Don't sweat the whiff, Rybo. At least it wasn't another 130 class, or you'd be really sick.

Dave - good thing you didn't go to the game - Pujols stunk up the place.

BigDaddy - that's what it's all about. If you don't get excited, it's time to hang it up. It's feelings like the one you felt that drive us all. I'm just happy that you got to experience it. Get back out there and climb back on the horse. Hope that shoulder holds up too.

Anthony - Things will get better once the corn is off and the youth seasons end.

Sum - I have the same one - it's called the Buckwing porta roof or something. $15 and worth its weight in gold.

Saw two doe yesterday and two more carloads of hunters at the farm I hunt. Really getting disgusted. They walk all over and stink up the place. They show up at daylight, leave at dusk, so they're clearing the deer out before they get to me. It sucks. The deer respond by getting into the cover andsitting tight. The hunting has really gone south. I went this morning to scout out some public land (where we spotted Ryan) and found an isolated hollow with what appears to be little/no hunting pressure and a nice heavy rubline on an old logging road. I cleared a tree out about 35 yards from a really active scrape. I'll be in there soon.

In other news, my buddy killed an absolute hog of a buck yesterday. An absolute hog. Probably one of the nicest bucks that will be killed in the state this year. Once I get a picture of it, I'll post it. It's a mainframe 5x5 with the most massive main beams I've ever seen - palmation that runs all the way to the G4 on the right beam (probably related to a hoof injury on his rear left hoof - missing a toe). It couldn't have happened to a better guy - good kid, hunts as hard as anyone I know, his wife just left him, so he needed something like that to happen. Me, him and another guy grew up hunting and trapping together since we were knee-high, and I'd say for sure that this cat is one of the best whitetail hunters in the county, but the monster bucks have always alluded him. Until yesterday. So, that made my day. It might not score so high, because I bet it's under 15" inside, but what a rack. 11 scorable points, with about 8 stickers that are just under 1".