Check Out these incredible trail camera photos from Central Wisconsin! A friend of the BMGOutdoors.com team captured these photos within the last month. They really show the amount of damage wolves are capable of on the whitetail deer population, especially in the winter months.

The DNR estimated Wolf population in Wisconsin will always be up for debate, much like the annual whitetail deer estimates. In all reality you can’t really blame the DNR;  I mean how realistic is it to accurately estimate the deer and wolf populations in any state!  Take for example two identical 200 acre properties; one could have amazing deer management with upwards of 100 deer that call it home while the neighboring property may only have 15 resident deer. I imagine wolves are a bit more challenging to estimate given that they are far less numerous than the whitetail population and cover much greater distances.

Regardless the photos below are proof.  Wolves are becoming more abundant in the state and the Wisconsin DNR is finally taking small steps towards managing the population with the recently proposed Wolf Management Act. A true wolf hunting season remains years in the making but at least the DNR is in the fetal stages of recognizing the problem that these animals are creating among hunters and farmers alike. Here are some trail camera photos that indicate the Wisconsin Wolf Population is thriving and pushing southward.  These photos were taken within the last month on a trail camera from a friend of BMGOutdoors. The property is located approximately 5 miles east of Wausau, Wisconsin.

Enjoy and be sure to let us know what you think either below in the comments section or on our Facebook page!

By Mark Mitchell and Greg Haak

With the Wisconsin whitetail season in the rear-view mirror and the spring turkey season what seems to be an eternity away, the BMGOutdoors members are already in going through hunting withdrawals.  The off season is a great opportunity to rest, recover and spend some quality time with those understanding loved ones who dealt with your obsession all fall. But just because you can’t physically hunt deer doesn’t mean you can’t begin your plans to increase your odds for next fall. 

Greg and I have been hard at work preparing game plans for the 2012 season.  However, the plans took a turn for the worse when about a week ago we confirmed the rumor that a Doctor purchased a key 270 acre parcel of land that Greg has been hunting for a number of years.  All we can hope for now is that this Doctor is a knowledgeable hunter who practices some sort of QDM especially since we have permission on the land surrounding his farm. Regardless, we did lose a portion of the property and are seeking some new leases in the area. The goal is to attain as much land as possible regardless of its hunt-ability in order to control the herd the best we can.

Something we really want to focus on for the 2012 season is increasing our tree stand efficiency and inventory. We also are aiming to provide the essentials that deer need to survive; food, cover and water in order to give deer as many reasons as possible to stay on the property. 

Increasing our Efficiency

Half the battle of hunting whitetails is to remain under the deers radar throughout the entire season. The minute you are detected you mine as well give up hunting that stand location.  The best way to avoid this is to keep the hunting pressure on the property low: A hard task to accomplish when you’re obsessed with hunting and have a smaller sized property. One thing we believe will help our cause is increasing the number of stand locations we can hunt along with improving the efficiency of entering and leaving the set-ups. How you ask?  We plan on getting out mid spring with the sign from winter scouting and shed hunting fresh in our mind to hang our stands and cut lanes.  It seems every year we wait until July or August to hang stands and it’s almost guaranteed to be 80+ degrees and muggy. Heading out early before the foliage will be more comfortable and also prevent you from over trimming lanes which most people tend do mid summer when the trees are in full foliage. Over trimming could make you stand out to the trained eyes of the whitetails.

This year we also plan on cutting small entry and exit paths to and from stands marked with bright eyes to ensure a stealthy, efficient, commute from vehicle to stand or vice verse. Once you get to the stand we will have each setup equipped with a hanging a bow hook in place and rope with carabineers to eliminate the otherwise unavoidable fumbling around in the dark most every bow hunter can relate to.

