Well, along with a few pics, you all will have to endure the stories that go with them. Sorry.
Kansas Archery Season Buck - November 10, 2016
Up until today, buck hunting has been pretty tough. Today was the 12th day I have hunted this fall, and the only bucks that offered me a shot were forkhorns. The weather had been way above average temperature in the 80s, and the bucks were only going out during darkness. A few days ago, the temps took a drop and deer activity started picking up.
This morning, I got to my "spot of the day" about 6:20 and settled in. It was already starting to get light, with sunrise scheduled for a bit after 7. For the second day in a row we had frost, so it was pretty cool, but there was no wind at all. At almost 7:15, I saw a buck coming down the hill across the road from me. He ducked through some cedar trees and paused for a moment. At first I was afraid that he took a left turn and went down the draw on the other side of the road. But, he popped out of the cedars and walked up to the fence. After looking around a bit, he jumped the fence and crossed the road over to the fence on my side. Again, he stopped at the fence and looked around, then he seemed to stare right at me. I know I was very still, but my heart was pounding so loud I was sure he could hear it.
He jumped over the fence and started walking (quite briskly) toward me, then took a left turn on the deer run, putting him broadside to me. At that point I finally got a real good look at this rack. I think I said something like "He's a shooter!" When he hit a nice opening between some small trees, I "bleated" at him and he stopped just right now. I got him in my scope (couldn't see anything but deer) and when the crosshairs were right behind his shoulder, I pulled the trigger. I saw the arrow fly, heard it hit the deer and he dropped, right at the edge of a ditch with water running down it. He was obviously hit in the spine because he dropped instantly, then started thrashing and dragging himself until he ended up in the ditch.
That might not have been so bad, except that the resident cow herd crosses the ditch at this exact spot. Sixty or seventy 1000 pound bovines crossing the same spot time after time has a tendency to mush things up a bit. So the deer drug himself right into that damned mudhole, and proceeded to thrash and kick and have himself one fine mud bath. While he is trying to learn the breast stroke, I went to my truck to so I could run home (about 3 miles) and get my tractor and a .22 pistol to put him out of his misery. Got home, started up the tractor and saw that I was almost out of fuel, and I didn't have any in the cans either. Tossed a 5 gallon fuel can in the bed and the .22 in the cab and went back to the deer. Put him down dragged him up out of the mudhole. I left some of my gear and put my tag on him and took off for town to get some diesel fuel.
When I got back to the house, I put the fuel in the tractor and took off on it to get back to the deer. I planned on just going through an old gate in the fence and driving right up to the buck to get him loaded. The gate was no longer being used as such, and the owner had wired the gate to the fence posts, so it would not open without me cutting some wires. Didn't want to do that, so I decided I would drive through the ditch up to the fence with the loader bucked over the top of the fence. Then I would simply hook a log chain to the deer and the bucket and lift him over the fence. (Normally I would have just pulled the deer through the fence since most of them are just barbed wire fences. This fence had hog wire strung along the bottom, so I could not drag the deer through those little square holes.)
OK, so I finally got the deer field dressed and drug over to the fence. Pulled the tractor down to the fence as I had planned, got the deer hoisted up and over the fence. About that time, the left front tractor tire went into a big hole in the ditch, caused the right rear tire of my tractor to come waaaaaaaaaaay up off the ground. I really did think the tractor was going to go over. Scared the shizz out of me. I finally got the tractor squared around and the deer up out of there. I got him chained down in the loader bucket and headed for home.
Since I did not want to take pictures of a mud covered deer, the first thing I did was give him a "bath". Got him cleaned up (pretty much) and presentable for pictures, then hauled off to the meat processor.
Illinois Firearms Buck - November 18, 2016
I started my deer hunting "career" in 1993, when I was living in Illinois. Since then, I have been in deer camp with my best friend and hunting buddy every year but 2. Opening day we all headed out to our decided upon hunting spots. I went to a holler that overlooked a slough and sat down at the top. After a couple of hours, I had seen only a small 4 pointer and a doe, so I got up and moved around the hill and sat down in a spot that overlooked another holler. After a bit, I saw another small 6 pointer chasing a doe and they came up the holler in front of me. Eventually, the doe went one way and the little buck came back past me going the other way. About 20 minutes later, a pretty 8 pointer walked down the holler in front of me. Even though he was not a big buck, it had been 10 years since I had taken a buck in Illinois, so I got him in my crosshairs and pulled the trigger. However, nothing happened.
