RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

I just checked the official score card. It looks like we're in third place. I hope to add to our tally here in the next couple of weeks. It's been pretty hot and humid here in Iowa lately. All I've seen is does and yearlings so far. This cold front coming through should help get the bucks moving. I used Sunday afternoon to hang 3 more treestands on my place. I've got most of thier travel routes covered pretty well. Just got to wait for the bucks to start cruising for hot does I guess.

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

I'm going to head out again tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get some meat for the freezer. ;)

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

i went out tonight. saw my normal zilcho.

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Hey guys...

I am heading back home on friday afternoon...going hunting friday night, and all day saturday...then going on my moose hunt for all of next week (as long as it takes) So needless to say I wont be posting on here for a while but when I do get back you can rest assured that I will have news of some sort to pass on to you all!

Until then...good luck team! :D

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

No luck this morning. In fact I had some bad luck. [&:]

I didn't see any deer during legal shooting hours. I had 2 come down the trail but it was still too dark to shoot. When there was enough daylight I just happened to look down and noticed my cable was frayed. Apparently I must have nicked it with a broadhead while I was getting setup in my stand. [:@] I guess it's a good thing I didn't have a deer come by today. Guess I'll be leaving work a little early today to head to the Bowtech dealer to have the cable replaced. :eek:

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

I have just been seeinf does lately but that should all change within the next couple of weeks when the weather gets better. Just checking in to let you guys know I am still here and wishing everyone good luck!

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

OK. I'm getting frustrated now. I've been out about a dozen times this year and I've only seen 2 different deer (saw them twice), a doe and her fawn button buck. That's it! Man, this isn't going good. Well, the next few weeks should be better. Me and a buddy are going to northern Minnesota this weekend for a 2 day getaway. Last year we saw quite a few deer in the same spot. Then the end of october we have the big camp ripley hunt. That's where I got my buck last year. Anyway, this year is really sucking so far.

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

I was out this morning in the cold and rain. Only saw 1 deer and it was a 4pt buck. Illegal to shoot here in PA. Will probably be back out on Monday morning. ;)

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Hey guys I'm still waiting for Oct 15th NY opener, Time is passing very slow:(. I have been scouting and have found plenty of rubs and a few scrapes. Sorry I havn't checked in in a while.

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

The 15th is coming soon! Good luck Callemin! ;)

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Hey Team,

Sorry it’s been awhile. Have been kepping busy with work, church (adding on to building), School board, Family and of course hunting.
I've been out 7 or 8 times, seen deer all but one time. Lots of does and fawns and several bucks. Have not had any shooter in range yet but hopefully one will give me a shot. Put one doe in the freezer and looking to put up a few more. Have seen a piebald 8 point twice already, I will have to sacrifice my tag if he gives me a good shot. Hope all of you Rackmasters are enjoying or will start enjoying some hunting time soon.

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Hey sfletch. Glad to see you've been seeing some deer. Hopefully you'll get that shot you're waiting for. Keep us posted and good luck! :)

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Well, I put a doe down this morning around 8am. She's currently at the butcher awaiting processing. It'll be nice to have meat in the freezer. 2 more doe tags and 1 buck tag to go! :)

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

JeramyK,
Congrates on the doe. It is always good to get some venison in the freezer.The deer are starting to move good here with the cooler rainy weather. I will get out Friday afternoon and Sunday afternoon.

Good hunting

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

I'll be out tomorrow morning for a few hours so hopefully I'll get lucky again. There's supposedly a couple bruisers on the property that I'm hunting but so far they've only been seen at night while spotting.

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Hey guys...finally got back to school after a LOOOONG week of hunting! The moose hunt was a success, although my pockets are now empty!

I can post the whole story and pictures if you are interested...just let me know!

I could have drilled a small buck yesterday but I already have PLENTY of meat in the freezer so I decided to hold out for more points!