Essentials

The property has a wide range of terrain and essentially is a whitetail paradise.  We have tall CRP grass, set-aside, numerous acres of agricultural fields, open hard wood flats, tall ridges with thick hillsides and valleys. We don’t really need to worry about increasing the cover too much this year. Our main focus is to avoid entering the areas we know the deer bed, allowing them a “sanctuary” in which they feel secure. The setup of the property allows us to place and access stand locations conveniently between bedding and food or bedding and bedding increasing our odds to capitalize on the natural movement of deer without disturbing these sanctuaries.

A key aspect of keeping deer on your property besides food is water.  Most people assume that water is readily available to the deer where they hunt often overlooking its importance. The property doesn’t have a single drop of water on or around it for, I kid you not, nearly a mile. Putting strategic water holes will not only hold deer on the property but increase the chances of harvesting deer. These holes will come alive in the early season or on those warm rut days in late October or early November when the big bucks are relentlessly running around seeking that latest and greatest hot doe.

Being that we hunt a very agriculturally rich area, food in the early season is plentiful.  The problem occurs as fall turns to winter; farmers are hard at work getting all the crops off, leaving sparse food for the deer. As the season progresses our trail camera photos seem to decrease with the crops. By the time late December rolls around its hard to find even a single track on a property that held upwards of twenty different bucks earlier in the hunting season. Our main goal of 2012 is to plant a decent amount of acreage in an attempt to hold deer on the property throughout the winter, hopefully solving the ongoing mystery of the disappearing whitetails. Our best bet is going to be small huntable plots of an attractive early season crop, such as Biologic’s Green Patch Plus, adjacent to a larger plot of corn or beans which we’ll leave standing throughout the winter. More news to come on the food plot dilemma in a future blog so stay tuned!

Santa Clause did deliver a handful of new Moultrie M80’s that will be out in full force this summer and fall.  We will know when a buck is on the property we will determine the best game plan to get one step a head of him. So stayed tuned, 2012 is going to be a BIG year for the BMGOUTDOORS Crew.

Tip Fishing Concepts
By Nick Berndt

Hello all! Ice fishing season is well under way! Personally there are few things more exciting to me in the world of outdoor recreation then seeing a tip up flag go up. Watching a deer come in to your stand, flushing and blasting a grouse out of cover, setting the hook into a 30 pound musky boatside, but for some reason there is just something special about seeing that little red flag waving in the icy wind on a desolate frozen lake. Here are as few tips to get you ready!

By: Mark Ripp

So, you think your season is over?  For the seriously addicted now is the start of the next season. While I love pre-season scouting and glassing fields to see deer in velvet the information gathered has limited value after the first few weeks of the season. This is the time of year I find most valuable. It is when you can really collect a lot of valuable information that you just can’t get during the course of the pre-season.  Primarily because deer sign and trails that were used during the rut and later parts of the season are still fresh.  Also, the deer are a little more forgiving of the intrusion into their core areas. I mean they have already been shot at and harassed for the last three months; a few more weeks won’t hurt the cause too much.  Caution is still required of course as you don’t want to go blazing a trail and push deer out of the woods.  Winter is also a time to locate new hunting land; I’ll get into that in a bit.

This time of year most of the upper Midwest has a blanket of snow on the ground.  Everyone knows this makes spotting both trails and deer much easier.  While most deer have now switched to a winter pattern a lot of their movements and locations this time of year resemble their mid-season habits.  When scouting a new area I like to locate bedding areas first.  Studying a good aerial map can save some time in this matter, I like to use the maps a www.scoutlookweather.com.  Not only does this site contain maps but it also gives up to the minute weather and you can save stand locations at all of your properties.   Before entering the woods I like to glass the area from a ways off to try to spot deer that may be bedded down.  The deer will be grouped up right now and easy to locate for the most part.  Most of the bucks will still have their headgear so it is a good time to also do an inventory of what made it through the season.   Keep an eye out for trails, especially those that are leading to and from feeding and bedding areas.  Of course it is always cool to see the heavily worn cattle trails made by the family groups of does but I like to look for the smaller trails just off of those.  A lot of times these are the trails used by the dominant buck in the area.  Keep an eye out for any rubs or scrapes along these trails to confirm that.  A lot of time you will also find one or two beds just above the group of beds made by the does.  This is where the bucks have been. Mark all sign in a notebook or in a journal, deer are creatures of habit and year after year they follow the same patterns and use a lot of the same areas.  The beauty of scouting this time of year is that without leaves in the trees once you have located good stand locations you can really get a feel for how shooting lanes can lay out.  How many times have you hung a stand in August and trim branches only to climb into it in November and feel like you are completely exposed?  Also wind patterns are more likely to be similar to the fall.  You can study terrain on a map and wind directions all day but until you’re in that spot you have no idea how wind reacts to that one particular area.  All of this is crucial data to keep in mind and not overlook.   

As I mentioned earlier, now is the time to try to find the next hotspot.  Glassing from the road is much easier because of no leaves and snow and it is also the only time of year besides the late summer when you can regularly see large groups of deer out in the fields.  Once an area is located I feel it is also the best time to approach farmers and land owners.  I never liked bothering farmers during the summer months.  It is their busy season and for a lot of them deer hunting is the last thing on their mind.  During the winter, time to chat is in abundance.  A good way to get a foot in the door is inquire about coyote hunting.  Most times it is much easier to gain access and it is a good way to show the owner what kind of person and hunter you are. Plus, you’re having fun and doing them a favor by getting rid of some pests. 
At the end of the day all of this is just one more excuse to get in the woods one more time.  The more information you can gather throughout the course of the year can only help you get on bigger bucks.  Don’t wait until a few weeks until the season starts to begin your search for your next trophy.  Get out there and put the work in, I promise it will pay off!

The Heartland Bow hunter Team has really set the standard the last couple seasons as far as outdoor productions are concerned.  The angles they incorporate, as well as the quality of their hunts in there entirety, are unmatched in today’s outdoor production industry.  For the holiday season I definitely had the HB4 DVD on my list. Ask and you will receive!  Instead of for Christmas I received the DVD on my birthday just last week and boy was I pumped to watch it!  

Upon first inspection I liked the unique style of the DVD cover; I thought it was nice to have a scenic picture on the front showing the pursuit instead of a giant picture of a dead buck.  I opened the box and noticed the double DVD set, a nice perk to know that you’re getting your moneys worth! The other night Greg, Brandon and I watched disk one from start to finish. Here’s our two cents.

Besides the camera work we really weren’t too impressed with the DVD as a whole.  Nearly every hunt that the HB Team goes on is an outfitted hunt, with literally hundreds of deer passing buy on a given night. We really enjoyed the basic hunts where you get to see the guys develop a plan and put the work in throughout the year to get their trophy.  Don’t get me wrong they do have some great hunts/stories of this nature on the DVD; we just would’ve enjoyed seeing more of it. They often times, especially on their outfitted adventures, seem to kill deer just to get a deer on film instead of holding off for a buck that would truly satisfy them. I mean these guys are hunting areas that seemingly hold world class deer, show some willpower and wait for the big one to make an appearance instead of shooting a 125” deer just because you can.  A big negative of the DVD was the fact that at the conclusion of each hunt it took you back to the main menu screen and in order to move on to the next hunt you had to watch the intro over each time. Very irritating!

Disk two was a whole lot better.  The outfitted hunts became more DIY which made it more realistic. Disk two also showed more hunts on team members home farms where a story truly unfolds as they often have some history with a buck. These hunts allow the viewer to make a personal connection and make the hunt more appealing. 

There are many other positives; as stated earlier the cinematography is truly remarkable.  There were multiple points in the DVD which we looked at each other and asked how they managed to get that shot angle. After attempting to film our hunts this year with little success we can relate; its really tough to remember to film everything, and more importantly film it with a purpose to create a story as the Heartland Bow Hunter Team does so well.  Another plus as far as I know they are the only hunting DVD that currently is released in BluRay!

All and all the HB Season 4 is a great DVD to pick up.  You will see big deer being harvested and the story lines and cinematography are remarkable. Click here to pick up your copy today.  I can’t wait to see what these guys bring to the table in 2012!

 

With most gun seasons coming to a close and the primary rut well behind us, most people are sitting at home on the couch watching football looking forward to the spring turkey season. However; for those of you who haven’t filled a tag, there is still a great opportunity to avoid a Double Decker Tag Sandwich!  It may required you enduring the brutal conditions Mother Nature throws at you but it is a great time of year to get back to the basics.  Follow these tips to making your late season hunts a success. 

1) Find the Food

Food is often times the only reason a deer will move this time of year. With frigid temperatures setting in and a long winter ahead of them deer will often times bed all day and feed throughout the night. This is when you begin seeing deer herd up in large quantities around a “hot” food source. So what food is preferred this time of year?  In the upper Midwest deer will generally head towards a standing corn field for an easy high carbohydrate meal.  If there’s a standing bean field around that’s a good possibility as well. On the other hand if you hunt private land and you’ve done your work in the offseason by planting any sort of cold weather food plot; now’s your time to reap the benefits. Build it and they will come holds true for these crafty critters as well!  

2) Split the Difference

You found the food, that’s step “A”, now all you is “B” find the most likely bedding and “C” determine how they get from A-B. Sounds easy right?  It can be, but it can also be extremely frustrating. Here is a good plan of attack. If you live in northern climates typically there is snow on the ground before the season closes.  What I like to do is set up 20 yards off these often times heavily rutted trails that head to the food source, which allows you to sit back a bit so the deer don’t pick you out in the sparse cover. It also gives you an easy chip shot.

Here comes the tricky part; how far off the food source do you hunt?  For me a lot of my experience comes from hunting public land.  The deer have been hit hard and are just about 100% nocturnal, especially if they have anything growing out of their head.  Play it safe.  Start on the cautious side of things, maybe only 40 yards off the field.  A lot of this is determined by the dynamics of the property.  If they bed near the food, you may have no other option than to hunt over the food source.  I’d rather be cautious, gradually moving closer to the anticipated bedding area then bump them to another county!  A good technique to help quickly determine this is the use of trail cameras.  Set the camera(s) 10-20 yards off the food source on trails you think might be worth hunting to determine when the deer are entering the field. Compare this time to legal shooting time to help determine how far the deer might be traveling from bed to the food source. The longer the time the further the distance is a good rule of thumb to go by!  Implementing trail cameras also lets you see what bucks from your hit-list made it through so far.

3) Be Prepared

Though you may not be sitting all day, Mother Nature can make it pretty brutal this time of year!  Dress warm.  The last thing you want to happen is have a shooter come in and be unable to draw back because you’re so cold (yes this has happened to me before).  I like to keep the layers thin and tight.  If you have bulky clothes on and you resemble the Pillsbury Doughboy (done this too) it’s highly unlikely you’ll be able to cleanly draw back and release an arrow. It’s a fine line to flirt with so I recommend shooting a few practice arrows in your attire prior to heading to the stand.

 Let us know if these tips help you bag a late season buck or if you have any other tips that you find useful! 

Here is a blog from our newest team member Mark Ripp.  We are glad to have Mark on board with BMGOutdoors.  He believes hunting is a lifestyle much as all of our team members do. His broad knowledge in the outdoor world is just what we're looking for to help take BMGOutdoors to the next level.  I'm sure there will be plenty to come from Mark in the future but in the mean time here is his story on his archery buck from November.  Enjoy!


"Lucky Number 11/11/11"
By Mark Ripp
As another successful Archery season winds down it is time to pause and reflect.  As usual the season was full of its ups and downs which build both character and knowledge.  The season started with the hopes of laying down one of two deer, either Big Brow or Bo Derek (because he is a perfect ten).  My hunting partner Joe and I had been chasing Big Brow for two years and I had a feeling his days were numbered.  Opening weekend was met with optimism and it did not disappoint, not only did I see one but both giants showed themselves. Unfortunately, my effective range with the ole Hoyt CRX is around 45 yards and they never closed the distance. As most of you bow hunters in southern Wisconsin know it was rather warm the first couple of weeks this year and the deer movement reflected that as usual. My better stands overlooking beans were a great spot to watch deer move right at dark; great for the nature lover in me but not so much for hunter.

