Logan's 2013 MO Youth Hunt

11/2/13
Logan, Scott and Adam arrived Friday evening from Minnesota for the 2013 MO youth season. Scott and I hung a double ladder set this summer just west of The Beach set for Logan. There had been a lot of movement during day light in the bottom for several weeks leading up to the hunt.

Logan and Scott settled into Double Trouble for the first morning's sit, Adam settle into Poachers Pond and I crawled into the Forgotten set. Adam had a small buck work a rub early, but that was the only action for the morning. We headed back to the cabin around 11am for a quick lunch. Adam elected to sit all day and Logan and I headed back into Double Trouble for the evening sit. We didn't see any deer by us, but Adam had four small bucks work past him and Scott had an encounter with a nice 125" eight pointer.

Sunday morning Scott and Logan settled back into Double Trouble, Adam headed into the North Oak Ridge set, and I hunted the Poop Pond ladder. Just after first light I had a spike work into 10yrds before heading back north after three does that crossed onto my ridge. There was a big shooter bumping them around, but they worked back to the northwest. Logan and Scott didn't see a deer again, so we started discussing options for the Sunday night hunt.

Brian offered to let Logan sit over his food plot on a small KC tract he has permission on. Friday evening he'd seen three big shooters in the field while bow hunting. The last hurdle was finding Adam a spot to hunt and our good friend Greg Cole offered to let Adam sit on his KC lease, so we pulled up stales and burned back to KC. We dropped Adam off with Greg and rolled out to meet Brian.

We were settled in the shooting house by 3:15pm and the waiting game started. Within an hour I'd spotted several does filtering through the timber just off the food plot, which was a nice change since Logan had hunted almost 13 hours without seeing a deer. Around 4:50pm Scott said "good buck out front" and we all spotted a nice 2.5 year old ten pointer enter the plot, make a scrape and start bumping other bucks and does around. We got Logan on the shooting sticks but the buck wouldn't stop chasing deer long enough for a good shot. He ended up pushing a group of does off the field. Logan was pretty disappointed, but we told him to keep his head up and more deer would show up. From 5pm on the action was fast and furious...several bucks entered the plot and started bumping does around. We had Logan set up on two other bucks, but the the earlier scenario kept playing out; they wouldn't stop chasing long enough for a clean shot.

With 16 minutes of legal shooting light remaining the last buck in the field pushed several does off and Logan looked at me with tears welling up in his eyes and said " I blew it uncle Pete, that was my last chance at a buck". Right then Scott spotted a small six point enter the back of the field. He started to get Logan set up on the sticks and started glassing the six point. Right when I got the little buck into view through the binos I saw a big set of antlers start to materialize out of the timber behind the little guy and said to Logan and Scott "Holy shit, big shooter coming"  Logan was setting up out the right window, so he couldn't see the big deer and Scott had this perplexed look like...what the F are you talking about, it's a basket racked sixer! He took one look through his binos and realized another much bigger buck was now in the field and told Logan "yep, he's a big 6 point". The big deer worked right down a cut lane in the plot and at 85yrds. he cut right to check on a couple does. I grunted at him and he locked up and looked our direction. Logan was already settled in and touched off the shot. Logan and Scott lost sight of the deer while chambering another round and the deer started clearing the field. I had my binos locked on the buck the entire time and watched the bullet hit home. Ol' Boy pulled up in a small dip on the edge of the field, did a little death wobble and tipped over dead! I looked back at Logan and Scott and said "Buddy you just crushed a giant buck, he's down right on the edge of the plot". Logan went into meltdown mode and Scott and I did a little celebrating ourselves. Brian was actually sitting in my Double Bull blind just behind us and got to see all of the action and help in the recovery process.

Just when we thought the night couldn't get any better we received a text from Adam; buck down! Right at last light a nice young eight point worked into the rye plot he was sitting over. A great shot and short tracking job later and Adam had his hands on his first MO archery deer.

I can't thank Brian and Greg enough for helping us out and getting Logan on his first antlered buck...none of this could have happened without their generosity and Logan is going to owe them both for a long time!!!!

Two Does Hit the Dirt

Good friend Greg Cole and I headed up to the north MO property October 5-6 with the goal of killing some more does off the farm. Saturday morning's hunt was basically a washout. The rain moved in as we were walking into our stands and kept after it most of the afternoon.

Saturday evening we focused our efforts around the cut corn fields. Greg hunted in the "Coon Pop" stand and I crawled up into the "Do North" stand. Almost every deer I saw the weekend before fed right in front of the stand Greg was hunting. Around 4:20pm the first deer popped out in my corner of the field and the parade continued for the rest of the night. Does and minis kept filtering into the field and working in close without offering a good shot. Finally around 5:50pm a doe and mini broke and walked directly into my 17yrd shooting lane. The Hoyt did it's job and the nanny didn't know what hit her. She piled up 70yrds into the field.

 

We celebrated by the fire pit a bit too long Saturday night, so Sunday morning's start was a bit rough. Greg headed into the "North Oak" stand and I settled into "Double Trouble". Just after legal shooting light I spotted deer working off the fields to the east. A nice 140"s ten point and a younger eight point worked into the bottom, but their path kept them about 55yrds out and in cover. I just watched them head into the security cover. Before my adrenaline slowed down I had more deer headed my direction. This time two big slickheads were on the move. They took a closer trail than the bucks did, so when the lead nanny put her head down to browse at 33yrds, it was all over but the crying. The arrow hit the mark and the ol' girl only carried the shot 40yrds. 

 

For three years in a row I've tried to get Greg on a deer while hunting this farm and for the third straight year...he was jinxed. At least he got to watch me shank the doe Saturday night from across the field; sorry brother!

 

New MO Farm Produces Early and Often

 

I was lucky enough to pick up a new local farm to hunt this year. It’s only 52 acres but it hunts much larger. Ironically it is only about 300 yards from the Blue Springs Honey Hole farm we used to hunt with a lot of success from 2006-2008.

      The landowner let me plant a +1 acre food plot in a mix of Biologic Maximum, Winter Bulbs/Sugar Beets, and Outfitters Blend. The day after the field was planted we got about 1.5" of rain and the plot has blown up! I have been monitoring my trail cams and have had a lot of pics but nothing real big. After doing some scouting I found a perfect funnel on the northeast side of the farm. There is also a huge oak tree that is absolutely loaded with acorns and I knew as soon as they started dropping that this would be a magical spot.

September 22
The first morning I hunted set was Sunday morning September 22^nd. It was an absolute beautiful, cool, clear morning. Around 8:00am I looked over to see two does coming in. At 12 yards I let the arrow fly and it found it's mark. Boom I was officially on the board with my first kill off the new property.

