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Don't know if this will upload, but I've got a hell of a job ahead of me getting him out of here. Bottom of a stream halfway down the hill. Probably my best deer yet. Not the tank, but one we've been calling bowhinkle. I was tying together a broken shoelace on my way down the hill when I heard movement, and there he was sneaking through a small saddle in the streambed. Happy pictures later in the harvest thread.

Happy to have him

This is starting to look like an all time day for the forum! This deer has seen some sh!t but his story ended today Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Went deep into the thick stuff for an afternoon sit. Two fat doe came out at 3:45. Hell of a time tracking it and even worse getting her out, but she's hanging in the barn now. Time for a shower and some dinner.

This guy literally snuck up behind me without me knowing. I turned to look behind and it sounded like the Kentucky derby at the bell as he bolted. I quickly saw a rack and hustled to turn around in the stand, holding the tree with my left arm and pulling up to shoot the shotgun with my right. As he ran, he cut behind the stand giving me a 60-70yd ish broadside shot which I took one handed with the rifle quickly rested on a bow hanger. Didn’t quite have the gun well shouldered and paid the price but it was a good double lunger. Exciting few seconds. Not a huge rack, decent mass but short tined. Dressed at 177.2 less the gambrel so call him 175. Good end to a season with far less hours in the stand than normal. Forgot my tags so I had to head home and Natalie happily returned with me for the recovery. Maybe it’s time to shoot a doe. With the little time I had, I didn’t want to waste it on a doe so far. But if I get out again, the girls should beware.

Decent 8/9pt with broken g3 bit the dust. Snuck up on me and I didn’t know he was directly behind me until I moved and I heard him running away. Scoped myself in the rush to shoot him and hold on to tree while turning around. Lol. But perfect shot. Honestly wasnt sure how big he was as it happened really fast but no complaints. Fun hunt with Treeguy.

Zero deer seen this morning but there is one less coyote in the population... Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

So I settled into the Buckform for the second Saturday of rifle season. I didn’t really have high hopes as I hadn’t seen a good shooter all week nor had any of my cameras. But usually the second Saturday in my area gets some folks out in the woods more than usual. Also heard a lot of shots from the duck hunters this morning so think that got the herd on their feet. I had seen 12 does and fawns and was watching some does enter my field into the food plots about 200 yards away. A buck I call Hocus Pocus then casually walked out behind two does and started to feed. I knew once I scoped him that he was a shooter for sure so I took a deep breath lined it up and gently squeezed the trigger. There was a bit of smoke but I saw him kick his back legs like a mule and then run forward and the back and then he toppled over. I got him on camera a couple of times over the past month but he definitely was Hocus Pocus. Just glad to have been blessed to get him. Good hunting to all still in the woods

Classic "heard a twig snap" and holy crap this may happen! He came in from due north and the wind was going north and or west. I let him keep coming to about 40 and he locked up so I sent it. I knew I hit, him he mule kicked nice but he stopped again at 60 or so and I shot again but I think I missed, but he piled up. At first I thought I hit him in the hindquarters but upon inspection that looks a day old or so. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Shot at 7:03. I’ll post the story when I get home Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

BBD

Same setup as last year. I'm sitting on the ground facing south on the second Saturday of gun season. Second year where a ' good enough ' buck came in about 40 yds behind me moving west to east. I'm usually a little more picky, but with a new born at home, time is limited. That's two for the freezer this year and all i need. Wife will be happy because that means I'll be home on the weekends now.

BBD myself holy crap

8pt on the ground, #fromtheground.

Lol. Looks worse than it is. One handed with 20g should be shouldered. Double lung though. It will heal. Happy daughter!

We are early this year, we are usually late setting up, typically a few days prior to Christmas. I usually have such a difficult time leaving the woods this time of year, in hopes of a buck, so the tree gets put off. This year I was fortunate to get a nice deer early, so I searched our property as quietly as I could, for a Christmas tree. We set up what we call our “Charlie Browner”...it has been a tradition we have been following for about 6 years, Its a good time, we enjoy it.

