2009
2009 has been a crazy year. Starting out with having a new baby boy and finishing it out with adding on to the house and shop as well as harvest being about a month delayed. I knew when I saw this buck coming that it was one I wanted. I watched him work a scrape about 50 yards away and then spar and fight a little with a smaller buck before stepping into a perfect shooting lane and allowing me to make a perfect 25 yard shot. I recovered him in less than 45 yards (in some of the thickest brush on the property!) and he should score about 145.
Nice Big Boar Taken on IowaWhitetail.com hunt at Boar Ridge in Oklahoma
Finally made it out to go turkey hunting this morning, can't believe turkey season has been open for four days before I could get away. It was really hard to roll out of bed just after 4 am for me but it was well worth it! The gobblers were answering owl hoots real well by 5:30 this morning as I was setting up the blind. It was so dark I had to use a flashlight to set-up and get the decoy out, something I hardly ever do. I was on a little draw running down to a bigger creek with corn field on both sides. The area is real isolated and can't be seen from any roads, just like I like it! I could hear the gobblers hammering away both up and down the creek from me and even behind me up the draw so my expectations were growing. A lone hen appeared behind me up the hill, must have been roosing up the little draw - she didn't seem to mind the Dave Smith Decoy out there and fed right past it. I saw a group of 3 strutters on the next little draw, about 200 yards away (I don't have a pin for that range) and misc turkeys coming and going in every direction. Pretty quick a pair of hens and a pair of jakes came straight across the big creek and directly to my decoy. I hadn't shot a bird for a couple years so I hammered the biggest jake through the mesh at 17 yards and he only went about 20 feet before dropping dead within about 10 yards of the blind. Victory! But I stayed still and quiet as there were more birds to be had and I had another tag! I passed the other jake and hoped a longbeard would come in. Several passed by at about 60 yards with some hens and 3 were working the ridge behind me at over 100 yds. One of them must have got curious and kind of snuck in quiet behind me. I had him at full draw at under 10 yards but could only see the top of his head. The decoy was behind the blind from me from his angle, so he went across the ditch and strutted on down. I quick guessed him at 30 yards and let one rip through a dropped back window and knew he was mine when I heard the arrow thump him. First bird weighed in at 15# with 3 3/4" beard and the second one was 25#, 1" spurs and 10" beard. What an awesome morning!
2008
2007
2007 Iowa Handgun Deer
2007 Iowa Archery Deer 2006
2006 Iowa Archery Deer
Even though it has been terribly hot for hunting, I could not stay out of the stand.
A year and a day after last years buck, and here I am in the same stand I started in that day (although then I moved mid-morning before harvesting my buck)
It was real slow with nothing moving but some distant squirrels and turkeys, so I was playing games with the cell phone.
I looked up about 5:00 pm to find that I had a doe in front of me that pinned me down.
I was frozen in my seat with the bow on the hook and could hear something coming from behind me but didn't dare turn to look.
I listened to him approach from behind me for 10 minutes sight unseen while I was still frozen in place.
He stopped less than 3 yards from the base of my tree, directly behind me.
I could hear him breathing and milling around, raking his horns on the brush.
Finally he came around my left side and I got my first look at him and decided he was a shooter.
The doe bugged out as she wanted nothing to do with him so I was able to slowly reach for my bow.
He was directly downwind of me at this time but my ScentBlocker must have been working good as he stepped into the open at less than 15 yards.
My new Muzzy MX4 hit it's mark right behind the shoulder and was driven clean through by the incredible energy of my new Bowtech Allegiance.
(Is is just me or is this starting to sound like a Nascar post race speech?)
I watched him run off less than 50 yards and do a stumble and tumble down YES, I was happy! No bloodtrailing required!
12 G2 9 G3 19 inside spread
2006 Iowa Archery Deer #2 One nice thing about being a landowner and hunting your own farm is the option of getting a landowner archery tag for another buck. Being able to keep hunting has been awesome this year.
This Monday I had 8 bucks within 25 yards of me, Wednesday I saw 4 bucks and tonight there were 6 bucks passing the stand, (however only 5 of those kept going)
This mature 9-point management buck was sneaking in from downwind and passing by just before dark. I had a split second to make up my mind Shoot or dont shoot?
I have never shot two nice mature bucks with a bow in the same year before, I could put two in the record book in the same year,
I could receive the Iowa Bowhunter Expert Bowhunter Award with enough points accumulated in only one year, and my wife and new baby need more time with me as I have been putting in quite a few hours in the trees.
With the forecast showing rain, I decided to go out and try to fill my other bow tag this morning. I tried a different spot this morning that I have always wanted to watch for turkeys. It has a lot of clover and rye grain coming up and is always loaded with sign. Wouldn't you know it, just after I got the decoys set up and was comfortably situated in the blind, it started to rain. When it got light enough I could see turkeys in the trees roosting only about 150 yards away. They didn't fly down until after 7:00 am. There were several gobblers hammering away just over a ridge from me (they seemed to love to answer to the thunder clasps) and even though it was still raining, the birds started to filter my way. I was watching a bunch of hens and some jakes start to move in on me when a big gobbler crested the ridge in the clover, apparently noticed my jake decoy on the far side of the blind and came in mad in kind of a half-strut all ruffled up but the fan kind of rolled up behind him. He looked pretty pissed but soon got over it as he ran into my Muzzy launched from only 9 yards. I glanced at my watch and it showed 7:28, the same time as a week earlier when I shot my first bird.
I had him officially weighed at our local locker at 26.0 lbs. and he has a 10.5" beard and 1.25" spurs. My nicest bird so far with a bow. I can hardly believe that I shot two birds in only two days hunting with only about 3 hours total in the blind. This makes turkey #4 for me with a bow in only two years hunting since I switched to bow-only and so far I am 4 for 4 (recovered every bird I shot at)
It sure was cold out there this morning! Not as much gobbling close as I would like to hear but I decided to stick it out and wait, I've moved out too quickly and jumped birds coming in silent a few too many times. The last gobble I had heard was probably 150 yards away and 10 minutes earlier when low and behold a nice longbeard walked right through an opening exactlty like I had hoped and came straight in to my decoys and strutted around only 10 yards away. Somehow I managed to keep my composure and get the bow drawn and let it rip right as he turned his head quartering away just a little bit. A few flops and it was over, he was lying there dead only 11 yards from the blind. I looked at my watch and it was only 7:28 am.
24 pound gobbler with 10" beard and 1 1/8 spurs. I love it when a plan comes together!!
Equipement used: 2004 Bowtech Patriot with Copper John Dead Nuts sight and Trophy Taker Fall-Away rest shooting Easton Epic arrows tipped with Muzzy broadheads and Zwickey Scorpio grapplers that grip the shaft and slide down to the fletching after the hit to inhibit shoot-thru's.
Double Bull T-5 Pro-Staff blind on my "Double Bull Caddy" (A golf club hand cart converted to carry my blind along with daypack containing decoys, bow holder, etc.)
He received first place honors in the Iowa Bowhunters Association Big Buck Contest and Second place at the Iowa Deer Classic for Non-Typical Archery.
146" 11 point taken at 127 yards with a handgun - Full story to follow when I can find the time.
I really got a late start hunting this year due to too much time in the combine. Ten rainy days really shut us down and extended the harvest season but about 10 days ago it was "Game On." I've probably over hunted my Honey Hole spot but it is so perfect with numerous scrape lines intersecting, lots of rubs, water nearby and out in the middle of absolute nowhere with a nice little clover plot(I don't even think you can get there from here). Too many times already I have sat there and saw practically nothing - quite discouraging. Seeing we would have a NE wind tonight I knew I had to get back in there as that is the most perfect wind ever for this stand. Wind in my face all the way in and blowing towards a big steep bank the deer hardly ever come through. I had barely gotten strapped into the stand, arrow nocked, everything all ready for the sit and got about 2 pages into my paperback novel when I heard him coming. I knew by the deliberate heavy crunch in perfect rhythm that it was no squirrel so I put the book down, picked up the bow and stood up. No sooner had I done that but I looked up and saw him coming. With the high sweeping tines and huge browtines I immediately knew I was going to try to take him. I drew the bow before he stepped out into the clearing and had the pin on him squarely. I let out a little bleat as he passed by at 25 yards and he stopped Oh-So perfectly and I let it rip. I must have made the perfect shot as I saw him do an end-over-end roll less than 50 yards away. My arrow was laying there in the clover field in front of me. I looked at my cell phone for the time and it wasn't even 3:00 pm yet! I managed to ssit still in the stand for an hour but decided to get him cleaned up, drug out and loaded before the sun set which is so much easier than in the dark.
He's a good management 8 pointer with 10" G2's and a 9" brow tine amd 18" inside spread. he broke off one G2 and has one huge extra brow tine hook. I hunt only my own land and try to manage the deer as best I can. This was a good one to get out of the gene pool so I am tickled. Now that my landowner tag is filled, its time for some serious head hunting!
I quick taped him at 156.
Guess what decision I made?
(ps - I quick taped him at 146. I thought he had a huge neck and was hard to drag out and later found out that he weighed 220# field dressed - big old boy!)
2006 Shop Addition - New Shooting Lanes!
2005
2005 Iowa Archery Deer
Two-fer On A Blustery Day
It was a breezy and colder than normal morning - there were even high wind advisories posted by the weather bureau. (Wednesday, November 9, 2005)
I started out in an observation stand and soon determined that the deer were sticking to deep in the timber and not coming out in the open.
About 7:30 am I decided to pull some of my trail cameras and move to another stand - one that I had not hunted from in two years.
I quietly pulled two memory cards from my game cameras and went deep into the timber down in a creek bottom near some really thick cover.
I had to trim some limbs just to climb into the stand! After settling in and strapping up my safety harness I popped the memory cards into my camera for viewing.
There were several bucks I hadn't seen before and some daytime photos so I knew the rut was upon us.
I had barely put the camera away and settled in when a nice doe ran by with a small buck right on her tail.
She came by me again at full speed and must have lost him as she tuned back and stopped in the creek below me, looking around as if to say "where did he go? I sure hope he didn't give up!"
