A great week of hunting (Long)
11-30-2009, 08:54 AM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Southern Illinois
Posts: 1,559
A great week of hunting (Long)
Sorry this is so long and little late. It is hard to wrap up a week of hunting and 5 kills quickly.
My good hunting buddies (Alan, Jeff and Don) and I hunted Nov 13th to the 22nd on my place here in Illinois. This allowed us to bow hunt what we figured would be the peak of the rut and then hit the first Illinois firearm season.
I have to admit that I was pretty down going into this week. The previous two weeks were very slow going. I had only seen one decent buck from the stand and even the doe sightings were getting slow. Lucky for the guys it changed this week.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were pretty much the same as the previous two weeks. It was just Alan and I on Friday and Saturday and while we both could have killed does each day there was not even a buck spotted. Don came arrived around 11am on Sunday while Alan and I were still in the stands. He called me when he arrived to see where Alan and I were at and said there was a slob of a buck in the north bean field. This made me feel a little better, knowning at least one good buck was on his feet. I ended up seeing a good buck right at dark and Alan had a very nice 10 on thru his setup that evening as well, but never offered a shot. Monday morning start very slow. Around 10am I had yet to even see a deer. I had decided to eat a sandwich and take a little mental break and was debating about if I wanted to run back to the truck and take a nap or not. Just as I finished my sandwich, I looked over my right shoulder to see a rack coming up the ridge. It ended up being a buck I call rib cage, he is a super tall clean 10. I watched this buck several times during the summer of 08, but only seen him from the stand last season one time. I never did seem this past summer and figured he had packed up and moved, but here he was. However, the closest he came to me was 52 yards and I just did not feel comfortable with that shot. I texted Alan and Don and told them both what I just saw and just a few mintues later I had a phone call from Alan. Alan had just shot a nice 10 (not rib cage). We decided to wait until 11 or so before getting down to the do the track job, which was short and easy. By 11:30 we had Alan's 10 and the first good buck to come off of the farm. We got the four wheeler back to Alan's buck and I told Don to go ahead and climb back into a stand and hunt while we took care of Alan's buck.
I had just finished getting cleaned up and was preparing to go back out into the stand. I had just opened my phone to text Don to let him know where I was heading when my phone rang. It was Don and I knew he had to have stuck something to be calling me. Sure enough, he stuck an very nice 8, which happened to be his very first buck ever. I changed clothes and hopped on the four wheeler again. Another short and easy track job and Don's buck was found. Not too bad, only one decent buck even seen this season, now we had two good ones in the truck. It seemed my bucks were finally starting to move and I still had the rest of the week to hunt.
Don headed for home the next morning while Alan, Jeff and I headed back out. Tuesday and Wednesday found us doing all day hunts in steady pouring raining. As much as I wanted to get down, the bucks were still on their feet and moving at all hours of the day. The rain finally brokeThursday and the deer movement had not slowed a bit. However none of us three were able to close the deal. Everything I was seeing was 50-60 yards out, but at least I was seeing them. I had one very nice 8 I seen 5 times and he was going to be in big trouble with me having a gun in my hands Friday morning.
Friday morning came and I was pumped, I was positive I was going to put my buck down. However, by 10am I still had yet to see a deer. The shooting was very limited and it seemed as if all the deer activity we had been seeing shut down. I was fearing the bucks were locked up. Around 11am was about half a sleep in my stand when I heard a twig snap, not thinking, I turned my head quickly to my left and was surprised to see my big 8 starring right at me. He had slid him behind me while I was napping and caught me unprepared. We starred at each other for a few seconds when he took a few steps behind a tree. I figured this was my chance and shoulded my gun, but he had other thoughts and took off with my movement. The mid day activity picked up, but it was all does and smaller bucks. Finally around 3:30 I heard Jeff's muzzleloader light off. I knew he had just busted a good buck since he only had a single tag and would not waste in on a doe. Sure enought, he had a very good 7 (main frame 8 with a busted brow tine) down.