Very happy. Not my biggest, but probably biggest rack in 15 years. Decided I'd cruise the hillside this morning, wet leaves and very little wind. On my way down the first long stretch of logging road my bootlace broke. So about 15 seconds into retying it I hear something very in squirrel like. Look down towards the sound and there he was. Gun up, he's standing behind a tree. Steps out after a minute, off goes the gun, down he goes. Shot went in the left shoulder and out the right low run cage, diaphragm intact, not a morsel of meat ruined, heart was just obliterated. Happy! Took a couple hours to get the quad down close, and then hoist him out if there then back out again. Little dicey, some side slippage getting out. The hill drops 1000 feet in half a mile, and that stream bed is deep on top of that.

Ladies and gentlemen we have a buck down here in 8F. Prime time now. Maybe a double.

I got up this morning and really didn't want to hunt with forecasted winds in the 20-30 mph range, rain, and temps in the 50's. It is always been the tradition to hunt Thanksgiving day so I dragged myself to some state land I have been hunting pretty regular. Got there before 6: 00a.m. and there were already guys in the woods with sunrise being 7:14. I'm not a big fan of gun season and after spending 58 hrs. in stands during bow; not seeing much, and only having shot opportunities on small ones I was not very optimistic. I have scouted this area a lot and hunted it enough to know there are deer here. I was also pretty sure I had their travel routes figured out despite all the pressure they have been getting and from hunters, hikers etc. I decided to leave the climber in the truck and hunt from the ground. The last thing I wanted to do was to sit in a tree in 30 mph winds. I got in by 6:45 and am thinking to myself what the hell am I doing hunting on a day like this. The wind blew for about an hour and then it started to rain, Shots started ringing out between 6:50 and 7:00 with sunrise @ 7:14. Finally at 7:20 things quiet down. I started thinking about Thanksgiving one of my favorite holidays and how dismal it will be without the loved ones I have lost in the past year or so and miss dearly, not being able to celebrate with family members because of all the covid business, how messed up the world has become, and how much worse it can get in the future. After being there a short time the wind died down and now I am wishing I had my climber. Oh well I'll just stick it out for a couple of hours, go home and chalk it up as another day of deer hunting. At 7:40 this guy comes down one of the travel routes. He stops turns his head, and I can see how his rack is not symmetrical. Thinking to myself that he needed to be removed from the gene pool I took the shot. After eating my tags last year I didn't want a repeat performance this year, While I was hoping for a trophy I really did not want to take my chances like last year and end up empty handed. After the shot he takes off and shows no indication of being hit whatsoever and I think to myself WTF. I wait for ½ hr. and knew I had to at least go check to be certain. I get to where he stood and it starts pouring rain. My day is only getting better. After looking pretty hard and not seeing any hair or blood I am thinking a miss for sure. Just when I am about to kick myself even harder for missing; I spot some blood but there isn't much so worse yet I only wounded him. The rain gets worse and there is only blood here and there. I followed it the best I could and finally had to start leaving markers so I could back track to try to pick it up again. After about 40 yards the blood is getting harder and harder to find. I look down through the woods and I see the white belly in a section of brush about 60 yards from the shot. Come to find out it was a decent shot and all the blood was confined in the chest. Both lungs were destroyed but the heart was not damaged at all. The drag was long but luckily mostly downhill. By the GPS it was just a little over 3 tenths of a mile. Dressed weight is 129 lbs. He has a broken tine from fighting on the right side and one sticker that wasn't an inch so on the tag he is recorded as a 5 point. Not as nice as most of the bucks taken here, not my biggest or best; but gave me something to be thankful for in these trying times; and happy I won't be eating all my tags this year. A state land buck on Thanksgiving day. Mossberg 9200 semi-auto 12 gauge/federal sabot slug.

