Well, just got back from my weekend in JoDaviess. Not as good as I had hoped. [:' (]

Sat morning - Saw a total of 4 bucks. First a 6pt came by right as it got light. Then around 8:30 I had a spike followed by a decent 2.5 yr old 8 pointer come into the woods out of a CRP field. At the same time a small 1.5 year old 8 was heading towards them. They all met up 20 yards from my stand and had a staring contest. The bigger 8 got to within 15 yars and stood quartering away so I took the shot.....only to watch my arrow go about 1/2 inch over his back. [:@] But since he was so preoccupied with watching these other 2 bucks he didn' t even move! Unfortunately by the time I got another arrow out of my quiver, which was on a hook on the other side of the tree from me, he had moved into some brush and I never got another shot. He was a nice wide buck, probably 22" or so, but had real short tines. I' m thinking 4-6 inches tops. I have no clue how I missed. [:' (]

Sat night - immediately after getting on stand around 1:15 I had a button buck come in and bed down 30 yards away. I watched him till around 3 when he got up and moved into an open field. Then from out of nowhere comes this big 9 pt, 50 yards behind my stand! He was every bit of 150" gross typical points. I grunted at him a few times, he turned and started toward me, then turned back and headed into the CRP field to chase a few does. Right before dark I had a big buck coming in and spook 2 does, but he never got close enough during shooting light to see how big he was.

Sun morning - had a small 6 pt come by me at 20 yards, nose to the ground, grunting the whole time. After he passed by a small doe came flying be me out of nowhere at Mach 4, but I never saw whatever it was that spooked her.

Sun night - had a 1.5 year old doe come in 20 yards and stand broadside, just asking for a shot. I elected to pass and see if any bucks would come out later on. No luck on anything but 2 button bucks walking by right before dark.

All in all, not the greatest weekend in the world since I missed that buck, but I did see a lot of deer and movement. All total I saw 8 different bucks in 2 days, and the other 2 guys I was hunting with saw a combined 13 bucks in 3 days. Most of those not being the ones I saw. So 21 total bucks, 8-9 shooters, and a bunch of does. Hopefully next week when the rut' s in full swing I' ll get a chance to redeem myself. [8D]

see my post in carroll county illinois thread.

Okay so my dad just called and said that I should stop by his work to see the camtracker pix from this past weekend. On my way over I see a nice 8 pt running a doe through a cow pasture. The time was 12:33.

Well, I get over to his work and he shows me the pix. On Saturday he decided to move his camera from the ridge where he was hunting right down next to our camp. I mean not 60 yards from where we sleep. And on Sunday morning there' s a picture of a HUGE 8 pt walking by. Probably 24-26" spread and 12" G2s. Judging by position of the sun it was somewhere between 10:30 and 12. I have no idea where this buck came from or went to considering nobody saw him come through, but he' s definitely a bruiser. Even has a nice double throat patch. I' ll try to scan the pic tonight and post it. There' s another shot of what appears to be the same buck from Nov. 4th. It' s a side angle so we can' t be 100% sure it' s the same guy, but he looks pretty close.

The Hubby Shoot a nice 7 point buck day before yesterday but do to it being hit to far back he had to let him lay and not push him, Im still sick so I cant bowhunt but the hubby drug me out to look for his buck and boy I wasnt really up to it just to sick, and this really SUCKS, we did go out the next morning and found him dispite the rain had washed away the blood trail, but unfortunatly the weather was too warm that night and the meat was no good, the critters had already been at him they had a real feast. We did recover the rack though, interestingly the bucks neck wasnt really all that swollen. I estimated his age by his teeth to be a 2 1/2 year old and he was shoot at 2:30 in the afternoon.
Im starting to get alittle better but still have a bad cough so I cant get in the stand until this cough is all gone , hopefully by this weekend.

I went this evening and saw two small bucks but no does...that scares me cause i like to see lots of does during this time of year. mabey i need to move.

