My wife and I strolled in this morning at about 10: am after pulling an all nighter drive. 1266 miles and I'm not sure that I'm happy to be home. I will tell you that I had to come home to work so that I could get some rest :)
If you read the long story about my trip to Illinois, than you know how incredible my deer season has been and I don't mean that just because I have been succesful at harvesting deer.
I have been able to witness a lot of secretive deer behavior up close and personal and many things for the first time.
It all went a little like this:
My wife and I left out Friday the 11th for Kansas. We were on our way to hunt with Jake Fryberger for a week. Well, I would be hunting and my wife would be videoing.
I was very excited as always when I'm heading out on an adventure. This would be my first trip of many to Kansas and I was riding high on the possibilities.
The drive was long but uneventful and quite honestly seemed to go fast due to my excitement.
About an hour out from our destination, I was forced nearly to a stop as to avoid hitting a mature buck that was chasing a doe. WOW! what a welcoming comittee. And that was just the beginning.
After meeting up with Jake and his familly, my wife and I settled in for a restless night and an early rise around 3:30. Barbara was just too tired to make it out that first morning, so Jake and I went ahead without her.
Jake had a few stands already in place and after some discussion, he suggested one that overlooked many active scrapes and rubs..Who am I to argue with that?
As the morning progressed, the lack of game was making my eyelids heavy. About 9:30 I was brought back to conciousness by a loud crack behind me followed by the footsteps of a trotting doe. I slowly turned to my left to grab my bow from the extended hook that I had screwed in to the tree and was unable to free it. As I would push up on the bow, the arm would bend at the hinge and my bow remained stuck on the rubber hook.
I was frustrated as I didn't want to move too much and alarm the doe. You see, I guess, in Kansas the deer don't look up too much so the stands were set much lower than I'm acustomed too. This gave me an uncomfortable feeling at first and I was reluctant to make the moves I needed to to free my bow.
Unfortunately, as I was struggling with my bow, a very handsome mature 10 point of the 150" variety trotted in behind the doe and by me at 6 yds then out of my life forever. Grunting was heard by all but only felt by me.
Rather than feeling dissapointed, I felt elated. I had only been hunting in Kansas a few hours and 100% of my deer sightings were of what I came for. That same morning, Jake had an 8 pt within range but never presented a shot. He said it was big enough to get him excited. The rest of the day was a little slow, but wonderful just the same.
Come Monday, it was my wife and myself on our own as Jake was unable to get off work until Thursday.
We had a couple of stands set so that Barbara could video over my shoulder and it was working nicely. We saw much action including a nice mule deer buck and many younger deer but nothing I was ready to use my tags on.
That afternoon, we decided to set up on a road crossing that many does used regularly. I cut a small opening between two cedar trees and was very well hidden. Barbara was wearing the Bush N A Bag poncho and nestled into a cedar just behind me. I gave her the nod and began a seeries of rattling, stomping and thrashing that was aparently enough to impress a small buck as he came a runnin to kick my but. Within 5 minutes he showed up at under 12 yds and began to thrash a small tree and kick up some grass. He was safe from me, but I was sure enjoying his display. As he moved around, he spotted me, but didn't know what to think (just like most people when they first meet me). The buck determined that I was OK and started to work his way around us to check wind. As he circled us, he came with in 8 yds of Barbara and she claimed that she could feel him breathe!
The buck was confused and walked off without catching our wind. It was a good thing as I don't think Barb had taken a breath in a minute or two. I assured her that I would defend her if that buck decided to ask her out on a date.
As the evening progressed, I could just feel that something was about to happen. Just then, in the wee hours of remaining light, a cyote rustled his way through the grass and into my shooting lane. I was startled as I could only hear the grass moving and was expecting deer. Knowing how ghostly these vermin can be, I moved quickly and shot with out giving Barbara a chance to video. I connected with the yote at about 22 yds and he ran off to his grave.
I was disapointed to see that one of the mangiest mongrels on the planet. He would not make for a nice mount or hide so I relieved him of his skull and we called it a night.