Earlier this Fall, I decided to get me a new cantilever rifled barrel for my 870 20 gauge. I had been mostly using an 870 12 gauge all these years, but had been having some issues with it, so decided to try something different. When sighting it in, I noticed that the chamber seemed to be awfully tight and unless I really slammed the slide closed hard, it did not lock up all the way, thus would not go bang when the trigger was pulled. This morning, I had not slammed it hard when putting in the first 3 incher and it did not fire.
So here I am, sitting on the ground, a buck about 30 yards away, and I needed to rack the slide on a pump gun and attempt to get a shot before he disappeared (most likely quite quickly). I pulled on the slide and could not get it to disengage. Finally, I slammed the butt into the ground to get the slide to open and the slug ejected. The deer did not seem to much like that noise and he ran about half way up the hill on the opposite side of the holler and, to my surprise, stopped. So now I had to run the slide forward to get another slug into the chamber. I slammed it closed as hard as I could, and the buck ran about another 10 yards and stopped again. I got the gun up, put the crosshairs right behind his shoulder and pulled the trigger. This time the gun went BOOM. I watched as the buck ran the rest of the way up the hill, got to the edge of a field and collapsed. That was the first time I had a deer die where it was easy to get to!! Had to drag him about 5 yards to get him loaded up.
Since then, I have thoroughly scrubbed the barrel chamber and the bolt and have not had another issue with the gun. My bad that I had not worked on it a bit harder before taking it afield.
Kansas Firearms 1st Doe - December 6, 2016
Since I got my buck during archery season, when firearm season opened last Wednesday, I have been out trying to fill a couple of doe tags. It's harder to get a mature doe than it is a buck!
Opening day, there were 6 or 8 does and a nice buck across the road from me, about 50 yards. Before I had a chance to get one of the does (was hoping they would cross the road and get on the property I had permission to hunt), a truck came down the road and they all took off running away from me. Never saw them again. That evening when I drove home, I saw a really nice 12 pointer with 3 does. Too late to shoot anyway.
Yesterday afternoon, I was walking to my evening "stand" and walked within 40 yards of a monster 8 pointer with a doe. Doe jumped up and if I shot the doe, I would also likely hit the buck. Since that is a no-no (one buck per year in Kansas), I could not get off a shot, and could only watch them run away.
This morning the alarm went off at 6. After turning it off, I woke up again at 6:40. Darn, now I am late getting out. Finally got to my morning "stand" (I say stand, but I do not have any stands, just sit on the ground) about 7:10. I figured I was most likely too late, but took a seat anyway. At 8:10, I was getting ready to leave. Before I get up, I always take a good look around me to make sure there are no deer sneaking up on me. Lo and behold, I spotted a nice doe up on the bluff above me. Then I saw a really nice 10 pointer, followed by a young 8 pointer. The big buck came down the trail and got to the bottom in front of me about 30 yards away. I was not anticipating a buck to come down first, and he got suspicious really quick. I knew the wind was wrong for my location, but I was hoping to shoot a doe coming down the trail before she got my wind. The buck turned around and ran back up the trail and headed West. Then the other buck followed him, and I figured the doe would too. Ended up there were 4 does, two of them nice mature ones. The first one headed down the trail that the buck had just ran back up. I could not get a shot off as she was moving too quickly through the trees and saplings. When she got to the bottom, she apparently smelled the same thing the buck did, as she quickly turned around and headed back up the hill. She finally stopped about 3/4 of the way up the hill and gave me a good broadside shot. BOOM!!! She ran off on up over the hill and disappeared, along with the other 3. I knew there was NO WAY I could have missed that deer at 35 yards. I waited a few minutes and walked up the hill to where she had been standing when I shot. There was lots of blood and lung tissue, so I knew she was dead somewhere.