Those thoughts were erased from her mind as a sharp broadhead quickly passed through both lungs and she ran off less than 30 yards before expiring.
I was just reaching around to pat myself on the back for a nice shot when I heard a rustling leaves in the opposite direction. Here come a nice mature 10 pointer.
Could it be the same one I had just seen on the trail cam?
He was hurriedly making his way through some of the thickest Multifloral rose bushes that no man would want to walk through, twisting his head around
to force his way through. He was just entering a nice shooting lane as I reached full draw. He did a quick spin and stopped behind a tree when I
let out a soft bleat to halt him. After holding full draw for about 30 seconds he must have decided all was OK and stepped forward and met the second
broadhead flung from my new 2006 Bowtech Tribute in less than 2 minutes. He went less than 40 yards back into the deep thorny brush (BUMMER!) and went down.
Wow! 2 nice deer in 2 minutes and no blood trailing necessary - my first two-fer!
2005 Wyoming Antelope Hunt
2004
Shotgun Buck for 2004
It was kind of a dark and muggy day on Sunday, December 5, 2005 but I knew the deer wouldn't mind. Halfway back to where I was planning to sit for the evening,
I rethought the situation due to the east wind. It just wasn't ideal for that spot so I circled back and around to sit along a brushy fence line where my father had built
a home-made makeshift turkey blind between a CRP grass field and one of our whitetail clover food plots. This spot hadn't been sat it for a couple of years so I spent the next
twenty minutes or so trimming limbs, knocking down brush and cleaning out leaves to make a cleaner, quieter spot to sit. It was starting to rain softly so I planned on sitting there
for only a short time to learn the shooting lanes, range some distances and head home to dry off. I hadn't been there long when I heard a deep cough in the brush to my north.
Either a wayward deerhunter was trespassing on my land or deer were coming in. I hunkered down on the ground, put up my hood to deflect the ever increasing rainfall and put the gun
in my lap with scope down to hopefully keep the lens dry. Four does came out and walked within 15 yards of me grazing on my clover plot. The wind was perfectly in my face so they
were totally unaware of my presence. They were followed by a beautiful young 8 pointer with forked G2's that really caught my attention. I was busy trying to study his rack
wondering if he might be the son or grandson of the 200 inch buck I had harvested on this same farm two years earlier. In the meantime, three more does came out on a different trail
and passed at only about 7 yards, again totally unaware of me watching them. It was one of those days you will remember forever because of being so close to nature and watching the
deer graze on clover that I had planted in a field that I cleared. I must have been a little too complacent because the next thing I knew a doe was closing in on me and watching
me a little too closely. She must have seen me move because she was coming straight for me. She stopped about 15 yards out and just stared at me for close to ten minutes while
I tried to freeze in position, which wasn't too hard because it was now raining fairly heavily and I was getting cold and wet. Another doe came in and joined in trying to stare me
down when suddenly their attention shifted to something to the side of me. I just knew another deer was closing in on me and eventually could see antler tines in my periferal vision.
My heart was pounding in my chest so hard I was afraid they could hear it as the buck stepped out in the clear...right in front of me...totally broadside...less than 10 yards away...
watching the does...unaware of me watching this all unfold...and I didn't dare grab for my gun due to two voyueristic does staring at me, now less than 10 yards away as well.
I field judged his size as over 160 and felt blessed to be able to see him this close. I knew I had several picture of him on my trail cameras but had never laid eyes on him while
bowhunting. I couldn't believe this mature Iowa Whitetail was this close and I might never get a shot. It was all happening so fast, I knew I would never be able to make a slow motion move to pull my gun up so I did a three count in my head and went for it. The second
I reached for the safety on the gun and started to raise it to my shoulder, the doe exploded, turned inside out and high-tailed it for deeper cover. The buck also spooked but fell nicely
into my crosshairs as I pounded several slugs his way. I could tell he was hit hard and found him in the timber about 100 yards below me. What a perfect ending to a beautiful day! I could care
less about the cold rain at this point as adrenaline was keeping me warm! We quick taped him at 168 inches and he should net over 160.
Turkey #2 for 2004!!
I can still hardly believe it. After having such good luck and shooting a mature tom on opening day with my bow I concentrated on getting some farming done.
2003
Opening Day Success!!!
2003 Shotgun season produced this very mature large-bodied 7 1/2 year old 8 point buck.
I have sheds from him for 3 of the past 4 years.
He has been living on the back corner of my farm all this time and I finally got a shot at him.
2002
I was fortunate to have a very good year bowhunting in 2002. I harvested this mature Non-Typical Iowa Whitetail that grosses 205 7/8 and nets at 200 1/8 officially scored for both Pope & Young and Boone & Crockett. I have his sheds from last year as well as DeerCam pictures of him for the past two years. He was taken with one Easton carbon arrow in a perfect broadside shot with Muzzy 100 grain 3 blade Broadheads flung from my new Bowtech Patriot bow and went less than 50 yards before dropping within sight.
Shop Pictures
And finally a few pictures of my shop. Looks like I should do a little clean-up!