Fast forward to tuesday morning at about 8:am. Barbara informs me that all of her batteries for her video camera have gone dead. She feels that the cold had sapped them ( and we were now with out video. I explained to her that that could only be a good sign as most of my succeses are preceded by a few mishaps.
Barb was dissapointed in her camera and in an effort to save the day, retrieved her cell phone and proceeded to video me and the surounding area to her's and my satisfaction.
At 10:am, I let out with my best buck fight rendition and the floodgates opened. First a couple of small bucks, then a heard of does. I signalled to her that I was going to take one of the big does and proceded to ready myself for a shot.
The first doe passes and then another. I have my seights set on a great big nannie in the back. As she aproaches, I put pressure on my string and then the thought crosses my mind to check her back trail.
Oh boy! I almost blew it. There he was, about 60 yards out and heading my way. But first, a little rub rub here and then a little rub rub there. Tear up this tree and then that. Stop to pee in a scrape. This is too good. As he comes closer, I feel myself calm (this is normal for me. I tend to fall apart after the shot and fortunatley not before). As he swings to my right, I look at my wife to make sure she is following along. With her nod, I return my focus on to the bucks chest. Just as he raises his head to work the licking branch, I drop string and drive a Big Jim Broadhead through his chest and 12 inches into the dirt beyond.
He jumps from the hit and He and his herim coast to the top of the hill and stop just 50 yards away. Oh Wow, I thought, I'm going to get to watch him fall!
Not so fast, I felt an uneasy sensation as my buck turns and walks back across the field in front of me. He is moving slow and alone, I can sense that he is feeling sickly as am I. He is a mere 35 +- yards out but I can't get a clear shot for a follow up arrow. I grunted to him and he stopped and looked at me but he thought better of it. Making it to a ditch about 60 yards out in front of me, my wounded buck attempts to cross a ditch and collapses. Relieved, we climbed out of our trees and began our recon of the events.
My arrow, firmly burried in the earth was covered with a thick dark coating of blood. More blood than I have ever seen, it appeared as though I may have passed through the liver. I attempted to blood trail but was unable to find even the smallest drop of blood.
Unable to stand it any longer, we converged on my buck laying dead amongst the tangles of fallen limbs at the bottom of the ditch.
Immediately I noticed that he was even bigger than I immagined. His overall size made his rack look smaller when he aproached me.
When Barbara and I chatted on our way to Kansas, I explained to her that no matter what, I had already succedded before we even started. However, If I was so fortunate to do so, that I would like to take a mature Buck not matter what size. Of course, I wouldn't return him for a smaller one either.
Barbara was able to capture most of the action on video via her cell phone and we have several pictures that will have to wait until I can get her post them here.
In additon, there are still a few action packed days left in the hunt.
Thanks for being patient with me, I'm still just soaking it all in.
Bigjim
Congrats!
Congrats Big Jim but you got to post some pics
doug77
Way to go Big Man!! Congrats on your well deserved successes!!
Nice!!
Congrats X2 the story was awesome..felt like I was there along for the hunt
great story!! look forward to the pics!
Congrats Big Jim but you got to post some pics
doug77
Great story. Can't wait to see him. :clapper:
Great story ,Now lets see him :clapper:
Congrats! What a season!
Congrats on a big buck! Can't wait to see the pics.
Congrats! Now where are the pics?
Bisch
Way to go Jim! Excellent story telling.
I'm very pleased your hunt is going perfectly, can't wait to see the pics and video.
Best of luck on the finish and safe travels home!
:thumbsup: :clapper: Can't wait to see pics.
Fantastic events.
Congrats!!!!!
(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu175/lilbobbiebab/kansastrip031.jpg)
adjusting set up for a video hunt
(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu175/lilbobbiebab/kansastrip028.jpg)
Just a few of the many rubs
(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu175/lilbobbiebab/kansastrip046.jpg)
Scruffy song dog after a tough night on the town
(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu175/lilbobbiebab/kansastrip052.jpg)
This arrow had a white zebra striped wrap and white and turky spliced feathers
keep them coming, First where is your safety harness!!! and in the second pic what are all those dark colored things all over the ground? some kind of fruit/ nut?
nice shooting, those are the longest arrows i ever seen lol!
