fly Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 Congratulations Frank! Great buck! That makes all the hard work worth it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 Yep, thats a good one Frank. May go low 130's. Congratulations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut10 Posted November 16, 2016 Report Share Posted November 16, 2016 DANDY buck !!!!! Who cares WHAT a buck that pretty scores ??? Lol !!! He's a shooter in just about anybody's book................ But I'll toss out 135"-138" gross as a rough guesstimate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUDRUNNER Posted November 16, 2016 Report Share Posted November 16, 2016 Congrats Frank! That's a stud deer. I would guess mid 130's as well. Looks like a tank of a body on him. Your buddies buck is a dandy too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted November 30, 2016 Report Share Posted November 30, 2016 Very similar to the one i posted about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted November 30, 2016 Report Share Posted November 30, 2016 First number in my head was 135 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly Posted December 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2016 (edited) The taxidermist said it may be a while before he gets around to removing the antlers. Once I get the call I'll update this with his green score. I'll be tickled with anything in the 130's. Edited December 2, 2016 by fly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archerjg Posted December 2, 2016 Report Share Posted December 2, 2016 Congratulations on a great buck. Archerjg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted December 2, 2016 Report Share Posted December 2, 2016 I figured the one in the pic i posted to be in the low 130's Frank. Yours has better mass, think your deer will gross around 136. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdoc Posted December 3, 2016 Report Share Posted December 3, 2016 Me thinks you killed a really nice buck! congrats todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbarcheryhunter Posted December 5, 2016 Report Share Posted December 5, 2016 Boy fly u had one heck of a year ..awesome congrats!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly Posted February 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 On 11/15/2016 at 2:51 PM, wtnhunt said: Yep, thats a good one Frank. May go low 130's. Congratulations. I got the rack back and green scored him at 131 inches and change. I was really excited to see him hit the 130 mark and looking forward to scoring my IL buck - thinking he'll be in the mid to high 140's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 I was four pts too high at a glance 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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