HuntingNet.com Forums - Closed out the season on a good note in Iowa, finally

Wellgood folks, I'm afraid this season is coming to a close. We finished it out this weekend in Iowa, had a really great time.

Yesterday on the opener, i couldn't move all morning in my stand as i had a dozen does bedded 50 yards away. i saw about 20 does and 7 bucks yesterday morning, passing on a nice 10 point. We sat until noon and decided to do a few drives before the snow storm got too bad, and around 3:00 PM, a buddy hit a large buck. A cousin picked up the blood right away, and me and the guy who hit it started on it about 20 minutes to a half hour later, hoping to catch up with my cousin. After we had gotten around 1 1/2 miles away, we saw my cousin's tracks get off the blood and head out. we followed it for another 300 yards and decided to back off, as we were now pretty disoriented as to our surroundings and the snowstorm plus the coming darkness worried us a lot. we were cramping up from the walking and were very dehydrated, and ended up walking another 1 and a half out to the main road in the area. I slept in till 6, i was pretty tired, and when my dad and I got over to our land, we found the rest of the group taking up the track again. we got really lucky in that it stopped snowing enough for us to follow up the blood trail. i was busy looking in some switchgrass when i got a call over the radio. They had chased the buck out to my uncle who dropped it like a bad habit. Turned out to be a 12 pointer, a 5X4 base frame with a split G-2 and a short sticker on each of the burrs. Probably a 155" Gross buck. the buck had been hit just above the hoof, enough to bleed a bit but not a immediately fatal wound. Just shows what persistance can lead to, and to never give up on a wounded deer.

Today we ended up doing a few drives, i passed up a lot of bucks, but on the last drive, i had the hardest spot on the whole thing. Basically, I covera draw early in the drive, and after the deer come out, i have to race with the truck to the end of the drive where i block that. right away, i didnt see much. i heard shots from one of the drivers, and i sprinted down the logging road in this draw that lead out to the food plot where i had the truck parked. when i got out there, i saw a buck running pretty funny at about 175 yards, so i tried to get a good rest and shot, getting no reaction the first two shots. after the 3rd, he ran off. i decided it would be best to just let him bed down and track him later than get on the track during the drive and headed down to my other spot. had a bunch of deer come out, and thought i saw one big enough to shoot. i ranged it at 181 on my LRF, and after 5 minutes of debate(he was still standing in the same place, dont ask me why), i decided to shoot. i held on the top of his back and watched him hunch up at the shot. he's a 120" 10 pointer, not what i came to iowa to shoot but im still pretty proud of him. a 181 yard shot with a shotgun is fairly impressive. we got on the track of the either buck right away, and i found him and killed him after i jumped him out of his bed. we also put down a wounded doe. both deer came from our neighbors land. it's really disappointing that nobody came looking for the deer or anything, im just glad we could get these deer before they had a more painful death by coyotes. that buck ended up as a 2 1/2 year 8 pointer, not anything special by any means. i had a doe earlier in the day, giving me 3 deer today.ill try and get some pictures up soon of the big 12 and my 10.

I'm thinking this is the end of the season for me, unless i get on a big buck with a bow during the late season or i decide to do a little late rifle in our land in the CWD units. Season total-10 deer..3 bucks..120" 10 pt, 130" 9 pt, 130" 8 pt..i figure it's an alright season by just about anyone's standards, let a lot of little bucks walk,hoping they'll be something nice next year. thanks all here who made the season enjoyable