JK
PMA Member
No, it's Iowa and wouldn't change a thing. There are just a lot of nice and friendly people here as you will read.
This years bow season was one of the worst ever. Days I wouldn't see a thing, days I would almost get blown out of the tree, days I see does and wonder where the bucks are; you get the picture. Definately was not my year and I was ready for bow season to be over and onto shotgun.
I realize there are people on here that don't like shotgunners and don't enjoy the season. That is fine, I respect that...but boy it sure is fun. See, my company is full of deer hunters. We have em' all; bowhunters, shotgun, muzzy. Once fall hits that is the only topic talked about is deer. So over the years it has come to be tradition that I take a small group both first season and second season to my property for one small push each. Due to past years sucess everybody looks forward to this hunt and is a very hot topic come December 1st. And nothing like building commardary in the workplace. Last year the first season hunt produced this for me. I have to give a big thank you to "Ironwood" at this time. He had an extra cape and due to mine not being unusable his extra got put to great use. Rick Whitaker did a fantastic job and I could not be more pleased. Thanks to both of them for this beauty.
Back to hunting....
So first season rolls around and I go sit opening morning. I see deer moving thru all day but no shooter bucks. I back out around lunch as I was going to meet up with the adjacent land ownder and see how there season had gone. Turns out they had a doe hit pretty hard that came into my property that they needed to go after. We decided to work as a group and post poeple where needed as not to let this wounded doe get away. It worked to perfection and they got there deer. At the same time they pushed another doe to me and I was able to fill my landowner anterless tag. After everything was field dressed and loaded we shot the crap a little bit. Turns out last year they found a 155" and a 148" locked together dead about 1/2 mile from property lines. That reminds me, he was going to send me pics of those.......(Once I get them, you all can see them). Sorry, no pics of this hunt either as I forgot my camera at home. So now I have a doe loaded in my truck on a Saturday late afternoon and wife has me locked up already for Sunday. I pull into State Center around 5pm taking a chance sombody might be at the locker, two phone calls later find out there is somebody there in the back skinning deer. Drive around and HUSH program it is.
At this point I don't want to get everybody confused but need to mention something. Late last year my wife along with 2 other couples purchase a property that has 10 acres with a trailer and 1 1/2 acre pond. It actually sits in the middle of 40 acres connected by two draws that lead to other timbers. Now, I did bowhunt it this season but never really scounted it as good as needed. So on the Monday of first season I took my estimator out to KNB Acreage and put him in my stand. During a pretty successfull scounting mission I heard shots from his way. Congrats to Mark on his deer as it was his biggest shotgun buck to date. Take a close look at the throatpatch. It was grey, one of the coolest capes I had ever seen. Actually confused me. Looks like a 2 1/2 year old rack but to me the color of the cape looks one of a lot older. Any opinions?
Now to the last day of first season. We load up for the annual hunt. We get everybody exactly where they need to be and it is on. Late into the hunt a shot rings out. We finish out and all meet up. We have a deer hit but he was not sure of location. It was standing broadside to him at 75 yards. We had some blood and knew the direction it went. We strategiacally set up on escape routes and the shooter was going to follow the blood. Sure enough, this guy tried sneeking by me at 7 yards. He was hit in the hip, no telling if he would have made it or not. From the angle he was standing the first time there was no way to see that half his rack was busted off. All part of hunting.
A very quick pic later and we are off to the State Center Locker, another HUSH deer. We did have to stop at the local watering hole in St. Anthony first though. Ya know, they all want to see and hear about the day. Nothing better than a great day in the field and be able to tell it again with cold beer and good friends.
Second season arrived and it was buzzing at the shop. Our "Big Buck Contest" leader only had a 130" deer. The last 5 years nothing smaller than 153" took top prize. The hunt was on.
The anual second season hunt always takes place mid week. So we load up and off we go. I will make this quick, we seen 1 doe. After seeing over 70 deer last year we were all in disbelieve scrathing our heads as we drove home.
Second weekend of second season has been on the calender for some time now. This was the weekend I was taking the other two partners of KNB Acreage deer hunting. They are outdoor guys with some hunting experience, just not deer. So we arrive on Friday mid-day. After a one hour hunter safety training and going over everything to a T, we venture out. Wouldn't you know, 2 doe try backtracking on me, without success. Some quick lessons on field dressing and some pics and we are off to Greenfield for supper.
What a great town Greenfield is. Nice and clean with very friendly people. Evertything from the hardware store to the restaurants we are always treated with a smile.
The next day I am hoping to get something past these guys. I am equipped with gun and camera. I had found an area loaded with rubs that I wanted to get some some pics of. Here are a couple that I found worth taking. The one is not the biggest, but I love "shiny" rubs. There is definately potential here and this area was just LOADED with rubs.
Off I go working my way towards Scott and Paul. I heard what I thought was a deer that I bumped going there direction. A short time later some shots ring out. Congratulations to Scott on his suceess. What a great weekend spent with great friends. These were also HUSH deer taken to the locker in Riverton, very friendly and courtious.
On the final day of second season I was going to end the year taking out another good friend of mine and his 11 year old son. We were going to try to get Conner his first deer. I was sure I could get a doe by him. But with -30 below wind chill factors plans changed. Maybe during the antlerless season we can get you one buddy.
As you see, hunting is a big part of my life. But what makes it great is spending time with great friends and meeting new ones along the way. Have a great 2009!!
