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Topic Archives => Memorable Hunts => Topic started by: Herdbull on December 26, 2007, 08:47:00 AM
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This past weekend had very challenging weather near 40s and rain half the day then changing over to ice and snow with temps dropping to 12 degrees with –5 wind-chill. The winds constantly heavy with 40 mile gust most of the day Sunday. In the late afternoon four does were coming towards me, but veered off. After a while I bounced 4 shed antlers off the ground on a line and raked them through brush at the bottom of the tree I was in. Shortly, three bucks came towards me to investigate. A small 8-point went back into the thickets to my right the second buck had already shed both antlers and he stood around, but lost interest. The third buck, a 10-point, started to come closer. After staring in my direction for a while, he turned to walk away. I reached over and grabbed the line and shook the rattling antlers at the base of my tree again. He immediately turned and trotted towards me. He locked up at thirty yards. After 3 minutes, he again started to turn away since he could not see the origin o f the buck fight. I grabbed the line and bounced the sheds one more time. He came ten more yards closer and turned to his right and went back into some honey suckle brush. He continued on and stopped broad side at 20 yards in my shooting lane. I took the shot. After a short tracking I found the buck. It was the first buck taken with a bow I made myself and he was my reward for staying out there on a fun weekend.
Mike
(http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff289/MittenM/hero/12-25-2007-05.jpg)
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Beautiful buck. Good job hanging in there with the conditions. One of the best Christmas presents you could have received!
Joe
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Nice job Mike, how to stick with it, he is a beautiful buck. :thumbsup:
David
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Way to go Mike.....Well deserved! Pretty bow too :notworthy:
Congrats bud :clapper:
Sent ya a PM...
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Good job, Mike. Way to stay with it...I went back to bed that morning after I heard that wind, HA! Email me a picture if you would please. Thanks!
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Beautiful buck! That's the kind of story you can tell for years. Perfect.
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Congratulations!!
He is a BRUTE!!
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Way to Mike. I probably would have quit in that weather.
Jack
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Very nice buck indeed. Awesome Job. What make of bow are you shooting? The bow has a great looking riser on it.
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Nice job Mike. That is a good buck with very good mass and tine length.
Bill
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Great job congrats
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Awesome!
Congrats!!!
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Thanks guys!
Shape Shifter I made the one-piece bow myself. My friend Brandan Bird helped me with the form and this is the second bow I made. It is 64 inches and 63#@31. The riser is Pau Ferro with osage that came from my property in the background. The limbs are bamboo with bocote veneers. Here is a better pic of riser.
(http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff289/MittenM/hero/11-26-2007-07.jpg)
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Wow Mike, that is one fantastic deer. Not only is finding a buck that big an accomplishment, considering my "love" for cold and wet, it looks like a hard earned trophy in every since of the word.
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Congratulations Mike! I'm glad somebody got to go out and play. I got called in to work 4 times over the weekend. Great looking deer and bow!
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Fantasic buck and bow.Congrats
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Awesome! Very cool bow and a great buck. Congratulations!!
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Mike,
Great buck, and nice bow. You should be proud of both, and what a x-mas present! Way to go!
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Congrats Mike,very nice buck and great looking bow.Loved the story,rattling on a string,that's awesome......P.S. Looks like another one died from aluminum (2219) poisoning. :bigsmyl: :thumbsup: Take care,Mike
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Way to go Mike, a nice Christmas Present. Did you capture it on film?
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Mike, Yep it was my same arrow setup that you are growing to like. 32 inch 2219 with 100 gr steel insert using Woodsman head, 4 x5 inch fletching. That reminds me, I need to send the kill arrow to Jim Rebuck from J&M. He fletched that pretty arrow.
Marty, I hunted alone and did some filming, but did not get the shot on film. Could have used some help dragging him out up and down over 4 spoil banks in the stip mines though! Ha! On Christmas Eve I drove the 3 hours back home just in time for the family gathering.
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Very nice buck Mike, I would like to here more on your rattling on a string technique
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Great deer, beautiful bow! Merry Christmas!
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Well,you musta been a good boy this year. Congradulations on a great buck,and a nice bow. :campfire:
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That is a perfect reward for sitting out the bad weather. Great looking deer! Congratulations.
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thats great, well deserved! congrats, Great deer and bow Mike :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :clapper:
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Awesome buck and bow Mike! Congratulations!
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That is the way to have a MERRRY CHRISTMAS! You will have to write an article...
