POST HERE **2014** Big Buck Contest Stories / Pictures

[Carol]

[align=center]Did you join the 2014 Big Buck Contest?[/align]

Start sharing your stories and pictures for the 2014 Big Buck Contest HERE ~ IN THIS THREAD.

**** Please just post your buck stories and pics****
In other words, NO COMMENTS PLEASE!! They will be DELETED!


****As much as we love comments please save those for a different thread / post. That will make things much easier when we all come back here to go thru the posts for VOTING purposes later on****.


After the season, on a date not yet announced, we will invite the 500 club members of this site to vote on whom they feel should win the prizes.....

Voting will be based on the size of the buck, the hardness of the hunt, the hunters ethics, the weapon used, etc...

Please keep that in mind when telling your story. Although big bucks often win, in past years we have seen a young man whom shot a fork horn win, and a button buck shot by a foreigner who traveled all the way across the ocean to hunt our much celebrated whitetails.

So enter every buck you shoot if you like. If you shoot more than one and want to edit your story let me know and I can help you with that. All buck deer legally taken are eligible regardless of species ( mule, whitetail, blacktail, etc. )

Good luck to everyone & Congratulations!!

[dan]

Guys, lets start getting the stories for the big buck contest posted here so we can start reading them a few at a time instead of all at once.

[HEADHUNTER]

Here's the story:

I took off from work 10/29 - 11/2 with the intentions of doing some deer hunting. I started off on Wednesday 10/29 hunting in Greenville with high hopes, saw a small 7pt in the am and a fork in the evening. Nothing going on here..so I headed up north to Pound. Sat most of the day 10/30 and saw a nubby buck at 10am - that's it. Friday was windy in am so I did some scouting, then headed home for Halloween to get some candy. Sister-in-laws wedding Saturday and Sunday am...not so bad since they had a self serve old-fashioned mix drink fountain so it was fun.

Anyway, it was Sunday afternoon and hearing of some good buck action from some friends in the am, I decided to get in the woods. Was sitting in my stand in Greenville by 2:15 and immediately started glassing the surrounding marsh. About 150 yards away I saw a shooter 8pt and simultaneously got emailed a picture of him walking by one of my cameras (see Lucky Buck pic). Got the grunt tube out and gave it a few honks, sure enough here he comes! Slowly worked his way toward me to 32 yards broadside, dead meat - NOT. I whiffed the shot under him, and he walked away none the wiser. I got down to check for blood and followed his tracks for 100 yards finding no hair or blood. By this time I was near another stand an decided to sit there instead of walking back to mine in case that buck decided to come back. I am now down to two arrows.

Climb into the stand called the NW stand and see five does within 100 yards, sweet. 20 minutes later a fork ran thru behind me...I am in the deer. Another half hour passes and I hear something to the SW of my stand. I look over and see a shooter buck shredding a tree about 80 yards out. After glassing him for a bit I could not tell if it was the buck I missed earlier or not. Either way I honked the grunt tube about a dozen times with the buck occasionally looking over, but uninterested - it was not the buck I missed, but a bigger buck. So I gave him two doe bleats off the can call and sure enough he turns and heads straight at me. Oh yeah! Stops at 28 yards and then turns broadside to head north, by this time I am drawn back, so I stop him, concentrate on the shot and let the arrow fly.

Another whiff low. (&%&^&%$&^&)*)&(^*%$&$^# some colorful language in my head. BUT, he is not spooked and slowly continues north now about 80 yards from my stand. I now have ONE arrow left that I am slowly nocking on my string. Get the doe bleat out again, give it a couple turns. He's coming back, circling to get my wind. I ranged some trees earlier and the one my camera is in was 41 yards. Well, he stops a few feet from that tree in my last opening, quartering toward me 43 yards. Again I am at full draw, and just burying the pin on this buck, breath, concentrate, follow thru. I let him have it, bulls eye! Right where I wanted to put it! He whirled and went about 20 yards before running into a few trees and deadfalls, watched him drop thankfully, or else I would have had to knife him since I was now out of arrows.

Long drag out of the marsh with waist deep water and head-high cattails, but well worth it!