(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu175/lilbobbiebab/kansastrip058.jpg)
final resting place
(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu175/lilbobbiebab/kansastrip066.jpg)
little Barb with our buck
You did that dog a favor before winter sets in....I have seen the mangey ones so cold they will hardly run from ya.....smell nice too!
(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu175/lilbobbiebab/kansastrip077.jpg)
Not as easy as it looks
(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu175/lilbobbiebab/kansastrip079.jpg)
Remember, they call me Big Jim because I am 6'3" tall and 325 lbs. This deer is bigger than he looks
Great buck! I would love to hunt Kansas some day!
Now I know that many guys don't care about score. I am not hung up on that either, but I do believe that an animal should be proud of what he has to offer. This gentleman green scores 140" and I couldn't be more proud if he was 150". 18.5" inside spread.
On top of that, he was kind enough to yield 92 lbs of meat to feed my family. yummie
bigjim
Congrats on a great hunt and a fine Buck
:clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Congrats Big Jim,you seem to be having a great year.Those horns sure look white,I bet you can really see them coming thru the woods.
Nice job Jim!
Redshaft, your correct, I should have been wearing a safety vest. I must admit that although I wear a safety vest religiously when I'm hunting, I have been some what careless when hanging stands. I will try to do better for my family.
Bryan, you ain't kidding. that dog was just begging for it.
Altiman, Kansas rules.... well, so does several other places, but right now Kansas is my favorite :)
I will try to post a link to the video of my buck action.
Also many other exciting things to add to this adventure.
thanks,bigjim
Awesome story and great pictures, thanks for sharing.
yes, you can see the white antlers from afar. I was told that it may have something to due with there droubt.
Congratulations Big Jim that ranks up their along with liquid Peanut Butter.
Fantastic Jim congrats brother.
Congratulations big guy,you've had a great year. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
and to think i had that same fella at 35 yards at the same stand the week before and he would never come to me i guess i wasn't purdy enuff lol
Congrats Big Jim,Can i have my lucky horse shoe back i was wondering where it was.What a great year you have had Congrats again. :thumbsup:
Great job. Any deer that looks bigger than a squirrel next to you must be huge.
What a year Jim! I've got a Kansas tag but have to wait until the end of December before we'll get a chance to use it. You're not making the wait any easier!
Congratulations :clapper:
RedShaft, they look like honey-locust pods to me. See the big thorns on the tree....buck magnets, an old deer hunter told me.
Jim, Congrats...you're blessed with a nice deer and a great wife.
Very nice deer sir! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Coilsring is right honeylocust pods and they stink also. And ask jim bout those tree rats here cause they ant small either lol
Good job and great deer! :thumbsup:
wow, I am running about 36 hours with little more than 3 hours sleep but can't get my self to relax. I'm still reeling over this whole thing.
Yes, the deer like those seed pods. I witnessed many being eaten.
The squirrels are more like fox. I believe it would only take one to fill me up.
longbowben, i'm keeping the horseshoe.
thanks guys, bigjim and more tomorrow.
Congrats on a really nice deer, Jim! Always look behind those does, esp in November!
Redshaft, those are honey locust pods. The deer and other critters will eat them to get the pulp inside, but usually not until later in the fall/winter.
Hanging stands is when you really need that harness Jim. A harness and a linesman rope makes hanging a stand much easier as well as safer.
Way to go, BJ. I'm envious of your season. Chad
Great job big Jim filling the frezzer and putting a trophy on the wall please put some of your good deer hunting mojo into the buffalo your building for me and all my arrows will fly straight and true to the boiler room of all the deer I shoot at. Ha ha Burton
Great buck and yodel dog! I sure want to shoot a yote one of these days.
Congrats again,
Bisch
Thats a great buck and not so pretty coyote.Great hunt. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Congrats from Hawaii...Aloha Ron
Awesome great story
After harvesting my buck, we decided to take the rest of the day off to tend to a few errands. Dropped the buck off at the processor (won't do that there again. Wow, I have never paid so much to have a deer processed). Did a little grocery shopping and generally tried to relax.
