6 hours of round trip driving and seven hours of goat hunting yielded two nice bucks and several missed shots. My younger sister and good friend, Bruce McCown, were my travel and hunting companions. Bruce made quick work of his hunt by filling his "any antelope" tag by 9am. He made a beautiful 187 yard shot. His buck dropped in its tracks. Mine hit the ground by 11am. Bruce and I spent the rest of the day guiding my sis. She was having a tough go of it...the goats have been going through shock and awe for the last three weeks. Getting one to hold still long enough for a shot was nearly impossible! The group she was gunning for at 223 yards She missed high at the shot... What a great day on the prairie! Stay after it PT! Get him Dave!
I forgot to say, if anyone ever feels the need to come hunt pronghorn, I know this great spot! It would be totally on public land, and I'm sure I could manage a day or two showing you the ropes. You only need to apply by March 15th, *in the year of the hunt. Non-resident tags for any antelope cost $283. Additional doe/fawn tags are like $49 each. An archery endorsement (which allows you to hunt beginning August 15th) will cost another $30. If a person fails to harvest a goat with the bow, then he can continue hunting with a bang stick during the normal rifle season. PM me if you have interest. Thanks T and PT!
Congrats Will! I'm planning on being back in the stand Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. Hopefully work plays along with this plan too.
Scott, What's the weather been doing there? Are temps cooling off? I'm getting excite about hunting Illinois.
3 sits ..... only saw deer last night .... gonna be out there for an am hunt tomorrow and Tuesday ...
We were in the 70's all week here, but it drops off pretty good right before dark. Talked to a few guys that hunted this weekend, and they said very little deer movement at all though. I did get to see a picture of a 164" 15 pointer killed just to the north of our farm opening weekend. There is a lot of sign showing up, but my guess is it's being made during the night. They are saying a cold front will be moving through Friday night, and I'm really holding high hopes for next weekend. You picked some great dates to be in a stand here in the Illinois though. Those first 2 weeks in November usually gets those bucks running wild. Just checked the 10 day forecast, and they are calling for an east wind Friday and Saturday. There is a special spot I have been holding out in the public river bottoms that is only huntable with an east wind, and there is an absolute beast of a 12 pointer that used this area last year. Scouted him hard back in February, and I'm hoping it pays off. PT---I tried texting those deer up your way, but they said they didn't want to meet your arrow tonight. Good luck with that big boy running around though, he would make for a perfect end to your stretch of luck these past few years.
While it killed me not being able to hunt this weekend, I still had a great time. Saturday night, we threw a big party for my sister who is expecting her first child in December. Spent all Friday night, and Saturday morning setting up for it, and it turned out great. Today, a few of us went to the parents new house on the farm, and were planning on hanging the insulation. We ended up having 8 volunteers show up, and with our small army of workers, we were able to get all the insulation hung, a lot of the electrical work finished, and several other small jobs. About another month, and they should be ready to move in. Meanwhile, my uncle was having problems with his combine. He has had some health problems these last few years, and has a very hard time getting around. The ground has been in our family since the early 1900's, and he still plugs away farming it the best he can. He is actually set to go in for surgery November 1st, where they are going to drill into the top of his spinal cord to try and correct the damage done by falling off a grain bin in '93. Hopefully this can improve his walking, and make life easier on him. Well the other day, while cutting beans, the combine got caught in a large rock that washed out into the field during the summer rains. With no combine and nearly 100 acres of beans still to cut, the local farming community showed up this afternoon. With 2 combines and 2 semi's running in and out, they had the job finished in 1 day. It was amazing to see this kind of support show up both for the parents house, and for my uncle who is one to never ask for any help even when he needs it. (and he definantly needed every bit of it today). Anyways, after people started leaving the house, I knew I had 3 cameras that were pretty low on batteries out there, so I jumped in the truck, and with the farm equipment running around me I knew my sound would be covered. I pulled the cameras and had some nice bucks. A lot of them are bucks I have pics of already, but a new one did show up. This is a picture of my uncle, just minutes before the breakdown. I'm almost positive this is the buck I got on video earlier. He showed up at this camera almost nightly for the last month between 10 P.M. and 3 A.M. Here he is during the day at a different camera about a 1/2 mile away. He's only a 2.5 year old, but I think I might kill him if given the chance. I just can't seem to make my mind up. This buck is new. I want to kill him, he's probably not the biggest running in this area, but he is definantly big enough for me. I think I have a picture of this buck in velvet, but I can't seem to find it right now. I'm thinking it's about time for me to stop posting these trail cam pics of these bucks, and finally connect on one. Hopefully I get some free time this week to hunt.
Aweszome stuff, Scott! You have some dandies there and good for you being a blessing to your family..........sit # 4 this am....4mph west wind and 35 degrees
PT Walked for 1.5hours with the dog and the missus, limit of 5 grouse. Took a buddy hunting sunday morning. Leaving the house the BAD omen of two does bedded across the street from our house was there ( any time I see those two there I see SQUAT, either that or white flags and blows. Had an AWESOME day, he was hunting with rifle and myself with my bow. He got winded early in the day as 4 does bust him. I have a grudge with the oldest and wisest of this group of does ( 3 year history with her busting myself) I might head back in later in the season and give her something to stomp her foot at. One small 5 point around lunch hour. I was hesitant to release an arrow at a doe in mid afternoon as she never truly offered me a shot with the bow. Now there are a few things I learned yesterday. Grouse as you know are not the smartest critters, however they do have a magic aura around them causing your arrows to hit twigs, glance off brances etc. If you ARE lucky enough to harvest one with the bow, 1) you do NOT need a 70lb bow for a complete pass thru. 2) If you do happen to staple one to a tree, getting arrow out of tree after shot with 70lb bow ( even with judo tips ) can be hard on carbon arrows. 3) No matter HOW cool you look with a quiver full of camo arrows, such sed arrows once shot at a grouse IN a tree above eye level, becomes a daunting task to find that arrow....actually there are 3 of them up here in Northwestern Ontario that I will offer a reward for any of you fella's that would like kindly return them to me LOL. Will congrats on the goat !!!! Stay safe and shoot stright boys. Possession date for the house is this friday and I prolly will not get out until the 3rd week in november for an actuall all day site ( might sneak out for a quick hunt here and there )
Put him down Scott, good luck. Nice goat Will. Got out yesterday morning, saw no deer. I did have a yote that I mouth called in to 10 yards but he was behind a tree and I couldn't get a shot. When he hit my path in he backed out.
Nothing to report over here guys. Been out a few weekends, seen some does, no shots. I'm headed to Wisconsin on Wed for 4-5 days. Weather forecast looks good and hopefully I'll see some action! Good luck all!
Had a nice evening tonight, until the farmer decided it was also a nice evening to spread manure all over the fields....
I'm headed out after work. Not sure if I want to sit over a cut bean field or on the edge of a bedding area yet.
no hunting for me today ....Tomorrow and Thursday night .. all day Friday and Saturday ... Sunday after church ...
