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Spent the weekend hunting geese in the Naperville, IL area. Didn't do well only 3 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday. I ran home on Sunday afternoon and jumped in the deer stand. I good choice as I shot this really old buck. Not a great rack but very old and large. Put a great shot on him at 30 yards and he only ran 70 yards.



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Picture?

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is the picture not showing? It shows for me.


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I logged in elsewhere earlier and it must have been blocked. I can see it now. He appears to have reasonable genetics to indicate some potential for some big trophies in your area. Should be good eating. A good shot is always the first goal. Congratulations! I only trust myself out to 25 yards with a bow. When younger, I could do pretty good at 45 yards, but I do not practice as much now.

Last edited by RAH; 10/19/15 06:54 PM.
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Jawbone aging is putting him at over 5 years old. That is interesting since most mature bucks in the area died in 2012 from EHD. Just starting to see some good age structure. If tooth aging keeps him at over 5 years old that could make him one of the 2 year old that I kept passing in 2012.


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I would have put him at 3.5 at max, probably 2.5. If he is 5, then his genetics are not what I suspected. I have been passing on a very nice 120s 8-point that I suspect is in the 2.5 to 3.5 age range based on his appearance and stupidity of standing under me at point-blank range. I have become very selective in recent years based on past success.

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Here's the tale of Sunday evening/Monday morning.

Picture a food plot, 60 yards or so wide by 200 yards long or longer. It is around 3/4 acre. and the long side runs north/south. It's bordered on the North by 100 acres of mature woods, with about 20 or so acres of woods to the East too. To the West is a 7 acre CRP field, to the South is more woods.

Wind is out of the North, I have a pop-up ground blind sitting about 5 yards into the woods on the East side of the food plot, about 30 yds South of the North end of the food plot. In that corner is a tree, with a scrape under it. Wind is from the North, and the property to the North is more or less a sanctuary, nobody lives there, and nobody hunts it. The front window is 1/2 open, the crossbow is sitting on a set of shooting sticks, I'm dressed in a black shirt, camo face mask on, inside the blind, sitting in a chair.

20 minutes before end of legal shooting light (1/2 hr after sunset) I see a doe about 30 yds out in the field, durn 'near directly west of me, doing the giraffe look, ears forward, stiff legging into the dirt every once in a while. What the heck? I didn't move, make any noise, nothing. I can't get a range on her with the rangefinder, I just have to guesstimate the range. I slowly get into position, she's broadside. I put the 30 yd mark about 1" behind her left front elbow and squeeze. I blink, and all I can see is her running off and the arrow going about another 20 yds and nosing into the food plot. (Burt coyote lumi-nock). I'm shooting a 2" rage Slip Cam broadhead. I look for blood coming out as she runs off, don't see anything and she runs thru some of the CRP, takes a hard right and into the woods she goes. I hear sticks breaking, what sounds like her going into a circle, a crash, then nothing. Dead deer, right?

I fill out the tag, take it with me, grab the flashlight and go out, figuring there will be blood all over the place and I'll find her asap. WTF?? No blood where she was standing. I know the x-bow is loud, but surely she couldn't have ducked the arrow....... So I go look at the arrow, nope, it's covered in blood. I look all over the food plot, no blood. I go to the edge of the CRP and look, no blood. There's a 30' wide mowed area between the CRP and the woods, I look up and down that area. Nope, no blood. What the heck??????????????????????? I do some walking in the woods - it's pitch black out by now. Nothing. There's a trail as wide as a tractor about 25 yds inside the woods to the North, she had to cross the trail, so I go up and down the trail. No blood.

O.K., I back out, go home and call my neighbor to help. We go back, and look for just shy of 2 hrs. Nothing, no blood, nothing. Crap.................

Temps will be in the low 40's, I'll come back when it's daylight out and do a grid search. I keep replaying the shot and keep thinking that it was a good one, unless she ducked enough to have it go over the spine thru her. But, why were all those breaking branches and sticks, followed by a crash? Why no blood??