That night, Jake and Tessa (jakes wife) brought us some wonderful supper and a little libation.
It was my first time having Bird Dog and Dr.Pep, but it was right smart fuel.
Anyway, we ate and chatted and of course went to bed too late. When the alarm went off at 3:30, my bride said He#% No. your on your own.
So I left out for the hunt property alone. While driving, I noticed that the truck thermometr was indicatine a significant drop in temp. 21 deg for the morning and a forecasted high of 45 with 35 mph winds.
The winds were normal, but with the colder weather, I was expecting a increase in the already great deer activity.
As I drove, my drousy state left me concentrating so hard on the road that I didn't notice the 4 mule deer does just waiting to surprise me from the ditch.
We were all fortunate in that no parties were injured in the brief but very exciting encounter, but how they got away is beyond me. I could have reached out my drivers window and grabbed one by the ears and while slowing down as fast as I could without loosing controll, another continued to disapear below the front of my hood.
I'm sure there was a foul smell in the air, both inside and outside the truck but even my underwear were unscathed.
Unfortunatley, the rest of the morning was uneventful, well at least on my end.
While talking with Jake on the cell, I missed a call from Barbara. As I attempted to return her call, I was interupted by a 911 operator who had informed me that my wife would like me to return to her as soon as possible because the house was on fire!
Now if I hadn't mentioned it, Jake and his family were kind enough to allow us to stay at hhis parents home while we were visiting. Jakes parents had been gone since around May working out of town and the house was vacant.
Barbara had texted me around 10:am to wish me luck and that she had cleaned up and did a little laundry. She was about to shower and then take a nap in our second story bed room. Around Noon, she was awoken to a popping noise she thought was me closing my truck door. She glanced out the window to determine that It was not me and detected the odor of burning wires.
Barbara then walked down to the kitchen and immediately notice smoke billowing in from the garage area and opened the garage door to investigate. Not the best idea. There was nothing she could do.
Now I personally have never been in a fire, but I can't help but feel that I would have acted nearly the same as Barb and that is to say, try to remove as much from the house as possible. Yes, that is not wise, but that is aparently what goes through your mind.
She retrieved many items before the neighbors and police wouldn't allow her to return to the home.
I had informed Jake of the situation and flipped the swith on my Dodge to hover craft and kicked in the turbos. I made good time for having traveled 52 miles of dirt road, but it still seemed as though I was not going fast enough.
Upon arival, the FD had everything under controll except my Wife. I calmed her down and set in to wait. It was a long day for everyone involved but fortunatley no one was hurt and the house that looked worse for wear was not a total loss.
That night, Jake and some relatives and I boarded up the damaged windows and doors and retreated to Perkins for a High calorie well deserved meal.
Jake and I discussed plans for the upcoming days and determined that there wasn't much for anyone to do until his parents could come home late the following day so I decided to go back to the woods on Thursday.
I will post more about BigJim and Barbs always exciting adventures this evening. More fun ahead, without all the drama.
thanks, bigjim
Wow !
Congrats on a great buck!
Well KS bucks are taking a pounding this year. Great deer.
Congrats on an awesome hunt. Those honey locust pods are like magic around here during late season. After the hard frosts and snow, the deer dig them up like turnips.
Cool hunt. Thanks for sharing.
Congrats on a nice deer. Sorry to hear about the fire though.
Joe
Great thread Jim but sorry about the fire. What a mess!
Too bad about the fire, but that is one helluva buck!
Good deer buddy....
I must agree... ya need to wear that vest/harness man. Be tough to get you out of the woods....
Sorry about the fire...
Great hunt, hope your wife has recovered form the traumatic experience!
Do you attribute your pass-through on the buck to your broadhead or the fact that you shoot a bow so heavy that mere mortals can't draw it back? :) Congrats on the hunt.
Also, what spine do you shoot? That is a long arrow from a heavy bow. Thanks
Awesome story! :thumbsup:
Thanks guys. Your right Huntschool. Sometimes I have a hard time dragging my own a$$ out of the woods.
NormanDale33, Those arrows are 32.5" long and they are a 200spine 800g total weight.
Yes, I do get mostly pass throughs, but you would be surprised how often my arrow doesen't make it all the way out the other side.
thanks, bigjim
Big Jim, terrific story, great memories, thanks for taking the time to share your adventure!
WOW!!!!!great hunt, but fires aren't fun. We had our log house burn down in '98, lost everything. Traumatic for sure. At least the huntin' had been good. That was one wide rack on that deer, and one mangy lookin' cur. Congrats big guy. :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :clapper:
Wow what an adventure, I'm glad everyone is safe. Congrats on another dandy buck Jim.
Congrats on a very nice buck, hope to do the same with my ThunderChild next week.
Holy cow glad she made it out okay! Great buck too. Congrats!
Congrats!! Great story, well except for the fire. Thanks goodness no was hurt. You sure pack a lot into a trip.
Congrats Jim for you animals!Thanks for sharing a so great story and pics.
Sorry for the fire.
Great read, great buck - sorry about the fire though that stinks as always -
I am a Fire Chief by trade, we liked to have lost an individual the other day trying to return in to get things! :nono: just glad no one was hurt.
J
Congrats!
Great buck BigJim , man when you do adventure you really do adventure . Drew
Congrats Jim, what a trophy! Will be headn that way with Whip where different weather conditions and tactics will be involved.
Thanks again guys. Yes, I always pack a big lunch so I can handle the adventure. It seems like it follows me at times.
Well, thursday was a very nice day. It was cold in the morning but warmed enough to be comphy in the mid morning.
Action started early. I had several deer walk through and then two does right under my stand and then out to about 10 yards. It was around 7:30am and I think I will use excuse #7. I was wearing too much clothes and it caused me to hit one of the does high. She launched out and I was able to watch her most of the way. I had left my bino's behind and could only follow so far.
After about 150 yds I had that sinking feeling set in because she still was running well.
Well, what do you do? I sat back down and re-played all the events and remained hopeful. Many more deer came and went including a couple of nice bucks sporting broken points due to fighting.
About 11: am, I climbed down and began to investigate the scene. No blood but I knew which trail she took so I followed and found only a scant few drops.
As I stepped into a cut wheat field, I noticed that the trail passed through a small patch of uncut wheat about the size of two pick up trucks.
I stopped and thought to myself, "that patch looks like a great place for a wounded deer to watch out for BigJim". So, after nocking an arrow I proceeded forward. I only traveled a couple of steps before two does erupted from the patch of wheat.
I tried to determine if either one was the deer that I had shot. One doe evaporated into the far treeline and the second ran out to 35 yards and stopped to watch me.
I felt confident that she was my deer. She seemed to run a little labored and why would she stop so close to me?......Well, I shot her and upon investigation, it turned out to be a different deer.
I returned to my trail and followed it in to the wheat patch to find a small puddle of blood the size of a coke can where she had been bedded for the last 3 1/2 hours. There was no blood leaving the patch and no sign of injury when she left for parts unknown.
It was a bitter sweet moment. For one I had a nice doe to show for my efforts. But on the otherhand I lost another from a poor shot. I believe she may make it, or at least I hope so.
The preceeding events left me hot, tired and hungry (well, I'm always hungry). I retreated to the truck, ate some fine junk food and proceeded to quarter my doe. Right in the middle of the process, I look up to see a great 10 pt wathching me work from the neighboring field. Of course he is safe, but he just added to that overwhelming feeling I was experienceing. WHAT A MONTH !
Back in the stand, it was a decidingly slow afternoon, that is until after 5:
I hit the horns together and did a little calling sequence (yes, I had already taken my buck, but I couldn't help myself. The deer were responding so well that I thought I would enjoy the show).
Within 15 minutes, I was surrounded by bucks. Little ones, big ones and hot does. Everyone was partying! I even had a huge 12+ pt with a drop tine chase a doe about 12 yds behind my stand. He had junk everywher and I was surrounded by deer so I couldn't rais my bino's to count. Heck, i could barely move.
