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Topic Archives => Memorable Hunts => Topic started by: Shaun on November 01, 2008, 07:01:00 PM
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Just back from 5 days of hunting in central Iowa with a couple of friends from out of state. Jim Gilmer (Littlebigman) from MN and Bob Frerri form WY. Both are avid horn chasers who shoot fine ACX longbows. I have enjoyed many hours afield with these guys and we share much in our approach to hunting and fair chase.
I like big antlers as much as most but am not that dedicated to the game, more of a meat hunter at heart. I do love the challenge and have become a selfbow shooter almost exclusively, so I took some of mine on this hunt. The bow that got the call was made from a stave donated to the St Judes auction by Craig of Shrew bows and he said it was an old piece from a hedgerow frequented by Papa Bear his self.
It produced a long curvy 59# @ 28" that I backed with copperheads, very old stable wood, lots of power and maybe some mojo from the harvest site and the auction. The arrows were donated to the UBM auction by another TG member, cedar with a nice stain and great stencil burned artwork tipped with 175 Ace broadheads. In five days of hunting these have become my new favorite blade.
Jim and Bob are still afield, they plan to hunt for another six days. It was great to share camp and time in the woods, but my larder is full and there's a trapline to set - season starts today and fur prices are up. They may chime in with photos and hopefully tales of big bucks when they get home. I will get the story started.
Place names and a few of the facts may be fictitious, but mostly this is what happened:
Last Sunday I drove west 3 hours and we met a the house of Dean (Bwana) Jackson, game manager for a large river bottom farm. God I love Iowa in the fall, especially the way the oaks turn various shades of brown.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/Deer08048.jpg)
Hunting here has been managed for many years with an emphasis on quality bucks and good habitat. Dean's den includes many big whitetails as well as a collection of African game skulls from his childhood on the dark continent. He does shoot a wheelie, but makes up for it by being a dedicated elementary school teacher, conscientious grandpa and all around swell fellow, always smiling and ready to lend a hand.
Dean and his lovely wife Trish.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/Deer08094.jpg)
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I have to finish butchering and wrapping, back in a bit.
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Story and pics please! :coffee:
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Can't wait... :campfire:
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Back to the hunt; We took a cruise around the farm on Sunday and Dean showed us some stand sites and mentioned deer sightings. We put up a couple more stands including a new ladder stand of mine.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/Deer08039.jpg)
Its a Rivers Edge with with a fold up seat, large platform and armrests - an all dayer if need be. I added a safety line and Prussic knot to make this my new home. From this oak I could overlook a fence crossing behind me and a scrape under the dangling branches. I could also see a long way across the meadows to watch for and maybe pattern traveling bucks.
Bob, Jim and I stayed up a little too late that evening with catching up and the excitement of the hunt at hand. 5 AM comes dang early with daylight saving time but we were into the coffee and out to the stands before shooting light.
My first morning in of the hunt the cares of the work-a-day world were melting with the sunrise from a tree stand. There was not much early movement and I was really starting to relax when I happened to glance up across the pasture and saw a buck. Sometimes it is difficult to draw the line between a nice buck and a real trophy. I had no such problem. This was a hoss! Even at 150 yards I could see this was a magazine cover walking. A pinch proved I had not nodded off and was really in big buck land. He angled across the meadow and away into a bedding area.
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:archer: :coffee:
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This is great Shaun, Thanks for sharing :thumbsup:
Tracy :campfire:
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Bob and Jim each had a doe tag as well as their buck tag. Dean had talked about the need to take does on this property (he was responsible for 22 himself last season). My in-state status meant that I could purchase doe tags and had for home, but they are county specific. I made a run to town and picked up a couple of local doe permits.
Not wanting to overhunt the new stand I opted to sit a short ladder at the north end Monday evening. Things started to heat up around 4:30 when a young doe ran past with a fork-horned buck in close pursuit. We had discussed the strategy of shooting a chased doe and waiting for the big boy to follow her scent to the trap. I decided to take this doe if she came by again and gave me a chance.
I watched some other deer moving but nothing that felt right. Then about 5:15 the first doe reappeared in the field in front of me. She was alone but looking back. She peed in the field and then wandered my way. She cooperated by turning into the woods just 10 yards from the left side of my stand and I came to full draw as she walked behind a tree.