My two boys arrived that night, while Jeff headed off to sleep in his own bed. Saturday morning, I had forgotten my cell in the camper, but figured it would not be an issue. About 30 minutes after day light I heard Zac, my oldest son, rattle his 20 gauge off. It was killing me not having my cell to find out what was going on, but figured he would come and get me if he needed me. I waited about 30 minutes and just had to get down to find out what had happened. He was still sitting in his stand when I got there, I figured this had to be a bad sign. I asked him if he hit and, which replied and that he thought he heard it crash in the creek bottom. I asked if it was a buck or a doe and he replied that it was a buck. I then asked if it was good buck or a small buck (the boys have the green light to shoot whatever they want). He had shot his first antlered deer this bow season and said he was not shooting another buck unless it was a good one. He smiled and said that he tought it was a 4 pointer, which I replied cool and told him to get down so we could find it. The deer had only went about 40 yards after the shot, but as he walked up to it, the spun around with a dead serious look in his eyes and explained that "that is a lot better buck that I tought". He had pulled the trigger on a fine 8 pointer (I am guessing 110-115") and he could not have been any happier. His little brother came to help us take some pics and to congratulate his older brother. When we were finally done, Hunter (my middle boy) decided he was going to climb into Zac's stand while we ran the deer to the truck. We got back up to the truck, took a few more pictures and the boy made all the phone calls. I ate a sandwich and had just started to get dressed again when I heard Hunter's gun ring out. Sure enough, out of the same stand Hunter and just shot another buck. Another very quick and easy track job, we were on Hunter's neat 6 pointer. Both boys just as pround as could be. That was enough for me, we took some more pictures and we all loaded up and headed into town for breakfast.
I really thought that week of hunting was going to be slow, but it just proves that each day is a new day. I was never able to close the deal on my buck, but between my friends and boys, they put some great bucks on the ground and I was just as excited as if I would have shot them.
Alan's 10 scored 122 5/8
Don's 8 scored 131 6/8
Jeff's 7 scored 124 3/8
I have not scored Zac's or Hunter's deer, as I am trying to teach my boys that a trophy is not measured by a number.
Alan's 10
Don's 8
Alan and Don together
Jeff's 7
Zac's 8 and Hunter's 6
My good hunting buddies (Alan, Jeff and Don) and I hunted Nov 13th to the 22nd on my place here in Illinois. This allowed us to bow hunt what we figured would be the peak of the rut and then hit the first Illinois firearm season.
I have to admit that I was pretty down going into this week. The previous two weeks were very slow going. I had only seen one decent buck from the stand and even the doe sightings were getting slow. Lucky for the guys it changed this week.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were pretty much the same as the previous two weeks. It was just Alan and I on Friday and Saturday and while we both could have killed does each day there was not even a buck spotted. Don came arrived around 11am on Sunday while Alan and I were still in the stands. He called me when he arrived to see where Alan and I were at and said there was a slob of a buck in the north bean field. This made me feel a little better, knowning at least one good buck was on his feet. I ended up seeing a good buck right at dark and Alan had a very nice 10 on thru his setup that evening as well, but never offered a shot. Monday morning start very slow. Around 10am I had yet to even see a deer. I had decided to eat a sandwich and take a little mental break and was debating about if I wanted to run back to the truck and take a nap or not. Just as I finished my sandwich, I looked over my right shoulder to see a rack coming up the ridge. It ended up being a buck I call rib cage, he is a super tall clean 10. I watched this buck several times during the summer of 08, but only seen him from the stand last season one time. I never did seem this past summer and figured he had packed up and moved, but here he was. However, the closest he came to me was 52 yards and I just did not feel comfortable with that shot. I texted Alan and Don and told them both what I just saw and just a few mintues later I had a phone call from Alan. Alan had just shot a nice 10 (not rib cage). We decided to wait until 11 or so before getting down to the do the track job, which was short and easy. By 11:30 we had Alan's 10 and the first good buck to come off of the farm. We got the four wheeler back to Alan's buck and I told Don to go ahead and climb back into a stand and hunt while we took care of Alan's buck.
I had just finished getting cleaned up and was preparing to go back out into the stand. I had just opened my phone to text Don to let him know where I was heading when my phone rang. It was Don and I knew he had to have stuck something to be calling me. Sure enough, he stuck an very nice 8, which happened to be his very first buck ever. I changed clothes and hopped on the four wheeler again. Another short and easy track job and Don's buck was found. Not too bad, only one decent buck even seen this season, now we had two good ones in the truck. It seemed my bucks were finally starting to move and I still had the rest of the week to hunt.
