I've been in this contest since '03 or '04. It is always pretty fun.

My wife and I had a little girl last Wednesday. Stella Grace. We got home on Friday afternoon and I was in the treestand Saturday morning. My wife it sooo good to me.

On my hunt Saturday morning, I had a 130" 8 pointer come through just as it was starting to get light. Slowely fed towards me while I was praying it would take its time. When it gave me a final shot at 28 yards before he got out of range, I pulled back and whistled to make him stop. I then tried and tried and tried to see my pin...but it was still a little too dark. If I looked for my pin, I could see it but couldn't see the deer. If I looked for the deer, I couldn't quite see the pin. The shot was too iffy to risk, so I let him walk. About 4-5 minutes later, it was bright enough to see my pin. I was kind of bummed, but just reminded myself it was opening day. Will probably head out Saturday morning again, then hang it up unti the end of October. Anyone else been out?

Hey Kurt, congratulations to you and your wife on the birth of your daughter. I bet she loves venison! Post a picture of her sometime when you have a chance.
That 8 pointer would have been sweet. Good call on holding the shot. Hopefully he will sleep in a little later when you are out there.

I've been hunting mainly in the evenings over the last 10 days or so. I had a nice 140 8 walk by at 10 yards but I held up because he was with a 170 11 pointer. Well the big bastard didn't follow his friend to his death and he went straight out in the field and down the treeline out of range of course. Damn it. Been seeing lots of does. I saw a doe last night with twins that had spots on their back legs only. Pretty cool. I'm back after it Friday night in a new spot.

Just got a second....my buddy shot that 8 pointer this morning. Measured 130.125"...pretty good judgement, ah? When he sends me a pic, I will post it as well as a picture of Stella.

Hey BetterBirds, that would be awesome to nail the 170. Hope you outsmart him. Good luck. At least in the KCMO area the winds will be out of the south this weekend so that will mix it up a bit. So where abouts are you hunting? Give me some details!!
I'll try a couple of hunts this weekend. It's been dry for 19 days so I'm thinking of hanging along a creek bed. It has pockets of water along it. So what do you think, are the big boys likely to drink in the mornings or evenings, or both? If he's a college aged boy I would guess it would be around midnight. :guiness:

I agree KCMO-
The temps and drought in the area has to have the deer hitting the water holes. I've always caught most deer leaving water holes in the early morning. We have some major fires in the area that won't go out!! I can't believe how dry it is.

I haven't completely decided yet... I may go try to get on something next weekend... If not, It won't be until Halloween. We'll see how bad I get the Itch.

Good luck to everyone. We're not far from the fun times :)

Congrats on the addition Zub!!

Been crazy dry here... Will be interesting to see how that affects things this year....

went out tonight and got a small doe.....nothing crazy, and no bucks.....

KCMO I haven't been able to get out in the morning yet. I hope to hunting tomorrow morning. I went and checked a couple of cameras and there are a bunch of bucks on them. All of the buck pics I have are morning pics. Go figure. I think the water route is a smart. I haven't tried it yet but I may. I have noticed in the evenings that the damn deer are on their feet at 4 pm. I hunted last night as had deer moving by in the wind at 330.

I'm hunting down by FT Scott. I'm one of those rare lucky ones who has more ground to hunt then time to hunt it all. I have been focusing on some stuff right close to the house. That big buck I saw last week was a mile from the front door.

i'm still waiting to get in the tree!!!! next saturday can't wait.