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Congrats ME! I'd love to hear the story and see the pics of the moose hunt. ;)

I'll be back out on stand tomorrow and Tuesday mornings. Hopefully things will be better than yesterday. :eek:I had some guy walk straight through the trail I was watching yesterday morning at about 7am and he proceeded to make noise as he setup a stand 50 yards away from me. Needless to say I saw no deer activity. [&:] On top of that yesterday was opening day of our week long muzzleloader season. There were shots ringing out all morning till about 10am. [>:] Hopefully those guys will all be back at work tomorrow. ;) And hopefully our pre-rut starts kicking in soon.

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

STORY! STORY! STORY!

I'm ready lay it on us....

Congrats on the doe JeramyK...


I've been workin alot lately and haven't got to visit the site lately...Going north to our lease this next weekend to hunt and then one more week and it's off to IOWA !!! Can't wait:)

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Story it is then!

Alrighty then...my father and I both got drawn for moose permits in northern maine (not very good odds to begin with...father and son is quite rare!) We get up to the camp around 4 o'clock sunday afternoon and get all unpacked and start to finalize our game plan. It wasnt a very good outlook weather-wise as we were only supposed to have 2 sunny days all week. So monday came with much anticipation...we woke to a heavy drizzle/light rain (miserable conditions) and a morning temp. of 40 degrees. We headed to our hunting zone which was about 20 minutes from camp...not even a mile down the road we spot a dark blob in the road, it ended up being a cow (female moose). Another 5 miles down the road we saw another cow and then we finally made it to our zone. We both had bull permits and I made the decision to let my father shoot first seeing as though he may never get drawn again. We hunted the rest of monday without much action...we did see a young bull but we spooked him pretty hard as he was right on a corner. We managed to get a few Grouse that first day...so that kept us busy for a while.
Tuesday morning came with a much better outlook...same temperatures but without the rain. It was just overcast all morning. My dad and I took off and were heading to a "good-looking" road that we had found on the first day. We walked the road so we didnt make a lot of noise, we stopped every so often to call and thrash the bushes to mimmic a bull. We finished walking the road without anything happening, so we met back up with the other two guys we were up there with and decided that we should split up into 2 vehicles to cover more territory...we didnt get more than 2 miles down the main road and we spotted a moose crossing the road. We quickly verified that it was indeed a bull (albeit not a huge one) and we proceeded to walk down to where it had crossed the road...luckily he was just moping through a cutoff and we got him to stop...my dad made one heck of a shot with open sights on my .450 marlin at 150 yards. He double lunged the beast, but he still managed to go 100+ yards. When he finally hit the ground he was 1000 feet off the road with no trees to winch from (cutoff) As luck would have it a lumber company was working nearby and offered to drag it out with a skidder for a small fee ($100), so needless to say it was all dragged out in a timely fashion. We gutted it out and threw it in the back of my dads truck and headed back to camp. Dad came home to bring his moose to the butcher we wouldnt see him again till midday wednesday as it was a 6 hour drive each way to get home.

We went back out on Tuesday night for the last hour. 20 minutes into the night hunt we came up on another young bull, this one had bigger antlers than my dads but I felt confident we would find something bigger so I passed on him...we saw two cows and a young bear that night before it got dark.

Wednesday morning came without dad...but with excellent cool crisp weather. We saw 5 moose on the way to our zone. We got into the zone and drove the roads in the same area we saw the moose the night before. around 8 oclock we went down a great looking road with fresh tracks all along it. at 8:15 we were still inching down the same road...we came up over a rise and everyone in the truck yelled "BULLLL". We all saw it at the same time and I instantly knew it was a shooter. I got out of the truck and snuck around the back so he would not see me... I snuck down the road to within 75 yards before I let my first shot go (it was a direct hit as I later found out right behind the shoulder) but the enormous animal just stood there like nothing had happened...I jacked another shell in and ran closer to him thinking that I had missed...this time I had closed the gap to just 40 yards and he was still just standing there. I let another round go and it dropped him instantly when it hit him in the base of the neck. It didnt take me long to find out why he didnt move...when I turned around to see the reaction of my two hunting partners I was blinded by the sun...I couldnt see a thing, and the wind could not have been blowing better. We gutted my moose out and loaded him onto the trailer. When my dad got back to camp from his long ride it was time to turn around and drive back home...he was pissed!

My dads moosed dressed out at 503 lbs, and my moose dressed out at 850 lbs. with a 56" spread

Pictures will follow once I figure out how to decrease the size of them
--any suggestions would be great!

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Awesome story ME! I can't wait to see the pictures. A big congrats to you and your dad!

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Ok I just opened a photobucket account...hopefully this works!

My dads bull with the cut he shot it in (in the background)
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a16/ppirates2000/18.jpg

My dads bull where it dropped...with the skidder coming to save the day!
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a16/ppirates2000/20.jpg

My bull where it fell
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a16/ppirates2000/17.jpg

Me holding the head of my bull (I am 6'6" 215lbs.)
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a16/ppirates2000/16.jpg

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

man, that's a nice bull. heck, any bull is a good bull! That would be the hunt of a lifetime for me. congrats!

The last ten times I've been out I've only seen 1 stinking deer. To make things worse that deer had just been shot by my buddy. the 4pt died about 40 yards later.

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Nice pics ME! ;) Looks like one heck of a bull. Are you getting him mounted?

I went out again this morning and only saw 1 deer. A little 4pt buck which is illegal in my area. Going to head back out tomorrow.

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Not going to get him 'mounted' yet...to expensive for a poor college kid :eek::eek: I am planning on trying out a european mount which will only run me about $250. If I do that I will still have all my options open if I want to get a full mount down the road or even just an antler mount...I cant decide if I will like a moose euro mount or not...so what the heck...might as well try it. If it looks like an old western movie then I will try something else

Thanks for all the good words...now its time to focus on whitetails again!

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

I can only imagine the cost to have that moose mounted. But I can understand needing the $$$. I was once a college kid myself. I was lucky enough just to be able to afford equipment. ;)

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Yeh tell me about it, I am still getting by with my PSE nova that I got 5+ years ago....although there has been a lot of salivation on my part over those darn switchbacks!

I am not complaining though...I have a good enough summer job to be able to pay for my college up front and not have to deal with loans; so its all good!

Oh yea...the moose was going to run me 800-1200 bucks [:@]

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Ouch! For that much I'd probably go with a new bow and accessories! Having the moose mounted would be awesome but that is alot of cash!

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Well guys, Cabelas is OPEN! It's less then a mile from my house. The traffic is horrible, but the store is awesome. Picked up some necessities: tinks scent bomb, face paint, and new tru-talker (I think I wore the old one out). Plus, I looked at the muzzleloaders(it's my xmas present from my wife, sssh don't tell her) So, shopping is going good, hunting is by far the worst it's ever been for me. I'm taking Friday off to hunt and I'll probablyget out tonight. I can't believe I can't even get a doe. ugh!

Hope you all are having better luck then me...

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Wow, 1 mile from home? I'd be in so much trouble. LOL I have to drive about 75 minutes to the one in WV. ;)

I hope things pick up for you RackLuster. I had a similar season last year where it just seemed like nothing was moving and if I did see a deer it was always out of range.

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Thats awesome about cabelas being so close...I wish they would open one up in New England somewhere...all we have is LL Bean (its okay but becoming more clothing than hunting) and they are way overpriced on most things!

Sorry to here about the tough year Rack...the rut is right around the corner, hopefully that will spark some action for you

I will be getting out tonight as well, so hopefully I will have a good story to tell when I get back

Good luck all!

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Hopefully I'll be back out tomorrow morning or Friday evening. Will depend on my wife's schedule. If not I'll be back out Saturday morning for sure. I wish Sunday hunting was permitted here in PA. It would really benefit someone like me. [&:]

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

went out tonight to my honeyhole from last year...got there kind of late (4 p.m.) I stand in this place because there arent many good trees around...so here I was standing in the light rain until 5 minutes before legal shooting ends when I see antlers coming across the cut...honest to truth thats all I could see...I watched him come just like every time before from left to right but only this time he was moving a lot faster than usual...he came right down into my corner and never knew I was there I grunted at him when he was almost to where I wanted him but he didnt stop for another 3-4 strides right behind a tree[:@] he started going again but I couldnt get him to stop again till he was 40-45 yards away....maybe next time