I get up Monday morning, grab a roll of toilet paper and I'm out there about 40 minutes after sunrise. I comb the food plot, CRP edge, edge of the woods and the trail in the woods. Nothing - no blood. So, I start to the North of the trail in the woods and start a grid search. I comb the whole dang woods, go thru almost the whole roll of toilet paper marking where I walked - lines about 25 yds apart, and a good 1/4 mile long, back and forth, up and back.

After 3 1/2 hrs I call it quits. I covered the whole dang place and there ain't no deer here - no blood either. I send a text to my neighbor telling him that we didn't miss anything last night and that she's nowhere to be found. I decide to head for home, and walk out near the edge of the food plot. About 40 feet from the edge of the food plot I see this:


That's the exit side. She's laying in a 3' deep, 4' wide dry drainage ditch that was cut into the woods probably 50 years ago. I can't tell you how many times we walked by her. Unless you looked down the ditch in different areas, you can't see down it's length due to the trees and overgrowth in places. She went maybe 50 yds after the arrow hit her. Here's the entrance wound:


I didn't plan on hitting her that far forward on the entrance, but there WAS a pretty stiff north wind blowing. I send my buddy a text, telling him that I found her. I put the drag rope over her head, turn around and see these 3 guys, about 40 yds away and walking towards me, along the edge of the CRP looking for grasshoppers in the short grass.


They walked by at 20 yds. If I would have had the x-bow, I could have filled my turkey tag too.

I get her out, get her home, field dress her, and get her washed out. I think that the majority of the meat will be good, I don't think the flank will be any good. She was laying in the shade, in the lowest part of the woods. We'll see, as she's at the processor now. He thinks that I won't lose much either.

One down, 3 to go. One for my Aunt, one for my cousin who boogered up his shoulder and ribs and can't hunt this year (dislocated shoulder, 4 broken ribs and a punctured lung), and 2 for me.

See that white stuff on the exit side? That's foam from a lung. Why there was no blood trail, I'll never know. The only blood was where she bounded off a tree and a few downed branches as she went down.


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Great story Scott.


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Originally Posted By: RAH
I would have put him at 3.5 at max, probably 2.5. If he is 5, then his genetics are not what I suspected.


Look at his face and body not his rack. Roman nose, swayback/large gut area. Older buck for sure. I'd have guessed 4.5-5.5 just from the pic. Definitely a cull buck, just not great genetics for growing a big rack. I've killed 2 in the last 3 years around my place with very similar traits. Big bodies, decent mass but no genetic predisposition for width or height on the rack.

They tasted just fine though.


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I am certainly no pro on aging deer.

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The tenderloins where great, had them for dinner last night. I caped him out, my taxidermist wanted it so I did it for him. He will be a euro mount.


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Originally Posted By: RAH
I am certainly no pro on aging deer.


First I love all the fun the OP has been having. No better way to enjoy the fall. I've just returned from Wyoming and my Son's and I all scored on Mule Deer doing spot and stalk.

On this whitetail though, I am with RAH on the age. Well, from the photo given I'm with RAH. I don't see the Roman nose I see on our older bucks and the photo doesn't really show the gut and sway back that some say it has. From just the photo shown, I'd say 2.5 year old buck but the teeth would know better. The problem is, you can't even count on the teeth when aging a deer. This buck also looks a bit "bright faced" to me. No matter though, nice animal and good times taking it!


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Took the old dog out Saturday. (He's 15, the oldest setter I've had)
He didn't get the point on the covey, but he pointed a few singles, and did point the pheasant. Hunted up by Kirksville Mo.


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
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A 16 year old girl and I hunted my place last weekend for the season opener. I thought we would do well. We each glimpsed a deer but that's all.

Worst opening weekend ever. In 2 days of hunting, I didn't even hear a shot in the area. First time that's happened in 50 years of hunting.

Last edited by Dave Davidson1; 11/10/15 05:49 PM.

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Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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I killed this buck Saturday morning right at daylight. I grunted him in. Sorry the picture sucks, my phone is old. He is a nice big 8, i'm guessing 3 1/2 or 4 1/2.

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Dave, sorry to hear about the lack of shooting opportunity, but I bet the younger people on the hunt had a good time and would bet you r a good host.

