RE: Greg H (Hats off to you sir!)
 

Cool story Greg.
When was your last bow buck kill in Wi if you don't mind?


T

RE: Greg H (Hats off to you sir!)
 

2004

RE: Greg H (Hats off to you sir!)
 

if you don't hunt in Wisconsin Greg where do you hunt?
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RE: Greg H (Hats off to you sir!)
 

Illinois and Wisconsin.

RE: Greg H (Hats off to you sir!)
 

Wow awesome story Greg. Thanks for sharing. Funny that the biggest buck you have on the wall, yet you had sat that many times and never saw anything!!

And I love the pic of your kid behind the rack. Did he follow in your footsteps and become a bowhunter?

RE: Greg H (Hats off to you sir!)
 

That still is my biggest buck, but I'm still trying.

My son is an excellent hunter........ when he's not chasing girls!

RE: Greg H (Hats off to you sir!)
 

Greg do you think our area of Wisconsin the chances of scoring on P&Y have diminished?
It seems a late winter last spring and couple that with all these CWD seasons the deer
numbers are just not there anymore.

RE: Greg H (Hats off to you sir!)
 

Great story!!

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RE: Greg H (Hats off to you sir!)
 

Greg, you may have mentioned this in other posts, but what standard do you set for yourself now before you take a buck.Is it anestimated P&Y score or width of the rack, other than the obvious buck that walks in, how do you judge the "marginal" bucks?

RE: Greg H (Hats off to you sir!)
 

I started out wanting a P&Y, any P&Y. Well, that first one through me for a loop so the next year I had to try again, 125" or better. This second season really taught me how to be patient. I had a lot of small bucks come by that I previously would have shot. I had a small 1 1/2 8 pointer come by me 3 days in a row and I drew on him all 3 times. [:-]This was the first 3 days of the season! Our Wi season opens on the 3rd Sat. of Sept. so I told myself that 1) If you shoot that you won't get a P&Y and 2) It's early yet, just relax. I had the urge a couple more times on some other bucks but I held off. That year, during my summer scouting I saw 2 bucks that I'd have shot. On Nov 8th I shot one of them, the smaller one. He grossed 126.5 and netted 125.5. That was close! He's the exact middle one in the bottom row.

For the next few years I shot what ever I thought was P&Y. Some were well over the minumum, some grossed it but netted under. During my 6th year of trophy hunting I shot a buck that I knew just had to be P&Y and he wasn't! Second from left, top row. He was missing a g-3 on one side and had a fork on the g-2 and a split brow tine, both major deductions. With 138" of horn on his head this buck only netted 116 as a 6 pointer. This was a changing point for me. This was a great buck, I'd seen him the year before and he was boss of the area. He dresses at over 220#. This is when I decided that if a buck LOOKED cool enough to me that I wanted to take him I would.

For the next few years when I got my spot in Lake co., Ill (bow only), I had already taken half a dozen or so 125 to 140 8 pointers, I upped my goal to the high 140's. First year I wanted 145+ or a clean 5x5. For the next 3 seasons I eeked it up to 147+ or a clean 5x5. What this did was have me trying for some of the top bucks in my area. In 2006 I saw 3 bucks I would have shot and got a chance at #3 but missed. [:o]I ended that season taking what I thought was a 5x5 but was a weirdo 9 pointer instead (2nd from left bottom row), In 2007 I got a shot at and scored on the #1 buck from 2006. Really weird, 2008 I shot the #1 buck from 2007 but he had went down hill from the year before, but he's still a really cool buck. I am calling these #1 bucks because they were the biggest bucks I'd seen during the season. I know that there are bigger ones out there, I just haven't seen them.

Anyway, this is how I started out and ended up with my goals today.

Thanks for asking.

RE: Greg H (Hats off to you sir!)
 

Thanks Greg, I am trying to get to that point, but I'm still having trouble passing on the real nice 120" bucks that come by. I hunt public ground exclusively so there is no point in the "letting them grow" attitude. Every year I see the 140-150 class bucks but getting close is few and far between. Someday it'll happen.