Well I double dosed on the cough medicene and made it out to bowhunt last night. The wind was brisk but starting to weaken. I sat my stand just inside the woods off a picked bean field sitting 20 yards off a deer highway trail. At 3:00 I had a doe with a doe yearling running saround in the woods strip on the opposite side of the field and then they ran across the field and into the woods down the deer trail 20 yards in front of me. The doe yearling and doe stopped and kept looking back at the woods where they came from so I was watching for a buck to be following. The yearling kept smelling the air so I thought maybe it wasnt a buck maybe it had been a coyote or something else, they slowly wandered off.
Just a about an hour before sunset the winds finally died down and the deer literly came pouring out of the woods . I stopped counting deer at 19 I had seen come out of the woods to feed in the picked bean field. The only buck I saw though was a small 5 pointer that had stopped broadside from me at 19 yards with his head behind a tree with his vital exposed, what a easy shot that would of been but I' m waiting for a big guy. The small buck waited there for a minute and surveyed whether it was safe to enter the field and when he dicided the coast was clear he entered the field and proceeded to chase a doe around but gave up quickly and joined all the does and young ones feeding. I also saw a flock of 11 turkeys walking the opposite edge of the bean field working their way to roost for the evening. I was waiting for the big bucks to show with all the does in the bean field but only buck that showed was the small 5 point
It felt good to finally be back in the woods[8D]

Hi Folks, first time Posting here. Great Site. I took a Doe my first day out in Oct. She dressed out at about 120 lbs. Big Girl!
Took my first Buck since I started Bow Hunting about 3 years ago last weekend.
Only a six point, but dressed at about 130lbs. Not alot of hunting ground around the Crete area. But the small parcel I do hunt has plenty of deer! Mostly does, but I have seen a HUGE Buck the past couple of years. He' s just alittle smarter than me. He stays on property I' m allowed to Blood Trail on, but not hunt. I still have time though!

Qell all in all it has been a gppd season so far. One Doe two weeks into season but the better local monsters are coming just a mile utside the city limits ona private farm. The group I hunt with and myself have been seeing some of the most impressive bucks either of us have seen in all the combined years of hunting exceeding almost 100 hundred years. All of us will bet that these two brothers, one 14 pointer with a broad bread basket rack and his brother 12 pointer with a really tall rack - tines are approximately six inches in height. Both deer are easily better then 200 class. Out of the five of us only I had a chance at a shot on either of them twice. First was a fluke on opening bow weekend, when one in our group was busted out by a doe, casuing the group to move away at a trotting pace just yards away from my spot. Second oppurtunity came, and low and behold, I had the unfortunate luck of catching a breaze that flung a cockelbur bsuh into my eye. Kneeling down below the grassline I attempted for several minutes to clear my eye of the intrusion. Unfortunately I was busted out by a young doe who had seen the grass moving and caught my sent. She snorted several times for about five or ten minutes, then walked off calmly. Finally gave up and crawled away belly to the ground. It was only after wards when the group met at the vehicles that I learned the even more depressing news. One of the other hunters in the gropu was watching the area where he also heard the doe narcing me out in the grass. He saw her jumping aroiund and wheezing. My friend sat in amazement as he watched the 14 pointer walk straight up not more then 5 yards from my exact point. My friend kept asking me, " Hey C how come you did not shoot the big boy." That was when I told my friend Gus of the cocklebur. We all laughed as we thought of the Natrues own little attack. " Deers Best Offensive Weapon, Cockelburs."

