fly

Having so much fun with this place. The dates on those pics are wrong they were early November. I shot a nice buck with my crossbow and never recovered him. A week later he shows up on several of my cameras. He's number one on the hit list. If you look close at his right shoulder you can see what appears to be the hematoma and at the bottom it looks like the tip of the bolt pushing the skin out. There also appears to be an entry wound at the top. My guess is the bolt hit the shoulder and followed it down instead of penetrating. No wonder my day long search resulted in nothing.

Thanks everyone. Been getting more different bucks moving through on camera than I ever would have thought. None of them live here - just using my creek as a travel corridor. All there were in early November.

Thanks everyone. It is a blast! One of my best seasons ever. Seeing a lot of nice bucks. Let this one walk. He ended up in my food plot by my truck!

I put in brassica turnips and kale. My lawyer wrote the neighbor a letter. I found a law that states it’s a class A crime to remove survey posts. I had my lawyer add that to the letter. That was back in early August. Haven’t heard anything since. The corn field you see is a different neighbor. I gave him permission to recover from my ground and he did the same. So odd that that buck ran from the wooded bottom up to the corn field to die.

The payoff of a lifetime dream happened Sunday, November 3rd. For those that may not know... after saving and prioritizing other things my entire life I was finally able to purchase a small parcel of ground (32 acres) to make my dream a reality. I've spent many hours making trails, hanging stands, and putting in food plots. Finally decided to stick this buck with my crossbow at 30 yards. He was quartering away pretty hard - took out liver, lung, and even grazed the heart. The tip was sticking in the upper left leg. He's not the giant I had seen on camera or from the stand a few days earlier but he will do just fine. Thinking about something special like a Texas mount dipped in camo paint. I really like this picture.

Team 3 - fly 9 pointer = 14 total points

We are on the board team! He's not the biggest buck in my Whitetail Woods but he showed up during daylight hours and presented a nice 30 yard hard quartering away shot. The shot looks back in the pic but it exited right behind the left front leg. Got liver and lungs. He weighed 225 pounds (prior to field dressing) and I'm putting him at 3.5 years. It sure feels good to harvest a nice buck from your own ground. I saw at least two other giants earlier this week but couldn't punch my tag. I've hunted every day since October 30th and have seen a 3.5 or older buck on each hunt. So much fun!

No luck so far. Seeing several does and even a couple mature bucks on trail camera when I'm not there or at night. There are does and mature bucks in my food plot every night between 11pm and 4am. Frustrating.

Nice buck Martin!

Opening day today - I went out for a few hours this evening. Temps at 90 degrees so I didn't expect to see anything - and I didn't. All my cam photos show the deer are only in my food plot at night so I hunted over acorns and a corn field that hasn't been harvested yet. While I did not see anything it was so nice to be in the woods hunting for a stand on your own land.

Indeed Chris! Time to have some fun. For the sake of camaraderie lets get out first names out there. fly: Frank Maine Hntr: Chris mrswtnhunt: Catrina Elkoholic: Sorry - I forget. My season starts October 1st and I'm hunting my own private land for the first time. I put in for several public ground draw hunts every year and this is the first time I haven't been drawn for any of them. All my cards are going to be played out on 32.5 mostly wooded acres in the bluffs of the Mississippi. I did manage to get a 1/2 acre food plot in and it's looking decent for a first year. I also have 4 bucks I would shoot on camera and 1 that is my main target I've named Mule because of a forked G-2. Attached are some pics of the deer I'm after. Good luck everyone!

Thanks Catrina - The food plot camera is near the entrance to my property so it will not be a problem checking it. The other three I wont check for a while now. Glad you all have some bucks back in the area.

fly "Frank: 48 Illinois - maybe Kentucky October 1 - mid January 19

I've been busy making trails and hanging stands so the woods are full of my scent, and noise. I also walked the property with a forest ranger - placing it in a forest plan for the next 10 years to lower taxes 90% and manage for a (potential) future timber harvest. There doesn't appear to have been a timber harvest in at least the past 20 years (the place is loaded with mature black walnut and oak). We estimated about 30-40K for a timber harvest in 10 years. I''m sure all the activity has spooked a lot of the big deer away. Haven't got those bucks on cam in the last card pull. Plus one of my older Moltries went dead. I bought 2 new panoramic cameras and placed them along with my 5th stand last week. My 1/2 acre food plot is in and off to a great start. I knew all that activity would not be good but the trails wont appear on their own. My hopes are that the food plot draws in the does and by me staying out for the next 3 weeks the does will stay and bring those bucks back in. Then again the turnips might bring in a buck or two come December. The primary trails are all in and now - I just need to create some connectors but that will be after hunting season ends. I must say I am very excited for this season. I'll be loving every minute even if I don't see a mature buck the entire season.

A few I'll be after.