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 :coffee:
:campfire:
Can't wait for the rest of the story!!
:campfire:
:coffee: :coffee: :coffee:
It's morning!
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.
:archer:
Bob
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.
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.
:campfire:
:campfire: :coffee:
You didn't call me.... :knothead: Did you shave off that creepy 70's mustache? :laughing:
:campfire:
Um ... morning is over ... it is afternoon ... so, the wind died down - you ran out of cover and ...
Bob.
I'm with Bob ^^! The sun is high :)
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.
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!
Ok here is my 2014 KS buck-
(http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k567/snakebit40/IMG_04451.jpg) (http://s1116.photobucket.com/user/snakebit40/media/IMG_04451.jpg.html)
(http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k567/snakebit40/IMG_04481.jpg) (http://s1116.photobucket.com/user/snakebit40/media/IMG_04481.jpg.html)
This buck was one healthy and big bodied boy!
(http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k567/snakebit40/IMG_04491.jpg) (http://s1116.photobucket.com/user/snakebit40/media/IMG_04491.jpg.html)
(http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k567/snakebit40/IMG_04501.jpg) (http://s1116.photobucket.com/user/snakebit40/media/IMG_04501.jpg.html)
WOW!! What a stud! Nice buck and great story Jon. Good on Ya!!
:archer:
Bob.
That is a dandy for sure .... congrats :thumbsup: :thumbsup: you can kill anything in North America with those 54# limbs
Nice Muley!
WOW!! :eek: Nice one! Congrats! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Great buck and nice story :thumbsup:
Awesome animal sir! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Wow! Congrats
Beautiful mulie buck!!! Congrats!!!
He is a nice one!!!!!!! :thumbsup: Well Done!!
That's a beauty for sure. If you're the measuring kind post what he taped at. Awesome job, I'm just green with envy!!!
Last year I saw a huge Muley, but I failed to get close enough for a shot. Thought about it all year, and this Sept I saw a bunch again but didn't close the deal. Guess I'll be thinking about it another 10 months again haha.
Congrats,you have a good reason for laughting.
A huge congrats to my buddy! Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. :clapper:
:thumbsup: :campfire:
Awesome buck!! Congrats!
Whoa!!! Nice beast! Good thing he was kind enough to give you a second shot or he would have been haunting your dreams for years to come.
Congratulations!
I had to go look up the P&Y minimum...it's 145. I bet your buck is flirting with that number.
Wow....congrats brother!! Thats a stud
good un!
Wow!! Congrats!
Oh my! What a buck. Drooling here in KS!!
Dan
Congrats! Great buck!
Pretty buck!
Good grief! That's a ridiculously huge buck! Congrats! :notworthy:
congrats on a great buck
Doesn't get any better than that! Congrats. :archer2:
Fantastic buck ! Congrats !
Wow! What an awesome buck! Congratulations!! :thumbsup:
Great buck he's a big boy for sure!
Wow he's a gorgeous buck, congrats!!!
Wow...that's a great Mulie... congrats!!
Congratulations on a fine muley!
Congrats bud!!!!
Wow, that is a brute!!
:clapper:
-Jay
Great buck, and way to keep your composure for the second shot!
Oh my! Gotta love a good mulie! Congratulations.
Wow that is a very nice buck. Good job
Did you pack him out western style? If so, would you be willing to walk us through YOUR process to get him out?
Awesome Buck! Congrats
woohoo!! Great buck.
Wow!
Thanks a lot guys!!!
For those who are interested he green scores 165 1/8.
I did pack him out western style but that was the first time I've ever done it. I a watched Fred Echler video on how he quarters out animals. So I did my best to do it like him.
My set up-
54@28 Silvertip Recurve
I shot him with a Heritage 350 with a VPA 200gr. Three blade leading the way.
Wow, that deer is a brute! :bigsmyl: Congratulations!
Jon
Dude!!!! Awesome buck congrates!
Wow!what a deer congrats!
Wow! Congrats! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
WOW, nice one!
That's a whopper! Congrats! :thumbsup:
Very nice looking buck!! Thanks for sharing!
Great buck. Congratulations.
Great buck!!!
Great buck! :clapper:
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Now that's a buck!
Holy cow Jon, nice buck and great to hear from you again!
Awesome
good lord that's a dandy! im jealous as hell.
That is impressive to say the least.
Dang what a dandy!!! Nice job congrats!!
Steve
Awesome & congrats
Now that's what you call a buck! Magnificent animal - congratulations! :clapper:
Bernie
What a great Mule Deer! Congrats
Not sure how I missed this the first time around but congrats on a dandy muley buck. Nice bow too! I never seem to get a second chance on bucks like that. I'm glad you did and made it count.
Nice, really nice
What a beautiful deer!! Hope your buddy took heed on how it was done and goes trad. :thumbsup: