I had sorta neglected this topic, but the Grandson sent me a picture of his "this morning's" bowkill:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_6725~0.JPG) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356089)
20" wide !!! :wacky:
He sent me a message this morning; the taxidermist aged his buck @ 6 1/2 years, so he was old. That ties our previous 6 1/2 yr. record.
By Mississippi Game Laws, only mature bucks are legal. At least 13" beam length or 10" inside width. That is really easy because anything less than that is quite small.
Well done! A great wall hanger.
Where was he?
That looks big!!!!
Far back ridge
Quote from: Jeff on October 15, 2024, 09:24:12 PMWhere was he?
He was on the far back ridge behind the Cabin.
He is on a roll because he got this one yesterday evening:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_6735.JPG) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356098)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_6734.JPG) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356099)
Same location on the back ridge. This proves that to get big ones you have to be willing to pass the small ones.
They appear to be well fed. Also, great antler growth.
I finished my Bushhogging this morning just before the rain came. The Straw Field was all that was left so now it's done:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_6830.JPG) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356636)
Those are mostly Sweetgum and Persimmon saplings.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_6833.JPG) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356637)
Some of the Persimmon saplings were tractor high, and the briers were thick. The Strawhouse is on the ridge directly above the center of the FEL.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_6834.JPG) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356638)
The Kubota M4900 and 3008 Bushhog were glad to finish, heck I was too. A Wheat/Oat food plot is beyond the bushhog. I am pleased with them and plan to broadcast a few sacks of Ammonia on them within the next few weeks.
The Grandson is Bowhunting in Kansas and took this buck this morning.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_6839.JPG) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356673)
He is doing quite well especially since he turned down a 10 yard shot at a probably larger buck opening morning. He had been kicking himself but is OK now.
Them kansas Bucks look like they are a bit bigger bodied then your typical Magic Bucks.
Yes, historically, Kansas & Missouri bucks/deer are larger bodied.
I wonder where he is going next? Guessing Illinois. :huh?
What part of Kansas Lynn? we have white tails and mulely deer in western Ks. some elk not from Co. also, on the army base at fort riley. the Muleys are even bigger. A guy here had hunted one white tail for several years, and later found it dead. Not sure if hit by a car or shot. I will try to get a pic.
The last deer I got in Missouri was doe whose live weight was 200 pounds. Killed it in a soybean patch as it walked the harvested rows picking up the individual lost beans. Best doe here in Texas was 140 pounds. Anecdotal at best, but there are bigger deer up north, could be because of a higher parasite population down here, or the food source is better and more diverse up there. But then, who knows.
Ks. white tail buck.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/IMG_0095~4.jpeg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=356685)
Quote from: doc henderson on November 08, 2024, 08:34:46 AMWhat part of Kansas Lynn?
I have no idea, but he said a 15 hour drive which does not say anything.
One of my nephews got a really nice 7-point, his first, last evening on a new 80 acre property I bought last year.
He is a heavy one, dressed weight (guessing) about 175-180 pounds.
Our Rifle season opens tomorrow morning and the wind....is and will be out of the North. :veryangry:
I am hoping that things will change before tomorrow evening, but if is still out of the North, we ain't driving 92 miles to watch deer stomp their feet, blow, and show their flag leaving.
Same problem here. Anything northish is no good.
Yes, I have been to your place and you have been to mine. The North situation is the same in both. Last year on opening day PatD and I went back with me knowing better.
I had a "Scent Killer" spray so I/we sprayed and kept the windows shut on the Strawhouse.
A doe came out at 150 yards, raised her nose high, and stomped her foot. She then wheeled around and bounded away with her tail waving. We promptly climbed down and left.
I have been using a new spray called Scent Thief. It actually blocks their sense of smell. They also have scent wafers too that you can hang one above and one below if you are elevated. Of course, playing the wind is best and maybe set up a spot for next year that lets you hunt with a north wind. It actually is my best wind here and a predominant wind in November and December.
I bagged a deer last night. Sadly it was with my daughters car. I will be able to fix it if I can find all the parts. rayrock
Quote from: jb616 on November 23, 2024, 02:50:53 AMI have been using a new spray called Scent Thief.
Yes, Scent Thief is what I have and was using. (Didn't work.) I say "wind" but most of the time, it's more of a breeze and often variable. Today is such a day, 0 mph and at 3:00pm, from the North. Today is the first "opening day" that I have missed, probably ever. :uhoh:
PatD and I may drive over this afternoon to take ATV gas, replace the kitchen ceiling light, and add an on/off headlamp switch on the newest Golf Car.
There is always stuff that needs doing.
We did all of the above but the wind was out of the NE so we did not bother about going hunting. There will be days, but this was not one.