The end. Good Luck, never give up!

copper/displayimage.php?pid=4554

[Crazinamatese]

Well, Im not particularly a big fan of contests like this but I signed up anyways. Why? I wanted to have a chance to tell my story and maybe someone out there will like what they read and see and vote for me. The buck I killed isn't a giant, but under the circumstances I been dealing with all season, this deer is a trophy to me. The first 8 point buck I ever shot, also, my first public land buck, first buck taken from the ground with a bow, and first halloween day buck. I've killed alot of deer in the past but when I thought I already had all my "firsts" in hunting, this buck comes along. Thinking about it now, I still have alot of "firsts" to achieve out there in the hunting woods. Very humbling to say the least. The journey really never ends...


October 31st, 2014...
I woke early to drive my wife to work so I an use the car for a morning hunt. She had to be picked up at 10 AM which would give me a few hours to hunt. I was kinda ornery about the whole idea of having only a few hours to hunt. I went home, daylight was starting to creep in. I was debating whether or not to go to the woods. Conflicting thoughts were racing through my mind. I had a half hour drive, then a slow stalk up the hill onto the ridge I wanted to hunt, set up the hand climber, and hope my idea of wanting to set up on the leeward side of this steep ridgeline at least awards me with a deer sighting.

7:30. Ok then, I wasted enough time sitting in my apartment. I decided to head out. Looking at the time the whole drive had me bubbling inside. I knew by the time I get out there, I would have maybe an hour to hunt, then gotta leave to pick up the wife. The only thing that kept me reassured is that I had an all day hunt planned for Saturday. So, at least I will get some scouting value out of this trip.

I got to the area. A huge area about a couple hundred acres with all hardwoods and steep ridges all around. I felt the wind blowing out of the SE. Hmmm? The wind is supposed to be out the north. I got my bow out, decided to leave the climber in trunk, and headed into the woods. I slowly creeped my way to the base of the ridge. I find a big community scrape. Cool! At least there is some recent action in here. I continued my slow advance up a draw toward the top of the ridge. Hoping the draw would conceal my outline and damper down the sound of my approach. I found a bunch of leaves over turned around the 1/3rd elevation going east and west. Looked like a fresh cruise trail. Deer have been moving through this area alot. I found a stand of mature oaks toward the top of the ridge. So, I picked a tree to stand up against right above the 1/3rd elevation looking south. I wanted to the thermals to keep my scent as high as possible. The wind was slamming into the north facing slope behind me. I thought to myself, this is an ideal "wind tunnel" set up.

Beautiful morning. The sun was shining, the cold wind was blowing, I can see all the way across the ridge to the west as the sun began to illuminate the tree tops. I felt good, even though I had only an hour to hunt. I was waiting and hoping deer would pass by just below me.

About 15 minutes of standing still, and all of sudden I can hear that familiar sound of leaves crunching behind me. It was faint at first, but grew louder. I looked over my left shoulder, then my right. I couldn't see the deer, but can hear it close. I looked over my left shoulder again and there he was right behind me. He was walking east toward the draw I traveled up moments earlier. I let him get closer and closer until he was about 20 yards directly left of me. A perfect window for a shot presented itself through the gauntlet of saplings. I drew back, laid the pin on his heart, stopped him perfectly in the shot window with a loud BLAP, and let the arrow fly. I saw the arrow impact right behind his shoulder, he hopped a little, and I could not help but stare at the gaping gushing red wound the whole time as he ran across the draw and fell on the other side as he flopped around for a minute in the leaves. Then the woods went silent and I knew he was dead.

All I could do was pump my fist in excitement. I pulled out my cell phone to text Ed that I got a buck. I couldn't stop shaking, so I waited a few minutes before I walked over to the buck. Some people say you gotta give deer awhile before you go get them. I was sure he was dead and didn't hesitate to go check him out. At this point I texted my wife and told her I might be late. I had about a half hour to head back home to get her from work. I covered him up with some leaves and left him lay as I left. I returned later with a good friend to help drag him out and got him to the meat locker.

