well the report of my weekend is unsuccessful as far as points, but really encouraging. Bucks are just starting to seek over by us. Saw a few good shooter bucks, but most all of them payed little attention to grunts or rattling. I had a good 10 pt come in to 5 yds on saturday night. was a 3.5 yr old i guessed riiight around 140" with about an inch of his left G3 busted off at the top. I was back and forth on shooting him, but passed because I know there are several booners around that call our property home. Took a couple pictures of him as he was coming through that i'll post..I know pics don't score us points but it's a good start to the upcoming rutting events! looking to get back over to the property this weekend

Well it ended up being a pretty good weekend. I got back late last night. I took 2 Does and found the skeletal remains of a 13 point buck that we think died of blue tongue (he was 15yrds from water).

Now that the freezer is full I can really start looking for a good buck.

image by bbalmac42, on Flickr" />


image2 by bbalmac42, on Flickr" />


hope this shows up. let me know if it doesnt work and what you guys think. Was i nuts to pass??

I really can't say as I have no idea what caliber of bucks you have there, but if you were around here and you passed on that buck I'd tell you that you're out of your freakin' mind!

I'm impressed that you passed on that guy though. You must have some decent targets that you're after.

Congratulations on a great weekend! After last year I told myself that I would never double again. It's too much work all at once.

Since I'm leaving for Ohio this Friday for a nine day hunt I told my wife that I would stay home this past weekend. Wouldn't you know a cold front would blow through, the temps would drop and the deer would finally start moving. Two guys from our club took good bucks. My wife told me that I could go if I wanted to but I stuck it out. I sure wanted to be out there, but I didn't let her know that.

Yeah it wasn't to bad I shot one on Saturday morning and the other on Sunday morning. The hardest part was the tracking job on the second doe. My arrow hit a branch and caused it to go in low and back on her. We gave her 3 hours and We had great blood but she still went half mile before we found her lying on the ground and I had to finish her off. That is the worst part of bow hunting. That unexpected bad shot can really stick with ya sometimes.

My wife spends all year going out to this horse rescue helping out once or twice a week. It is her get away time and stress reliever. She knows the end of october and first 3 weeks of November are when I have mine. I still try to stick around when I can and sometimes I skip a good day to hunt and stay with her. It gives me brownie points!!!!! :s4:

I leave for Indiana on friday. I will be hunting until Tuesday. It is buck time! Things should be in full swing so it should be an exciting week for us.

So you're leaving for Indiana the same day I'm leaving for Ohio. You're right... it should be an exciting week for us. Good luck in Indiana!

Wisconsin
I believe if your alright with passing and won't be regretful, it's okay. I passed a 170 @ 12 yards on my second sit. I'm pissed but the droptine buck was 15 yards behind him. I would never let him walk if he was by himself. Well the rut should kick in around here in few weeks. Good luck and be safe. God Bless
Rocky

I think you guys are nuts. :happy0157:

Okay, not really since you have target bucks that are a lot better than what you're passing on, but for someone whose biggest buck ever is 120" it's hard to imagine passing on a 140 or a 170.

Little Cheif
What would you do if the cicumstance was you in my place and a 5x6 170 inch was @ 12 yards and your at full draw and you look to your left and there stands a buck that makes the 170 look small with 2 huge droptines ? If it happened again, I would stop again. If you seen that buck which I have on 2 more occasions and once more in the same circumstance, but the 170 was at a jog as was the droptine buck. I'm praying that the 3 of the 4 quarters that I hunt on are bow hunting only and I'm the only hunter,the other quarter has 5 hunters that all shotgun hunt. They shot a buck I named Star 2 years ago that was a non typical that would score 170 easy but was nasty to look at. I was hoping he made it one more year.
Rocky :D

I am not at the point where I can pass on a 170 inch deer even if I see a bigger one behind him. I live in IL a 2 buck state. I will take the 170 and hope I can come back and take the bigger one later.

Here are some better pics of the dead deer I found in Wayne County.

congrats henson on the does. youngfart i know what you are talking about. ipassed an old buck a couple years ago would have grossed around 155. i am all about killing old deer but man i really wanted the 175 inch 9 point i had almost killed on both days prior to that so i knew he was in the area. yep never killed the 9 nor got a shot at that old buck again either. seen them both many times and had lots of cam pics but no shots. both deer disappeared after season and i have no idea where they went

Congrats Henson. I have been busy and not online much. Sorry about that. I may hit the lease again this weekend. It would be the first time I could go hunt my main setup.

Good luck everyone.

-john

Dang Rocky. That would be almost impossible for me to answer with any cetaintly until I found myself in that situation. I like to think that I'd do the same thing you did, but I just don't know for sure.

I do know one thing, and that is that I'm looking forward to Ohio starting Saturday. It'll be the first time I've ever hunted in a location where 140" class deer aren't that uncommon and a 160" to 180" is actually a possibility. Maybe not for me, but it's a possiblity for someone. Hey, anything could happen during the rut, right?

I hope that drop tine buck is still around and that it all works out for you. Good luck!

It definitely has become an easier thing to do, especially when I think of what they will become in a year. And with QDM being pretty prevalent among landowners in the county, it helps knowing that i'm not the only one passing on these bucks. I was drawn back on a 150class buck last year and waited for him to take that infamous last step that never happened. A lady on a neighboring property took that buck on the opening of bow season this year and I was in the bar when she came to register it. 174". Pretty awesome to see what a year can do. I am headed back up this weekend and I am hoping that my patience and will power on passing that buck pay off! :)

Ok guys I am back from the lease. It was a pretty good weekend. The buck looks a little better than he scores I think. I put some quick numbers on him but the neasuring tape was a little thick and hard to work with.. I will get final numbers tomorrow but he will come in somewhere in the mid 130's. I will take a doe next trip. My season here does not end until the 3rd week of January.

-john

Congrats Tex. Must be nice to be wearig shorts. Come on up here LMAO. Bucks are still jostling wich I find hard to belive, sat al day yesterday and saw a spike and one doe, Brutal for a 11 hour sit. There not chasing yet,could be a late rut. Happens every once in a while.
Rocky

congrats tex

Thanks guys. I entered him this morning. He ended up 132 4/8. Weirdest thing was his main beams. One was over 21 4/8 and the other was 18 4/8. Never had that much of a difference in main beam length like that before.

Good luck to everyone else and I will knock us down a doe at some point.

-john

Ohh and I would love to come up there and hunt...LOL. It has been a really wet and warm "fall" down here. It looked like spring and really made the hunting difficult.

I do wear shorts while most people are wearing coats but that morning it was about 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

-john

Tex & Team
We are now in second place, let's give er for the next few weeks, the rut should be close in most places. I'll start my all day sits starting Saturday till the next Sunday,8 day's straight, yahoo! :D
Rocky

dude thats a monster in texas..way more than 130 it looks to be.

I hear you but that is what he scores...Biggest deal is that I have a tape measure that works. Over the years some of the people in the contest tend to ...lets say mismeasure by as mush as 15+ inches......LOL.

-john

Well I just got back from my Indiana trip. Things are really starting to heat up down there. On my first sit friday night I had 2 does come in at 20 yards and they looked to be hott so I let them walk thinking a buck might be following but no such luck. I really didn't have much action the entire trip besides turkeys because the deer were nocturnal so the most action was in the morning and I must have just had bad stand placement or something.
But as you see on TV the last days hunt on the last evening right at dark I sealed the deal with an old indiana 9 point :woot: . He isn't to big but I am proud as hell of him because even though I have killed lots of does he is my first bow buck. I was sitting on top of a ridge over looking an acorn flat and right before dark he came out about 100 yards away. It was almost dark so I grunted and it wasn't until I snort weezed did he take me seriously. After that he went back the way he came in and circled around the side of the ridge and he popped out about 35 yards away. But it was to dark for a shot that far so I grunted a couple more times and he kind of circled around again and this time he was 20 yards away. I was just able to see his body in my peep and I let the goldtip fly and the rage took care of him. He went 25 yards and was done. The entire encounter took 15-20 minutes but it felt like hours! I was really worried that it was not going to happen but everytime I would grunt he would change course and come my way finally giving me a shot. I couldn't really even see where the shot hit him but a few seconds later when I heard the thrashing on the ground I knew I had my first buck! I had to hold on to the tree for a second to calm myself!

I will get a picture up later. I am going to go unpack get him hung up and throw some tape on him to get a score.

Great deal Henson59. This team is starting to come together.

-john

heson and tx awesome and gongrats

henson an extra congrats for your first bow buck.

guys that big 9 (big boy is what i named him) is really getting under my skin. i put up another cam and got a pic of him so i have a another piece of the puzzle. but it is still a puzzle being put together at night. however it appears he is coming from accross the road (same owner so i can hunt him and that is the side of the road i found his shed on) so it is time to make a new set and place a couple of cams.

Good luck Snapper...we need him...LOL.

-john

that single pic of the 8 in day light and the other 4 of the other 8 point. i wont kill either of those bucks they are dnk list bucks

He scored 97"

Henson
Congrats on your 1st bow buck, man size means nothing ,specialy if your hunting for food. Any buck with a bow is a good kill and will have a spot in your heart till the day you stop hunting. Congrats again. Oh yeah and with Henson's buck and Tex's doe were 1st place sitting with 295 I think. You go Team
Rocky :woot:

Oh I will always remember this buck! I had to work hard to get him and it was just one of those shots you will remember forever because it was so unique. Plus like you said it is my first bow buck.

I just added up the scores and we are currently in 3rd with 279 4/8. We are behind teams 3 (361) and 7 (353). Team 3 has killed 2 decent bucks and 3 does. Team 7 has killed a couple average bucks but they have killed 6 does!

Once we start dropping does and snapper finally gets that 9 point to stop screwing with him we should be doing even better then we already are!


Now that this contest is starting to take shape we have a real shot at winning. Keep up the good work guys!!!!

henson i am gonna kill a doe with in a day or 2. lol

Well I will not be headed back to the lease until Thanksgiving but I will knock one down before the season ends.

-john

Since it was my first bow buck I have decided to do something special. I am having the skull boiled and I know a guy who does the water transfer printing and he is gonna dip it for me. Just have to pick the camo design I want. I am pretty excited to see how it turns out. I am butchering him tomorrow night and Brody will have the skull by saturday so hopefully it will be done by the end of the contest so I can post pics of it.

If you want to check out his work you can vist his facebook page. Search- Wrapped in ink

I am doing a euro on mine also. Quick word of advise...you really don't want to boil your skull. It will weaken the bone. Don't do anymore than a slow simmer. If you have the time the best thing is to just leave it in a bucket of water. It will take a month to 6 weeks but it will do a great job without affecting the bone.

Here are a few pictures of my buck from last year that I did. I also built the stand.









Good luck and Congrats again.

-john