Now lets jump ahead to October 28th, my annual deer hunting vacation.  I had allotted 10 days to seal the deal and it was game on!  That Friday Joe and I had decided to sit all day since we had seen some good movement that week.  The morning hunt was slow and between the two of us we had just seen a few doe and a smaller buck. Joe decided to change stands about midday and snuck into a natural ground blind that he had set up earlier in the season overlooking a funnel between two hayfields.  This stand location was about 300 yards down the ridge from where I was overlooking an old logging road. Things were quiet so I sent a text to Joe seeing if he was having any luck. I quickly received the reply, "I just shot a giant".  Turns out he had gotten the buck we know as Big Brow. He was everything I thought he would be. He had 6.5 inch bases and 8 inch brows. As a main frame 8 with 13 scorable points he was right at 145", what a great deer! 

The rest of my vacation was downhill from that point on; poor wind and coyotes ruined most of my hunts and the week ended with nothing to show for it.  At this point my goals shifted to just getting a doe for the freezer.  On the ninth of November we were blessed with several inches of snow and I could not wait to hit the stand on Friday and see if 11/11/11 was my lucky day.  Due to the south wind and I was trying to figure out where my best shot was since I had very few options for a south wind.  I decided on an area that formed a nice funnel between a pretty thick patch of hardwoods and two alfalfa fields that I could utilize a climber. I snuck into the woods and set up my Lone Wolf climber on a very fresh scrape.  I had chosen to use my Lone Wolf today because the wind tends to swirl in this spot and I was going to use height to my advantage.  I climbed to about 30 feet and set up.  No sooner as I brought my bow up did I have a nice nine pointer come in to about 50 yards.  He was using a trail that would take him within range but he stopped at 40 yards when he got downwind of me.  I thought I was busted but something worse happened, he bedded down staring right at me!  I could hardly breathe let alone hang my bow up. My saving grace was the fact I had a tree blocking his view me on my right side. This would become important later in the story.  After close to an hour and a half of staring at each other I was about ready to say "screw it" and just let him bust me because frankly I was getting a little sore just standing there.  It was then that I heard snow crunching behind me. I very slowly turned my head and saw a slightly bigger nine coming down the trail with his nose to the ground.  The trail he was on wrapped around a rocky outcropping and headed towards the field.  I had to let him come towards me pass before I could move to avoid him seeing me.  When he had turned I was able to grab my grunt call with my right hand and gave him a real soft grunt. I'll remind you that there is still the other buck sitting behind me.  My thought process was that hopefully I could get this new buck to think I was the bedded buck and come into investigate. Buck #2 heard the grunt and stopped and looked but seemed to not care, I hit it again and once again he stopped briefly.  At this point Buck #1 stood up and I decided to get a little more aggressive.  I let out my best pissed off snort wheeze impression and let me tell you, THAT got his attention!  He spun around and trotted right at me and the first buck.  As he passed behind some trees I drew back and tried to stay calm. When he stopped at 25 yards broadside I stopped him with a grunt and let the Easton fly. Upon impact he tucked his tail and dropped his head and began plowing straight down a ravine towards the neighbor’s property and out of sight. I felt I had made a good hit and knew it was a pass-through but was still a little worried.

