RaggedEdges

I will be taking my Christinsen Arms Ridgeline in 6.5 PRC with hand loaded ammo that I have spent alot of time working up. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

SuperMag- That picture was I'm Montgomery County near Palatine. My son took one last year on the same property with a bow. That one dressed out just under 240 lbs. DEC did come and take a tooth from it the day after he reported the kill. They were supposed to contact him with the age information but have not done so as of yet. That was almost exactly 1 year ago. I also got some pictures this year of a couple smaller ones as well. As I said, we don't see them all of the time but they are becoming more prevalent. Mike

Caught this guy wandering around. Had a smaller one a few weeks earlier in the same spot. Looks to be good size. I'm not a bear expert and have only seen a few in the wild. The last couple of years they have becoming more prevalent in our area.

196 lbs.(dressed) last year. My best buck ever.

Doing 90 % of my deer hunting from fixed ladder stands, I would like these features: A 180 degree foot platform Wide seat with armrests Double ladder supports Some type of grab handles for aiding in ascending/descending stand Maybe some type of hooks under side of seat to hang a pack, etc. Just my thoughts. I think other hunters would surely have features they would like. I have many of the basic ladder stands from sportsman guide. They are not the most comfortable but the price has allowed me to buy more of them therefore giving me more location choices. Mike

Nice one Wooly!

Very nice buck and fantastic story Sam. Thanks for sharing.

I was fortunate enough to take my best buck ever today. I got him on camera last week and he showed up at 3:30 today in a different area about a half mile from where I got him on camera. He was the only deer I saw all day so I guess it was worth the wait! He dressed at 196 lbs and had a 22" spread.

Mine was not lined up correctly when it was printed either. I will have to use scissors as well when I use my tags.

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who got skunked and haven't heard anything. I have been two days and nothing! I only saw 3 hens yesterday. I didn't hear any shots from neighboring properties either. I don't understand how I can go from seeing 50 birds in one flock at the end of deer season, see birds all winter long and now nothing. I did get a surprise this morning from a Bear at about 60 yards that came through at 6:30. We don't see many of those here in 6R. I took a picture of a print I found in the cornfield but I don't think it was made by same bear I saw. This track was from what I think was a bigger bear. Not having any experience with bears, I can't really judge the size of the one I saw. It didn't look all that big. Mike

I was out this morning and found two ticks crawling on me on my way home and it was well below freezing overnight.

I posted my observations concerning this last week. not much has changed over the past week. Checked cameras yesterday and had very few pictures. 3 of the 4 I have been running had zero pictures. I did get some doe and doe and fawn pictures in one area. this will help later on when the rut starts. I know what my stand selection is going to be for next week end to start and will make changes as I get stand time to see what is going on. My brother in law did see a very nice buck on the property this morning when he was coming in to do firewood. it was with a doe. I noticed what appeared to be some chasing activity across from my house in a brushy field friday night just before dark. I was mowing and there were about 7-8 deer in the field. I saw one chasing a couple others back and forth in the field. Im almost positive the one chasing was a buck but it was pretty far away to confirm. regardless, they were mature deer. That gave me a little more encouragement but I think it is going to be slow here at least for archery season.

I guess you would have to ask what are his chances of being there next year?? If your neighbors are on the same page as you then he most likely would be real nice next year. you may pass on him and he wanders on the next property and someone takes a real nice buck. Many of us havent seen something like that. Just my thoughts................ Mike

With all of the rain and related weather this past month, has anyone noticed that the deer in the areas they hunt are not mowing in the typical areas where they usually move this time of year? Im not getting anywhere near the trail cam pictures that I typically get in the same spots where I usually always get pictures (and pictures of bucks). Alot of my stand areas are extremely wet and I sure hope we get some drier and colder weather. A couple of weekends back, I was finishing trimming some stands out and was eaten alive by mosquitoes. Even after repeated applications of bug spray. Im moving my cameras around to try to get some highr traffic areas located but have not had much lucks as of yet. Im not really seeing a whole lot of sign. Last year we saw deer everytime we hunted and I saw 13 different bucks of all sizes from the begining of archery through the end of the season. We also had alot of deer all winter and through early spring on the property. It's a little hard to believe they are not around. It make one wonder if this awful weather has also affected the deer "homes" much like it has thier human counterparts. (Im in 6R (Montgomery County). Mike

Got a late start (as usual) getting the cameras out. Checked them today after one week and here are a couple that I got. Mike

Thanks NYH! I had about 7 or 8 pictures of him the year before I got him and never saw him when I was hunting. The next year I got no pictures of him and was able to take him. He was with a doe and I actually missed him the first shot and he was so interested in the doe, I was able to get him on the second shot. His antlers got thicker from one year to the next and his body was quite a bit heavier. Those women will get ya every time!! MIKE

The one on the right is my best so far(Taken in 2008).

John- She was a good size. When I Field Dressed her, I found 2 developing fetus' so she had been bred. They were about 1" long and were fully shaped. I could even make out the hooves. I had never seen anything like that before. They I thought to myself I might have killed a future trophy! Mike

Here is the 6 pt that I got last bow season. I shot it late in th afternoon and didnt find it till the next morning. I decided to wait because I had a marginal hit on it and had jumped it two times and didnt want to keep pusing it The Coyotes had a feast. This was my first bow kill since 83'. I hope I dont have to wait that long before the next one! The doe I took with the Muzzleloader on the next to last day of the season. This was my first kill with the muzzleloader Mike

Doc- I guess I failed to mention that was using a harness and had used them previously when that fall occured. I was not using any type of fall protection that prevents falls while climbing the steps. My wife tells me that im too old to climb trees! MIKE

I use the Hunter Safety System Vest. I had a real bad fall two years ago while climbing into a hang on stand that had screw in steps. I got to the last step and my foot slipped off. I fell about 12 feet and landed on my side. I was very bruised and sore for about a month. I was very lucky. I heard of people falling less than that with severe consequences. I was also hunting alone and was some distance from my vehicle. I had the wind knocked out of me so badly that I laid there for almost a half hour before I could breath normally. I hunt almost always from a treestand but now oniy use and hunt from ladder stands and always wear my harness. MIKE