That's too bad JD. Sounds like finding some new ground will be a good move for you, good luck. One thing i'm not sure has been mentioned yet is don't under estimate the goldmine of information that aerial photography can provide. You may already do this but once you find a promising area, track down the 1:20000 air photos and it'll will instantly give you an idea of where to start looking and how deer will use the terrain. Combine the photo with first hand scouting (perennial trail locations) and the stands will almost hang themselves. Google earth can help early on in locating potential area to explore if you're not sure about an area and don't want to spend on airphotos yet.

Smoky was good, but slow hunting. The guys saw some shooters (a few were real crankers) but opportunities were tough to come by and a few missed their chances. We had really windy warm weather which didn't help much. In the end, a few 140ish deer were tipped over but nothing huge (at least by the time I left).

Skeet, That's awesome that you and your daughter had some good days in the stand. Hopefully you'll have a new hunting partner for life. Good luck getting your monster. Keep us posted.

Talked the buddy that helped me out when I first moved up here last night and he trumped me again this year that bugger! Last week he shot an toad that grossed 177, a mainframe 5x with forked g2's. He sent me some trail cam pics a while back and had been hunting this deer religiously.