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Why do they always seem to do that? Stop behind the tree? My bow arm was tracking her slow walk as I came to full 28" (26.5") draw then she froze with my target spot covered by a thick white oak. After a moment my muscles started to tremble and I let down in slow motion. When she took a couple more steps I drew and shot. After her hesitation my lead and timing were wrong and the arrow passed through her neck.
The woods exploded as several close deer reacted and my target bounded 20 yards away then stopped. A pool of blood covered the leaves at her feet showing that the jugular had been severed. She soon expired and rolled a few yards down the hill.
As the adrenalin burned off I realized the trap was indeed set and I had over an hour of shooting light left. About 6:00 I saw two small bucks approaching and they were right on her trail. They stopped in the field and flehmened where she had marked the trail, then had a pushing match for several minutes.
Eventually they proceed right in her footsteps and milled around under my stand while I took some photos. First was this little fellow
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/Deer08001.jpg)
Then this slightly large one and one half year old. You can see the blood where the doe expired in front of him and down hill a little. The fallen doe is to the right of the blood down the hill just short of the gully.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/Deer08016.jpg)
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As shooting light faded I realized that the big buck trap was not going to work tonight but that I had a self bow trophy, a fine eating doe down in sight of the stand. I met Bob back at the truck and he helped drag her up the hill after some memory photos.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/Deer08023.jpg)
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WOW!! What excitement!!
Congrats!!
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Great stand site. Congrats on the freezer filler!
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Day one over after some hanging and skinning. Bob and Jim had seen deer but not the wallhangers they were looking for. The stars were country bright. I thought back to a time when I visited a friend in Boston and there were only three stars and the moon. Here I scanned Orion with his three star belt and dangling three star sword. Across the Pleiades cluster of seven - my old eyes only defining five now but I know the faint ones are there. And on passed the lopsided "W" of Cassiopeia to the Big Dipper and the North Star. Clear and cool night ahead. Maybe tomorrow the bucks will move.
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The start of a great story!!
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:thumbsup: :campfire: :coffee:
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Great story and congratulations on the nice doe...
BTW, you donated a real nice bow for the Mojam auction this year. I sure do enjoy the way it shoots... :)
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I've been wondering how your trip was Shaun. Congratulations! :readit:
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:campfire: :archer: :clapper:
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Day two there was frost on the rungs of my new ladder stand and my prussic knot safety line gave me a secure feeling as I climbed in the dark. My favorite stand location is one that I can walk to from home, or in this case from our lodgings at the Garage Mahal - our hunters' apartment over the garage.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/Deer08095.jpg)
The stand where I took the doe on the north end requires a drive around and opening gates. My ladder on the south end could be reached by a half hour slow walk, over the river bridge and up the hiking trail onto the ridge then a few hundred yards west.
It was a beautiful morning and the sunrise brought sightings of several deer wandering past and feeding as they worked their way towards day beds. My lucky doe arrow was cleaned up, resharpened and ready for action but stayed on the string as the day warmed.
I like to sharpen with a Grobet file and the Ace steel responds well to this method. Bob watched me apply the file and test the edge the evening before and when I was done he handed me his sharpener. Its one of the chewing gum stick sized things with two pieces of carbide set at the edge in a "V". "I've heard that file edge can slow down by dragging hair unlike a razor edge," he said. "I've heard that too," I replied. So, I gave the blade a few passes with his device.
About 9:45 the action had slowed. No deer had moved near me since about 9:00 and the monster buck had not shown across the pasture. I was starting to organize my gear and think about descending when I spotted a deer far out in the pasture trotting my way. It showed no head gear but it was aiming right at my tree. I stood, folded back the seat and brought my bow to hand.
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The doe slowed to a walk as she got to 40 yards but kept coming. I looked behind her but no buck was chasing. She angled slightly to the east and stopped to scent my approach path. She thought about it for a while then trailed me towards the ladder. At 5 yards she stopped and looked the ladder over then looked up at me but did not "make" me standing still up in the leaves. Another long look at the ladder and I could read her mind... "I got to tell the rest of the gals about this!" She turned 180 and started away. My thoughts were, "Oh no you won't tell them."
I bent at the waist and canted the bow to have a clear shot under this limb as she quartered away.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/Deer08034.jpg)
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I am always delighted by the flight of an arrow. You would think that the shine might wear off after all these years, but it has not. I am amazed when I miss and more amazed when I hit the mark. The dayglow bright hen feathers seemed to disappear between the last two ribs angled towards the off elbow. She jumped straight up and kicked her back legs out, then ran 40 yards to the ridge trail and slowed then stopped. She staggered once and then walked a few feet farther and over the ridge where I though I heard her fall.
"Wow! Did that really just happen?", I thought. I replayed the arrow flight and it seemed real. Folding down the seat I sat and unwound and waited a half hour. Then I got down and went to the spot where she had been when I shot. There was my bloody arrow less the last six inches of the nock end. And looking the direction she ran I saw this
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/Deer08040.jpg)
I guess it was real.
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I followed this crimson path even though I was now nearly certain the sound had been her fall. Sure enough she was there less than 60 yards from the stand.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/Deer08041.jpg)
I pulled her back up to the ridge trail for a picture. I had work ahead of me with one hanging and this one to handle.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/Deer08047.jpg)
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Wow awesome! Congrats! Keep going!
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I need to run some errands and grocery shop for "bright shiny stuff at eye level" - can't live on fresh venison alone. Back latter with the rest of the tale, yes, there's more.
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That bow is a killing machine! (And you're doing pretty good yourself! ;) )
:clapper: :clapper:
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Way to go Shaun....lets eat! :thumbsup:
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awesome stuff buddy, looking forward to the rest.
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Back from the store - walked right past the meat counter.
So, the next couple of days the wind continued to blow from the south bringing the kind of sunny warm days that are great for everything but deer hunting. I cut up my deer at Bwana's place and Jim cut up a fine big doe he had taken. We continued to hunt hard but deer daytime movement slowed with the heat wave. Its hard for them to run around dressed in their winter fur when its 70 degrees.
I tried my gillie suit one morning near the bedding area the big buck had entered that first morning. A flock of turkeys made me wish I had a fall tag as they came to within 10 yards of me. Using a Torges tree seat and gillie I was able to sit very still and blend. About 9:30 a six point buck came from behind me and crossed my scent cone at 10 yards. He froze and looked hard for me. He did the head fake, the long stare, the one step but could not figure it out. He came to about 5 yards and tried all the same tactics. Suddenly he looked up past me and bolted. I eased my head around and saw a big buck coming to chase the intruder six away. It was a big mature buck but not the one from the first sighting. He caught a wind swirl of my scent while still 80 yards off and retreated.
With a replenished stash of doe tags in hand I hunted other stands and had lots of fine viewing but no deer shooting on Wednesday or Thursday.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/Deer08067.jpg)
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What a great hunt!
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Friday morning was another cool but not cold one. My lucky doe arrow was busted, maybe the razor edge kept it from making a complete pass through I teased Bob. But, my confidence level was high after two shots taking two deer. Heading out I told Bob that I had recovered from the blood bath of the first couple days and was ready to strike again.
It was a slow morning until 7:50 when I once again had the treat of seeing the huge buck. This time he was about 200 yards away and headed into the same bedding area. I tried to will him in but to no avail.
Then at 8:50 I saw a large deer body through the tree trunks angling past my stand from another direction. "Has to be a buck with that size," I thought. Up came the bino's and sure enough I saw horns. He stepped out into the clearing at about 45 yards and I could see "three up" on the side of his rack towards me - a ten point. Bwana's advice was, "Don't shoot the first 130 you see." But even though this was not the monster buck he was very nice.
I was feeling the pull of home and the start of fur season on Saturday. It did not take long to make the choice, he's a shooter. Bigger than anything I'd taken with a stick bow before. He posed broadside in the low angle morning sun. I tried the grunt tube, first softly then much louder. No reaction at all. He just stood there and stared off to the east as I admired him.
I seldom shoot at anything at this range but was still brimming with confidence from my earlier success. Howard Hill (I am not claiming to be in his league of accuracy) was reported to take one shot and immediately follow up with a range adjusted second arrow. That's what I did.
Sometimes it helps me imagine trowing a baseball when I shoot far. I have been practicing longer shots at my home target and have been getting the feel of it. My first shot was something like a second baseman's throw to first. It skidded right under his chest. The buck did a line dance maneuver, turn left take two steps, turn around and take two steps back, turn left. He ended up right where he started. Big mistake, I had the range. Center fielder with a short base hit and man on third. Throw at the plate.
The wind had calmed and the woods were so quiet that I could hear my fletching hiss all the way to his spot. At the end of the hiss was a sound of blade on flesh and bone, a sort of "snick". I had the range perfect but whether he took a step or I failed to perfect my line the arrow was not in his chest, it was buried 14" dead center through the ham broadside. My first thought was, "That will do it." The big file sharp Ace had to be into the femoral artery, maybe on both sides. The buck had trouble getting going with the pin through his ham as he circled passed and headed into the woods. I listened hard after he was out of sight and thought just maybe I heard his death kick a few minutes later, though it was not a classic crash.
Again I sat back down and replayed the scene. Was the arrow really in a fatal spot, yes, maybe, second thoughts. As if to distract my troubled mind, the monster buck of earlier sightings came out into the field at 200 yards again, stood for a moment then turned and headed away. What a monarch!
After about twenty minutes I realized the breeze had started a gentle blow from the west and my scent would be drifting towards where I hoped my buck was down. I got down and went to the place he had been standing, changing my scent path and reassuring myself that there was indeed a decent blood trail. I marked the spot and then sat for another hour. I made up my mind to wait till noon, "When in doubt back out."
I met with Bob and told him the story. As we headed home past the spot my buck had gone into, we glassed to see if he was down and in sight. No luck.
The clock moved very slowly from 10:00 to 11:30. Bob fixed a fine breakfast and we lounged around camp. When I could not stand it any more, we headed up to try to find my deer. The blood trail was not what I've seen before from a femoral hit. It was there but not easy to follow. Bob stood at the last spot, Jim and I took turns blood trailing and scouting 20 yards ahead. It took forever (15 minutes) to proceed 60 yards to his wound bed. He had moved on from this spot and the blood trail was getting weaker, like a muscle hit starting to clot and dry up.
I have read that 70% of deer arrow hit in the chest are recovered and that the same 70% was true of hip hit deer. I tried to stay confident as we slowly picked out the continuing blood trail. After another 15 yards past the wound bed, Jim said, "Here he is!" My first thought was, "You are supposed to say, 'Here's blood', not 'Here he is', how rude. After all, we are still in sight of my stand and I can see almost all that you can see from there."
Then Jim took a couple more steps and yelled, "Wahoo!!!!". It finally sunk in. He was looking at my buck! Bob and I soon joined him to admired the gift.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/Deer08087.jpg)
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The arrow had taken both femorals but the blood had been entering the body cavity, not pumping out. The sound I had heard from the stand was him expiring. Luck, mojo, overconfidence, practice, however I looked at it, my hunt was over. And what a prize!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/Deer08076.jpg)
And shared with good friends and admirable hunters Jim and Bob.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/Deer08082.jpg)
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Bob brought my truck around to within 50 yards of the spot as I got the insides outside. It was a short drag uphill and not that hard for me as you can see from this picture.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/Deer08090.jpg)
We had been invited for dinner at Bwana's house that night and I skinned and caped the buck there while Jim and Bob returned afield for the afternoon hunt. I gave Bob all my limited insights into the routines of the monarch buck and he hung a stand to try for him when the wind comes back south. We dined on slow cooked venison over brown rice with fresh oatmeal cookies for desert.
Jim and Bob remain on the river bottom looking for story book monster bucks. I have returned home to get on with my landowner tag hunt, trapping and chores. Best of luck to them. For me it was as good as it gets. What a spell of whitetail hunting! Life is good.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/shaunw/Deer08097.jpg)
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Congrats Shaun!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Awsome story and pics.. Great job :clapper: :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Is that the same self bow you brought to Ohio?
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Great deer Shaun and awesome story-telling...Pics had us there with you....Hope we all have some of that luck in Texas....Don and Skyler :clapper:
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Great story and pictures! Congratulations on an awesome hunt!
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Eeyup that's good stuff. I'm glad the errant shot resulted in such a short blood trail. Congratulations on a great hunt!
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Excellent! Congrats Shaun!
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Great Shaun, congratulations bud , good story
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Wow wow wow
absolutely awesome Shaun congrats buddy
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Originally posted by Shaun:
For me it was as good as it gets. What a spell of whitetail hunting! Life is good.
Boy, you got that right buddy! Congratulations on the hunt of a lifetime! :clapper:
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What a great hunt,Shaun! You are a very talented story teller
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Congrats!
Wonderful story, fun to read.
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As good as it gets brother...CONGRATS on a fine hunt,pix, and story!!
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Great hunt Shaun!!!! Congrats on a job well done.....
David
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Great story! THAT BOW'S GOT THE MOJO!
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Thanks for the ride bro!
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Neat story, good job!!!
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Excellant! Congrats on a great story and hunt!
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This has been one of the most enjoyable hunt stories I've read in a while....Thanks for sharing it with us....
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Very Nice, I'm looking for my first Deer with a self bow, Too.
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Great story & pics!! Congrats on an unforgettable hunt and great shooting. Who says self bows are not efficient weapons in game management !! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Great hunt and a story well told !
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Awesome! Thanks for sharing! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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congrats shaun! :archer:
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Great job Shaun, sound like you had a fantatic time :clapper:
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Hat off to ya! Well done!
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One of the best hunting stories so far this year!
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Thanks for sharing that Shaun....and many congrats. That was some hunt with a selfbow for sure. Beautiful buck....just beautiful.
See you soon :campfire:
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Great deer and a great looking bow!
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Great hunt Shaun! It's amazing what a sharp broadhead will do, especially with patience in tracking.
Jason
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Wow, congrats on your hunt. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us.
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Just got done reading the entire thing.
Big Congratulations!I'm sincerely happy for you!!!
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Thanks for taking us along. Congrats. :thumbsup: :notworthy:
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Thanks for sharing Shaun, what a great hunt!
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Ive been inspired! I think its time to get in the woods with a self bow. :thumbsup:
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A season to remember for sure. Thanks for sharing.
bretto
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Real beauty, Shaun :thumbsup: :clapper:
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Dude it was great hunting , eating and telling lies to one another! The hot weather is killing us but we are still optomistic, I finally saw a tank yesterday am and will hunt him hard till its time to go home Friday. i am posting this off of a borrowed machine and will add to Shaun's pictures soon. But you missed out buddy, we had moose in the crock pot for dinner tonight. !!!
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ok its 72 degrees and the bucks are not moving, how frustrating to wait three years for a tag and then have record high temps!
Here is the doe i killed last Tuesday am when the weather was nicer! She walked into a scrap i was hunting and stood in it sniffing and batting around the scent wick i had hung. I let her walk hoping a buck would be trailing her. She finally left only to return 15 minutes later and stand in the scrap a second time, As she walked past me to leave i drew and shot her very poorly. My arrow was way off the mark and hit her in the lower throat. i still don't know what i did, but i got lucky and she only went 40 yards.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3190/3002686465_b151b161db.jpg)
We will hunt thru the week and hope the weather turns around be fore the end of our time here. Thanks again Shaun for being such a great guy yo hunt and spend time with
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Great job Shaun. Very very nice.
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Great hunt and story, that's a nice looking bow too, sounds like Papa Bear shed a little Mojo on it.
Bakes
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Shaun,
Great story about a great hunt! Thanks for taking us along...
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Right on!!!! I love your Bow, what an awesome hunt, thanks for taking us with you.
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Missed it the first time...great story Shaun; we will have to BBQ in IC ;)
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Great story Shaun!! Congrats on a beautiful buck!!
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Congatulations Shaun!!!! I had one heckofa nice uck come to freshen a scrape by me tonight. A few more steps and he was mine. That was until somebody's dog started barking at the roosted turkeys again. (long story) It was exciting though! Nice buck though buddy!
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I know these guys! Great story Shaun. Glad Bob told me about it. I really should read this forum more often!
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Great story. Thanks for taking me along with you on your hunt.
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awesome shaun!!! one of the best stories i've ever read!! :campfire:
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Many thanks Shaun, as fine a story told as it was to live...next best thing to being there.
Beautiful animals, and taken with a selfbow puts the experience over the top. :campfire: