Season starts Sept 15th here in MO. Ill be hunting my local property the first two days and then heading north for the 1st weekend.

I spend most ofmy time hunting in northern MO (Harrison County), which is where the trailcam pics I posted are from. But this year Im going to spend quite a bit of time at my parents farm in Franklin Co. Besides being only an hour away, there is a certain buck Im am after. I have his sheds for the past two years. He's a typical 8, with LOTS OF MASS! In April of 07, I found the 1st matched set within 5' of each other while turkey hunting. Despite the find, i didnt hunt there at all that fall.

Fast forward to spring 08, this time I went shed hunting before turkey season and found the left side 30 yds from the spot he dropped them in 07. Spent two more days searching three different farms for the other side with no luck. Two days later the neighbor calls me and say his dog was chewing on a deer antler in his yard. Sure enough it was the match. Im not letting him go undisturbed another year

In 07 (fall 06 antlers) he scored roughly 66" per side, with a conservative spread of 16" he would have been around 148". Last year I scored him at roughly 68" per side, which would put him around 152" last fall (same spread added). He had 20.5" inches of mass! Not bad for an 8 pt, huh .


top set is from this spring, bottom from 07