I left the stand excited. Even though I had no shot that evening, I was feeling lucky.
I think if you were to ask Jake, he will tell you that I was giddy most everytime we spoke of deer hunting and Thursday was no different.
Friday morning was tough. Six mornings of getting up at 3:30am was taking it's toll. I made it to about 10 miles from the hunting land and had to stop to take a nap. I set my alarm on my phone and slept for 20 minutes. It didn't help much, but I was able to make it safely to my destination.
Action was just busy enough to keep me awake until about 10:45 when a heard of does came in. They moved so slow that I completely calmed down before they came to my stand. They were in a line as they started passing at about 12 yards. There goes the small ones and then two nice mature does, but the one in the back is what I want. She was considerably larger and noticeably darker. Yep, she's the one for me.
Well, it didn't happen. Every deer in the heard gave a great shot opportunity except the bigun.
As they walked off, I questioned my sanity. What was I doing? Hunting a "Trophy Doe"? "Huh?"
As they walked out of sight, I kind of kicked my self, but just then, a very helpful spike ran the deer all the way around me and then back in front. There she was. Just fifteen yards and all she had to do is take one step. This was almost as much fun as my buck adventure.
As she walked forward and stepped into my shooting lane, I drew and released and the arrow flew true. I watched her race away only to colapse in sight. The rest of the does, didn't know what to do. Lucky for them, I was out of tags.
After my two less than ideal shots during the week, I had asked for just one more opportunity to make it right. During the autopsy, Jake and I found the evidence that I was rewarded with a three blade hole through the top of her heart.
Now you might think that that should be it. I have filled all my tags. Time to go home. Well, not so fast. I decided to sit the rest of the after noon and do some research :)
I drug my doe back to my stand and proped her up as though she were sleepping.
About 2:30, two small bucks came in and noticed my dead doe. They were a bit cautious, but came right in. With in a few seconds, the larger buck (He was a small 7 pt that had broken off all of his tines except his brow's)ran off the spike and clamied my doe as his own.
He proceded to check her out from head to toe. He licked, nugged and prodded her and then walked away. He would seldom ever go more than 10 feet and then come running back to her.
This went on for an hour before he decided to bed down just 10 yards out.
My little friend spent the entire afternoon there. Unfortunatley I didn't get to see how a mature buck would react to my dead doe, but I think it would have been much the same.
Well, that pretty much ends the story. Jake and his family were very gracious hosts and I can hardly wait til we see them again. It would have been fun even without so much action.
Maybe next year, Jake will have the week off to join me.
Thanks for putting up with my rambling on,
BigJim
Congratulations, great stories
Super deer and great hunt.
Thanks for sharing.
Nice buck....congrats!!!!!
Many Congrats Sir!!!!
Nice deer and great story. When Big Jim says he has an adventure, he really means it. Glad everyone got out of the fire safe.
Congrats Jim!!! Beutiful buck. Everything looks small sitting besides you! Take up Whale hunting then we can call ya Little Jim. Great to see you taking time off with Barb, that's what it's all about my friend. You both work hard and deserve the time off. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Congrats Jim! Great buck and even better hunt :thumbsup:
Excellent stories!
Congrats Big Jim!
Awesome story and awesome buck! Thanks - what a year for Big Jim!
Sweet!
Amazing season BigJim! Well done!
F-Manny
Great job Jim. I am the guy that shot the 4x4 with jake a couple of weeks before you. Amazing how those bucks show up. That was our first KS experience. Jake had mentioned the 5x5 he had seen in that stand over the scrapes. That ladder stand in the picture was one that Jake and us put up over those scrapes....your treestands must be 20 feet? Too bad about the house fire....that must have been scary and stressful to say the least! We stayed in the same house when we were there.
Greg Munther
Wow Jim!!! What a year my friend :)
Fantastic hunts !!
:campfire:
Big Jim Hunter slideshow update...
http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c210/coaster500/Big%20Jims%20successful%20hunters/?albumview=slideshow