layin on the smackdown

Leave it to Stone cold to find a match set with a drop tine before the end of january! Man i wish i knew how you always find so many sheds! Great find, and keep em coming! Is that dude bedded in that pic? Looks like one of the northern illinois forest preserve bucks :cool2: dan

Yep...every year at the forest preserve i worked at, we would burn about 700 acres of prairie. One of the biggest factors you need to always consider (other than your burn getting out of control) is the timing of your burn. If you burn to late, you could destroy thousands of nesting song birds that utilize the prairies for nesting. Its a pretty easy way to find sheds as well :cool2:...They may look all black and charred, but that just rinses right off. What always amazed me was how much the oak tree thrived off of these burns. One would think that a giant burning prairie would destroy an oak savanah, but in fact it does the opposite...Its like a catalyst. Its a great way to control invasives, and add nutrients to the soil at the same time. Sounds like a neat thesis. Good luck! dan

Its the country music capital of the world!!!! There are all kinds of upcoming performers playing at alot of different bars/clubs for a very very cheap cover - sometimes none at all. Go grab a seat, sit back and enjoy...Who knows, you may be watching the next giant country music star and not even know it... dan

I know some other states have a similar law, but i also know that several other states have changed their laws to better accomodate spring turkey hunters. Why can we only hunt spring gobblers until 1:00 p.m.? Why can you hunt turkeys in the fall all day but not in the spring? Is there any ryhme or reason to this other than maybe to give mushroom hunters time in the woods? It really doesn't make any sense to me...I have had so many hunts that were just getting hot get run over due to this time restraint. The middle of the day is some times the best time to strike up a hot bird. I read an article recently that had commented on a few other states that had this 1:00 p.m. law then switched to sunrise to sunset. the findings were that the number of birds harvested was not increased significanlty, but there was much more hunter participation...Isn't that our goal? Most people cant hunt before they go to work in the morning, however, most people can slip out for an hour or two after work during the week. This 1:00 p.m. law significantly decreases the amount of time spring turkey hunters can enjoy the outdoors chasing birds. What are your state regs, and what are your thoughts on a 1:00 p.m. end time? Dan

4 buck and 00 buck work great out of a 12 gauge out to 85-90 yds. Rolls em on the spot, with multiple shots if needed.

It really depends on the pressure the birds recieve from area hunters. I can honestly say that mature (not jakes) birds up in Jo Daviess county IL (NW IL) know exactly what a blind is and will run the second they see one unless you have it brushed in real good. Also though, that county is the most pressured county in the state for spring turkey hunting. Down here in south central Illinois, you can set a blind up in the middle of a hay field and the birds will walk within feet of it. To say the least, if you are working a bird who has been educated from a blind, its pretty certain he won't make that mistake again unless the blind is concealed well. So, if you are hunting birds on ground you know hasn't been pressured too much, and youve got a good amount of birds in the area, theres a good chance he won't booger from a non concealed blind.

That is wild! great pics all the way around. I wonder what they think about the snow man...maybe throw an old camo coat on it and see if they mind him then

couldn't have said it better myself!

A good pure bred lab usually fits well into the whole waterfowling gear bag....especially if you plan on hunting alot of water. Makes one heck of a buddy for the whole family too! I'll add my two cents to whats been mentioned above: Along with lots of ammo, you will need a good ammo bag to lug it all around in. Ammo bags are good places to also keep extra emergeny gear such as extra calls, gloves etc. The layout blind is very key - they work great, are durable, and extremely versitile (you can use them in just about any field, along water banks, and heck ive even used mine to deer hunt with my ML'R in a cut corn field). Cant ever go wrong with an extra goose flag or two... In a swamp like setting, you can pretty much get most dabbling ducks in there, so mallards, wood ducks, teal, wigeon, pintails, and gadwals are decoys you can look into. Don't bother with diver dec's unless you plan on hunting big water. Depending on the size of your swamp, you may be able to pull some geese into there, so maybe some goose floaters. good luck! dan

He looks like a dandy Johnboy! I think you need to spend less time on the forums and more time chasing that stud! :clown: keep us posted and good luck! dan

You really posted this??? Wow, i think we may have hit a new low. It is no ones business what goes on in anyones marriage other than your own. Should have dusted the wolf. Keep on keepin on Bowtarist, and keep your head up. dan

The cold front has definitely scooted in overnight. Temps were in the mid 40's yesterday evening, andnow dropped to mid to upper 20's.They are calling for 2-3 inches of snow in the south central sector of the state, and 6-8 up in north central and northern illinois. Winds blowing 20-30 with temps falling all day...Thats what i get for hoping to slide through a mild winter. You boys and girls to the east of IL, its coming your way, so be safe out there. dan

There are a whole pile of "dont do's" in this lackluster story - but hey, i was young and brand new to deer hunting much less bow hunting. It was November 11th i think, back in 1999. I was a waterfowl guide for the Bull Valley hunt club in Northern illinois, so i didn't really have a lot of time to bow hunt that year; i think i went out a total of 4 times that year, which was my entire career up until that point. On my second morning out, some time in late october, i had what i thought was a world record buck go jogging past my stand at about 30 yds. My stand was on a tree line in Lake county, with several neighboring patches of small timber and slews. After that morning, i got home and called my dad and explained that i had encountered a "giant" and recalled how awesome it was. Fast forward to November 11th. Its an evening hunt, and again, im in my ladder stand in a tree line that overlooks a cut bean field that i regularly goose hunt. As the geese are pouring out of the lake to my east and flying over head, i begin to second guess my actions and quickly regret even thinking about bow hunting - i should be set up in my spread of bigfoots with my buddies and it should be raining down big ole honkers. Well the evening slowly passes and i catch a glimpse of a doe running up the tree line right towards me. At about 50 yds she turns and runs into the wide open bean stuble. Behind is "the giant" i had encountered a few weeks before. he chases her around and around and they disapeer into the thicket to my north. so, there i sit, alone and covered up in hot doe urine wondering why that buck wanted to run over that doe. about 10 minutes later, they appear again, but run north along the tree line away from me. At this time, there was about 15 to 20 minutes of shooting light left, and i was pretty much ready to hang my bow hunting career up, and get back to doing what i knew - waterfowling. So i climbed down and began walking up the tree line to where i had seen those deer come out of the thicket. Sure enough, someone had a stand hanging right above the trail they ran out of. So i stood there and observed and tried to figure out why that was a good spot and mine wasn't. As i stood there in thought, bow in hand, covered in doe urine, i caught a movement from my left. Sure enough, that doe and "giant" were running up the tree line headed directly for me. She began to slide away from the tree line and into the bean field. As they approached bow range i raised my bow up just in case they would stop and offer a shot. As soon as i moved, she stopped, and he stopped right behind her. They had me pegged, and began to study me. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in her head and she knew what i was and bolted across the bean field. He stayed there and continued to stare at me. At this point in time, i am starting to think that maybe putting that hot doe urine all over me was a bad idea. Then i get a mental image of me on his antlers like a popsicle. Then i start to replay all the stories i have heard about guys getting mauled by monster bucks because they were wearing doe urine...So it quickly became evident to me t hat i was no longer the hunter (remember, i am young and very uneducated about deer hunting), and i was now the hunted. I immediatly went into survival mode and drew my bow. He is facing me directly, not quartering to at all, just straight on. I thought, im not going down like this, no way. So i settled my 30 yd pin right under the white patch of his throat, waited for a few seconds, thought again, its either me or him, and let it fly. i heard a loud thwack!!! and he bolted off into the middle of the cut bean field. I was thrilled that i did't miss and he didn't decide to wear me on his antlers. I watched him run about 150 yds then lay down. I figured i needed to get out of there and call my dad since i had no idea on what my next step was suppose to be. So i walked a good quarter mile circle around him to get to my explorer and headed home to make a call. about two hours later i met my dad out at the field edge and we spot lighted the deer. He was down, his head was down, and he was motionless so we slowly began walking to him. As we approached we could seen he was in fact expired, and i was a mess with excitement. As my dad studied the deer my excitement was quickly transformed to guilt and disgust as my dad began to chew my rear end out for making such an unethical shot. Lesson learned. he ended up having a broken left side, but had he been full racked, the taxidermist said he wouldve went around mid 140's. To a beginner bow hunter still dripping wet behind the ears, he in fact was a "giant". That was the first animal i had ever shot at with my bow other than a carp. I still to this day have no idea how i got so lucky, but i thank the lord for that opportunity...from that day on, i have been obsessed with bow hunting.

thanks for the reply! I thought about that, and then i thought about how much i can't even draw a straight line...i figured by the time i got done attepting to cut it, it'd probably resemble the rocky mountains. However, im pretty sure he would have a professional put it on, do they have machines that can cut that evenly? thanks, dan

i bought some camo trim for my truck back in 2006, and i cant remember where i got it, but i bought 30-40 ft X 8" and it looks great. now ive gotten my brother in law full blown into chasing turkeys and white tails and he really wants that trim. Here's my problem, everywhere i look i can only find camo truck trim in 12 or 16 inch height...does anyone know where i can get 30 - 40 ft by 8 inches? please let me know, it might be his Christmas gift. thanks, dan

Very nice!!! That dude's got all kinds of crap going on...looks like a good mature deer that i'd be happy to put on the wall!! What a unique deer and stud of a deer! congrats to you! That deer should be appropriatly titled: hoosierdaddy :cool2: dan

Im with you guys...Im 60 miles due south of where you guys are and the rut has been kind of slow/non existent up until about thursday. Still seems hit or miss. It doenst matter though, Coles county is the biggest sleeper county in the state...just look at the pic in my sig...John actually scored it for me...As long as your in the stand Timmy, it can happen! Good luck! There are some hogs out there!!! dan

id be more ticked off at the fact that the guy is probably burning out a great bedding area rather than hunting the edge of your food plot. In retrospect, he can't or shouldn't be shooting onto your ground, so the chances are good that the deer will adjust to his idiot stand placement and avoid him entirely. its a good plan to hunt a bedding area during the rut, but it sounds like he pretty much just set up camp. Thats me being positive. give it some time and see how the deer react over a small period of time. dan

yep...dont blame ya on the puke session if needed. I forgot to zoom out last time i used the camera, so i started on point blank...makes it hard to find anything in the view finder at point blank. darn rookies dan

heres a pic of the short G3 buck i got on a trail cam in september...i was fairly sure he was 4.5 and put him on the hit list. heres his pic heres my encounter...at 3 yards from the base of my tree....with him missing half of his left side...i had to let him walk...granted hes not the greatest 8 pointer, but im pretty sure he hits the age limit and wouldve ran the tape in the low to mid 130's had he been all there. fyi im 28 feet up in a tree so things may look smaller than they appear... thoughts? dan

just found this on the web. Talk about a deer in the headlights...this poor girl was frozen stiff dead center in the road... This was probably not what the Michigan State patrolman had predicted for his eveining shift...Kudos to him for his job well done, because he easily could have taken a different avenue. Deputy carries frightened deer from road to safety (video) Dan

My great freind Mark came down for a two day bowhunt on monday night...the plan was to hunt tuesday and wednesday and send him home with a cooler full of meat for a fairly cheap price....until he broke down on his way down here and was stuck in the pouring rain on the side of 57 just south of Champaign...he walked a few miles to and from a gas station trying to find a tow truck that would pick him up at 12:30 at night, and get his location...Once that was successfully completed he ended up staying the night in a high quality $35 roach motel and spent the rest on his repairs and tows...and gas to finish his 5 hour drive here....and he succeeded on his mission to bring home some meat for the family. here is the video of his $1300 doe... Of importance for all to consider, he wanted to make it known that we were not done yet, and we still had wednesday to fill his other tag... enjoy the clip. dan

Don't think about what's on their head.

Those pics really help put it in perspective...I can hear how dry it is there all day, but when you see something like that, it really enhances the reality of the drout situation. Hope you guys get the rain you need!

Congrats to you and your Dad Benny!!! Sounds like a heck of a week...i bet you probably lost a few lb's after all that hiking. Good work and thanks for sharing this with us. dan