"Trot line Buck"
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Mike,beautiful buck and an awesome looking bow!!! I love the sheds tied together idea. I have often thought about a way to make rattling sounds and leave rustling sounds on the ground while still in a tree. This sounds like a great idea to me. If you don't mind how about showing a picture of how the sheds are positioned along with a description of how you put the thing together. Thanks. Dan
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Wildbronco4 , It is not new, but I tie 4 instead of two shed antlers together with about 12 to 18 inch tether. At the center tie a long line that is attached to a limb or screw in step so that it is out of the way but you can reach it easily. Make sure the line is long enough so that you can feed the mass of horns at the base of your tree more line as they will tangle up and use up your slack throughout the day. Plus since they all get tangled in knots pretty good, I simply cut the stings and tie up new. You can look around and see better with less movement on your part, and as soon as you stop you already have your bow and arrow knocked in your other hand. This time of year is good for calling and rattling since there is greater competion among bucks with fewer does in heat at once. Lift and drop for a louder crack, or simply shake or bounce around at the tree base for finesse. If your stand is on a side hill it works good since the antlers tend to roll away and make more noise before you rein them in.
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Beautiful buck and bow. That's gotta feel great taking a bruiser like that with something you hand crafted yourself.
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Good things come to those who wait (and those who endure nasty weather)! Congratulations.
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Nice one! Way to tough it out. I like rattling after the rut too with good luck. Our season has been over for 3 weeks now. But it starts earlier than most too.
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Wow! Nice deer and cool tatic's. Congrats!
JL
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The kind of hunt we all wish we had experienced ourselves. Wow! Thanks for sharing!
Next time I wake up in camp to the sound of rain or sleet on the tent, I will remember this story. Hopefully, I won't roll over and go back to sleep!
Killdeer :notworthy:
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Beautiful Buck and Bow :readit: :notworthy:
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Ingenuity, persistence, and downright toughness. I like that. Congrats.
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Has the pic been removed? I don't see it.. :confused:
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nice buck, i was out in that nasty stuff too this weekend but only saw small bucks. nice bow also. congrats. Todd
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great buck,congrats!
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Hot Damn!! as always, Awesome Job! And sweet bow. Congrats :thumbsup:
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Great buck! Congrats
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Nice going Mike!...congrats!
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Congratulations Mike, It pays off sometimes to hang in there when the weather gets tough.
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Congratulations, nice buck. :thumbsup:
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:thumbsup: :clapper:
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That's fantastic! Thanks for sharing.
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Nice job! Mike is the 2nd rut just heating up or starting to slow down? I havent really notice any 2nd rut around here. That is one heck of a nice buck. Don
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"Holy cow!"(qoute from my twelve yr old) We were
gonna hunt sunday, but the wind had me spooked.
"Deer won`t be moving in this" I said. Hmmm.
Well deserved success,...no doubt.
That bow is a beauty,... to build it yourself, and kill with it just boggles my mind.
I have one antlerless tag left, and this certainly is an inspiration.
Congratulations, and Happy New Year!
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Thats a dandy! Congrats on the X-mas buck!
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What a nice buck! Congratulations, the Bow is really nice.
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woo takes some serius kohones to be able to stay outside for more than half an hour in that type of weather!!!
awsome buck!!!
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Congrats on the the nice buck and you did a very nice job on the bow.
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Geeze I'm not sure which I like better the buck or the bow! OK the buck :D but only cause the window is on the wrong side for me! :thumbsup:
Brent
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Bud , that is dang good look lookin arrow also!!! What dandy buck, great story , homemade bow!!!thanks for sharing... :)
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Beautiful Mike, just beautiful!
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Congrats Mike on a fine buck, and a beauty of a bow as well. And a good story to boot!
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Super job !
Well earned congrats.
Pat
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Just one buck, what are you goina throw over your OTHER shoulder, LOL!
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Congrats Mike! That is a super nice buck.
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Thanks again guys. I have said this before, but I certainly know that we are blessed to be able to hunt deer in an area that has a good balance of age structure in the bucks. We have a few weeks left in the season and I hope to improve the buck-to-doe ratio by taking a couple does.
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Verry nice buck and bow,very nice.
Pau ferro = rose wood santos.
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I think you dun good... all the way around.
Congratulations and thanks for sharing with us.
God bless,Mudd
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Great buck Mike! I too hunted in those conditions but a little further south of you. I helped out our herd with my 4th doe of the season...now I still have a buck tag burning a hole in my pocket and your story has me fired up!
I rattled at a group of bucks using a similar tactic...3 antlers on a string. All I got was the lead hoss whipping a tree at 200 yds and the other 3 good deer eyeballing me. The smallest deer in the bunch, a 5 pt raghorn came to the tree I was in. I'm thinking food source and stealth from here on. They seemed to care less about my horns or the 3 does in the field with them. Thanks for stoking the fire, Mike!
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I always knew you were an animal Mike, but being out there on Sunday with that wind? :scared: Boy, I just don't know if I can consider you sane anymore! I told myself that was a day made for being inside with a wood stove. Shows what I know! :notworthy:
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Whip , It was fun weather. Even Bret Favre had a fun day in Chicago! Ha! Ha!
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Hey now, you didn't have to go there!
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WOW, what a buck! Congratulations! Love the bow too!
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Mike, very nice bow and a fine buck. Like Whip I opted to sit by the fire last weekend. I'll be out in the morning (maybe) here in MO. Cold and snow. Your late season buck inspires me to get out in it.
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Congrats!!! What a buck!!!
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Packers-Bears = 1 more reason I should have been in the woods last Sunday. Couldn't have been any more miserable out there than being forced to watch that. On the other hand, we all know who is still going to be playing in January. :p
That bow of yours turned out really nice! Love the wood combo and the sexy curves on that riser :thumbsup:
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Congrats Mike, awesome story, buck and bow! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Tell us what you were wearing under that Sitka Gear, layers of... is that the 90% stuff?
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I had Sitka base layer and a dualfold layer, the mountain vest and then the 90% followed by snow camo shell. The folks at Sitka Gear are realizing that it is difficult to make one garment that fits all needs. They are coming out with a new cold weather line for stand hunters. I feel the current "system" will keep me in my stand down to about 20 degrees. So on a day like this (-5 wind chill)I had to put on another layer over. I took it off when I get down to track, stalk, or drag (carry) deer because I would then be too warm. This is another reason I don't often hunt without my Bison Gear pack. It carries all the stuff to keep me in all day. Including camera gear and food. A storm is rolling in now and I have to go hunt again for the next 5 days. I won't be back untill the 2nd. I love this stuff! We are blessed.
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I need to move. I live in the wrong state.
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Mike~
Way to go! Nothing better'n late season, the big boys are out there! Nice bow too!
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congratulations mike. great buck
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Congrats Mike :thumbsup: Late season is my second favorite time of the season next to the rut. My main problem is not being picked off by so many eyes and ears when the deer are bunched up in late season. I seen a couple of good bucks over the Christmas weekend but each time there were 10 or 15 other deer to contend with. I hope to have better luck this weekend. I'm not complain'n mind ya,,it could be worse,,I could not be see'n any good bucks or deer at all!!! Congrats again and nice work on the bow too. :)
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Very cool Mike...thats my kind of huntin story. I have used my rattlin horns on my haul rope before to sound like deer movement in the leaves sorta thing. It helps fool their eyes when they cant see another deer if their ears are telling them somethin different.
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nice buck
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Beutifull buck,,and nice arrows,,congrats J
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Nice Buck, Mike !!!
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CONGRATS!!! That is a freaken MONSTER!!
GREAT JOB!!!
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I just got back from another weekend hunt. During the past two weekends I used the same rattling technique and brought in 8 different bucks. Two were in the 140 class 8-pointers. One of them came in from over 150 yards to within 8 yards of my tree. I decided not to shoot because he was only 3 ½ years old. The other buck was from a different area. He came in and started rubbing his antlers in a bush at ten yards. He was also a good-looking buck but need one more year. I got both deer on film for our next video. Yesterday I brought in a 2 ½ year old 4x4 with the antlers. He was only 15 yards away when I tickled the tines again. He came closer and was standing 3 yards from my antler pile on the string. Very funny. He was looking hard for the buck fight, but did not realize they were only “puppets on a string”.
Mike
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Hey Mike, nice buck in tough conditions! I love the bow too!! Will you be at the K-zoo expo this month or the Denton Hill shoot this summer with your brothers and the Wensels? p.s My son Matt is still watching the Primal Dreams DVD you gave him and mentions "Theres Mike" whenever you pop up on the screen! Thanks again, Paul
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Thanks Paul,
The Brothers of the Bow won't be at K-zoo this year since we don't have any new products until March. I am not sure about Denton. But we will all be at PBS in Pittsburgh in March. Tell your son "Mike" says hi.
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Mike just told me he's rattled in 13 different bucks total the last three weekends with the antlers on the string trick. When you realize rattling is generally unheard of this far north, at this time of year, I think Mike is onto something big here. It seems a lot of hunters are always looking for new ideas and techniques. This is one... we need to listen up. Okay.. from now on I think we should refer to this technique as "The Mitten Shuffle". I like it!! Remember 20+ years ago the fame I received when they filmed me running through the woods "trolling" shed antlers on a cord? THAT was just a joke, whereas this technique actually works. Seriously... it really works. Mike can now take his place in whitetail hunting history for developing the "Mitten Shuffle." Good job Herdbull!! bw
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...and the songs will be sung.....
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Mike nice buck! nice looking bow also. Interesting rattling technique i will have to try it. TD.