September 27th
I was able to slip out of work early. I had dinner plans with the family, but it was hot and I knew that I would be done early enough to get to the stand. I arrived at the stand at 5:45pm. I had literally just climbed into the set and got my pack squared away when I noticed movement to the east. Out popped two a nice 2.5 year old bucks that I had on camera. One was a smaller 8 pointer and the other a solid 9 pointer. I was kind of in a panic because I didn’t even have my bow in the tree yet, but after five long minutes I was finally able to ease my bow up and get an arrow knocked.

 For nearly an hour I watched the young bucks eat around the base of the giant oak tree. Both were solid bucks with great potential, but knowing there were much bigger bucks roaming around I elected to give them a pass. Just before 7:00pm I noticed movement from the east again. Another buck was running towards the other two. I could tell immediately that he was a good one and bigger than the other two. Once he got closer I grabbed the binoculars and saw that he was 10 pointer with nice tall tines. Definately a shooter! I had some branches between me and him so I had to sit back and watch the show. The smaller 8 pointer came up to the big 10 and they started sparring. It was awesome and a first for me to see bucks fighting. Finally the big 10 made it to one of my shooting lanes and turned broadside at 33 yards. I slowly drew back, zeroed in on my pin and let the arrow fly. As I saw the arrow track I knew it was really low and not a lethal hit, so I knocked another arrow. The buck had bounded off about 15 yards farther away and stopped in another opening. At 38 yards I sent arrow #2 on it's way. As soon as I shot the buck ducked and turned; obviously jumping the string since he was alert. I heard a loud crack and he took off like his tail was on fire.

 Not knowing exactly where the arrow hit him I waited another 30 minutes before picking up the trail. As soon as I walked up to where he was standing at there was blood everywhere. He'd run about 200 yards before piling up in the bottom of a large ditch. The MO archery season has barley gotten started and my first buck tag is filled; not a bad start to the season!

The U Pays off with #1 of the MO 2013 Season...

9/21/13
I headed up to hunt The U for the first time this season. I arrived at 5am so I could get a set hung in The Killing Tree and let things settle down before shooting time. The first deer showed up just after 6:45am and a parade of little bucks continued for the first hour; six in total all headed east. Around 8:35am I heard deer coming up the NW ridge like they have some many times before. There was a mini and two big does in the group; one with a bad front left leg. They were skirting me to the north at 55yards, so I decided to give the new VECtor doe bleat a shake. Two soft grunts and the mini was running my direction with the does in tow. They literally ran to the base of my tree and stopped to look for their missing friend that was talking to them. After a little while they started working back north directly behind the stand. At 21yrds I had a good quartering away shot on the doe with a bum leg. The arrow entered on the last rib and exited through the front off shoulder. After 17yrds the lights went out on her, which made for an easy tracking job on the first deer of the 2013 season for me.

I'll be back up at the north MO property this weekend with one of my best and oldest hunting friends; Josh Bergeron and his boy Preston. We haven't hunted together since out MT trip in 2009.

Grave Robber

11/25/12

Nick, Greg and I met up Sunday afternoon and burned some boot leather scouting the property we were selected for a MDC managed hunt on in mid-December. We found several good areas with a lot of deer sign as well as some areas to scout this weekend while hanging our stands.

After our scouting trip we headed up to north KC to hunt our urban hot-zone. This particular piece of property is surrounded by neighborhoods, but it's covered up with deer and the owner wants a lot of them thinned out....so we try to oblige him.

I hunted a stand on the top of the hill overlooking some of the nasty bedding cover on the east side of the property. At 4:45pm I spotted seven does and minis working through the cover and headed towards a small cemetery plot about 90yrds north of my setup. Several minutes later the entire group popped out up top and headed into the cemetery and started eating flowers off of headstones, which I took offense too.

After surveying the lay of the land I decided I could get down and sneak around the low side of the hill and up to the edge of the cemetery plot. There is a large cement monument on the left side of the plot entry gate and that was going to be my ambush point. I was able to get up to the monument undetected and the waiting game started. There is a decorative 3' fence around the cemetery and even though we have permission to hunt it, I wasn't going to shoot into the actual cemetery. After a couple minutes of watching the group devour flowers and grass in the plot one of the minis decided it was time to move on and started heading for the cemetery gate. The monument allowed me to get drawn without alerting the deer and when the mini exited the cemetery it was 3-4yrds from the tip of my arrow. He was walking at a casual pace and at that distance I wasn't going to try and stop him, so when his front leg stepped forward I touched off the shot and the little grave robber tore out across the asphalt parking area and into the thick cover. The shot was on the money and the little guy only held it for roughly 50-60yrds before giving up the ghost. It wasn't a textbook hunt by a long stretch, but when you're hunting an urban setting sometimes you have to improvise to get the job done.  

Mo Managed Hunt...13 Pointer Down!!

With 5 preference points built up for the MO managed hunts I decided to roll the dice and put in for the for a local hunt that is full of deer! The area hasn’t been hunted since 1995 (legally) and Pete and I knew if we were lucky enough to get drawn that the chances of shooting a good buck would definitely be better than average.


As luck would have it I got drawn for the first hunt and Pete, Nick, and Greg got selected for the late hunt. My hunt was right smack dab in the middle of the rut and I had high hopes of getting a crack at a good buck.


10/27/12
Opening morning was slow and I botched the one opportunity I had on a doe and hit her high in the back; we couldn't find her. Not feeling confident in my first set after walking the area for the doe I lost, I decided to sit in my second set. 

After making the long walk in I was finally settled in for afternoon by 1:45pm. Tree rats were moving everywhere but the deer were nowhere to be found.Around 5:30pm a doe worked into to 30 yards and I crushed her. She only made it 60 yards before piling up. Since this hunt is an earn a buck, it was time to focus on putting some bone down.

10/28/12
I decided to hunt the same stand as the previous night. It was another beautiful morning in the MO deer woods. Luckily I made it into the stand without spooking any deer and I had this gut feeling that it was going to be a really good morning. At first light I heard walking and spotted two does feeding back to the east of me. They stuck around for fifteen minutes before working out of the area.

About 8:35am I got a text from another hunter on the property. He was asking if I'd been seeing anything yet. I hadn’t put my phone away for more than a minute when I looked to the west and noticed another doe feeding around. As I was watching her I heard a deer come crashing in from the east. She came right into 10 yards and stopped and started looking over her shoulder. I didn’t hesitate and immediately stood up and grabbed the bow. As soon as I turned in the direction she came from all I could see was this giant buck come trotting over the hill heading directly at me. The doe took off and he came right into 12 yards and stopped broadside. I was already drawn back so I took a deep breath and settled in. As I touched off the shot I watched the arrow hit home. The buck did a mule kick and took off. As he ran past me I could see blood pouring out of him. Shortly after making it out of sight I heard big crash and everything went silent.