Tracy


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Air, nice buck when you're using a stick and string. That's not easy.

Tracy, they always enjoy getting away from town. I have been taking 4 boys hunting for years. The girl was the girl friend of one of the boys that I regularly take. She's a drop dead gorgeous sweetheart who has her head on right. Or at least as right as any of them are at that age. She even comes over and helps me build knives. I was going to build her a skinning knife. Then I asked her if she wanted to do it herself. She did it all and it turned out beautiful. She's no sissy kid and is deadly with a bow. I handed her a 222 to hunt with but she said she wanted to use something more powerful. She passed on my 243 and we finally settled on a 270 instead of my 30-06. A shame that she got skunked on her first hunt.

Last edited by Dave Davidson1; 11/11/15 06:55 AM.

It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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That young lady knows a bit about firearms. My daughter fished with me many times out west, but never had any interest in shooting. I am taking her husband out for the firearms opener this weekend in Missouri. He's crazy about shooting/hunting. They've already got one year old twins, so there's some future hunters/fishermen in line.
I saw five deer the other morning, one was a very nice buck. Never gave me a shot with my bow, but maybe the gun hunters, son, and son in law will have better luck.


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Roger and Bill are bird hunting. All of a sudden Bill collapses. Roger immediately runs over to Bill and finds him unresponsive with no pulse and his eyes glazed over. Roger pulls out his cell phone and calls 911. He excitedly tells the 911 operator "I was out hunting with my friend when he suddenly collapsed... I cant feel any pulse, his eyes are glazed over and he's unresponsive!! "I'm afraid he may have died!! What can I do?"

The operator in a calm, soothing voice replies, "Take it easy sir. I can help. First, let's make certain that he's dead."
There is a silence, then the operator hears a gunshot.

Back on the phone, Roger says, "OK, now what?"

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I kind of feel bad about the deer I wound up getting. I live in a large area of homes subdivisions (about 1200 homes with scattered wooded areas) and we've been blessed to have a doe and her triplets, which everyone has gotten to watch grow. I even held one as a fawn early this spring. Dogs being walked, people petting them on occasion...they never got spooked or felt threatened here. Last week, I stopped to see mom and kids graving by the road, and 10 minutes later, one had been hit, and whomever hit her kept going. Front leg badly broken, a Police Officer asked if I had a knife. I'm not squeamish in the slightest, but bleeding out this small yearling doe was like putting down a beloved pet....only dressed out to 20#, and the most fat laden meat I've ever seen in a deer.

Last edited by Rainman; 11/11/15 05:19 PM.


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I was back in the woods last week changing camera cards and ran across this rub near of one of my cameras.



As an experiment I created a scrape next to it and peed in it. Others have had success doing this so we shall see. I'm either going to pizz him off or scare him away.

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Originally Posted By: Rainman
I kind of feel bad about the deer I wound up getting. I live in a large area of homes subdivisions (about 1200 homes with scattered wooded areas) and we've been blessed to have a doe and her triplets, which everyone has gotten to watch grow. I even held one as a fawn early this spring. Dogs being walked, people petting them on occasion...they never got spooked or felt threatened here. Last week, I stopped to see mom and kids graving by the road, and 10 minutes later, one had been hit, and whomever hit her kept going. Front leg badly broken, a Police Officer asked if I had a knife. I'm not squeamish in the slightest, but bleeding out this small yearling doe was like putting down a beloved pet....only dressed out to 20#, and the most fat laden meat I've ever seen in a deer.


Tough duty Rex. Maybe hitting the deer was unavoidable. Driving off without stopping is inexcusable in my book.


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Tbar #428960 11/11/15 07:31 PM
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That is one impressive rub.


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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That looks more like damage inflicted by Rockytoppers baevers


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Tbar, that is a good one for sure. I have five rubs less than 15 yds from the farm house. It is a rub line and so we decided to put up a camera to see what buck has made our farmhouse his home. Scrapes have just started showing up this past week at our place and we are still seeing some bachelor buck groups hanging together. Had 9 does in the front yd yesterday.

Tracy


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Tracy
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