After waiting a little while and calling the neighbor to notify him the deer crossed onto his property I got down to find the arrow.  Immediately it was clear I had made a decent hit, the snow was that beautiful color that every deer hunter can appreciate. Both sides of his path had good blood and I was feeling better and better.  After talking with the neighbor we decided that we were going to wait until morning to recover because had wanted to be there and had commitments that night.  I was a little uneasy because we are covered up with coyotes and didn’t want to give them a free dinner but what could I do?  The next morning after a longer track job than I was expecting we found what I was afraid of, a partially eaten buck. Fortunately, I was able to salvage a good portion of the venison and was thankful those old dogs weren't hungrier.  By no means was this a giant deer but it was a trophy in my book since it was the first deer that I can say I got due to my calling techniques, and that made it special to me.  Anytime you can change your luck through planning or tactics it just makes it that more special.  While this hunt had a bittersweet ending it couldn't have been more fun.  I guess that 11/11/11 was a lucky day after all!

It all started on a misty November morning during the 2007 Wisconsin gun deer season.  I was hunting some public land, planning on shooting anything with antlers, when a flash of white appeared to my left.  Twenty seconds later I had a 156" buck on the ground.  A dandy for public land to say the least.  Little did I know that harvesting  this buck  would begin a dismal stretch of hunting in which I continue to struggle to harvest another buck. The "Curse Buck", as I call him now, is how I gained the nick name "anti-deer". 

 Now lets fast forward to present time. Another early bow season has passed for me with little to show for it. It seemed like luck was not on my side this year. My 2011 highlight reel includes dropping my bow from 20 feet up, filling my boots with water not once but 3 times throughout the season and failing to even draw my bow back on a single deer. Needless to say I’m excited to move on. This year seems to have been more disappointing than past seasons. I hunted 21 days between September 15th and November 27th so don’t think I didn’t put my time in. It seems as though the more time and effort I put into preparing for the season the less likely I am to see anything. Throughout the season it seems like I was always in the wrong place or I was hunting at the wrong times. Multiple times Greg would put me in the hottest stand locations on his property where he "guaranteed" I could at least get a shot at a doe and I wouldn't see a single deer.  Failure at this level makes you second guess everything you do. Do I have a unique odor that the deer can smell for miles?  Does my camouflage make me stand out?  I'm frustrated and looking for any excuse imaginable at this point. 

Overall on the properties I hunt I did not see a single mature buck. The food plot I created in the summer was only hunted once by me, mainly because of its proximity; it was an hour drive to the property. Basically that was a waste of time, money and energy. I saw multiple nubbers and small immature bucks that I know wouldn't tickle my fancy if I were to harvest. Honestly I only had one opportunity at a doe but unfortunately daylight ran out on me that evening. 

The only thing worth mentioning in my dismal bow season is the November 13th hunt in which I watched Team member Brandon harvest his 152” 9 pointer.  The guys made fun of me that morning when I said it was the best day of hunting for me this year because I heard a buck grunt as he chased a doe around pre-daylight.  I saw three bucks that morning two of which were over 130”s, one of which Brandon’s harvested.

On a positive note I recently landed a job in Madison. Jason, Greg, Brandon and I are looking at locking down a property we currently just have permission to hunt. We want to make sure we are the only ones allowed access to the property and are able to perform some key land modifications that would take this particular property to the next level.

Hopefully the late season treats me better.  Typically the chances of me harvesting a late season deer is as likely as the Chicago Cubs winning a World Series; it never happens. The amount of time I’m in the stand dwindles along with the amount of deer I see. Maybe in a couple weeks I’ll have something to show. If you put enough time in something good will come from it.  Right? 

Be sure to check back next week as we release a great blog on strategies for a successful late season!  

By: Greg Haak

With early bow season behind us the annual gun season is underway in Wisconsin. Even though I gun hunt every year I don’t get very excited for it because I usually don’t see too much. Opening was uneventful like usual for my property. All I saw were two deer all weekend; a nubber and a little 6 point. Luckily deer activity always seems to pick up after opening weekend and I had off the whole week from work because business was slow. When Monday morning rolled around my alarm went off at 5:45 to get out to my stand; but since I was already irritated with the gun season I decided to go back to sleep. I finally got up around 8 am, ate breakfast and watched Sports Center, debating where I was going to hunt in the evening.

Around 9 am I decided to walk through a little strip of trees behind my parents figuring I wouldn’t see anything.  As I expected nothing was up but as I got to the field trail and was walking down the hill I looked up and saw something that didn’t look familiar about 250 yards away. I quick glassed it confirming it was a buck with a doe. I wasn’t sure if he was big enough to shoot but he looked like a decent 8 point. I knew I had to sneak about 10 yards down farther to get a shot. A few minutes later I was in position but wasn’t sure were the buck went!  I sat there for a little while and finally I saw the doe getting chased by the buck 150 yards away. I got my gun up and the buck turned and I could tell he was a 10 and could see one broken point, definitely a shooter. I clicked the safety off and just as I was about to pull the trigger he took off after the doe again. I lost him. I was reluctantly scanning the bottom just as a buck would that comes in to rattling looking for a fight. Then I saw him 100 yards away in the bottom of the corn field. I got my gun on him clicked the safety off, settled the cross hairs and pulled the trigger. The buck didn’t move. He stood there as healthy as could be. I slowly loaded another shell looked through the scope. I saw the culprit; a broken sapling laid 5 feet in front of me!! I quickly moved up a little settled the cross hairs for the second time and again shot, same result as the first shot, a clean miss. I couldn’t believe it; I looked in front of me and noticed a second broken sapling. Ironically the buck ran ten yards towards me, stopped, picked up a whole ear of corn and started eating. I stood up this time ensuring no brush was between me and the buck laid my cross hairs on him for the third time and pulled the trigger. This time I drilled him and he ran 40 yards and pilled up. 

When I walked up to my buck I was pleasantly surprised. He was a typical 12 with a broken g3 and g4 on opposite sides. As soon as I got him home I got the tape out and grossed him at 151 3/8 with the broken point; if he was complete he would be around 165”. What an awesome day. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky then good. 

By: Greg Haak
November 7th 2011, it was prime time in South Central Wisconsin. Deer activity was picking up. With many nice bucks on trail cam this year I had visions of putting an arrow through one of them as I walked to the stand on that crisp morning. I decided to hunt a new stand on one of the properties I don’t get out to very often. Just two days before I hung a stand in a funnel between two big chunks of woods; I was sure it’d be a hot stand if the bucks were chasing.  I got in my stand about 5:45. At first light it didn’t take long to see the first deer of the day, a decent buck from the second I saw him. A little while later I had 35 turkeys come in; 10 of which were strutting toms, you wouldn’t of thought it was November! It was the weirdest thing. 

As the morning went on I saw a doe, two fawns, and a spike. My plan was to sit all day but debated that idea between 8:30 and 10 when the activity died down. I decided to stick it out and around 10:30 the lack of activity got me thinking how hungry I was because I had eaten all my food during the mid morning lull. My phone began to vibrate, it was my boss, so I quickly answered and talked very quietly to him; as I am talking with him two does came busting out of the woods into the CRP 200 yards away. I told my boss I’d call him back. About 5 minutes after hanging up the phone another doe came flying by me with 3 little bucks hot on her tail; shortly thereafter another little 8 pt followed her path. Things slowed down again until around 1130.  I was watching the CRP when a buck popped out in the field for 5 seconds. It was a quick encounter but I could tell he was a nice buck outside the ears but he lacked in height. It’d be hard animal to pass knowing he would be my biggest bow buck. After he went back in the woods I contemplated what I’d do if he presented a shot and decided that I was going to take him. Just seconds later he appeared 35 yards out coming straight to me. He walked into my shooting lane mouth wide open. I let out a grunt to stop him, settled my pin behind the shoulder and released the arrow. With the Buck quartering away I hit the off shoulder, he ran 40 yards stopped looked back then I heard a large commotion. I sat in my stand for an hour, which seemed like 3 days. When I got down I went and got my dad. After a short track job I had my largest bow buck to date. About a week after I checked my trail cam and had a picture of the buck I shot a few days earlier.