At this point I was shaking like a little school girl and had to sit down and compose myself. I grabbed my phone because I had to let the boys know I just smoked a big buck.

After about ten minutes had gone and me still in disbelief of what had just happened the sun started to poke through the trees more.  I was looking through the timber and I spotted a white belly laying there and I knew he was down for the count! I decided the wait was over so I packed up my gear and headed over there to see how big he really was. As I got closer I couldn’t believe my eyes. All I saw was a giant bodied deer with a huge rack sticking up.

The buck ended up having 13 scoreable points and will easily be in the mid 150s class. By far my biggest buck ever.

With the MO firearms, MO youth, and Round two at Managed Hunt coming up there are sure to be more stories and bone hitting the dirt soon, so stay tuned.

Double Down....

9/29/12 - Seth Trinklein, Greg Cole and I headed up to my Macon Co. property for a weekend archery hunt. Saturday morning I put Greg in the Booner set, Seth in the Beach set, and I settled into the North Ridge stand. It was a beautiful morning with temperatures in low 40s and a northwest wind, but the deer movement was pretty slow. Greg had seen a couple of does and minis work through east of his set and Seth and I had an encounter with the same yote, but neither of us could shank him.

Just before 8:30am I heard deer walking down the ridge from the north. I stood up, grabbed my bow and started scanning the ridge behind me for the source of the noise. I spotted three does walking down the middle of the ridge right on the trail I cut in August. The first nanny was the biggest and she worked past my cover tree on the right of my stand at 10yrds. The other two does stopped about even with my tree on the ridge and began eating acorns while the lead nanny continued down the ridge. When she was 22yrds out I gave her a soft grunt and she stopped and looked back at the other deer. My arrow was on it's way instantly and it hit home perfectly. She exploded down the ridge towards the road and Seth's stand, but the lights went out about 30yrds from the road.

The other two does just stood there and watched the first doe tear off down the ridge. They were a little nervous, but they had no idea what was going down. Almost immediately the next biggest doe started down the ridge towards where I shot the first doe. About half way there she did and about-face and started back up the ridge. I slowly nocked another arrow and  came to full draw. I let her get into 11yrds before softly grunting at her and when she stopped, I touched off arrow #2 in under 30 seconds. The arrow hit home and blood instantly starting pumping out of both sides. She took off headed north up ridge, but after 40yrds she couldn't hold it any longer and tipped over in a small ditch west of the main ridge top. The blood trail was beyond impressive and I could visibly follow it from my stand all the way up the ridge to where she fell. 

Saturday evening I sent Seth to the North Field stand, Greg was perched in the Washout stand, and I headed over to the South Meadow stand. Around 6:10pm the land owner came down and started cutting corn about 250yrds out from Greg's position. We all saw deer right before dark, but I'm sure the combine limited the amount of deer activity on the field, but a farmer is going to farm!

Sunday morning Seth sat in the Retarded Genius stand, Greg hunted Poachers Pond, and I sat down at the Beach. I had 3 long beards work in from the north ridge around 8:30am, but I could hear them gobbling the entire morning as they moved closer and closer to me. They never got inside of 40yrds, so they got walking papers. Greg got shutout at Poachers Pond and Seth had a great encounter with a doe and mini, but they didn't appreciate his shadow puppet show. With the deer at 10yrds Seth started to draw back and noticed his shadow was about 18" in front of the doe; who had her head down feeding. About the time Seth noticed it the doe came unglued and bolted north into the cover. It was a great weekend with great friends, I just wish I could have gotten them on deer instead of me.

We just got back from a Minnesota duck/goose hunt last night and we'll get that story posted this week; before I roll out to Nebraska for a mulie/whitetail DIY archery hunt with the Cole County Crew!

MO Opening Day Double Tap

9/14/12 - I arrived at the north MO farm around 1:15pm on Friday afternoon to pull camera cards and jack around before opening day. I was very pleased with what I saw on the cameras.There were multiple shooters using the wash out to the south, including a new giant that I haven't seen before; looks to be in the 160-170's range and running with the short tined 10 that was one on my target deer.

9/15/12 - Opening morning found me set up in the Retarded Genius stand. I've had two target bucks coming through on the regular around 7am along with numerous does and I'd been planning to hunt that stand for the last month if the wind was out of the south at all, and it was. I'd planned to get in early to avoid bumping anything, but that backfired. There was a doe bedded right under the stand and she let me get about 10yrds away before she busted. She ran west about 30yrds and proceeded to stomp and blow at me for several minutes before calming down and working back in front of the stand prior to legal shooting time.

There were a couple does feeding in the field at first light, but they worked off to the south end towards the sanctuary before cutting into the timber. Just before 7am I caught more movement on the field edge and watched the first gray fox I've seen mouse around the field for several minutes. I tried squeaking it in for a closer look, but it was preoccupied with finding breakfast in the field. At 7:25am I spotted a single doe working down my entry trail off the field. She came all the way up to the base of my tree, before back tracking towards the pond. At 12yrds she starting angling to the SE and gave me a perfect quartering away shoot which I took full advantage of. I put a great heart shot on her and she piled up inside 40yrds right on the field edge and the start of my entry trail, bless her soul; no dragging required.

I helped Roger change the oil on several of his tractors and repaired a couple of leaky hoses mid-morning, ya gotta keep the land owner happy! I worked up my doe and headed back into town for a little siesta before the evening hunt.

Based on the camera pictures and a SE wind gusting to 20mph in the forecast for the evening, I was headed to the Water Way stand. I was settled in by 3:45pm and just sat back and soaked up the scenery for about three hours.

Just before 6:45pm I spotted the first deer of the evening, a doe with twins. They came right up the drainage ditch under the stand and chased each other around for several minutes before heading up to the pond. Right at 7pm I spotted a big 140" class 8 point working out of the timber across the levee. I have several pictures of him and had already decided to pass him, because I believe he's only a 3 year old. From that point on deer poured into the field from the timber and out of corn. Around 7:30pm I spotted the short tined 10 step out south of drainage. He stood and surveyed the field for quite sometime before making a move. He finally started walking the bottom side of the levee towards my stand, but he kept stopping and checking his surroundings and eying all the other deer in field. With almost 20  other deer, including two other target bucks in the bean field I was sure he'd head that way. Luckily I was wrong and he decided to about face and walk up the drainage towards the pond. When he cleared the right side of my cover tree I grunted at him softly and he stopped to check it out; my arrow was on the way almost instantly. The hit was great and the buck mule kicked and exploded out of the drainage to the south. All the other deer erupted out of the field and it was kind of chaotic watching them run in every direction, but my buck was already staggering before he got on top of the levee. I heard him crash up top and start coughing, so I just gathered my gear and quietly slid out of the area.

