KS buck tag filled

[snakebit40]

I know I haven't been on the gang much in the last 10 months. Life has change A LOT! But for the better!

I should start being a regular here again now that I'm settling into my job and our family has more of a schedule.

Anyways, I had an evening hunt tonight I will never forget. The only problem is I have to be at work in a few hours so I'll have to get back to the story tomorrow. I need my sleep!!!

See you guys in the morning    

[Pheonixarcher]

[Big Ed]

Can't wait for the rest of the story!!

[T-Bowhunter]

[Chad Orde]

       

[shoes]

It's morning!

[Bob B.]

Jon, you are killing me ... get to it man!  It is morning ... we are ready for the story ... and PICS!

I am getting ready for a three day hunt starting tomorrow.  I am looking forward to hearing about your story.

I am glad things are going well for you.

     

Bob

[snakebit40]

This summer I moved my family from the farm to pursue my passion. We were furtunate where we were placed as far as being close to family goes. But as far as hunting goes, it was going to be a challenge.

I've always been very lucky to have plenty of private ground within 10 miles to hunt where I live. Not the case anymore.

Thanksfully KS has a great public hunting program. So this summer I started scouting out the public ground.

[snakebit40]

So I finally found a piece that I really liked. One thing I really liked about it was it offered good hunting right off the road, and really good hunting way back in the property. I'm not afraid to walk any distance, and I figured most people would hunt the stuff close to the road.

I got off work yesterday at 3 giving me plenty of time to make the long trek into the good stuff.
So I grab a good friend of mine and we take off deep into the public ground.

We finally get back to the draw we wanted to hunt just before the sun disappeared. Then all the sudden my buddy drops to his knees. We glass up on a side hill and see what we thought was a decent Mule deer.

We come up with a plan and start the stalk. At the time we started the stalk we had a nice 10mph wind or so, enough to cover up some noise. Well by the time we ran out of cover the wind was all but gone.

[Hood]

[DanielB89]

   

[Tim]

You didn't call me....        Did you shave off that creepy 70's mustache?    

[jamesh76]

[Bob B.]

Um ... morning is over ... it is afternoon ... so, the wind died down - you ran out of cover and ...

Bob.

[rwbowman]

I'm with Bob ^^! The sun is high  

[snakebit40]

Sorry guys! Work got busy, so I'll just finish this up.

Last year my buddy that's with me shot a great buck we decoyed in, so this year it's my turn to have first shot. We hid behind some yucca plants and decided I should try and get ahead of him by 15 yards or so in case the buck hangs up.

On my way up to another yucca the doe catches me. She looks at me for awhile and decides she had enough. She ran down the into the draw behind us and caught our wind. Well the buck just happened to be just far enough away from her, he didn't see her run off. To him all the sudden she was gone. So he comes over the hill and see's the decoy my buddy is holding up. The buck comes on a string to 40 yards from the decoy and 30 or so yards from me.

After 15-20 minutes of the buck looking at the decoy, the light was fading fast. I had to make the shot happen now or never.

I come to full draw, and instead of letting my instincts take over I tried to "aim" as far as distance goes. Well that arrow sailed over is back. He bounced off 10-15 yards and turned broadside. I nocked another arrow, let my instincts take over, and made a heart shot. My buddy is a compound shooter, he said when I missed he dropped the decoy, started nocking an arrow, looked up and my second was gone. Haha gotta love the quick release of these trad bows. The buck went 75 yards. I'm not sure how far he was, out there. I've been practicing long range and felt very comfortable shooting it. To be honest I didn't even second guess it. I just let it happen.

[snakebit40]

Last week a couple great friends came to KS. Tim and Mark (aka straight_arrow). Long story short. A week ago I was shooting 71@28 limbs, three under, and a verticle bow. Which in my opinion is great for targets. Well like Tim said "Howard Hill said you've got to choose what you want to do. Be a target shooter or a hunter." With that in mind I dropped limb weight cause my form was suffering, shoot split finger, and don't hold my anchor near as long. In short I'm having fun shooting the bow again.

The reason I told you that story is cuase Tim said I own him lunch or small game heads or something now that I kill a buck with my 54 pound limbs. Ha!

[snakebit40]

Ok here is my 2014 KS buck-

 

 

This buck was one healthy and big bodied boy!

 

 

[Bob B.]

WOW!!  What a stud!  Nice buck and great story Jon.  Good on Ya!!

   

Bob.

[elkken]

That is a dandy for sure .... congrats            you can kill anything in North America with those 54# limbs