Man that thing is HUGE!!! Congrats on a successful set-up!! John, quit screwing around and unleash those substantial Ninja skills that you've been holding back!
Hey guys, havent had any luck with does with a bow so I tried with a gun. Last day of rifle and this little gal strolled by...not a very big doe but its good eatin. Shot her at 60 yards and she fell face first and took off, watched her fall about 70 yards from my stand and figured she was toast. I was so wrong..... went and got my dad to help drag and as I walk to where she fell...theres good pools of blood....but no deer? I followed a main trail down the ridge thinkin maybe she just went a but farther....nope...no blood, no deer. Back tracked back to last blood and just stood there when all of a sudden like 35 yards from me I see my deer hobbling through the woods up the hill. I couldnt believe it, I loaded another bullet and went after her. She bedded in some thick thick weeds and fallen trees and I couldnt get a clean shot so I decided to circle around behind her. She moved a few times during the process but eventually I got a 25 yard finishing shot on her and she was done. Walked up to her and the first shot had broken BOTH her front legs and left a softball sized hole in her chest. I was amazed she made it so far! After gutting I seen that my bullet completely missed every organ and only bruised the heart....a first for me for sure! Just glad I found her and was able to close the deal.
Well I'll beheaded back tomorrow evening for the 2nd shotgun season in IL. Won't be getting us any points this weekend. I know at least one buck survived the 1st gun season. I got pics of the 11 pointer last week. If we ever get some snow, I really should have some great action. My food plots are some of the only food left standing in the neighborhood. Pray for snow and bad weather.
Congrats on the doe Jenna! Will and I always talk about how underestimated a critter's will to live is amongst hunters. Animals seldom just flop over and give it up. Sounds like the rest of you should have just packed along with me to HI! I was able to put some yellowfin and skip-jack ahi into the freezer at least. I think I may have laid down a brain cell or four thousand as well! John, give the rock chucker up and get back to throwing sticks!
Yea its crazy how tough those deer are! I just finished up this deer mount recently and thought it was just pretty dang good and figured i would share. haha
Nice deer but what's all that white stuff in the background? 34* when I woke up this morning and no snow below 800' on the mountains. It's going to be a long ass, ass busting hike back in to goat country this weekend... I was hoping for some deep snow to push them out but it looks like there was as much here as on the other island I was on.
Well, It's been a tough season so far. I haven't had any opportunities like I've had over the last few seasons but time hasn't run out yet. I've got till Jan 15th and rifle season just ended. We got alot of hunting pressure on and around our property this season. More gun shots than I've heard in along time. Every time I heard a gun ring out I wondered what hit the ground. The neighbors that hunt around our property don't share my opinions on "let em go and let em grow" but to each his own. We did see one shooter over the last couple of weeks. I've spent as much time in a treestand over the last 16 days as I have in along time. I didn't see the quality of deer that I was hoping for but I did see large numbers. I have a plan that I'm going to enact later this week or next weekend that involves moving stand locations to an entry/exit point to a winter wheat field. The field has been getting hit hard and one of the guys that hunts the lease has a box blind that he rifle hunts on a flat above the wheat field. He saw large numbers of deer every morning and evening and he shot and missed a big 10 two weeks ago. The deer have to travel up a short brushy hillside to get to the open flat where his blind was. They cross that open 70 yards and bed in a thick draw on the other side. I believe that the bucks are staying on the hillside and not crossing the open area. There is a large hackberry tree right near the fence crossing that I'm gonna hang my stand in. If the bucks are staying on the hillside, they'll still have to come by my setup even if they don't go up the hill. I hope it works out but without seeing any real shooters I just don't know.
Headed back to the farm tonight with the bow this time around. It's almost 50* now, but its only gonna be a high of 15* with 35 mph winds on Sunday. Chance of snow Saturday. We are in for a change in the weather. Hopefully the deer try to fill their bellies before it hits. Because I'm gonna be hunkered down in my ground blind next to some standing soybeans with a side of turnips.
So what happened John? Any action out there? I spent 16 hours in a bivouac Friday night in freezing rain to wake up and freeze my ass off getting down off the mountain in a snow storm. I did have one small billy coming in to me but he spooked by either catching my scent or the guy coming up from below. No big loss as I'm not sure he was a shooter anyway but he did have a nice thick coat on him. http://www.facebook.com/permalink.p...4330#!/album.php?aid=26326&id=100000800754330
Well came back to Idaho last night to take advantage of our last season bow hunt. Jumped an elk this morning and while chasing him ran across a few deer and couldn't pass up a good stalk. After about 20 mins I was able to slip into 20 yards and get a good double lung hit on this small buck. Trailed him up and found him about 60 yards later. Here's the weird part, grabbed him by the right antler and it popped off! no biggie, kinda funny. Dragged him 10 feet, after pictures, by the left antler and it popped off! Made for a memorable hunt, and should make a fantastic euro! He's not big, but the hunt was off the ground and my ol' man was with me. Couldn't be happier!
Nice work! We call it "ejector rack" syndrome up here. You hit 'em with a bullet this time of year and the impact will often knock their rack off. We broke 500!!
Sorry for not updating after last weekend. Didn't hunt Saturday morning. Alarm went off and it was pouring rain. Rolled over and stuck in some ear plugs. Rain is really noisy on an aluminum camper roof. ;-) Left the camper Saturday and it was around 42* and pretty calm. Just got settled in my blind and the winds started blowing to 35 mph. Now and then it would rain/sleet/snow. The blind was rocking. I saw nothing in the food plot before dark. Can't say that I blame the deer for not coming out. I decided to head home since more of the same was predicted for Sunday, only colder. It was 18* when I got back to the trailer after dark. Nice job on the buck Dave. We are about half way to winning now.
Good luck this weekend everyone. I'm headed to Anchorage again. Hopefully I'll get to shoot some TechnoHunt and try out an Elite Hunter at Full Curl while I'm up there. Otherwise it's the girlfriend's corporate Xmas party and the last of my holiday shopping.
Congrats on the buck Dave. I've been out only once in the last 2 weeks. I made the switch on my stand like I was talking about and I found a good amount of hair on the fence and three distinct crossings within bow range of my setup. I hunted that evening but saw nothing. I will be out there again this weekend some and some over the next few weeks. I've got till Jan 15th to close the deal.
Same to you Will. I'm looking forward to the late season. Two tags left in my pocket, one being that darn buck tag. Merry Christmas.
I hope you were all having a great Christmas weekend! Mine was a little extra great thanks to Will hooking my girlfriend up with some video camera glasses. The two have been conspiring with another friend behind my back to get these in without me being any the wiser. Next year I hope to have all my kills on video with these things... if I can figure out how to get them aligned properly. :/ Thanks Will!
well I'm still at it, until the 31st. Missed a doe tonight on film...sweet lol. Bucks are still holding, check my post in the Trail Cam section...few good ones still showing up. Still plotting a plan to see where they are bedding. Good luck to those still out, and have a happy and safe new year