After meeting the Walkers and Pat for a great dinner we headed back to track Ol' Boy. As we drove across the levee I could see him laying just inside the timber just off the levee road, so we where able to drive within feet of him. He was a known 5 year old on the farm and had an enormous body, but was just never going to amount to much score wise; but I was still tickled to death killing him. It was an amazing start to the 2012 season and more than I could have asked for on opening weekend.

 I'm going to be on doe patrol until the Nebraska trip in mid-October, but I'm sure I'll be able to suck it up. I'm looking forward to hunting with some good friends from MWT over the next couple of weekends, then head to Minnesota with a Yankee and Kansas GayHawk fan for their first waterfowl hunt ever. 2012 is off to a great start!

New Year's Day Buck

1/1/2012
Nick, Greg, and I braved the 25-35mph northwest winds Sunday night and headed to "The Winery" for a late season evening hunt. Greg set up in second field, Nick set up on the edge of the bedding cover and main field, and I hung a new set in the southeast corner of the bedding area.

I jumped five does walking in, but they just moved off into the cover without much fuss and we were all settled in by 3pm. The wind was blasting us all night and we all thought movement was going to be pretty slow...we couldn't have been more wrong! Just before 5pm Nick sent a text that several does were running around the big field and a few minutes later deer starting pouring out of the bedding cover. I had 22 deer filter by my new set during the last half hour of shooting time. They were all well inside bow range, but they stayed in the thick cover to my left which offered me zero shooting opportunities. Nick was also covered up with deer and around 5:20pm a nice buck popped out onto the field. A few grunts from the VECtor and the buck was bee-lining to Nick's stand. He worked into 10 yards but was facing the stand and didn't offer a clean kill shot. After a few minutes of staring down Nick the buck turned and headed back towards the thick stuff. He stopped briefly about 20 yards out and Nick took advantage of his mistake and slipped an arrow into him. Nick knew he hit him, but with the low light and not being positive about where the arrow connected we decided to wait until the morning to start tracking him.

Greg and I headed back out for a morning sit and Nick was going to meet us at 9:30am. The wind hadn't really let up much and it made for the coldest sit of the season for us!!! I was beyond ready to get down by the time 9:30am got here and I think Greg shared my excitement once he wasn't sitting 20ft. up a tree...

Fellow MissouriWhitetails.com member and MO Conservation Officer Vince (VECtor Game Call Owner) also showed up and he brought his silver lab Goose along to help with the tracking job. We found Nick's arrow right off the bat and it was covered in good blood and we all thought it would be a short tracking job....we were wrong again. The buck headed straight into the thick bedding area that consisted of chest high grass, cedar trees, and more poison ivy than I've ever seen. It was pretty slow going and Goose was having trouble cutting the trail. We slowly picked our way along the blood trail heading to the northeast. About ninety minutes into the tracking job Vince took Goose upwind of us about 80yrds. As soon as Goose got the wind in her face, her nose went up and she brought Vince right to the buck. Nick's shot was good, but just a touch back and it exited through the guts on the off side. The buck was dead within minutes of Nick shooting him, but after seeing the blood trail and how slow going it was in the daylight we definitely made the right call letting him sit and waiting until the morning to track him.

The 2011 season has been amazing so far and we still have a couple weeks left! I can't thank Nick and Greg enough for allowing me to hunt with them this year. I just met these guys over the summer at an MWT event and in sort order they have become very close friends and hunting partners and I'm looking forward to many more seasons of hunting with them! 

The second portion of MO's youth deer season kicks off Saturday morning and Scott and Logan are coming down for it. I'm hoping we'll be able to post up Logan's first deer story early next week, so if the deer god's are listen "send a couple our way this weekend"

Icing on the Cake

After leaving the north MO property Friday afternoon I made it back to KC in time to hunt the archery only property in north KC. I wasn't anticipating a whole lot of action with high winds and temps pushing 70, but a cold front was going to hit over night and I wanted to have my decoy in there and ready for the morning sit. Right before dark a little 8 point worked in from the east and checked out "Ralphy", he decided it would be best not to scrap with a buck of Ralphy's stature.

Saturday morning I settled back in the Quarry set and "Ralphy" was rocking it about 13yards over my right shoulder. It had cooled down considerably from the night before, but there was still a pretty good south wind cracking. Right after legal shooting light a young 8 point came in and skirted "Ralphy" to the north. The buck was very curious, but just wouldn't commit to coming in and checking things out completely. About an hour later a nice 6 point worked in from the west and gave "Ralphy" as serious once over, he worked inside 25yrds before going on his way. Just after 8am I picked up movement coming out of a draw to the southwest of the set. I didn't need the binos to tell it was a decent buck. I flipped the can call a couple times, but the wind was covering the noise up, so I pulled out the VECtor grunt call. I let out two loud grunts and the buck briefly stopped and looked before continuing to walk away. I let out three more loud and aggressive grunts and in mid stride the buck made a 180 degree turn and started coming right to the tree.

At about 30 yards you could tell the buck finally noticed "Ralphy" and his entire attitude changed instantly. He pinned his ears back, puffed up all his fur, and started the sideways...I'm about to kick your ass gait towards the decoy. The buck actually cut upwind of "Ralphy" and literally walked directly under my set and around the tree. He was totally focused on the decoy at this point, so I swung around the tree and came to full draw without him even knowing I was there. The buck postured all the way in and when he was about 3yards from "Ralphy" I touched off the arrow. Instantly blood poured out of both sides of the buck and he bounded about 20yards past the stand. He had no idea what just happened and he turned to look back at "Ralphy" one last time...it was the last thing he saw because he tipped over right there, with Ralphy giving him the stink-eye!

I was pretty rattled after the shot...I kept my cool the entire time he worked in, but after I smoked him the adrenaline took over. I literally couldn't stop my legs from shaking, so I just sat down and relaxed for about a half hour and took in the experience. It's my first archery buck during the MO firearms season and it was icing on the cake for our week! I'm sold on decoying deer, what a blast!!

Big guy and a little deer....MO mini down

I've been hunting the north KC management property pretty hard over the last ten days. I've seen a lot of buck movement, but I couldn't buy a doe up there lately. It was the exact opposite last year with nothing but doe sightings.

I had a couple of the hunters move their stands in on my Killing Station set and the deer movement has shifted because of it. So after my morning sit on 10/22 I moved my set over to the next ridge where I've seen most of the deer traffic shift to.

Around 6:20pm last night I spotted a deer working up the draw from the southwest. At first I thought it was the button buck I've seen in area almost every time out in the past week, but after getting the binos up I could tell this was no button so it was game time.

