phade

He's from out of state and probbaly knows nobody else here that hunts (in person). Not saying I condone...I think the whole deal could have gone better. Likely a case of emotions overruling skills. I also doubt it will happen again. I know as a young and green hunter with little bowhunting mentorship, I made some mistakes...had to...to learn from them.

I've snapped more arrows going into the off-side shoulder than near side...the bucking motion of the near-side breaks the arrow. Learning experience, that is for sure.

Congrats on all the does...I think there's going to be a ton of tags filled this season!

No idea on plans...hitting Ohio for a week in November for bow. Kinda empty feeling...especially after that other buck stood in the exact same spot and I was able to see that rack wise it was 160s...d'oh! One in the hand...beats two in the bush I guess! Buck had double triple brow tines at one point, but broke one side off...the other side is still there...triple brow tines petty neat.

Thanks. My buddy has a rigged out F350..., complete with a friggin scale and platform (He runs a general contractor business with his dad and has the scale for scrap and waste weighing). Couldn't believe it, but I figured when I tried tugging on him for the drag and it was "ahem" a little heavy for me.

Picture. His attention was turned towards another deer...thought it was a doe. Turned out that one was my #1 target...I about cried. Was a solid 160 class typical frame. This guy had nothing on him rack wise but dwarfed him body wise. 209 lbs. guts in. Biggest neck I have seen outside of the rut time (late October early Nov).

Trying...having tech issues right now. Crappy pics due to late night, but will post in a few. 55 yd shot on the money, too. Best shot of my life. Practices that shot all summer by bracketing my pins.

I punched my tag last night. Nice mature buck...massive body.

Swirling winds. Ugh. Just barely clearing the bedding area.

Thermacell is probably the best dollar for dollar purchase in the hunting industry. I haven't needed it for deer season...but summer prep and turkey hunting in the spring...worth its weight in gold.

Nice...good time to knock a nanny down...plenty of time/light to drag out. Good luck!

Live from my desk: balmy 72 degrees, still fairly dark out as they don't turn on the lights until 8ish, so I use my office lights. Seen plenty of does walk by, but they are all missing two legs and got the pass. I'm not going to get crap done this a.m. I'll make a few phone calls to schedule some meetings,etc., but that is it.

i gotta work til 1130....then im out for the afternoon sit. good luck...must be nice to watch the sunrise from the stand.

Rochester...she'd be a guranteed hire...the medical field is huge here. Some great hunting compared state-wise.

good luck to all! thanks for the knife reminder...packing for tomorrows afternoon hunt and almost forgot it.

Go fly a kite or take a long walk off a short pier.

Blah Blah Blah. You are talking out both sides of your mouth. I have worked FOR the QDMA. Yeah, I said it. The QDMA paid me for work...I know what QDM can do. It's not equatable to regulation-level management. I have been to some of the best-managed properties in this state, so don't go thinking people know nothing about QDM here. There's also a few stone cold killers of mature bucks here that have tons of info you could really use. As soon as life slows down, I'll probably do some more work for the QDMA. You also probably have no idea of the class of bucks coming from parts of this state already. AR is not the regulatory answer. You have to plug the holes in the bucket...and it starts with tags and season structure and education. Period.

Regulating a statewide or state-mandated AR is simply not the answer. Education is the answer. Not regulation or legislation. You still can't answer that response, either. Your private ground, so be it. Law for states? No way. If it is so great, why doesn't IL make it law? Duh...

That's what I'm thinking, but it'd be $30 because...$20 for the license tag (I have the supersportsman) and then $10 for the either-sex bow/mz tag. Just don't know if it is an all or nothing proposition.

So, my truck is in Ohio after a breakdown. It won't be ready until Monday afternoon...which means I won't get it until the first weekend in October due to coordinating time to make the drive with the lady. I cleaned it out of the essentials that I might need (knife, flashlight, etc.). I somehow...left my stinking tags in the console. Called the office to get the skinny...and wow! Costly. Lost Licenses, Permits and Tags A lost license and permit may be replaced for a fee of $5 per license type and carcass tag sets my be replaced for a fee of $10 per set. There is no charge to replace a lost back tag. For example, replacing a turkey permit, sportsman, bowhunting and muzzleloading license will cost $20 ($5 x 4 license types) plus $40 ($10 x 4 carcass tag sets). Even though there are four carcass tags with your turkey permit, they are considered a set and would cost only $10 for all four. I forgot to ask whether I can just buy the replacement license ($20) and my bow/mz either sex to get by for the 2-3 afternoon hunts I'll have this coming week. $30 is much better than $60. Anyone know if that can be done? Or do I have to buy the whole thing...called back and the guy I talked to had left for the day.

I feel bad for you. I really do. Ignorance is bliss.

Seriously, stop making yourself look foolish. The midwest has bigger/better bucks on average for several reasons. Some can apply here, but most cannot. AR is not the answer for what you want to accomplish, so stop beating it to death.

I still think the .243 is more versatile given his situation. Load up some predator rounds and have at it...or take down the deer. I think people are placing too much thought into it being only a deer gun. It's not like he is choosing this as his ONLY rifle. And, usually, .243 ammo is pretty cheap for the non-military classes...only thing cheaper is the 30-30.

Umm age class benefits from limited access? Duh. I'm as willing as anyone to admit I can still learn. But, you sir, have proven by your posts, that you know little...period. Do some studying, and I mean that in a pure constructive point of view...it'll help you hunting and it'll help us avoid poor decisions being placed upon the ones who do.

EAB? Wow...just wow. Voodoo science. Good for CWD zones like Wisconsin...sure. Here...NO. EAB does nothing really. In fact, EAB was a pretty poor performer in Wisconsin. They still have it, but that's a special circumstance given CWD. Trust me when I say this, you invoke EAB, and you'll have worse hunting. You are not going to "control" the population with that tool to improve the hunting. Localized areas (think Cornell program) do this to hack the numbers down...period...with no regard to caring for buck "growth". Want to know the real-world implication? Shoddy buck fawn survival rate. That's right. Your little nubbers get whacked in large...the very same ones you want to protect. Wisconsin had this issue big time and still do in CWD - but again...that's a pure population control method. Hunters where it was in force willingly killed the very first non-legally antlered deer to get the buck tag. So, basically, you've accomplished nothing, and ended with the same root cause...EDUCATION.