Quote from: rusticretreater on November 23, 2024, 03:00:58 AMI bagged a deer last night. Sadly it was with my daughters car. I will be able to fix it if I can find all the parts. rayrock
Rustic,
Where are you looking for the deer parts? ffcheesy
Quote from: Magicman on November 23, 2024, 06:44:00 PMWe did all of the above but the wind was out of the NE so we did not bother about going hunting. There will be days, but this was not one.
Lynn.
If I had flat land like you do in Mississippi and knew a guy with access to a sawmill I'd have so many shooting houses built around the place built around every open field or likely trail crossing I could always find one to hunt. I have thought about sawing a bunch of half inch thick one side live edge boards to sell for deer blind material.
I have 2 shooting houses here and would love to build another on the back side of my place but I can't get a 4 wheeler up there let alone one loaded with building materials.
I remember 8-10 years ago I was on the back side of my place at my upper shooting house in the summer or early Fall and my now 16 y/o GD was with me and she had to go to the bathroom. When she was done I told her "You peed right in the deer trail and now you will scare all my deer off." Without a moments hesitation she replied "That's okay Grandpa, you can just shoot the ones coming from the other direction."
FLAT???
Yup, he just does not know. ffsmiley
My property is one mile deep but the access to all of it is from the North property line. All of my open land is along the Northern edge so any where you go a North wind will betray you.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/pluslease2%5B1%5D.JPG) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=80373)
My property is outlined in Red and is about 50% timbered. My leased property is Yellow and is 100% timbered. The Strawfield food plot is the brown in the center and the back food plot is about halfway of the back 40. All bedding areas are South of the food plots. (The white line in the NE corner is my driveway to the Cabin.) The deer always migrate toward the North in the evening. The simple rule is that if the wind is anywhere from the North, you do not hunt in the evening. For "still hunting" in the mornings, you go wherever you have to and then hunt into the wind.
We did that and it was not flat! ffcheesy
That's a West Virginia joke. Every state is flat to someone in WVA. Have you ever been to WVA? The entire state is mountains. Mountain mamma says John Denver and he wasn't lying. Semi drivers go around the state because it is too arduous to drive it.
I see hunters go far and wide looking for a deer.
If I wanted one there's a bunch in my back yard.
Not far at all. :wink_2:
Quote from: rusticretreater on November 24, 2024, 12:08:37 AMHave you ever been to WVA?
Oh yes, I have been from the top to the bottom, bottom to the top, and both sides, more than once. I was with a mission building group that went to War and built a food distribution center after the flooding and to Bradshaw Mountain refurbishing a honky tonk/bar/night club into a church.
The video below details building the food distribution center. This project won Wood-Mizer's first People's Choice Award:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdlc3y3tvzE
Rustic nailed it. Compared to here every place is flat, well at least flatter. I tell folks I have 40 acres but if I could lay it flat I'd have 80. It rises over 450' on 40 acres, Many of us here will see a deer and say "if he comes on this side of the draw I'll shoot him but if he stays on the other side I'll just let him go." He may not be but 50 yards away too.
I soon learned to always bring my lunch when I went out on the Monongahela NF lands. You could easily see the point where you wanted to go to, but it would take you at least half a day to get there'
Truckers would say that one hasn't driven until they've driven in WVA.
Drove through West Virginia a bunch of times, and got around OK in a semi pulling a 48' spread axle flatbed. Was warned though not to get directions from the "coal buckets" (local dump trucks), as they'd send you down Billy goat trail roads not built for 18 wheelers.
Quote from: Resonator on November 24, 2024, 06:56:01 PMWas warned though not to get directions from the "coal buckets" (local dump trucks), as they'd send you down Billy goat trail roads not built for 18 wheelers.
That's not a nice thing to do. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcheesy
They wouldn't do it to be mean, they just didn't know their idea of a "truck route" wouldn't work so good with a big truck. move_it
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And to stay on thread I heard one of my buddies got an 8 pointer opening day. ffsmiley fudd-smiley
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Grandson got his three bowkill mounts back from the taxidermist today. The center skull mount was a "velvet" antlered deer taken during the one day special bow velvet season.
He had gotten his three buck limit with a bow before the gun or primitive seasons opened.
He also drove to Kansas and tagged a bow kill 10 point.
Nothing shot and nothing accomplished except building memories. Backstory, he sent me a letter a couple of weeks ago asking me to take him hunting, so yesterday afternoon I took my 6 yo Great Grandson deer hunting. We saw nothing so we just sat and whispered. Maybe nothing even unusual about that except that I am 75 years older than him.
My G Grandfather had passed before I was born and never went hunting with my Dad nor Grandfather. This afternoon he asked if we could go 4-wheeler riding? We probably went a mile and a half, him driving half and I finished up. Just good times at the Cabin.
I can't imagine a better way to spend a day/week/month. (Year?)