She worked all the way up the draw to around 20 yards before turning broadside. I'd ranged several trees in the draw, but she hadn't made to to nay of them yet so I guessed her to be about 23yards out. I drew, burned the pin on her vitals, and touched off the arrow. I could tell it was tracking a touch high and on impact the mini went straight down in her tracks. I quickly got another arrow ready and put a second shot into her just to make sure she wouldn't suffer. Although the first arrow hit her high and broke her spine, the drastic angle of the shot ran my first shot right through her off shoulder. The second arrow wasn't needed, but I didn't want to chance it.

It was a good to put another doe down, now it's time to get some bone on the ground!!!

#2 hit the dirt in MO

I headed up to my north MO property with a couple friends from MissouriWhitetails.com (Nick & Greg). We arrived at the farm around 11:30am and headed in to pull my trail camera card....unfortunately my camera apparently grew legs, cut the cable it was locked up with, and walked away!!! I hate trespassers and really hate trespassers who steal!

For the Saturday evening hunt I sent Greg to The Gash set and Nick to The Bowl...both of them got skunked on deer sightings. I headed up and hunted the North River set intending to do more scouting with my binos and looking for deer coming off the hills or out of the river treeline. Instead I ended up being cover up with deer coming to the cut corn. The first four deer came off the hillside about 80yrds in front of the stand and angled into 45yrds, but there is no way to get a clean shot off in that part of the field. A few minutes later I spotted two more does following the same path as the first group. While glassing the approaching deer I spotted another couple of does working in from the north behind the set. They came right down the main trail and entered the field 16yards to my right. I let the lead doe feed out a little ways into the corn and when the second doe popped into the field I was already at full draw. I quietly grunted to get her stopped and touched off the shot. It was getting pretty dark, but I saw my arrow tracking perfectly and heard the tell-tale popping of the lungs. She bolted back towards the hill and the rest of the deer just stood there; having zero idea what just happened.

I met up with Nick and Greg back at truck and we headed back down to track the doe. It had been about 45 minutes since I shot her and we located the arrow and blood trail immediately in the corn field, all signs indicated that it was a great hit. We trialed her about 60yrds up the hill with great blood the entire time, but then we heard a deer jump up and run just ahead of us. It didn't move off very far and it sounded like it wasn't moving very well. We quietly tracked the blood another 15 yards and found her first bed pooled in blood, so we immediately backed out. I was extremely surprised she wasn't dead yet since we gave her plenty of time to expire. We decided to just head into town clean up and grab some dinner to give her time to give up the ghost on her terms. Around 10:45pm we headed back to the farm to continue the search. The temps were going to be in the upper 50's and I didn't want to chance having the meat go bad on a deer I knew was dead. We quickly got on the last blood and trailed in another 60-70 yards up the hill right to a very dead and stiff legged nanny. She had been dead for a good while, but we made the right call backing out and giving her plenty of time to die. The shot was a perfect double lung hit, so that was one tough girl to hold it for almost an hour before giving up the ghost.

Sunday morning was pretty slow on all fronts. I had a few coons walk through and I located a huge scrape in front of The Beach set. I set up Scott's trial camera he sent down overlooking  the scrape and main trail in front; hopefully it's still there next time I check! Sunday evening was slow for Greg and I with nothing but coon sightings again. Nick hunted the north meadow and had 6 does and nice 2 1/2 year old ten point come out. The buck made several scrapes along the north edge of the meadow and the does stayed out of bow range.

It was a great weekend with good friends; to bad some A-hole was trespassing on the south end of the property and decided to steal my Cuddy....

Got the ball rolling on the MO 2011 season

I've been putting in a lot of stand time so far this season with very limited results to this point. I've seen a lot of movement, but have yet to have a mature doe or shooter buck in bow range and present me with a clean shot opportunity. However I knew it was just a matter of time before that all changed.

I headed into the the "Killing Station" set on the north KC property I was asked to hunt again this year. Brian and I killed 7 deer out of this tree last year and it is possibly the best morning transition set I have ever hung. The bowl the stand sits in is a wicked funnel for deer heading back to bed on the property in the mornings. I was settled in the set by 6am and just sat back and waited for the woods to wake up. I spotted two does working in from the north at 7:20am and got myself in position. Every deer I've seen in the two seasons of hunting this set that came from the north have stayed on the main trail and worked right into my wheelhouse. Of course these two slick-heads didn't follow the plan and cut behind a giant dead fall to my east and worked down that ridge without offering a shot opportunity. I was beginning to think I was seriously snake bit this year, but when I caught more movement to the north about an hour later all those thoughts quickly disappeared. The nanny and her two minis followed the main trail into the bowl and right into my 20yrd shooting lane. I grunted at the doe to stop her and arrow #1 of the 2011 season was touched off. I watched the arrow disappear right behind her front shoulder and it was game over from there. The nanny only held the shot for about 33yrds before giving up the ghost; although she put on an impressive death run through multiple dead falls for the short distance she covered.

If the deer sign in the area is any indication of my season, there will be several more does that meet their maker when I'm perched in the Killing Station set this year, but it's nice to finally be on the board in 2011!

MO-Archery kill during the firearms season

With family obligations on Saturday I was anxious to get out on Sunday for what would probably be my last sit during the 2010 MO firearms season. I'm that guy...that has a hard time making decisions on where to go, what stand to hunt, etc...So finally I decided to roll the dice and hunt Pete's killing set at our management hunt property.

I was greeted Sunday morning the worst November hunting conditions you could possibly ask for with +60 degree temps, full moon, and winds from the south from 10-20 mph....."it's seems like I've been snake bite this fall". With Pete having so much success from his killing set and with him taking the weekend off after tagging out for the firearms portion of our season, I decided to set up in his stand.

Pete told me that whenever you hunt that set don't expect movement until after 8:30am, so finally around 9:10am I spotted movement from the NW. Three mature does and two minis were heading my way, so I grabbed the Hoyt and was ready to let an arrow fly. The does came right into my wheelhouse and at 15yards quartering away I let the arrow go and it found it's mark perfectly with a complete pass through. The Big Momma ran off about 40 yards before taking a dirt nap right on the walking trail! I was pretty jacked up with this being my first archery kill of the 2010 campaign and first ever bow kill during the MO Firearms Season !

After getting down from the set and finding the arrow, I picked up the blood trail and it was absolutely amazing....so amazing that even I could follow it!!! The new Spitfire Maxx Broadheads are my new best friend and a big thanks to Scott for the recommendation, I appreciate it brother!!

After Thanksgiving I'll be back after it and hopefully I'll be able to connect on a MO Big Boy, but I'll have to do from my own set since Pete will be back on the prowl.

