Freezer is full! In IL we get 2 buck tags, but I'd be hard pressed to do better than this one. Best of luck with the rifle Dave and to everyone else. I'll get him entered shortly.

Thanks everyone!

This deer weighed 212 pounds field dressed and estimated 270 live weight (my heaviest to date). I was hunting my land on October 16th when this buck came to the edge of a cut corn field to make a scrape about 30 minutes before last light. I heard a doe blowing at him about 15 minutes earlier. I had grunted earlier and I think that's why he came up from the bottoms. A cold front had came in and I suspected good deer movement. When I first saw him I was electing to pass because I could only see the 4 points on the right side. Then he came out of the brush and I could see the massive body and character of the left antler. I decided to take this deer. Just at that time he started walking away, presenting me a quartering away shot - I took it and double lunged him. His death run took him 100 yards down into a gorge that took me 2 hours to get him out of. He will provide a lot of meat and look great on the wall.

Cold front come in this weekend and did the trick! Shot my heaviest buck to date. 212 pounds field dressed (270 estimated live weight). The rack is all kinds off cool. I almost passed him because I only saw the 4 points on the left and wasn't sure of his age. He was making a scrape and raking branches with his antlers which gave me time to judge, He turned and I saw the body and palmation on his right side and thought - better shoot this one. Perfect shot from the TenPoint Vengent - double lung. Of course his 100 yard death run was down into the gorge! Took me two hours to pull him out of it and up to my mule. I estimate this deer to be 5.5 years old.

Good locking prospects and I know you probably with have several more in the coming weeks. No scrapes in my area of IL yet, but I expect them to start showing up any day now.

Nicely done! My TenPoint Vengent got christened in August with a Pronghorn. Hoping to add a turkey or deer this month.

Went out this past weekend and saw turkeys, coyotes, and squirrels. No deer, but the cameras tell me they are there - just moving at night still.

Congratulations to your daughter Pat! Those clouds, cool breeze, and changing colors make the hair on the back of my neck stand. Good luck this season!

The net score as a typical will be a disappointment. I agree he will be close to 180 Gross. Non-typical score maybe 160 - real close to making B&C as non-typical.

Hope that cold front gets them moving Dave. The IL archery season open tomorrow. I'll be looking to get in the stand and start the grind this Saturday.

Sounds like a great place to live. I am also considering Colorado DIY elk hunting in the (more near) future. When you are a non-resident the price tag can really be a limiting factor even on a DIY hunt. A friend of mine met an older guy while hiking in the RMNP this past summer. The guy said he decided to give up Elk hunting due to father time and his health. He told my friend he would send him the coordinates of the area he has hunted for years and showed him pictures of the numerous bulls he has taken over the years. We are taking it into consideration. I always wonder how much is "talk" and how much is genuine. Ya, know... Best of luck to you Dave - I hope you find the bull you are looking for.

Looks great Al. Bet it was tough deciding which animals to display in the new home?

Hi Dave, good to have you on my team this year. I'll mostly be hunting my 32.5 acres here in IL but will go down to the Shawnee forest this year for the shotgun season as well as head down to Kentucky for an archery hunt or two. I also got drawn for a public ground hunting area called Walkers island around Christmas time. I have never hunted there so I have no idea what to expect. Probably not much given that it will be so late in the year. Good luck chasing elk! I actually purchased a WY elk preference point this year. I figure I may give elk hunting a try in 5-10 years when I have enough preference points.

I have recently been joining FB hunting pages and see many young hunters posting. They are still hunting. Forums are old school - in time the current popularity of youth using FB will give way to whatever latest and greatest new way to post pictures and get information comes along.

The deer contest may die, but not this year!

Dan has a 200 acre lake created in the early 1900's from a mountain stream that serves as a reservoir for a nearby town. It has brown and rainbow trout.

Thanks everyone.

Had a great hunt in Wyoming! Mr. Tim Andrus comes through again recommending a top notch outfitter. Belwo is a short video of the hunt and some pictures.

Haven't missed one since 2008! Count me in.

Yea, my number one goal is to get my dad a crossbow deer this year. At 78 I'm not sure he has many seasons left. After that it will be to get a 4.5 year old buck or older that scores over 140. Will get a better idea once they stop growing. Probably only a couple more weeks of growing left.

Thanks, It has been a good year. Hoping to keep things going that way with my first pronghorn in a few weeks and then get ready for September archery season in KY followed by IL in October. I'll be pretty picky when it comes to bucks this year.

Looks like some decent prospects for the upcoming season. The neighbor planted corn in my acre field so that might be paying off. I noticed the ears are already being eaten.