Not a big deal (he was a spike that I had been seeing last year that had developed into a small 6; its probably a good thing that I couldnt get an ethical shot because I just might have shot him)

anywho...I was wondering why he moved so quickly across this cut...its all small spruce/fir with aspen scattered about. Last year the deer were happy just to mope around in it and browse...even the 2 bigger bucks. This year they fly across it and dont browse at all...I am thinking it because there is more food available to them this year then there was last.[:'(]

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Well, couldn't drag my lazy butt out of bed this morning. Alarm went off at 4am and I just couldn't do it. Must be a sign of getting old. [&:] Actually my son has been sick the past couple nights so I've been up later than usual getting him to fall asleep.

Going to plan on getting out tomorrow am. ;)

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Sorry Team, I haven't been posting much do to work. However I got a chance to get out today and harvested a nice doe Meat in Freezer!

Got up in my stand about 6 am, got settled in day light broke pretty good about 7:05I heard all sorts of noise, I figured tree rats and seen just that so I stood up to stretch my legs looked behind me and there were 5 does one which was a Pibald what a beauty. I tried to bleat etc. to get them to come my way the Pibald was heavy on my mind at this time but didn't offer me any kind of shot, then suddenly this one doe comes out of no where right into my honey well 15 yds and WHACK!! I let it rip happen so quick, seen my arrow sticking up from ground, Knew I hit her good cause I have two orange fletching and one green covered with blood.She expired within 20 yds,I just hope to get another chance at that Pibald such a beautiful thing to see. Didn't cost me a tag, I hunted the base today so their DMA's cover all bow doe killsin the archery only areas til they are gone.

I'm now siked up for the remainder of the season,friend of minegot a 11 pt only thing is itdressed out at 96 lbs:D

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

I guess as long as they got the bone-mass on the head it doesnt matter how much they weigh!

Congrats on the doe and good luck in future hunts

Good hearing from you again, and keep up the good work!

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Congrats VA! Good luck chasing that piebald. ;)

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

well, i went out last night...nothing again. i'm going to look for new spots this weekend. i'm putting my climber on my back and taking the mountain bike way into the woods (big chunk of public land, no driving). I also might go look at 40 acres 2 hours from home. that's got me pumped!

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Sorry I haven't posted in a while guys. Been busy working and hunting my butt off on the weekends. It's been pretty slow here in Iowa due to the warm weather. Warm heck! It's been hot until yesterday. Now we're finally seeing some seasonal weather. Iknow this doesn't count in the contest, but just to show you I do have deer to hunt on my place.Iowa's early muzzleloader season started last Saturday. My buddy had a tag so he came over and hunted last weekend. He gotan old 8 point out of one of my 2 man ladder stands at 50 yards. I do mean old8 point too. This deer had no teeth on his upper palate and only the front incisiors on his bottom palate. His muzzle, forehead,and even the back of his ears were all salt and peppered gray. The pre-rut should be kicking in here in the next 2 weeks and with the weather starting to cool off I'm hoping for some better luck. Seen plenty of does and yearlings but nothing with antlers as of yet. Except for the young 7 point that ran out in front of my truck as I was pulling into my driveway this evening! LOL Might have to set up a pop up blind in my front yard!

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

i've got the big camp ripley hunt this coming weekend (29th & 30th). to be honest guys, the way this is going this is my last chance at getting a buck with a bow this year.

RE: Official Team Rack Masters (17) Thread!!!
 

Good luck RackLuster. :) Hopefully the trip will be a successful one.

I went back out this morning but didn't see a darn thing. It was cool (low 40's) and raining. Even the tree rats stayed home. LOL :D Looks like I won't make it back out until Wednesday morning but the good news is that the rain is suppose to end by then and the temps are supposed to be in the 30's overnight and highs in the mid-upper 40's most of next week. Should hopefully get the deer moving and maybe, with a little luck, get the pre-rut going. ;)