Don headed for home the next morning while Alan, Jeff and I headed back out. Tuesday and Wednesday found us doing all day hunts in steady pouring raining. As much as I wanted to get down, the bucks were still on their feet and moving at all hours of the day. The rain finally brokeThursday and the deer movement had not slowed a bit. However none of us three were able to close the deal. Everything I was seeing was 50-60 yards out, but at least I was seeing them. I had one very nice 8 I seen 5 times and he was going to be in big trouble with me having a gun in my hands Friday morning.
Friday morning came and I was pumped, I was positive I was going to put my buck down. However, by 10am I still had yet to see a deer. The shooting was very limited and it seemed as if all the deer activity we had been seeing shut down. I was fearing the bucks were locked up. Around 11am was about half a sleep in my stand when I heard a twig snap, not thinking, I turned my head quickly to my left and was surprised to see my big 8 starring right at me. He had slid him behind me while I was napping and caught me unprepared. We starred at each other for a few seconds when he took a few steps behind a tree. I figured this was my chance and shoulded my gun, but he had other thoughts and took off with my movement. The mid day activity picked up, but it was all does and smaller bucks. Finally around 3:30 I heard Jeff's muzzleloader light off. I knew he had just busted a good buck since he only had a single tag and would not waste in on a doe. Sure enought, he had a very good 7 (main frame 8 with a busted brow tine) down.
My two boys arrived that night, while Jeff headed off to sleep in his own bed. Saturday morning, I had forgotten my cell in the camper, but figured it would not be an issue. About 30 minutes after day light I heard Zac, my oldest son, rattle his 20 gauge off. It was killing me not having my cell to find out what was going on, but figured he would come and get me if he needed me. I waited about 30 minutes and just had to get down to find out what had happened. He was still sitting in his stand when I got there, I figured this had to be a bad sign. I asked him if he hit and, which replied and that he thought he heard it crash in the creek bottom. I asked if it was a buck or a doe and he replied that it was a buck. I then asked if it was good buck or a small buck (the boys have the green light to shoot whatever they want). He had shot his first antlered deer this bow season and said he was not shooting another buck unless it was a good one. He smiled and said that he tought it was a 4 pointer, which I replied cool and told him to get down so we could find it. The deer had only went about 40 yards after the shot, but as he walked up to it, the spun around with a dead serious look in his eyes and explained that "that is a lot better buck that I tought". He had pulled the trigger on a fine 8 pointer (I am guessing 110-115") and he could not have been any happier. His little brother came to help us take some pics and to congratulate his older brother. When we were finally done, Hunter (my middle boy) decided he was going to climb into Zac's stand while we ran the deer to the truck. We got back up to the truck, took a few more pictures and the boy made all the phone calls. I ate a sandwich and had just started to get dressed again when I heard Hunter's gun ring out. Sure enough, out of the same stand Hunter and just shot another buck. Another very quick and easy track job, we were on Hunter's neat 6 pointer. Both boys just as pround as could be. That was enough for me, we took some more pictures and we all loaded up and headed into town for breakfast.
I really thought that week of hunting was going to be slow, but it just proves that each day is a new day. I was never able to close the deal on my buck, but between my friends and boys, they put some great bucks on the ground and I was just as excited as if I would have shot them.
Alan's 10 scored 122 5/8
Don's 8 scored 131 6/8
Jeff's 7 scored 124 3/8
I have not scored Zac's or Hunter's deer, as I am trying to teach my boys that a trophy is not measured by a number.
Alan's 10
Don's 8
Alan and Don together
Jeff's 7
Zac's 8 and Hunter's 6
12-01-2009, 05:44 AM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Southern Illinois
Posts: 1,559
Thanks, it is the second year I have had it and while we have connected on some nice bucks, we still have not gotten one of the true big boys that run it.
It is 165 acres, 150 of it is timber and sit in the middle of about 600 acres of timber. The surrounding ground makes it what it is.
It is 165 acres, 150 of it is timber and sit in the middle of about 600 acres of timber. The surrounding ground makes it what it is.