Everything worked out well on this day. I can't stop smiling when I think about this hunt. It was probably the easiest hunt, but the most unexpected. One thing this hunt taught me is that you gotta utilize the time you have available to hunt by making good choices and staying positive. Especially this time of year during the rut, anything can happen. I give credit to the Hunting Beast site for this bountiful harvest. This site has taught me how to effectively hunt hills, and how to use the thermals and wind to your advantage. I am convinced and now committed to the Beast style hunting.... Thanks for reading... - Joe

[AC Rider]

I started getting inventory pics of the bucks on my SE MN farm as soon as antlers were grown enough to tell them apart. Soon I found that I had two shooters on the property. One, a great eight point in which I have a few pics of last year when I think he was a three year old. I dubbed this buck Tight Tines because of his fronts coming together fairly tight. I kept track of the bucks as much as I could throughout the summer and into the fall. Tight Tines became fairly elusive until the apples in the orchard began to fall. There, I was lucky enough to get some nice images.

UR
[/L]

Late in October, Tight Tines began meandering and I started picking him up on top of the bluff where he would be huntable.

[URL=http://s111.photobucket.com/user/ACRider/media/IMG_1676_zpsf3e15442.jpg.html]

During this time I hunted the area for five and a half days, logging nearly 60 hours in the tree. A few young bucks were passed and the shooter bucks continued moving mostly at night. More importantly, I was able to get a bead on the doe activity on the farm and soon it was apparent that the doe groups were mostly congregated on the Southern end of the property.

I had to run home for five days of work but on November third, after a night shift, I made the six hour trip back down to the farm for a day and a half hunt. I had to be back for work on the fifth. At noon on Monday, November 3, I was covering a pinch point on the leeward side of the bluff. Here, deer make a habit of skirting the top side of a nasty wash-out; the kind that are so prevalent in bluff country. A small spike buck came through the pinch point at about 1:30 and later a couple doe-less fawns made there way through. The rain came off and on and as the night progressed I didn't see much more movement for a couple of hours.

Finally, at about 4:20, I caught movement to my left. I quickly realized a nice buck was dropping elevation and heading to the narrow stretch of land above the wash-out. Behind the buck was another deer following. I quickly glanced at it and didn't see antlers. I remember thinking it is weird that a doe was following this good buck but I found it very easy to put the deer out of my mind and focus on the buck. Thinking back it may have been a small buck. As the buck neared, I saw the wrap-around main beams and the tall G-2's and I knew I was about to get a crack at Tight Tines. Tight Tines ambled on, nose out in front, as he cruised for does. I drew my bow, bent at the waist, and readied for the buck to step into my window. As he did, I had to bleat as he was showing no signs of slowing down for a natural shot. Tight tines stopped and looked, giving me time to settle my 30 yard pin on his lunges. At the shot Tight Tines ducked - I may have pulled - and the long distance and steep shot, all came together causing a high shoulder hit. Tight Tines dropped and slid down the bluff about five yards coming to rest against a log. I finished him off with a 40 yard hit and it was done.


Tight Tines was one of my two target bucks and this adds to my satisfaction. He'll make a great addition to my wall.

[whitetailassasin]

copper/displayimage.php?pid=4562

Three seasons ago I found this bed and shot a bucked bedded in it on a windy day. I haven't hunted this bed since and we had a day calling for 30 mile hr winds and it was forecasted to blow perfect for this bed. I snuck in nice and quiet and early. After I had placed a lone wolf stick up I climbed up to attach the second and could see this buck bedded facing the opposite direction. I quickly decided to stalk up to a closer distance. I was 83 yds away and needed to get to within 40. It was only 3:30pm so I had plenty of time and only moved when the wind blew. I got to within 31 yds and waited about 45 mins for him to finally stand up and shot him as he stretched. He didn't even act like he was shot and slowly walked away and fell over dead within 45 yds. As I walked up to him I seen another buck bedded and snuck up on him to 30 yds and passed him needed another year to grow. Awesome hunt, great stalk and another buck bed paying off.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Dewey]

This story details the craziest day of hunting I have ever experienced in my life!!

This hunt came together from observations I made over the years based on past rut sign and current activity from a few weeks ago when I took a day off from hunting to scout. I narrowed down a likely rut cruising spot that I knew would be good when the timing was right. Little did I know how right that gut feeling would be!

Up to this point I was having a really tough season. Only saw one good buck from stand opening weekend but beyond that action was very limited. I hunted hard the whole last week of October seeing a few here and there but nothing I wanted to tag. On Halloween I became violently ill with a nasty stomach virus and it was litterally impossible to hunt. I missed a few days and was really bummed knowing I was missing some prime days but then decided i was going hunting the next morning no matter how bad I felt. Finally on 11/4 I was ready to attempt the rut spot that I had a good feeling about since I had a west wind. I slept in a little and headed out at 9:00 a.m. to set up.








Ended up sitting till dark and not seeing a deer on stand. After closing I was standing at the base of my tree packing up and a doe walked past me less than 10 yards away and never saw me.

Decided I was going to do an all day sit on 11/5 because I still felt this spot had the right ingredients for some cruisers if the time was right. Got all set up in the morning and everything was dead quiet again. At this point it was mid morning and admit I was starting to have some doubts and even posted on the Beast about lack of rutting activity but decided I was here till dark no matter what. Shortly after my first cruiser came past and started what was going to be the most incredible day of hunting I have ever experienced. It's going to get confusing so I will number each buck to identify them.

Buck #1 was at mid-morning and was by himself cruising downwind of doe bedding. He was a 10 pt probably 135-140" but never gave me a good shot.

Somewhere around 9:30 a.m. all heck broke loose!

A hot doe was coming with 6 bucks hot on her tail. I have seen 2-3 before but 6 is just nuts. Heard them coming over 150 yards away and sound like a freight train headed my way. The amount of grunting from 6 bucks is just mind boggling as you can imagine. Each buck had his own voice and it was a very cool chorus of individual grunts. At this point my focus was on buck #2 who was right on the doe because he was a giant 10 pt at 160"+ that I wanted badly. Right behind him were 3 scrub bucks I'll call bucks #3, #4, and #5. They were all year old forkhorns and maybe a small 6 pt. The big buck kept putting his head down and charging them to protect his doe but the were relentless and kept on following. I had shots at the smaller bucks but again couldn't get a clear shot at the big one! This is the reason why and the only spot I didn't have a clear shot. Both big bucks went behind this mess.




Finally the last two bucks caught up with the group. Buck #6 was a smaller 8 pt and buck #7 was a good 130" 10 pt. Of course he went behind that same tangled mess and no shot! About 10 minutes later a forkhorn buck #8 showed up late for the party. He followed the hot doe trail to join in on the madness. At this point I could hear they were out in the cattails chasing hard and by watching the tips I could see their location. At this point all I could do is sit back and hope they come back around.

Everything was quiet and suddenly shortly before 1:00 p.m. a nice 9 pt buck #9 came from the direction the chasing was. Thinking he came along the cattail/timber transition and picked up her scent. Funny thing is he was directionally challenged because he was following her trail the wrong way!! Good for me because he was headed for my shooting lane and I knew he was a shooter. I came to full draw and needed one more step from him and he would be mine. Wouldn't you know it that one step turned him and he walked straight away with no shot. I gave him a few grunts but he just ignored them and kept going. At this point I was getting frustrated having so many good bucks in range yet never had a shot!

Around 2:30 p.m. another cruiser came by a smaller 8 pt buck #10. Then a few minutes later a smaller 6 pt or 8 pt buck #11 was searching inside the edge of the cattails.

Everything was quiet until 3:45 p.m. and then all heck broke loose again. Here comes another hot doe....still not sure if it was the same one as earlier but I saw she had a good one (buck #12) trailing her. I decided he was a shooter and looked like a good 8 pt. At this point I was commited and had my bow ready in shooting position. They were heading right into my scent stream so I had to make a quick decision. I could see more bucks coming in the background and out of the corner of my eye caught a glimpse of the giant (buck #2) following back a ways. He stepped back in the cattails so I thought my chance on him was done so I focussed on the one behind the doe. At this point I decided after a day like this I was not going home without tagging a buck. As soon as buck #12 hit my shooting lane I drilled him at 30 yards. I saw my glowing Nocturnal bury and disapear right in the sweet spot! The buck took one jump and walked away slowly towards that cattails. Within seconds he was getting tippy and toppled right over in less than 15 yards from the shot. Never even made it to the water at the edge of the cattails.

At this point the giant (buck #2) came back out to see what the commotion was. He kept walking but would have never given me a shot. After that the other bucks in the background kept coming. Another small 8 pt (buck #13) a 6 pt (buck #14) and finally a small 5 pt (buck #15) This last buck refused to leave even after I whistled at him and waved my arms to scare him off. Finally he wandered off and I decided to go tag my buck since he hadn't moved since he went down in view from my stand.