At 8am my good friend takes a shot at the lead deer in a group of 4. He felt the shot was a bit back and was down on himself pretty hard. He still won’t tell me how far of a shot it was so I assume it was a chip shot. I tell him to stay put and don’t move we need to give it time. We get a text group going to devise a plan to get on that deer mid day before the rain comes in. The plan gets assembled and now it’s a waiting game. 10:45 hits and the game plan goes into motion. We got boots on the ground so I decided to come out of the hut and stand on the balcony leaving my daughter inside nice and warm with the windows closed. No idea why because our guys where a good 400 yards out yet but this Big buck gets out of his bed. I’m instantly tracking him in the scope but I don’t have a shot. He gets behind a bunch of trees so I look back inside my hut hoping to make eye contact with my daughter to tell her to stay still and plug her ears. She’s already up out of her seat ears plugged looking at me. I give her a thumbs up and turn my attention back to the buck. He hits the main trail and I instantly know where he’s going but I don’t have a gun rest out on the balcony. He gets behind another tree and I drop down to a knee and take the best shooting position I can given the situation. He steps out from the tree offering his head and front shoulder. I just want one more step from him so I can see his entire boiler room and tuck a shot just behind the front shoulder. Wouldn’t you know it he catches something and snaps his head over looking right at me still only offering up his front shoulder. It’s now or never he’s only moments away from bugging out of my life for good. I squeeze the trigger zeroed in on his shoulder. Bang the gun pops off and he drops down into the infamous death run. I can see red coming out of the exact spot I was aiming at. He travels 20 yards in a heart beat and all of a sudden his legs are under him and his head and tail are up running through the woods. He jumps up onto the dike slows down and walks out of view. WTF just happened I’m dying inside! This is going to a very painful wait. The guys on the ground are blowing up my phone. I tell them what happened and to continue with the game plan and let’s find the first deer shot. The buck and myself need time. Thankfully we recover the first deer and now 3 guys are headed my way 45 min after the shot to check out the hit sight and walk the dike where the buck was last seen. No blood and no hair at the hit sight but blood on the dike. Seconds later one of the guys on the dike spots the buck getting out of his bed and he tosses a shot down range in desperation just before the buck hits the water and runs out of life. We now have a dead buck in the creek that needs recovery. A 200 year old row boat and one very very wet hunter later the buck is on land and I have my hands on bone. My initial shot went though the shoulder hit 1 lung and nicked the heart. The desperation shot never connected. I’m very thankful for the group of guys I hunt with and to be able to share this moment with them and my daughter. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

11-21-2020

I'm heading back up for the last week of rifle and late muzzle loader/crossbow. I have to put in for vacation a year in advance,so i took the last week of rifle and the week of late muzzy hoping for snow,But in keeping with this year my 4x4 broke and i'll be using my AWD which means i'll be limited to pavement only.No biggie i'm still pumped for it.Being that i got a doe during the early muzzleloader with my inline i'm going to use my caplock and crossbow. I'm more excited about setting a few traps out for the first time. The weather doesn't look to bad with a few small snow falls,but all so a lot of rain. Here's my doe from the early season.There was no harvest thread for the muzzleloader or i couldn't find it. Good luck to everyone still hunting and congrats to all the successful !!!!!!

Well tonight at last light shot my target buck I have been after all season. He went down on impact, then got up and went into the woods. He was in heavy golden rod brush when I shot . Tracked him into the woods, and stopped. Have good blood, but didn't want to push him into the neighbors.Gonna be a long night. My father and I are heading out at daylight in the am to get him.

I’ve always been awful at staging deer for pictures. The pictures I had yesterday on my phone where nice but they really didn’t capture the bucks true mass. Today I get sent a few pictures from a friend who was also snapping pictures that capture the buck much better even though we are not looking at the camera. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Congrats to all that scored this morning. I was close but no shot. I went back to where I found the big rubs the other day. Well got on a different rub line. Instantly new I was on the same deer. Found some massive rubs all on cedar trees. I could see his walking track so I just took my time. At about 9 I came up on a thicket that the other rub line went into thursday. I should of stayed out but I went in. Instantly had that feeling he was there. Rubs every where and fresh crap so I stopped and grunted. I waited 10 mins and went another 20 yards. Found a really fresh rub and crap. At about that time the wind shifted and I could smell him. 2 seconds later he jumps. All I see his leg in the brush then he finally realized it was time to leave. I saw his ass once never made out his rack. Found his bed my shotgun fit in it. I backed out didn't want to chase him off. I need snow but it was a fun encounter. Total 35 rubs, 3 scrapes

Finished it up today, my wife chemical striped the oak and I sanded them to clean them up. She stained it all , door, window trim , jamb extensions , door trim , base boards etc. I made the trim around the base of the stairs, I cut 1/2 by 1/2 inch oak strips and ran the router on the tops. The base board is old door trim that the edges were beat to hell . So I cut about 5/8 off the bad side and ran the router on them to finish the tops . Only thing we have left is painting the entrance door jamb extensions. Well wait and do that over the summer as we have to take off the door and hinges to paint . Super happy how it turned out . A few before photos..

