fly

Thanks Al and Strut, More to the story... I posted this on a FB deer hunting page and a couple guys saw the buck, recognized it and sent me trail cam pictures and videos. They hunt a mile north of me and had been after this one for a couple years. They said he is at least 5.5 years old. This is him last year. He had been shot with an arrow in the neck and survived.

" I had to know if you got him on your property. " Indeed - It is a very rewarding experience! All the hard work to save enough money to buy hunting ground, the hard work to put in trails, food plots, and stands. All the time spent moving cameras, etc... It's a special moment.

Welcome back Gator and Good luck!

fly Team 3 Buck: 10 points longer than 1 inch 212 pounds field dressed / hanging weight

Thanks everyone! spent all day Sunday butchering him up. Freezer is full! In IL we get 2 buck tags, but I'd be hard pressed to do better than this one. Best of luck with the rifle Dave and to everyone else. I'll get him entered shortly.

Thanks everyone!

This deer weighed 212 pounds field dressed and estimated 270 live weight (my heaviest to date). I was hunting my land on October 16th when this buck came to the edge of a cut corn field to make a scrape about 30 minutes before last light. I heard a doe blowing at him about 15 minutes earlier. I had grunted earlier and I think that's why he came up from the bottoms. A cold front had came in and I suspected good deer movement. When I first saw him I was electing to pass because I could only see the 4 points on the right side. Then he came out of the brush and I could see the massive body and character of the left antler. I decided to take this deer. Just at that time he started walking away, presenting me a quartering away shot - I took it and double lunged him. His death run took him 100 yards down into a gorge that took me 2 hours to get him out of. He will provide a lot of meat and look great on the wall.

Cold front come in this weekend and did the trick! Shot my heaviest buck to date. 212 pounds field dressed (270 estimated live weight). The rack is all kinds off cool. I almost passed him because I only saw the 4 points on the left and wasn't sure of his age. He was making a scrape and raking branches with his antlers which gave me time to judge, He turned and I saw the body and palmation on his right side and thought - better shoot this one. Perfect shot from the TenPoint Vengent - double lung. Of course his 100 yard death run was down into the gorge! Took me two hours to pull him out of it and up to my mule. I estimate this deer to be 5.5 years old.

Good locking prospects and I know you probably with have several more in the coming weeks. No scrapes in my area of IL yet, but I expect them to start showing up any day now.

Nicely done! My TenPoint Vengent got christened in August with a Pronghorn. Hoping to add a turkey or deer this month.

Went out this past weekend and saw turkeys, coyotes, and squirrels. No deer, but the cameras tell me they are there - just moving at night still.

Congratulations to your daughter Pat! Those clouds, cool breeze, and changing colors make the hair on the back of my neck stand. Good luck this season!

The net score as a typical will be a disappointment. I agree he will be close to 180 Gross. Non-typical score maybe 160 - real close to making B&C as non-typical.

Hope that cold front gets them moving Dave. The IL archery season open tomorrow. I'll be looking to get in the stand and start the grind this Saturday.

Sounds like a great place to live. I am also considering Colorado DIY elk hunting in the (more near) future. When you are a non-resident the price tag can really be a limiting factor even on a DIY hunt. A friend of mine met an older guy while hiking in the RMNP this past summer. The guy said he decided to give up Elk hunting due to father time and his health. He told my friend he would send him the coordinates of the area he has hunted for years and showed him pictures of the numerous bulls he has taken over the years. We are taking it into consideration. I always wonder how much is "talk" and how much is genuine. Ya, know... Best of luck to you Dave - I hope you find the bull you are looking for.