It's was a crazy day to say the least. Ended up seeing 15 different bucks and a few of them multiple times. For public land this is absolutely crazy. Funny what one or two hot does can do. Up to this point I had a very difficult season so this is proof that you should never give up because your season can change in an instant.

He is a 7 pt with broken brow so actually now a 6 pt. I had to make a quick decision and thought he was an 8 pt when I shot. He has a 17 1/2" spread and dressed out at exactly 200 lbs on my scale. 30 yard shot and he dropped within 15 yards on the edge of the cattails. He was dead very quickly from a heart shot. At least I was able to get him out with my cart so getting to my truck wasn't too bad.

Here is the shot.





He turned as I shot and was slightly quartering to when I shot him thru his right shoulder blade, thru the arm pit, heart and then exiting the right side at heart level. Just found the arrow today so I stuck it thru for visual purposes. Muzzy did a great job again!

I have shot everything from a spiker to an 11 pt but don't have a 6 pt or 8 pt. in my collection of racks. When I shot I thought I was taking care of the 8 pt void. Now that I have a good 6 pt a big 8 pt is hopefully in my future.







This kill is a very bittersweet moment for me. I lost my dad and best hunting and fishing partner back in January 2014. I miss him every day but never more than now during the hunting season. It's a very empty feeling not having him calling and asking how I have been doing hunting because he loved hearing my adventures and think he hunted thru me because he couldn't get around as much anymore. Not being able to share this unbelievable day of hunting with him is very difficult because I know he would have loved every second of it. This season I used a lot of his old hunting gear and his old grunt call was with me every day. I can't help but wonder if he had a little influence on this day and was up there enjoying the show. It's the only reasoning I can come up with for experiencing a day like that. This ones for you Dad, thank you very much for everything you have given me by introducing me to this great sport.

Hope everybody enjoyed my story. It's a day I will never forget for the rest of my life. Ending it by tagging a good buck was truly icing on the cake!

[JakeJD]

With a late October cold front that blew through the area the night before Halloween (bringing a 20* temperature change and 10-15 mph winds), I decided to hunt the downwind side of a large, thick doe bedding area. I have scouted my but off on this piece of public the last couple of years, especially this bedding area. This was my first sit in this area since I started hunting this piece. I was around 1 mile from where I parked. The spot is tough to get into without bumping every deer in the area. On the first morning following the cold front, I had a good wind and favorable conditions (late Oct cold front) so I decided to push the envelope. Additionally, the upland hunters have been pounding the area for almost a week helping to push the deer out of all the creeks and upland areas.

It was a pretty quiet morning. Around 90 minutes after sunup, I heard some commotion in the thick grass / weeds in front of me. I heard a buck grunt a few times as he bounded around lightly dogging a few does. After a few minutes, the buck lost interest in the does and worked his way over to the cottonwood island I was hunting. He came up on the island exactly like I was hoping, but he was about 35-40 yards out and never offered me a shot.

After a few minutes on the island, the buck decided to dive back into the doe bedding area. I waited for the buck to hit an opening and grunted at him. He turned and looked my way. After a minute, he turned his head away so I hit him with a few more subtle grunts. This time he turned his head my way, paused for a minute, and came in on a string.

At 20 yards broadside, I loosed my arrow. I failed to properly compensate for his walking pace and center punched him. After the impact, the buck bounded a few yards and just stood there with his head down. I nocked another arrow and waited for a second shot opportunity. After a few minutes, the buck wobbled and lost his feet. A few minutes later, he was laying dead less than 20 yards from my tree. My arrow through his liver and guts must have caught some major veins or arteries because he didn't last long.

Here is the view from my stand:



A mainframe 8 with a crab claw on his left beam. He is not a mature slob, but I am happy with him. I would guess 2 y/o, maybe 3 y/o:





The last few seasons have been very frustrating for me, a couple of misses and a couple of bad hits. I haven't killed a buck with my bow since 2009. It was good to seal the deal on a nice buck again. Although, the 1 mile long haul job with my cart reminded me why I don't just shoot any deer that far back.

Approximate measurements:

Spread =18"
G2 / G3 = 8"
Beams = 16"

[Cash 18]

On October 26, I was able to shoot a buck. I've had really good success with the days leading up to the 30th the last few years and always find that to be my hot spot.
I got out an hour before daylight and set up and waited. From gray light until I shot this, I saw no less than 10 bucks, but no does! There were multiple scrapes in this small woodlot next to a field that I hunt. Basically, it's just a 50 yard strip of trees, that gets hot at the right time every year.

