Boonerville's 2018-2019 Semi Live Hunting Thread

The Pine 9...3 years old in 2017. I have one shed from 2016. he put on probably 25" from 2-3. Still a big wide 9 point frame. he will probably be high 150s this year as a 4 year old.

 

Snow has really been putting a damper on things. I finally made it out to check a few more cameras for survivors. I got Confirmation Mr Clean survived! He was my number 2 buck for 2017, and will be a huge typical this fall. As insane as this may sound...there is a good chance I let him walk this year, even though i wouldn't have last year. He will be at best my #3 target deer.

 

Trident made it through also. he is on my home farm ANCIENT buck. I guessed him at 8 1/2 in 2017. Desperately needs killed, but I ended up passing him twice during bow season waiting on a much bigger deer that was in the area. He has looked identical for the last 2 years...5 point side with a big fork on the other.

 

I also have picked up 2 new farms. both are very different.

One I am calling the thicket. Its a 60 acre farm. 40 acres of tillable (will be corn in 2018), and a 20 acre patch of cedars and hedge apples with a small creek running through it. Tremendous thermal cover. What intrigued me about it is it's in an area without a lot of timber. In fact, this 20 acre patch of cover is the largest around within 3 miles. Seems perfect for a lone mature buck to call home and bring girls back to during lockdown. I have a camera out, but nothing special yet....but I have a feeling that will change.

 

The other new spot is 100 acres. 80 of which is timber. Huge for me because until now I really did not have much timber to hunt at all. The property is bordered on the north by a good sized river, and all the fields are on the south end by the road, so The timber itself is pretty isolated. Deer numbers on this farm are ridiculous. The landowner has shown me pictures of 25 deer in their backyard in the evenings. This one should be a great rut farm as well.

 

Can I ask how you "find" these new farms? I'm assuming all of your farms are leases besides the home? You must spend a fortune hunting these deer...

 

Believe it or not, most are not leases. I only lease 2 farms, and there's my home farm. Everything else is permission. Asking and gaining permission to hunt private land is somewhat of an art. I work in sales so I'm a people person so that has helped. I simply approach hunting from a never satisfied mentality. Just because i have "X" number of spots does not mean I quit looking for more. if I find a farm I like I try to get permission. You never know from one year to the next if you will keep permission on a particular farm (long list of reasons), so I always try to have a lot of eggs in my basket. It's also a numbers game. Not every farm will have a giant on it every year, so having a lot of spots gives me better chances of finding a giant or 2 to hunt each year.

 

Picked up a shed to a buck I know very well yesterday. My smaller lease I just started hunting last year had an old buck I call Don Vito. Walked the farm for shed for the first time and found one of his antlers from at least as a far back as 2015. If the shed is 2 years old, then Don Vito will be 6 1/2 minimum in 2018...possibly older if shed is more than 2 years old.

 

Also found 2 deadheads. One was a 1 1/2 year old with an obvious shotgun slug hole in his side. I'm guessing he ran across the road from the neighbors (See even in Iowa we have lots of folks that shoot little bucks).
The other was a 2 year old 8 point with a broken skull cap...I'm assuming he got a brain injury and died.

 

Checked on my bigger lease and pulled a camera that had been out since November 1st. It was at the edge of a food plot and a creek crossing. The spot was on fire during the rut. Interestingly most of the buck activity was in daylight, which is pretty cool.

 

Pretty stoked! Picked up one side to Mr Clean last night. He was as big as I thought. Mid 160s clean 10 point. I can't wait to see how he looks this summer!

 

Well I have been working on something big. I have refrained from speaking about it because I was unsure if I could make it work, but now I am cautiously optimistic. I will know Saturday for sure...but if this works out, my hunting situation will change in a big way.

 

You're finally sending me an invite?

 

Well the shed hunting this weekend was pretty epic. 20 antlers in 2 days. Picked up mu biggest matched set ever. 4 year old buck that absolutely blew up from the year before. I have one of his sheds from 2016 when he was 3. he went from a 120" 3 year old to a low 150s 4 year old with crazy mass and stickers. I predict he will by 170+ this year.

 

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I also found something pretty cool. I found an old fence post that has been the target of a buck venting his sexual frustration for several years. It was rubbed completely in two! I pulled the post out of the ground and took both pieces home. They are getting cleaned up and displayed in the trophy room. Will probably dowel the two halves so i can put together but still take apart.




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I hate finding young deer dead. This was a super 2 year old. Found a slug hole in the hide. In the center of my lease. Im pretty ticked. Found 5 dead bucks on one farm yesterday




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That's cool! One of the farms on the ranch here has a fiber optic cable laid along the north side. It has the cable posted in two places with the smallish 4"-5" round posts with an orange sign on top. Deer rub on both those every year along the road. I noticed last fall tha tthe western most one is visibly smaller in the middle where they rub on it so much.

 

I was honestly more stoked about finding it than the sheds from the day. It was worth carrying 2 miles out of the woods.

 

So, has your hunting situation changed in a big way?