The Killing Continues

10/23/10 - I was settled into my new "killing tree" about an hour before legal shooting time and was optimistic about the morning sit. The forecast had called for rain all day, but luckily the storms never manifested. The morning was overcast with a strong SW wind. I was skunked for the first time all season at the north KC property, but another hunter had smoked a nice 2 1/2yr old 10pointer and I helped him track it and drag it out. It was his first deer with a bow and he was all kinds of wound up about it....it was fun to see.

Shana and I had to baby sit for some friends Saturday night, so I mailed in the evening sit and spent some quality time with Mia and the wife.

10/24/10 - Found me back in the "killing tree" for another morning sit. The warm temps didn't slow the deer activity down any though. I saw 10 deer from 8:30am - 10am, but nothing inside 50yrds. I hunted until 10:30am then headed out for a bite to eat, nap, and watch the Chiefs game. Since the Chiefs decided to pour it on the Jags, I didn't have to wait until the game ended to get back in the woods. I was back in the saddle by 3:45pm and enjoyed an awesome fall evening on stand. Around 6:15pm I flicked about 20 acorns I'd picked up under the tree earlier into the dry leaves out in front of set. The wind had totally laid down and you could hear the leaves pop all the way down the draw. About 5 minutes after I'd flicked the last acorn I heard footsteps to the west of me. It didn't take long to spot the two mature does working down the ridge to my location. I was amazed when they made a bee-line to the same area as all of the acorns I'd flicked landed. I'm not saying that's why they came in, but it was more than a coincidence in my opinion. The bigger doe of the two started to work up the draw just to the right of my set. She was 6yrds from the tree when I came to full draw. A quiet "eeerrp" stopped her cold and I put a perfect shot on her. She only held it for about 35yrds before the lights went out on the party and MO doe #6 was on the ground.

I'm so looking forward to the next 4-5 weeks of hunting. The bucks are going to come unhinged in the next 7-10 days and hopefully I'll be able to put some bone on the ground as well. It's been a great season so far, but now it's time to get after a MO buck.

One Tough MO Swamp Donkey

10/20/10 - I had the oppurtunity to go in late to work today, so I took full advantage. I headed up to the North KC property that Brian and I were selected to hunt on by the local PD. I've had deer well within shooting range during every sit on the stand I hung last Friday, so with a perfect SW wind I was pretty optomistic going into this morning's hunt.

Around 8:20am I was ambushed by 4 does and a yearling that had managed to slip in from directly downwind and on the back side of my set. Everyother deer I've seen come from that trail has walked almost directly under the left side of my set and offered easy shots out front, so thats what I prepared for. Unfortunetly the deer cut west directly behind my tree and with 10 eyes and ears within 5 yards of me I couldn't get turned in the stand for a shot oppurtunity on the other side of tree. After they worked out of the area I started a ratteling & grunting sequence and I was thrilled to see a little 4 pointer come charging onto the scene. He was looking for a good fight and everytime he'd turn to walk off I'd give him a little bit of the VECtor grunter and he'd come back in raking saplings and grunting, it was a pretty cool show. While the little guy was acting like the biggest buck in the woods I spotted a doe and mini crest the east ridge of the draw. They were coming down the same trail as the first group of does except this time I was already facing the right direction. Momma cut behind the set about 6yrds further up the draw from the first does, so when she hit my shooting lane at 11yrds it was go time. I grunted her to a stop and put an absolutely money heart shot on her. Her and the mini both tore off to the west, so after giving her 30 minutes I got my gear sorted out and started on what should have been a short track job. Over 300yrds later I was finally rewarded with doe #5. The ol' girl piled up under a huge cedar tree about 90yrds from the rig....nice work girl! I have no idea how she held the shot for that distance...after field dressing her I examined the hit and the shot was dead center through her pump station...one of the toughest swamp donkeys I've ever encounter, thats for sure!

I'll be back after them again Saturday morning to see if I can continue knocking down the MO deer population!

My first weekend hunting the MO Zoo

10/15/10 - Brian and I were selected to participate in a special deer hunt in north KC. The property is privately owned, but holds an extremely high number of deer per square mile. Because of the high number of auto vs. deer accidents on the main road through this particular city the local police department enlisted some local hunters to help manage the overpopulated herd and luckily we were selected to the killing crew!

I've been allowed to hunt the property previously, but under a very restricted format. That is not the case this time around however. We have free reign on the majority of the property, so I went in Friday to get a couple of initial sets hung based on my previous hunts. I located Brian's set towards the SE corned of the hunt area and actually saw 9 deer within 100yrds of the spot while trying to find a suitable killing tree. After getting set #1 hung I moved over to the NW side of the property to an area I knew would funnel deer through it, based on my previous observations. I was not disappointed by the amount of sign in the area once I started to kick around. There were huge trails running through the entire draw and several good rubs lines were already being worked on both sides as well, so I hung set #2 about 3/4 of the way towards the top were several of the trails intersected or passed within 40yrds of it.

I was settled in to my stand at 4pm and at 4:02pm I had my first deer show up on the scene. Unfortunately for me it was a button buck, so he got walking papers from me. Little did I know that he'd stay in the area all night working back and forth through the bush, causing me to be on edge every time he'd show back up. Around 6:40pm the little guy finally worked over the edge of the draw to my east, so at 6:42pm when I heard foot steps coming off the west ridge I know it was a new deer. The light was fading quickly in the timber but I could tell this was a mature doe, so when she eased into my shooting lane at 30yrds I was already at full draw. A quick errrrp! stopped her cold and the Hoyt took care of the rest. The doe didn't take two steps before piling up in the shooting lane.

10/16/10 - Since I was able to get the doe from last night drug out of the area without much disturbance, I elected to hunt the same set in the morning. The wind was still great for the setup and I had high hopes of seeing some good deer movement, unfortunately there were several deer right around my set as I walked in. Only one of them blew at me, but I could hear 3-4 of them walking in the brush. I got to the property earlier than normal so I was optimistic things would settle down before legal shooting light and I was right. Around 6:45am I heard a couple deer work off of the west ridge and drop into the draw, but it was still to dark to see. Around 8am I spotted a spike coming in from the west also. He actually worked in to 8yrds and proceeded to rub a sapling for about 2 minutes. It was pretty cool seeing him work the tree over so close to my set. The spike hung around for about 20 minutes before moving off and it wasn't 10 minutes later when I spotted the next deer. A doe and her fawn were coming into the draw from the NE and their path took them directly under my set. I let the doe get about 12yrds out and when she turned broadside I slid my arrow right behind her front shoulder. The ol' girl couldn't hold the Montec and after a short death run she piled up within sight of the set.

I hunted the morning of 10/17 as well, but only had small bucks and button bucks working through my area so no arrows got released. I was really hoping to go back, to back, to back days with a kill, but I can't really complain. I've been lucky enough to harvest a mature doe every weekend of October so far...I just hope that killing streak continues for the next six weeks. This new property will be jumping in about 10 days!!!!