I actually passed this buck up since there was a bigger one with him but he didnt give me a shot and this guy came back. I drilled him and watched him tip over within 30 yards. Then the bigger one came back and stood ten yards in front of me haha.

This was the most bucks and the most exciting hunt I'd ever been on.

I wrote about the hunt a little more on my site and included some other photos too. http://morningmoss.com/2014-wisconsin-archery-buck/

[Mario]

14 sits, 24 miles, 196 lbs, 18.5" spread, 8 points, and an experience that will last a lifetime!

This story is a continuation of Dan's October 11th buck http://goo.gl/GK4UfD. As noted on Dan's post, access to this property is limited. We can only access the property from the South and it is a 1/2 mile just to get to the beginning of the area where we are allowed to hunt. I estimated that I put on about 24 miles round trip with my sticks, stand, and bow in all of my 14 sits. Since the opener, I have been playing the wind along with the plan Dan had put in motion to hunt this piece of property. Up until October 11th my encounters have been limited to doe and a couple small bucks. But I was gathering some good intel on common travel routes and patterns of the deer in the area.

I continued with the plan sitting the evenings of Oct 17th, Oct 18th, Oct 22nd, and Oct 24. My sets on the property changed according to the wind, encounters, and pressure I created by moving through specific areas. I did not want to continuously sit the same area even on a good wind since it is more likely that any mature deer in the area would figure out my movement. I still was not seeing much but on Oct 22nd that changed when I got a glimpse of a nice 8 pointer that just skirted out of range coming from a remote island South of where Dan killed his buck.

I was excited because on Friday Oct 24 a South West wind was predicted which was the perfect wind I needed to make the almost 2 mile trek back to Dan's kill tree. I got out early because in a previous sit I had found a couple of illegal stands on the property. The owners of the land asked if I would attach a note to the stands indicating that the area was private property. I was able to mark the stands and made a large loop North outside of the potential bedding areas to set-up in Dan's kill tree. It was a beautiful clear night, but in spite of an ideal wind, my only sighting was a small nubin' buck. Needless to say I was a bit tired and frustrated . If I would only have set-up 30 more yards to my North West on Wednesday Oct 22nd I probably would have a nice 8 pointer in the bag.

I packed up all my gear and started making the long 2 mile trek back to the truck. When I got back to the truck I called Dan to remind him how far of a walk that is . Dan's reply was "what you need to do is get back out there in the morning, and get the job done! There has been some good movement in the mornings". Up until now I had done all evening hunts. I had a couple of spots in mind that would make for a good morning hunt. So I got home and cleared the plan with the boss, my wife .

I woke at 2:45 am just before my alarm was ready to go off. I half thought about just sleeping in, but I told myself "No, I need to get out there and get the job done!" This time of the year always gets busier with family and work activities. So I rolled out of bed, brushed my teeth, and gathered up a few misc items. I heated up some day old coffee which I decided would be all I needed for breakfast .

I arrived at the property at 3:45 AM. I decided to head to a spot on the first island in the swamp where I have seen doe crossing throughout the year. The main trail traveled North and South. There was a large scrape right at the transition between the first island and marsh where 3 trails intersected. Rub lines had began to open up on the first, second, and third (Dan's Oct 11th buck) islands all traveling along the path of the main trail. Since I had not sat this spot before I thought it would be a good place to try since the wind was blowing out of the South West right over a neighboring lake to my North East. If I positioned myself on the East side of the trail I could possibly get a crack at anything traveling North or South.

I was all set-up and in my stand by 5:15 AM. It was at that moment I realized that its still pretty darn dark out... , oh well it was peaceful listening to the ducks land in a near by pond. About 30 minutes before first light I heard a grunt off to my East but no other movement. The waterfowl continued to get noisier as daylight approached making it hard to pick out any approaching footsteps.

Then just at legal shooting light, I heard foot steps coming in behind me. I slowly turned my head around the tree to see a doe circling my back side and heading north right down the main trail. I watched her as she paused at the scrape marking the transition between the island and swamp. She then continued walking and slipped into the marsh.