He wasn't close to being the highest scoring deer that I had on trailcam this year but this brute of a buck was very near the top of the most wanted list. The 3 year history with "the big one horner" came to an end tuesday afternoon.

Took a doe this AM, first deer I've seen since Monday. Sure enough, about 45 minutes later two bigger doe walk by.

Opening morning 10 ish my cousin more than likely pushed 2 doe to me. Marlin Slugmaster 12GA. Winchester BRI slug at 50-55 yds. State land in 8N. May be the biggest doe I have ever killed. My bow season doe was big,this one was bigger. Only saw one buck all bow season so full figured doe are cool too.

Been a rough year for me this year., took last week of crossbow off and 1st 3 days of gun with a total of 110 hours in treestand and no shot opportunities.Only saw deer in 2 of those days.Took my climber yesterday and went on the state land that borders my property and found a swamp with lots of sign and found a perfect tree to watch from.Got there today at 2:30 this afternoon and this buck came out at 3:45.

I wasn’t gonna hunt today... but I feel I should try to contribute to this stellar forum harvest day. Sitting over my decoy. Did I put enough lipstick on her??

8pts for team 4.

@wolc123 if you were on my side of the state, I'd have a gift for you..

Daughter n I saw nothing. Not even a squirrel but she was warm , stayed awake and shared some great bonding time with a few laughs. It’s a heck of a lot more fun seeing nothing with someone than by myself. Had a button buck jump over guardrail on way home and almost over the hood.

Kids, they have no filter. I wanted to hunt some new places this year and one of the places I had on my list was my cousin’s farm in 7M. She and her husband had purchased the old family homestead awhile back. I grew up hunting it when I was young so I wanted to get back there and hunt. They are devote Christian homesteaders who home school their seven children. Their farm is a menagerie of cows, goats, chickens, ducks, pigs, cats and dogs. All of the children understand where their food comes from because they tend to it daily. The two boys, “O” (12yo) and “R” (9yo) are very interested in hunting but their father’s time is limited working six days a week and he’s self-professed “not really a hunter.” Well don’t you worry boys, Uncle E’s gonna show you this fall how we gather up and cook some wild game! I started showing up at their place this summer and put up a pop up blind in a nice spot not far from the house. The place was thick with sign and I knew chances were good something would walk past the blind at some point. My plan was to get father and his sons in the blind for opening day so they could get some quality time together watching the sun come up, eating snacks and goofing around. Killing a deer was secondary really. Fast forward to Saturday morning, opening day. I was pumped! I get dad and the boys in the blind at first light, all set up ready to go. I left them and settled in not far away on a hedge row in the same field. Well I don’t have to tell you that we hunted most of the day Saturday and saw nothing! Not a tail, an ear or let alone a deer. Drats! We all talked on the walk back to the house that night that we all had a good time even though we didn’t shoot anything. Before I left I made sure it was ok with the father that I could come back the next day and hunt in the morning. I knew the family would be busy with church and didn’t expect them to hunt with me, just wanted to get his thoughts about hunting on Sundays. He told me I was welcome anytime. I told him I’d see him in the morning when I would need to grab the boys quick to have them help me track my deer. His eye roll spoke volumes lol. Sunday, 11.22.20. 7AM. I’m in the blind less than 20 min and out pops a doe, broadside at 50yds. After the shot she face plants and plows back into the brush where she came from. I was very confident she would not and could not have gone far. If you’ve read this far you know the feeling. We’re on the board now baby! Ain’t nobody goin’ hungry because we just put some jerky DOWN! Somewhat high on adreneline I text my cousin at 7:10AM. No response. 7:20AM I find myself knocking on her back door. I think it was about 7:22AM when the first of the family was up, and then very quickly EVERYONE was awake, including a not so happy father. Apparently not everyone gets as exited about killing deer as we do, especially very early Sunday mornings before church! Now the humor begins. I grab the boys and off we go in our orange vests, down the tractor path to where I thought we’d find the deer. I’ve got my rifle because you just never know. First thing young R decides he gonna take a header in the creek as we cross it looking for the trail. Soaked him head to toe lol but onward we go! I’m trying to coach them some telling them to go slow and look for blood, a white belly or a white tail. About 15 yards in I see the deer laying stone dead right off the tractor path. I asked the boys to stop and look real hard. “See anything?” I ask. “Nope” they say and off we go walking right past the dead deer! We get 20 yards further down the path and I tell them I KNOW she’s back there, we just need to look harder. Turn around, walk back and O see’s her and lets out a whoop. I don’t believe either one of them had seen a deer that close before. R walks up to the deer and says “Hmmm, it doesn’t look that big. Not much bigger than a goat really”. First time on a deer track courtesy of Uncle E and now he’s a hunting critic! I tried to tell him it was an adult deer but he wasn’t buying it. O asks “Where’s it’s horns?” “Antler’s you mean? This is a doe, a mother deer, not a buck or father deer.” I say. “Oh” he says, “I can see she’s got teats but that’s a small udder. She probably wouldn’t give much milk.” R starts in on me again about how small it is and how much meat is on it ‘cause they have “three freezers and one’s empty. Looks like all that would fit on one shelf in there” he says. At this point I’m starting to feel deficient lol. A quick picture and back to the house we went. Dropped off the two new hunters in time for breakfast and church. I was laughing to myself on my walk back to the woods to take care of the doe. Young kids are sooooo funny because they have no filter. They just tell it like it is. My last words to them was I’ll be back soon to kill a buck. And we’ll keep on putting them in the freezer until it’s full. All smiles when I left.

Sheds on the hide and deadheads cut and in the box from the last 3 seasons. I also use the cut off horns for furniture around the house

9 points for team 4

Clowns to the left, jokers to the right and I’m stuck in the middle with poo Hoping that the producer of this 4Y turd tries to sneak back into his love shack for a little sexual healing....name the three musical artists referenced for the win. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Shot fired

And Mrs. Plavs maple cheesecake for dessert

Butcher weight her 104 pounds take a few off for being super wet i say 97 98 . I need a jack and coke

Congrats@cynthiafu on a nice doe. We didn't leave empty handed today my buddy took this nice 7 point. Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

And I got her to the truck . And here comes my helper lololol

I have a big doe i had to swim out to get her. Now I can't drag her up the bank

I joined the orange army 38 years ago...if it makes me safer because I am seen better by others with a gun who might not know I am there then I buy in. Just makes sense and I don’t care if a deer sees my orange or not cause they aren’t shooting back. This is a one sided war and orange decreases friendly fire.

11/28: Dad saw a doe and another deer at 830am but couldn’t see head so far. He checked 1 cam on the way in. Bobcat and a nice buck. That’s 4 different bucks between 11/19 and 11/24. Hopefully he catches up to one soon. That midday buck was 30min behind a doe. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Well, it happened. I harvested “the big one” (as per my youngest daughters orders, and the one that me and my oldest daughter came across once). Day two of rifle season 2020 is one to remember. Coming onto this handsome buck who was strutting his stuff as the king of the hill was an an amazing experience. I walked from my spot towards a path several deer crossed, and there he came down a hill. I stopped in my tracks as my heart began to pump harder and faster. He had three doe right behind me and one spotted me. I thought I was toast. Then another smaller buck pushed the three doe out and walked over to this big fella. The two bucks stayed in one spot over 40 minutes. I didn’t have a shot and there were deer all over. Moving at this point was not an option. Sure my legs went numb after watching them hang out over 53 minutes without presenting a shot, but I got him. The two bucks finally made their way down the hill towards the opening for a shot but my rifle misfired. I had to pump it the get the next shell, but they spotted me in doing so. I had to rush the 75-85 yard shot without a scope. My body went into shock mode. Did I get him? To top this crazy morning o ff the shot was a clean shot, and he didn’t travel far. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Loo