More MO backstraps in the freezer

10/9/10 - I traveled to central MO this past weekend to hunt with my new father-in-law on his property in Callaway county. The forecast was calling for temperatures pushing 80 so I wasn't expecting a lot of deer movement, but I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of action I saw Saturday morning.

We reached Ralph's property around 5:40am and after getting our gear together I headed to the new northeast ladder stand that we setup this spring. The black oaks on the property were raining acorns, so my walk into the set was covered by the constant racket they made falling to the ground. I was settled in my stand by 6:15, so I just sat back and soaked up another awesome MO morning as the timber started to come to life. It didn't take long before I caught movement to the south of me. I saw flash of movement out of the corner of my eye, but after picking the cedar thicket apart with my binos I couldn't locate the source. I continued to check the thicket every couple of minutes and at 7:18am I finally picked out the legs of a deer standing about 40yrds inside the edge of the cedars. Two mature does exited the cedars and started feeding down the hill behind my set. I had to turn completely around in order to get a shot and by the time I was in a good position the first doe was already entering the only shooting lane I had on the back side of the tree, so I elected to let her walk and try to anchor the second doe. She was about 15yrds behind the lead doe and on a trail that would bring her into my shooting lane at 36yrds. I was already at full draw when she hit the shooting lane and apparently she knew the game plan, because she stopped perfectly broadside right in the middle of the lane. I settled the pin right on the shoulder crease and touched off the shot.

This is when things started getting interesting....My top cam actually hit a bow hanger Ralph had left in the tree and that I didn't notice until then. The contact my bow made with the hanger caused my arrow to shoot left about 3-4" and the arrow smashed through the doe's front left shoulder and stopped when it hit the off shoulder blade. She dropped like a rug was pulled out from under her and proceeded to snow plow 50-60yrds down the hill. I knew both shoulders were broken along with a double lung hit, so I just let the woods calm back down since I could she her piled up under a giant cedar tree from the stand.

Around 8:40am two minis came tearing into the draw from the north and soon were followed by a nice 1 1/2yr old eight point, who proceeded to dog the minis for a couple minutes. After the buck walked off the two mini went crazy and started chasing each other, jumping, and bucking around all through the draw. After several minutes of watching this circus they finally tore off to the northwest. By that time it was after 9am so I got my gear together and headed over to recover the downed doe. To my utter surprise when I got about 20yrds from her she raised her head, snorted, and plowed another 40yrds through the bush. I may have actually dribbled a bit in my drawers, because I was not at all expecting her to still be alive. Since both front shoulders were torched I was able to quickly catch up with her and put a finishing shot into her.

I'm not sure how the ol' girl held the first shot for two hours, but after getting her field dressed I examined the hit and both lungs were torched. Apparently she just didn't want to give up the ghost that easily!!!! Regardless MO doe #2 of the season is in the freezer and I'll be back after #3 later this week.

Missouri doe hits the dirt

10/2/10 - It's been a frustrating season to this point for me in MO. I've been out every weekend, but have dealt with multiple serve thunderstorms, 20-30 mph winds, and little bucks only within bow range. So, with the expected drop in temperatures in the forecast I was pretty excited to get up to the north MO property Saturday morning.

I arrived at the farm around 4:30am and was greeted by 50 degree temps and a stiff north/northeast wind. I'd planned to hunt the "stolen set" which I rehung about 30yrds southwest of the mineral lick. I was settled in by 5:30am and waited for day break, which came and went with zero sign of deer movement in the area. Around 9:15am I caught movement to the south and watched a little 6 point cross over the ridge into the deep west draw. I shut down the morning sit around 10:15am and went to pull the card on the lick camera. Roger had been cutting corn all week and the amount of pictures (10) for the week, proved that the deer pattern in that area had been disrupted by it.

For the evening sit I decided to hunt the new set I hung this summer at on the east end of the road. I thought that the deer may have moved north into the bean fields, since the corn was being harvested on the south end. I encountered 9 turkeys in the top end of the meadow on the way into the set, but the strong wind allowed me to get around them without spooking them. They were all hens, so they got walking papers from me.

I reached the new set and was settled by 4:15pm. I was pretty concerned with the wind because it kept swirling through the bottom, but around 6pm it finally settled down and starting coming consistently out of the north. At 6:15pm I caught movement to the west of the set down by the "Beach". I spotted two does browsing on some of the underbrush while they worked in my direction. I was already standing, so I decided to double check yardages of several possible shooting lanes since this was my first sit in the new set. When I looked back to the west to check on the ladies the original two had multiplied and now I had a group of 5 does headed right at me.

The lead deer was about 25yrds in front of the group and was coming in pretty quickly, so I prepared for a shot on the closest trial about 14yrds in front of the set. To my surprise she actually cut up a wash directly on the west side of the stand at 12yrs. I had to do a little quick maneuvering to get into shooting position and one of the trailing deer must have spotted me, because she snorted once started to stomp. All her commotion actually worked to my advantage. The lead doe stopped to look back at the group and offered me a perfect shot at 11 steps. I touched off the shot and watched my fletchings disappear right on the shoulder crease. The ol' girl mule kicked and bounded up the embankment 20 yrds or so took 3 steps and it was lights out. The other deer stayed in the area for about twenty minutes before moving off and I was able to make a quick recovery and get her out of the timber without much commotion.

I hunted the south ridge set above the "gash" Sunday morning. I didn't see any deer movement but I did have 5 hen turkeys and 3 otters work right by the set, so it was a pretty entertaining sit.

Missouri Marathon Ends with 2 Bucks and 2 Doe

I arrived in KC, MO the evening of Friday, November 6th. Pete and I decided to sleep in Saturday morning and drive to Macon, check in to the hotel and get out for the evening sit.

Of course the weather was windy and warm, like it is every time I hunt in Missouri. The first nights hunt was very eventful. I was setup in the Gash Set. I spotted what looked like a good buck clear across the bottom field walking along the river edge. I couldn't tell exactly how big the buck was because it was probably close to a mile away. Right around 5 PM I had a small spike/fork buck come down the hillside in front of me and work into the field. Twice I had him at 20 yards.

As I was watching the small buck I heard foot steps coming through the gash. After a couple minutes a nice 2 1/2 year old 8 pt came out and stood in my shooting lane at 23 yards. I looked him over and had to talk myself out of shooting him several times. He had a nice tall rack but wasn't very wide and was lacking good mass. Great looking deer for an MN boy! I grunted at him with my Vector call and this stirred up trouble between him and the little buck in the field. At one point the two deer came nose to nose before the young guy finally realized he was seconds away from a tail kicking and quickly put a 100 yards between himself and the 8 pt. I was able to call the 8 pt. back into 20 yards three seperate times with my vector grunt call before he finally worked into the field to eat.