It was not more than a couple minutes later when I heard more foot steps approaching from behind me. This time I got ready, expecting the deer to appear on my left following the same path the doe did before it, but to my surprise I caught movement out of my right eye A shooter buck was walking right underneath my stand!

He was walking straight to the main trail at a steady pace. I was having trouble getting him in my sights. Admittedly I started to panic a bit and instantly it sent me back to couple of years prior where I had a decent ten underneath me but was not able to pick him up as he moved in front of me. Trail cam pic I got of the ten point



By the time I could get a bead on him he had walked behind a 6" tree of course covering his vitals. I needed to make a move otherwise I was going to lose my opportunity to shoot him. I leaned forward to the front of my stand opening my view to the other side of the small tree, and took aim. At that point he took another step forward and whipped his head around looking right at me.

I decided I needed to let an arrow fly or my opportunity would be lost. The shot hit like a ton of bricks and he dropped in his tracks, I had spined him. Not exactly the shot I aim for, but he was on the ground and not moving. All at once I had emotions of excitement and relief since he was so close to walking by me. I instantly text Dan who was at work, and another friend Kevin who was hunting in a different part of the property. Dan called me to get the details and as we are talking the buck lifts his head up and begins crawling towards the marsh! For whatever reason I had not thought to put another arrow in him, he hadn't moved since the initial shot. So I hung up the phone with Dan as he is explaining how the biggest buck he ever shot in his life jumped up on him after a spine shot and it still haunts him to this day

I get another arrow in the bow take aim at his front shoulder and let it fly. The arrow hits right on the mark and the buck topples onto its side. I wait for about 5 minutes ensuring that he does not move again. I text Dan back and tell him its a done deal, the buck is down. He replies that he is on his way. Kevin replies and says he will meet me at my truck in about 40 minutes. I was going to need help getting this one out since I was about a mile back on this sit.

I sat in my stand for a few more minutes just enjoying the moment as what I believed to be the biggest buck I have taken to date lay less than 20 yards from my tree. I decide I am calm enough now not to fall out of the tree on the way down , so I pack up my gear and head down the tree.

A big thanks to Dan for being a hunting partner and teacher! A big thanks to my friend Kevin for sharing the experience and helping Dan and I haul this beast out.

And I can't go without saying a big thanks to my late father who introduced me to the outdoors... I know even though you are not here in the flesh you are always with me in spirit...

Here is the video of me walking up on him. And yeah you can laugh... before I get around the back side of him I say "I wish he had some brow tines"

[bbvideo=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aVUtxRIeHYs[/bbvideo]

Here is the scrape on the transition



Here are some of the rubs







Here is the set-up



Here are some more pictures... He's a main frame [glow=red]8 pointer, with 18 1/2" spread, and dressed out at 196 pounds.[/glow]

[TJS]

I harvested this 8 point buck on the opening morning of the 2014 gun deer season near Taylor, Wisconsin. After a night where I probably had a few to many adult beverages ( my dad owns a bar in Black River Falls so I figured I better check in with him ) i'm surprised I made it to my stand before sunrise. I had a hangover but it was nothing some water and Red Bull couldn't take care of. Anyways, it was a cloudy day with patchy fog and periods of light rain. I was in a 20' ladder stand. At around 9am I had to climb down to relieve myself. After doing so I decided to stand at the base of my stand for a while. My stand is located at the top of a ridge watching a valley on my left and another valley on my right. Bucks like to cruise this ridge top which is exactly what this buck was doing. I was still standing on the ground at about 10:30am when I saw this buck walking toward me from behind my stand. He had his nose to the ground, probably smelling the trail of a doe that walked through a couple hours prior. I rested my Browning .270 on a step on my stand and like clock work, as soon as I got him in my crosshairs, he turned broadside. My first shot was slightly above his heart busting up his shoulders pretty good. He ran about 30 yards, the whole time his nose in the snow and dirt. When he stopped, I gave him a 2nd shot so he felt no more pain. I gutted him out, had to drag him about 100 yards before getting to a spot where my truck could reach. With the help of my brother I got him in my truck, got him registered, and was sitting next to my dad at his bar by 2pm. He also got an 8 pointer but not as big as mine.

Oh yea, its an 8 point buck with a 17.5 inch spread according to my entry in the local big buck contest.

