November in Iowa

[Shaun]

Get well soon Molly. Great deer Jeff. Did your son get to do the rescue?

[Yellow Dog]

Jeff, great buck. I know Molly is in good hands and will mend quickly. Hope to do Iowa this coming fall again and yes you have to see it to believe it! Can't wait for the story and more pic's. Congrats  

[Froggy]

Jeff,
Sure hope Molly heals quickly and with as less pain as possible. Very handsome buck you have there at the hands of the Carbon Griffin, I am sure still loving mine !!

All the best,
Lanier

[Boone the Hunter]

stud of a buck, beautiful! hope ya'll doing better

[tippit]

Shaun,
Molly was Zach's first rescue at Courchevel!  In fact it was the first rescue of the season as that was the opening day.  There is a saying about not getting sick on intern turn over week at a hospital.  That holds true to ski areas too.  The clinic at the base lodge wasn't open and the French doctor had to be called in.  The ambulance ride was memorable in that the driver's shift was over half way down the the mountain.  So they changed drivers but neither spoke English.  Then off to the hospital to only find out it didn't open until Dec 25th!  Anyway a long ordeal to get home.

Back to Iowa:

Six of us hunted the week before Thanksgiving.  Three trad guys (two longbows & a recurve), two compound shooters plus a crossbow (fellow had shoulder problems and couldn't pull a bow back).  That was the first time I'd ever held a crossbow.

I grew up hunting Wisconsin dairy land...woodlots and Ag fields.  This area looked very similar until you got into the woods.  It was all deep cut ravines with hardwoods & pine.  I thought that was great as the deer would be funneled around the ravines as I was.  Wrong...it was amazing how easily they went in & out of the cuts even in the steepest parts.  First theory out the window.  

The rut was in full progress.  Bucks were hot on the trails of does.  As I said earlier, one field had 8 bucks pushing a doe around.  She couldn't even get out of the field.  In the woods bucks were on the move like hound dogs.  The first day I set up on a ravine crossing.  To say crossing doesn't do these areas justice...it's more like the crowd going to Walmart on Black Friday!

I had a doe come by and lay down 15 yards from me.  She looked exhausted with her pursuer laying 10 yards away from her.  He was a very nice 9 point probably in the 140 class.  Ok now I was ready.  All she had to do was get up and walk either way on the ravine edge and I've have a perfect broadside shot at him.  She got up and walked to my tree and looked up.  Not liking the the big squirrel nest in the tree, she walked off stiff legged with my first buck    I saw more big bucks running a ridge through out the day.  

Plan for Tomorrow: move to the Ridge.

very nice buck!bet your glad the nine pointer slipped away...

[greyghost]

First, wishing Molly a speedy recovery.

Second, Very nice deer, congratulations.

Third, Quit blowing on the fur and get to the hide.

[Huntrdfk]

Nice buck Jeff, not like hunting the northeast is it?  I hope Molly heals quickly and fully.


David

[eidsvolling]

Congratulations on a very nice buck, and I hope your wife mends quickly.

[Jason Kendall]

Nice one Tippit!

[Wiley Coyote]

A fine buck! Congratulations! I think I was on  a Piggig hunt with you at the Chapparosa Ranch in 2009. I hope all goes well with your wife.      

[tippit]

Werner,
You were indeed...That was the Hunt of the Big Wind  :eek:  


Back to Iowa again:

I moved my stand to the ridge that I'd seen several does and numerous bucks with there noses to the ground.  Nothing was on the ridge but I did seen a couple of big bucks cruising the woods.  At lunch some of the others had action with bucks coming into doe-in-heat scent.  I rarely use attractant scent so Tom Phillips gave me some Secret Sauce to try.

Back on stand, I dragged a 20 yard perimeter in front of my tree and hung the scent at 15 yards.  Around 4pm, I caught movement behind me coming down the ridge (notice I caught movement Not heard movement...hearing loss sucks!)  He was right by my tree on my right side @ 15 yards coming into the scent.  I could see 4 tines on the left beam and more on the right but I didn't have time to really see how big he was.  Shooting a longbow and having a nice buck broadside and starting to quarter away @ 15 yards was all I needed to make up my mind.  I didn't stop him as he walked.  The shot was a pass through chest hit.  He ran 15 yards, stood still, and fell over.  

I had brought Tilly (my tracking Dachshund) to Iowa but she wouldn't get a work out today    I still had a doe tag to keep me hunting.

[30coupe]

Hope your wife makes a full recovery. Nice buck. I wish hunting were like that all over Iowa...but it isn't.       I see one or two bucks like that a year, but I still haven't had one in bow range. The buck to doe ratio in the area I hunt is way screwed up mainly because the gun hunters will take anything with a hint of antlers and pass on does. My cousin and I try to help the ratio when we can, but we aren't enough. The DNR has decided that the deer numbers are perfect in our area, so no more doe tags. If you want a doe, you have to burn your any sex tag. Even seeing a mature buck is difficult.

Sorry for the rant. I just wanted to dispel the notion that the whole state is crawling with 150 class bucks...it's not!

[Over&Under]

Sounds like a great hunt Doc!  A nice buck indeed!  

Best wishes to Molly.

[tippit]

30coupe,
I realise what you are saying.  We waited 2-3 years to hunt this area.  Wisconsin where my family hunts is more like what you are talking about and that is on private farms!  I'll definitely be back but unfortunately I maybe hunting from a wheel chair when we draw again.

We harvested 4 bucks and a couple of does.  The buck on the left scored 152 green and was 238# total/200# dressed.

 

Tilly had a couple of tracks on marginal hits.  Plus she brought a friend home.  This little guy was living under the back steps of the farm house.  When we left, he'd be on his own...4-5 month old Aussie cattle dog with no home.  

 


Finally these cedar rubs were every where...Doc

 

[Hud]

Great story and pictures, sounds like you had lots of deer to keep the heart rate up. Nice buck, which is always welcome after lack of excitement while on vacation. Best wishes to the wife for a quick recovery.

[Big Ed]

Great read along Doc!!

[Morning Star]

Good look'n deer, congrats on a good trip here!  That general area you were hunting.....we call that "Hollywood".      Not quite like the rest of the State.

[tippit]

Morning Star,
It sure is fun to go to "Hollywood" every now & again.  My son-in law is a firefighter/paramedic too...Doc

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Fantastic!!    Congrats    

 Best wishes for Molly!!

 Tracy