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Al, I caught a "Trophy" Lake Trout on Nipagon 30+lbs

Pretty neat video. That is so different than me parking my butt in a tree for 6 hours lol...looks like fun though. It looks like some thick, nasty stuff around there.

One of the joys of spending time in the outdoor world is spotting something you would never have seen sitting at home in the recliner. Yesterday, on a hike with my daughter, we had the privilege to witness a Northern Pygmy Owl at a distance of less than ten feet. The little guy was about 6 inches tall and maybe as big around as my fist. It had flown down from a nearby tree to check us out. Good stuff.

I finally closed the deal Friday during our Illinois shotgun season. He's no giant but I've been hunting hard ,the freezers low, and he was too god to pass up. I climbed in the treestand with the old Winchester Friday morning about 5:45. Cold temps, decent rut activity, and a few inches of snow had me stoked for the morning sit. Two coyotes came through right away and kind of had me bummin thinking they might have scattered the deer from my area. I saw my first deer around 7:30. A small forky I've passed a few times this year was dogging a hot doe. He was grunting like crazy and chasing here all over the place. They hung around me for about 20 minutes, and I couldn't believe a bigger buck never showed up. The rest of the morning was pretty steady action. Every 30-45 minutes some fawns, does, or small bucks would come cruising by. Things slowed down about 10:00, and I was planning to get down at 11:30 to go get some breakfast. As I was climbing down I look over my shoulder and another deer is coming down the trail. At this point I climb back up & decide I'm just going to sit it out all day since deer are moving so good. At 12:45 this buck pushes a doe out of the bedding area and straight towards me. He is grunting like crazy too, and just dogging the doe hard. I decided to let him have it at about 45 yards. It was just a great morning to be in a tree and I wanted to end it on a high note. All together I seen 14 deer Friday....one of the best days I've had in a tree in quite a few years. Just a solid 3 year old Illinois 8 point. Now I can spend some time trying to get my daughter on a buck with the crossbow.