I am cursed this year[:@]
If I never see another button buck near my stand it will be to soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I went out yesterday for an all day hunt. The morning was slow and foggie. I sat my bean field stand just inside the woods. I saw a deer way off in the field walking away from me, saw a coyote later in the same spot in the field, just after sunset I had a medium size 6 pointer walking the field edge by me so I played with him and doe estrus bleated him into my area, he came into 22 yards but I could see that he had very small browtines and needed to do some growing up so I let him pass and then watched him in fustration over not finding the doe he proceeded to rub a small sapling, he didnt rub aggresivly just kinda like he just wanted to deposit a little scent on it and then I watched him slowly work his way up the ridge. So nothing else moved for a long while so I left to get some breakfast at 10:30.
After breakfast I headed back out to a river bottom stand and ended up jumping 8 deer on the way to that stand
I made it to the scrape by my stand and decided to answer the call of nature and proceeded to remove my gloves etc and looked up and there was a small buck on the ridge above me standing, but he never looked at me he just stood and then munched on acorns and slowly meandered away.
I sat the stand for hours and saw nothing till 3:30 when I heard footsteps behind and to the left of my stand and turned to see a button buck, followed by a doe and another doe and another good doe and then a really good ole fat doe so I decided I was gonna take the last ole doe as they all worked their way to 25 yards behind me, then I heard something running and looked to see a nice 8 pointer trotting after the does ,he had a very unique rack the tines all curved in rather than growing straight, the tines were shaped like the letter C, the does decided to vere off and walked away from me along the ridge base but suprisingly the buck didnt follow he also vered off and then took the trail I hoped he would, he stoped 32 yards from me at the same exact spot where I had shot at and missed an 9 pointer a couple of weeks ago, He litelly stood behind the same sapling as the 9 pointer did , I COULDNT BELIEVE IT[]
So Im waiting for him to take one more step on the trail so I can take a shot when he starts looking around and then looked right at me, decided he didnt like what he saw and started stomping his hoof, I froze with only one eye open and then watched him turn and quarter towards the river and walk towards the river he had given up on trying to bust me so I reached in my pocket and doe bleated at him and he turned and began to search for the doe and started to walk away from the river , by now he was well out off shooting distance and he made his way to the scrape, when he got to the scrape I saw movement in front and to my left and saw a button buck standing just about 15 yards up the ridge, so I figured I had a live decoy, so I doe bleated again and the buck turned his head to look for the doe and then he saw the button and approached him, he decided the button wasnt a doe and gave him a quick poke with his antlers, and then decended the ridge to take the draw away from me so I doe bleated again and grunted and he came back again and stood by the button looking for the doe and was looking right at me again but had decided I was nothing so once again I was the frozen one eyed tree[&:] he decided to walk up the edge of the ridge diagonally and then when at the top was looking down at me looking for the doe he stood above me looking at me and I had to keep my chin to my chest so he wouldnt see me , I kept my head down but coul;d lift my eyes to just barely see that he had given up on me and had started to feed on acorns and feed out of sight. WHEWWWWWWWW[]
Then that little button decided to come down to my area and I watched the little bugger bed down right in front of me.... Dang I needed to gough cause I still am not completly over this stupid cold so I did and he could care less he just layed there so I had a good cough and he just layed there bedded for about 20min and then came 12 yards from me and then went up the same ridge as the buck and started to feed on acorns. I didnt see anything else until dark when I was getting down and of course A deer had snuck up near me and blew at me in the dark[X(]
" GOLDEN KEY FUTURA STAFF SHOOTER "
" STONE MOUNTAIN BOW STRINGS STAFF SHOOTER "

Lady Forge - Tell me about the button bucks! I have the same problem!!

Sat Morning - Saw 2 does off in the distance crest a ridge and walk out of sight. That was it. Pretty dissapointing actually.

Sat evening - I got into my stand around 1 pm and there were deer running around all over the place! I saw a big buck chase some does down off a ridge in front of me about 200 yards, then back up the ridge, then down it, then they disappeared from sight. 1/2 hour later I had a small spike chase 2 does down the ridge near my stand, then right back up it and out of sight. About an hour later I had a button buck come down the same ridgetop, up the trail 15 yards in front of my stand, and over the hill where the does had gone that morning. 30 minutes later a nice looking 1 1/2 year old 6 point came down, passed my stand at 10 yards, made a scrape, walked 20 yards and made another scrape, then walked off down the trail. Could' ve shot him or the button, but let them pass.

Sunday morning - 1/2 hour after daybreak I had a nice 1 1/2 year old 7 point walk 10 yards from my stand. Didn' t see anything for about 2 hours or so then all of a sudden a doe comes FLYING over the top of the hill 80 yards from me, being chased by the same 8 pt I missed last week! They didn' t even stop and headed down the hill, straight away from me. 30 minutes later I hear a deer blowing from that direction. I figured she busted a buddy of mine who was hunting from the ground. Then all of a sudden a little basket 8 pt comes from behind me and heads toward where the doe is blowing. 20 minutes later a DIFFERENT 8pt comes barreling back from where all the other deer headed. Had his nose to the ground, mouth open, and just jogging the entire time. I grunted and bleated at him and he never stopped once. Up and over the hill he went. Then 15 minutes later I turn around and here he is coming back down a different trail! He was headed right towards my stand and then he veered off at the last moment and passed 40 yards uphill from me. Once again, I gruned and bleated and he just kept right on going. 10 minutes later I see this doe walking down the trail that passes 10 yards from me, followed by the 8 I missed, and the big 8 I just saw running around. As luck would have it, they veered off 35 yards before they got to me, crossed the ravine, went up the other side, and were never seen again. I tried bleating but they didn' t even look. 15 minutes later the basket 8 pt came down the same trail and headed out towards them! No shooting, but a pretty eventful morning!

Sun afternoon - I had another small 8 and the same small 7 from Sunday morning walk 10 yards from my stand about an hour apart. One going one way, one going the other, both with their noses to the ground the entire time.

Also - my buddy got a good look at the super big 5 x 5 we' ve been seeing. He got to within 25 yards of him but couldn' t get a shot. The next morning he also saw the big 8 we got the trail cam pix of. 35 yards and no shot opportunity.

The big boys were definitely out this weekend! I just hope they all make it through the shotgun season so I might get another crack at them!