The day started out at my place with Corey shooting my Uncles gun to make sure he was comfortable shooting it. After his first shot was a bullseye I figured he was good to go! We also brought video camera’s along to film his first hunt hoping to get a kill on film. My 11 year old son also tagged along to film me while Matt went with Corey to film. After about 15 minutes of walking the corn Matt radioed me to let me know they were on a deer. Seconds later the shot rang out and Corey’s first deer of the year and first deer with a Muzzleloader was on the ground. I met up with them and there were high fives everywhere!

Even though it was button buck the look on his face screamed of monster buck it was priceless! We got most of the hunt on film but my nice camera decided it didn’t like the cold weather and messed up and didn’t record some of our hunt(figures!). Being that we had just started we decided to walk the rest of the corn through. Which payed off cause I ended up filling my 4th doe tag of the year!

As of right now my freezer is pretty full. But with one more week-end left of ML season you can bet I’ll be out looking for a buck come this Saturday.

If you ever get a chance do yourself a favor and take a kid out hunting it’s well worth it!

As luck would have it we came up on this big doe bedded in the corn. I’ll let the video we got coming up tell the story but it was a pretty fun hunt. She ended up dressing out at 121 lbs! If you have never stalked a standing corn field you really are missing out!

Here’s to sleeping in! LOL

Just a few short weeks ago, Justin killed this buck with his bow.  Anyone would be proud to hang that buck on the wall, but Justin just wasn’t satisfied apparently.  And thankfully he listened to my sister, his girlfriend, and sat the property on Saturday night that he did – and not the property on the other side of the road.

I do hate Justin just as much as Jeff does, though.  Most hunters – in their lifetime – would  be plum happy shooting a buck like Justin’s first one of the season, let alone shooting two bucks of this caliber IN THE SAME YEAR!  Too be honest, I would be happy with shooting either buck in my hunting lifetime.  I just don’t see it in the cards, though.

Thankfully, Justin is done for the season.  He can shoot a few more does if he wanted to, but to be completely honest, if I had a two bucks of that caliber on the ground already, plus a doe in the freezer as well, you can bet your you know what that I would be sleeping in for awhile.

Maybe one day I’ll get my shot.  But until then I’ll just have to live vicariously through Justin.  What a (you fill in the blank here).

Jeff and his step-son, Tyler G., had a great day, however.  Jeff managed to put down a huge swamp donkey ( a doe), and Tyler had a few cool experiences as well:  he was surrounded by deer all day, got to see a buck running does for his first time, and missed on two separate chances at a spike.  Even so, though, he was still very excited at the end of the hunting day, and after his early success this year, I’m hoping he’ll be addicted for life.

My sister had a successful opening morning as well.  She managed to down the second deer of her hunting career – a nice healthy doe.  The doe offered her a 15 to 20yd shot, and Melissa dropped her in her tracks.  Congrats, Lis.  And I guess we’ll forgive you for the evil joke you played on us.

Last night, my sister’s boyfriend, Justin, also put down a nice doe.  And my cousin, Ron, who’s had a rough archery season this year, was lucky enough to kill a doe last night as well.

The family has had a lot of early success, and the season is still early.  Hopefully, in the next few weeks, I can manage to put myself on the board as well.

Stay tuned!

It hadn’t been light for an hour yet, when I noticed movement in the tall grass field in front of me.  I could see multiple deer running around, but couldn’t quite make out if they were bucks or does.  I figured, though, being the time of the year that it was, that what I was seeing was rutting activity – a buck running some does.

After about ten minutes, and after watching the deer running in circles, while also being able to hear the buck grunting, I knew for sure that a buck was running these does hard.  The area was so thick, though, that I was having a hard time getting a good look at the buck; I couldn’t really tell how big or how old he was.  Once I did get a good look at him, though, I almost fell out of my treestand.

He has to be a 140 class buck.  I was so rattled by how big he was that I honestly had to keep telling myself over and over to, “concentrate on vitals”, “concentrate on vitals”.  I have never seen a buck – with my own eyes – that was this big.  He was huge!!!!  I was lucky enough to be able to watch him run these does for about an hour and a half.  The only problem with the whole thing was that I never could manage to get him close enough for a shot.

I grunted, and used the estrus doe bleat, but to no avail.  I did have the does at about 35yds, but just when I thought they were going to come to me, and bring the big boy with them, they turned and headed back in another direction.

After the hour and a half of watching him, he eventually moved off after one of the does, and I never saw him again………until about 7 hours later.

On Saturday night I setup in the same stand.  I wasn’t in stand for a half hour when I noticed a doe working her way through the timber.  Then, about 15 minutes later, I heard movement to my right – a doe was working her way down a trail near my stand.  Right behind her, grunting his head off, was the same big buck from the morning’s hunt.

He emerged from the secondary trail, and once again I got to witness his pure awesomeness.  He’s big.  And even bigger than I originally thought.  Unfortunately again, though, he hung up at 50yds, ignored my grunting and estrous call once again, put his nose to the ground on a hot doe trail, and headed right towards Jeff’s stand location…..and out of my dreams forever.

Jeff did get to see him as well, but he was 60yds away and didn’t offer Jeff a shot either.   I’m not sure we’ll ever see him again, but I’m glad we got at least one chance to lay eyes on him.  At least, for a few  minutes anyway, I was able to feel like I was on the Outdoor Channel; or hunting with an outfitter in Pike County, Illinois.

It was awesome.  The best few moments I’ve had in the hunting woods – and it didn’t require killing anything.

Our other stands have been producing quite well, but the two different stands I’ve sat really haven’t produced like expected.  I’m hoping that it is directly related to the food sources the deer are using, and once those food sources are no longer available, that they come strolling back by my stand.