This years bow season was one of the worst ever. Days I wouldn't see a thing, days I would almost get blown out of the tree, days I see does and wonder where the bucks are; you get the picture. Definately was not my year and I was ready for bow season to be over and onto shotgun.
I realize there are people on here that don't like shotgunners and don't enjoy the season. That is fine, I respect that...but boy it sure is fun. See, my company is full of deer hunters. We have em' all; bowhunters, shotgun, muzzy. Once fall hits that is the only topic talked about is deer. So over the years it has come to be tradition that I take a small group both first season and second season to my property for one small push each. Due to past years sucess everybody looks forward to this hunt and is a very hot topic come December 1st. And nothing like building commardary in the workplace. Last year the first season hunt produced this for me. I have to give a big thank you to "Ironwood" at this time. He had an extra cape and due to mine not being unusable his extra got put to great use. Rick Whitaker did a fantastic job and I could not be more pleased. Thanks to both of them for this beauty.
Back to hunting....
So first season rolls around and I go sit opening morning. I see deer moving thru all day but no shooter bucks. I back out around lunch as I was going to meet up with the adjacent land ownder and see how there season had gone. Turns out they had a doe hit pretty hard that came into my property that they needed to go after. We decided to work as a group and post poeple where needed as not to let this wounded doe get away. It worked to perfection and they got there deer. At the same time they pushed another doe to me and I was able to fill my landowner anterless tag. After everything was field dressed and loaded we shot the crap a little bit. Turns out last year they found a 155" and a 148" locked together dead about 1/2 mile from property lines. That reminds me, he was going to send me pics of those.......(Once I get them, you all can see them). Sorry, no pics of this hunt either as I forgot my camera at home. So now I have a doe loaded in my truck on a Saturday late afternoon and wife has me locked up already for Sunday. I pull into State Center around 5pm taking a chance sombody might be at the locker, two phone calls later find out there is somebody there in the back skinning deer. Drive around and HUSH program it is.
At this point I don't want to get everybody confused but need to mention something. Late last year my wife along with 2 other couples purchase a property that has 10 acres with a trailer and 1 1/2 acre pond. It actually sits in the middle of 40 acres connected by two draws that lead to other timbers. Now, I did bowhunt it this season but never really scounted it as good as needed. So on the Monday of first season I took my estimator out to KNB Acreage and put him in my stand. During a pretty successfull scounting mission I heard shots from his way. Congrats to Mark on his deer as it was his biggest shotgun buck to date. Take a close look at the throatpatch. It was grey, one of the coolest capes I had ever seen. Actually confused me. Looks like a 2 1/2 year old rack but to me the color of the cape looks one of a lot older. Any opinions?
Now to the last day of first season. We load up for the annual hunt. We get everybody exactly where they need to be and it is on. Late into the hunt a shot rings out. We finish out and all meet up. We have a deer hit but he was not sure of location. It was standing broadside to him at 75 yards. We had some blood and knew the direction it went. We strategiacally set up on escape routes and the shooter was going to follow the blood. Sure enough, this guy tried sneeking by me at 7 yards. He was hit in the hip, no telling if he would have made it or not. From the angle he was standing the first time there was no way to see that half his rack was busted off. All part of hunting.
A very quick pic later and we are off to the State Center Locker, another HUSH deer. We did have to stop at the local watering hole in St. Anthony first though. Ya know, they all want to see and hear about the day. Nothing better than a great day in the field and be able to tell it again with cold beer and good friends.
Second season arrived and it was buzzing at the shop. Our "Big Buck Contest" leader only had a 130" deer. The last 5 years nothing smaller than 153" took top prize. The hunt was on.
The anual second season hunt always takes place mid week. So we load up and off we go. I will make this quick, we seen 1 doe. After seeing over 70 deer last year we were all in disbelieve scrathing our heads as we drove home.
Second weekend of second season has been on the calender for some time now. This was the weekend I was taking the other two partners of KNB Acreage deer hunting. They are outdoor guys with some hunting experience, just not deer. So we arrive on Friday mid-day. After a one hour hunter safety training and going over everything to a T, we venture out. Wouldn't you know, 2 doe try backtracking on me, without success. Some quick lessons on field dressing and some pics and we are off to Greenfield for supper.
What a great town Greenfield is. Nice and clean with very friendly people. Evertything from the hardware store to the restaurants we are always treated with a smile.
The next day I am hoping to get something past these guys. I am equipped with gun and camera. I had found an area loaded with rubs that I wanted to get some some pics of. Here are a couple that I found worth taking. The one is not the biggest, but I love "shiny" rubs. There is definately potential here and this area was just LOADED with rubs.
Off I go working my way towards Scott and Paul. I heard what I thought was a deer that I bumped going there direction. A short time later some shots ring out. Congratulations to Scott on his suceess. What a great weekend spent with great friends. These were also HUSH deer taken to the locker in Riverton, very friendly and courtious.
On the final day of second season I was going to end the year taking out another good friend of mine and his 11 year old son. We were going to try to get Conner his first deer. I was sure I could get a doe by him. But with -30 below wind chill factors plans changed. Maybe during the antlerless season we can get you one buddy.
As you see, hunting is a big part of my life. But what makes it great is spending time with great friends and meeting new ones along the way. Have a great 2009!!
