Since my dear friend and hunting compadre since high school is too modest to post his photos in the Bowhunting forum, I'm going to do it for him.

As I said, Mike and I have been bowhunting together since high school. Back in the day when we would wander into the woods and aimlessly sit next to fallen down trees in hopes of killing a deer. We've come a long way in the last 10 years and it's finally starting to pay off. Mike and I filled both of our Illinois buck tags this fall for the first time in our short bowhunting careers.

Mike ended his season on Saturday morning with a 30 yard shot at this wide brute. Say what you will about activated carbon clothing, but this bad boy was dead down wind (a clever play on words!) and although he was spooky, he stood still long enough for Mike to put an arrow through him. He only made it 40 yards before piling up in plain view of his stand.

Congrats again to Mike on a great, great season. 2 mature Illinois bucks for the wall, a freezer full of meat, and a month and a half left for us to go on a doe whacking video mission. You cannot beat that!

I know I want to give a huge thanks to everyone who participates in the HuntingNet.com community. I've been posting on this site for nearly 4 years under various names and learned a lifetime of invaluable knowledge in that time. The same goes for Mike. We talk about things going on in the Bowhunting Forum just as much as we talk about things going on in our own personal hunting lives. Every experience that is shared on this site helps us all to become better hunters, so thanks everyone!

Great buck, gave my kudos in our team thread.

That settles it...I'm hunting Illinois next year. Nice bucK!

Very nice.... How wide is it??

Justin, you and the Duke are the real deal. I would rank you guys on the top of the best of the best hunters on HNI.

I think that should be good for a free hat.


Congrats to you and and dukemichaels on an awesome season.

Love the last pose, spooner[&:]

Wow. That's a dandy. Nice going.

Just a hair under 23" inside at his widest point.

And I'm not sure anyone here is really the "best" hunter. It's a combination of having a good spot to hunt, having enough time to hunt, putting in some hard work scouting, and applying all of the knowledge youv'e collected over the years to become a "better" or "more successful" hunter. Success is measured on many different levels, only one of them being the harvest.

Did you get a little puke in your mouth??[:'(]

That sucker is W--I--D--E!

Congrats to him!