The stand locations I’ve been sitting require a lot of patience.  They are the type of stand location that may not produce many deer sightings, but when they do the deer are going to be large, or they are going to end up as food.  It is very thick in these locations, and you can’t see very far, but once you do locate an animal they are within bow range immediately.

At this point I’m being patient, appreciating all the experiences, and waiting for these stands to heat up in the latter part of the season.  They are excellent rut stands, and once the bucks start to move they will surely be headed by one of the stands at some point or another.

Right now, though, I’m just going to relax, appreciate how well my season is going so far, take in all that Mother Nature has to offer, and wait for one of the bucks we’ve been seeing to make a mistake.

There is plenty of season left.

The weather was perfect, as I eluded to yesterday, and the morning greeted us with a fresh blanket of frost.  It was perfect – gorgeous as a matter of fact.  As the sun began to warm the new day that blanket of frost began to melt from the trees, and the water making it’s way to the ground actually made it sound like it was raining.  Did I mention it was a gorgeous morning?

I settled into my stand around 6:30 – a good half hour before shooting light – and readied myself for what was to come of opening day.  It didn’t take long before, Corrin, the teenaged queen of the forest, reported that she had deer in the vicinity; not long after that, Jeff reported he had passed up a small buck,and was at full-draw on a decent doe, but ended up not being able to close the deal when she made the thick brush.

I started to be a little envious when my cousin reported that he had saw a few that morning as well, but my envy soon vanished as he reported that he had cleanly missed both of them.  Ahh, archery season, it can definitely humble a person.  Rather than be discouraged at my lack of deer sightings, though, I decided to just appreciate the moment and take it all in.  The morning was gorgeous – probably the best archery deer opener I’ve ever experienced – and I wanted to absorb all of it.

It didn’t take long before a group of turkeys showed themselves. They snuck in quietly behind me, and I was wishing that 5 days would pass so that I could take the big tom that was 15yds from me.  Our archery season parallels our fall turkey season, but he was spared this morning by only a few days.  Lucky guy!

Soon after that I noticed some movement to my left, and through the underbrush and glistening sunlight realized that the movement I was seeing was a pair of deer ears moving through the thicket; not long after that another pair appeared, and I was convinced that it was time to have my bow in hand.

I fully expected them to take a well-used trail that was to my right, but instead of taking that trail, they magically turned and took the trail that would put them 10yds in front of me.  My lucky day…….or was it?  The first shot opportunity I had, they were standing to close together, and didn’t offer me a shot.  I was already at full draw when the leader of the two does – and the larger one of the two as well – made her way to a shooting lane five yards in front of me.  The angle was real severe, and I was contemplating if I even wanted to take the shot, when she made my decision for me by looking squarely in my eyes, and spooking.

I honestly thought the jig was up, but thankfully held my full draw.  After spooking she didn’t trot 10yds, and stopped again to check what I was…………and that is when I touched the release and watched the arrow bury right behind the shoulder.  Can you say backstrap fever?

I calmed the nerves after the shot, thanked God for the opportunity, and gave her some time to expire.  I felt pretty confident about the shot, but I’ve learned through the years – and especially with a bow – that it’s always better to give them a little time.

A little over an hour later I had my arrow found and it told the story – it was completely covered in blood, and I could already see a decent blood trail.  I marked the spot, headed to the truck and grabbed Jeff and Corrin, and a half hour later we were looking at a gorgeous doe that would soon become table fare.

It was one heck of a morning, and I simply could not have scripted it any better.  The morning was gorgeous, all of us saw plenty of deer and had a few close encounters, and I managed to kill my first deer I’ve ever killed on the opening day of the archery season.

I don’t think I could have asked for a better birthday present.

Check back later today, or tomorrow, for updates on the day’s events.

Woohoo!  Hunting season is here.

Apparently – and I’m not counting my chickens before they hatch, because I know how weather forecasts can go – we are suppose to have a low of 31 degrees on Wednesday night, and a high of 62 on Thursday (opening day).  I have been salivating at the weather report for the last few days, and I’m simply hoping at this point that it holds true.

All of you know how important cool weather is to deer movements, and to have an opener with a forecast like this one is a thing of sure beauty.

The broadheads are sharpened, the treestands are set, the bow is sighted in, and I am ready for a nice, cool, fall day in the woods.

I catch movement out of the corner of my eye, and realize there is a small doe standing at 15 yards in my food plot. I look over and Tyler already has his gun ready! As were watching the smaller doe I tell him to wait because there’s a bigger one coming in. As she steps in the clover plot at 15 yards I tell him to take her…”BOOM” the 20 gauge goes off! I see her jump kick which most hunters know is a good sign of a great hit. I tell Tyler “you hit her good” and he says “I did?” Funniest thing ever!

As I turn the camera on Tyler he’s shaking like a leaf! After settling down we got out of the blind to go look for blood. At first I was worried cause there was no sign that he hit her. I looked back at the tape a few times and decided there was no way he missed her. I called the land owner next door because I had watched her run into his woodlot. After getting permission to track her we headed to where she went in and sure enough we found blood. I decided to back out and go get help. A few hours later we went looking and found her laying 3 feet inside in the woods. His shot was  “PERFECT” so how she went a 150 yards is beyond me.

It sure is great to see a kid get his first deer. Tyler got his 15 minutes of fame from my whole family that night. On a side note I’d like to thank the Myers family for allowing us to track on there property. I think having good neighbors like them is great to have when these things happen. You could have 100 acres and still have a deer cross the fence and I only have 11 LOL.

Only 4 more days to the youth hunt!