The blood trail was the easiest one I have ever followed, but I could not understand how that deer ran over 300 yards with all the blood she was losing. Every time she stopped, it looked like someone dumped a quart of red paint on the ground. Anyway, I finally found her, went and got my truck, field dressed her and took her to the processor.
It was a good morning. At least one more tag to fill, maybe two. It has been a good deer season to date, but I have spent more time hunting this fall than I ever have before. Got my Kansas buck, got my Illinois buck, got my first Kansas doe. Life is good.
Kansas Firearms 2nd Doe - December 9, 2016
Got another nice doe this evening. Most likely will be my last deer for the year.
It was quite an adventure today. I left the house about 2 this afternoon and walked nearly a mile to a place that deer often bed during the day. As I was approaching the spot, two does jumped up from a place I was not anticipating them, and I watched them run away. I continued on, thinking there were most likely no more deer there, so I was not being particularly careful in my approach. Well, wouldn't ya' know it, two more jumped up and ran away, neither giving me a shot. I watched them run to the corner of the pasture, jump the fence, then run down the middle of the road to the East. After I turned around and headed back toward where I was planning on sitting for the evening, I saw those two deer running back to the North across a field about 600 yards away. Had a pretty good idea where they were headed (close to my planned sit) and, sure enough, they ended up going where I thought.
I knew if I took my normal approach to my spot, there was a good chance that they might see me, so walked all the way back to the road (about 20 yards from my house), then walked down the road a ways, crossed the fence and climbed up the bluff where I was wanting to go. Got sat down and started waiting. About 15 minutes later, I saw a deer up on a hill through some timber. Took a look with my binos and it was a really nice buck. He walked down the hill, across a ditch, then disappeared is some real thick stuff about 100 yards South of me. About 30 minutes later, I noticed a "horizontal" log between two vertical trees that did not look quite right. Picked up the binos, took a look and it was another buck about 60 yards East of me. He had antlers that might have been as big as my little fingers. He soon disappeared up a draw.
At around 4:45, I thought I should probably stand up next to a nice tree in front of me so I could see over the brush in the direction I thought would be the most likely way deer might approach. I procrastinated a few minutes and when I finally stood up very slowly, I found myself surrounded by deer. There was a nice doe in front of me, staring right at me, about 20 yards away. I saw another deer to her left about 10 yards away, and was able to see right away that it was a fawn. Then another doe to my right, which I had not seen, wheezed and ran off, followed by a small 6 or 8 point buck. Then I saw another nice doe about 30 yards in front of me slightly to my left. I moved the gun to shoot her, but she turned and got behind a tree and I could not get a shot. So I turned the rifle back to the original doe, and she had moved slightly, so I could not see her head. She took a half step to her left, which gave me a slight quartering to me shot, and almost pulled the trigger when a nice set of antlers popped up behind the doe. She then finally took several steps away, then turned broadside. No more buck or other does behind her, so I pulled the trigger. I saw a good amount of blood spray out her offside, and I knew she was a dead deer. She did manage to run about 20 yards or so before she piled up.
Got her field dressed and walked back to the house to get my tractor. She is now residing in the bed of my truck (in the garage) awaiting a trip to the processor first thing in the morning. I shot this one with my Winchester Model 70 in .270WSM. I must say that hitting a deer broadside with a 150 grain bullet going 3200 fps at about 25 yards does some real serious damage!!!! The entrance hole in her ribcage was nearly 3 inches in diameter. The exit hole on her offside was much more normal, about an inch. Go figure. Like I said earlier, this has been a really good year for me and deer hunting. I have shot 4 times this season and have killed 4 deer. First shot was an arrow (Kansas buck), second shot was a 20 ga slug (Illinois buck), third shot was a 20 ga slug (Kansas doe) and the fourth shot was a .270WSM (Kansas doe). Don't see how I could improve much on that. Maybe I should just retire from hunting. Naaaaahhhh.......
I took this jake during our spring turkey season. Since it was taken in the spring of 2016 I guess I can post it in this thread.
Another pic of the double wild turkey hunt. It was a great day. My neighbor used his 20ga benelli 3in mag to tag the big Tom.