Right at dark I had a Doe and her two mini's come off the hillside about 150 yards out in front of my set and work across the field. Not a bad first nights sit, to bad it would be my only good sit for the next 5 days. Below is a photo the spike/fork buck I was able to snap.

Things really slowed down as far as deer movement the next couple of days. The only deer I saw the rest of the time in Macon was a doe who got spooked off a hillside by a falling tree. She came running past me at 60 mph scared out of her skin.

Things were also slow for Pete most of the week although he was seeing deer almost every sit. On the morning of 11/11/09 Pete had a great encounter with a huge Macon Co. giant. Right after getting into the oak ridge top set Pete heard running and grunting in the draw in front of his stand. Shortly after that two doe crested over the top of the draw. Shortly there after Pete heard more grunting and a huge 150 class eight came over the ridge bumping the does. For several minutes Pete had the big 8 bumping the does around his stand. The whole time the BIG BOY was grunting and lip curling at the two does. Pete finally got the buck to stop at 31 yards and he released his arrow. The shot looked great until the big guy dropped and spun to his right after hearing the string. Pete's arrow hit him high in the left shoulder and never penetrated the bone. Another kick to the groin for Pete's 2009 archery season!

We did track the deer all afternoon to make sure it wasn't hit better than we thought. I did catch a glimpse of the big fella once in the afternoon as he ran off over 200 yards away. Even at 200 yards I could tell he was a true giant. Hopefully we will see him again later this fall or next.

We returned to KC on Wednesday night because Pete had to be in Columbia for meetings the next two days. I hunted the Blue Springs farm Thursday evening and Friday morning but still couldn't shake my curse. The good news was the farm was littered with sign. The bad news was I only saw deer while walking back to my car after dark.

Saturday, November 14th. The Missouri firearms opener finally arrived and we would finally get a chance to even the score after a week of getting our tails kick.

Opening day found Brian, Pete and I hunting the Blue Springs farm. We had cloudy skies, cool temps, a good northwest wind and periods of light rain. Finally some good weather had arrived in MO!

I had a deer in my field prior to first light but that deer was quickly run off by a grunting buck who either wanted a fight or some tail. Pete and Brian where seeing deer and turkeys right at first shooting light and pretty much the rest of the morning. I started to feel like my curse was for real as I wasn't seeing anything while those two where covered up in critters. At 7:15 my curse was finally lifted. I caught movement to my left and looked over to see a doe coming out of the woods at full tilt with a very good buck right on her tail. I tried stopping the deer 4 or 5 times and finally yelled at the top of my lungs which got there attention. Both deer stopped briefly at 65 yards to see what all the noise was about. I quickly settled in on the buck but had to rush my shot because his doe started to take off again. I thought my first shot found its spot but the buck reacted oddly. I quickly reloaded and took a running shot as the deer went for the woods. After the 2nd shot the buck stopped one more time and allowed my to settle in and take a relaxed shot. My 3rd shot hit home and the big guy gimped into the woods about 20 yards before I lost sight of him. Everything happened so fast that I was rattled worse than I have ever been by a deer.

I sat tight and waited until 9am for Pete and Brian to come over to look for the buck. The wait was brutal as I wasn't positive of my shots although I knew the 3rd shot hit home. After arriving, Brian walked into the woods where I saw the deer enter and quickly spotted him laying in a heap 30 yards past the edge of the field. It was quite a relief after having to rush my shot and not have the deer drop immediately. Below are some pictures of the big jacked up MO Una-buck.


Brian and I met for lunch around 11:45 and treated ourselves to a bag full of BK while Pete decided to stay put on the 70. At 12:30pm we headed back to the stands for the rest of the afternoon. On the way to our stands Brian spotted a deer halfway down the cul-d-sac field. After verifying it was a doe the stalk was on! Brian and I got around the field and slowly worked our way down a hedge row. With the wind in our favor and great cover between us we were able to slide all the way down to the end of the hedge row. Brian gave me the green light so I dropped my pack and Brian held back 10 yards. I slowly slid into the field and popped out in a sitting position ready to fire. The doe had no idea I was in her world. After a couple seconds she turned perfectly broadside and I let the .06 speak its peace. As soon as the shot went off I heard Brian giggling behind me and letting me know she went right down in her tracks. We quickly pulled her into the hedge row we had just stalked down and made our way to our stands for the evening sit. Below is a photo of the doe we stalked.

Sunday, November 15. Although we all saw deer Saturday night no more shots were fired. Sunday greeted us with a strong north wind, rain, and temps in the mid 40's. Pete was in the cul-d-sac set, Brian was in his ladder stand and I was in the killing tree. All of us where sitting well before shooting time. I had a deer come through my field shortly after sitting down and Brian once again had deer in his field all morning. Shortly after legal shooting time it started to rain, so I made the move to my Ameristep ground blind that sat only 150 yards away. Shortly after settling into my dry, wind free ground blind I spotted a doe trotting onto the field to my right. I quickly grabbed my gun and settled it on my shooting stick. Ol girl must have seen me move because she stopped at 75 yards and looked directly at me. School girl mistake! The .06 spoke its peace again and deer #3 was down in her tracks. Below is a photo of my 3rd deer. With that my 2009 MO deer season was complete.

Later that evening after I headed back to MN Pete got himself dressed in his frogtogs and set up shop in on the BS 70. He arrived at his natural ground blind right around 2 PM and settled in for an evening sit in the rain. Around 4:30pm after seeing a couple smaller deer things really picked up and in a hurry. As he was watching the field Pete heard a noise directly to his right. He turned to see a big bodied buck jumping the fence and landing within 4ft of him, literally knocking the right side of hsi bling over. After a few seconds the buck realized soethign wasn't right and he ran out into the field 60 yards or so. Pete settled the .06 on him and let it bark. The big guy went down but got up and gimped into the cedar thicket east of the field. Pete returned to the thicket the following morning and made a quick recovery of his deer after only 5 minutes of tracking. Below is a photo of Pete and his 09 MO rifle buck. We will be adding some better pics when he returns next week from his Montana trip.

Not a bad MO opening weekend. 2 mature bucks and 2 nice doe. Overall the BS property has produced 4 mature bucks and 8 doe so far this season, plus Brian still has his tag(s) to fill. Below is a pic of a bobcat I got at the BS farm on sunday morning. Easily one of the coolest pics I have gotten on my cuddyback.

Pete is off to Montana this week with a small game license, whitetail doe tag and a prized either species (Muley or Whitetail) buck tag in his pocket. I am taking the weekend off before getting after some MN pheasants next week.