[JohnnieU]

I remember a few years ago when a hunting buddy invited me to hunt a farm he hard access to in prime western WI hill country, I knew I would be tagging one of the big bucks that made the area famous. Well, that first year was downright frustrating. The deer movements seemed random, swirling winds revealed my locations on the edges of valley fields and the stands on the high flat tops of ridges produced inconsistent sightings...but at least I wasn't always getting busted up there. I have to admit that Hill Country Bucks saved me a lot of time, I think I would have figured it out on my own; but it would have taken years.

This year on November 6th my hunting buddy and I were climbing the big main ridge on the farm we hunt and my confidence was high. My setup was chosen during a spring scouting trip, 1/3 way down the south face of the ridge, below (and downwind) of a large thicket that holds doe bedding, just above a deep cut and about 100 yards from a bedding point. After getting settled it was light enough to see so I dropped a milk weed, despite the still falling thermals the North West wind was strong enough to push the milkweed well into the deep cut before it dropped to ground level...almost perfect.

I usually don't hurry into my stands for the rut, my experience has been the best hill country cruising action is late morning once the thermals start rising, but this morning I had a buck moving past my stand right at first light. A few minutes later a shooter 9 pointer came off the ridge top about 40 yards in front of me, he didn't present a shot, but this morning was starting out well. A small buck cruised directly under my stand shortly after the 9 pointer went through.

A short lull in the action was followed by a doe walking with a purpose and looking behind her. I picked up my bow just in time to see a big 11 point one of my hunting buddies was getting pics of on his trail camera. He didn't exactly follow the does path and crossed my first shooting lane out of range. He was moving fast so I tried stopping him with a grunt, he didn't even notice so I kept grunting and getting louder with each grunt. He finally stopped and looked right at me, 35 yards out. I don't know if I pushed the shot or it was him starting to back away from me (or some of both), but my first arrow hit him in the base of the neck just in-front of the shoulder. He stumbled about 10 yards down hill and crashed into a dead fall. I thought he was done, then he began struggling to get up and working his way up the hill. He was now severely quartering away so I hit him just in-front of his hind quarter running the arrow through his whole body. He went down a lay still.

I immediately got down and approached the buck. When I touched him with the tip of the arrow and he twitched arrow three was sent through his chest cavity. The field dressing revealed any of the three arrows would have been fatal, but I've learned not to stop shooting until I know they're done. This is when I first noticed he had busted off his longest point and front of one main beam, based on trail cam pics it happen within the last few days.





I sent a text message to my hunting buddy while I was standing over the buck "got the big 11, but he is a little busted up".

My phone rang almost instantly and I heard my buddy say "10 point"

I replied "No, its the 11"

He replied "I shot a 10 point, I'm standing over him right now" Then " you shot one too?".

I replied, "yeah, I'm standing over the big 11 right now"

We had both shot our bucks at about 730 am. My buck's inside spread was over 19" and most impressively his neck was 31.5" around...he looked like his chest connected to his ears.

After running back and forth to look at both bucks, taking some photos and celebrating; we realized we had a lot of work in front of us. We had both bucks loaded up at 11:30 am, not bad considering we couldn't get the four wheeler up the ridge and were close to a mile back. Its great to shoot a buck yourself, but its better when your buddy gets one too.

[Bhuntin]

[align=center]HALLOWEEN BUCK[/align]

As often happens this time of year, I woke up before my alarm was slated to go off. Though I was excited for the day’s hunt, the list of chores to get done around the house before our next child arrives and my warm bed on this cold windy day were just a few of many reasons to stay in bed. After about two minutes of lying in bed looking at the clock I rolled out and started to gather my things for the day’s hunt. After all, the rut was just starting to get underway and I told myself anything was possible. Making my way out the front door, I was blasted by the cold north wind that the weatherman had predicted and the smell of cold crisp autumn air filled my nostrils. This had all the makings for a great morning in the woods. The deer were sure to be up and moving at some point today. I only made it about two miles from my house when the snow started to fall, slowly at first, and then turning into all-out blizzard-like conditions. I felt like I was in the movie Star Wars going at warp speed through the Galaxy. Then just as quickly as it started the snow was gone. By the time I reached my hunting grounds the stars were shining brightly in the predawn sky.

I gathered my hunting gear from the car and slowly made my way through the woods in the pre-dawn darkness. I arrived at in the area where I wanted to hunt and picked out a tree that I thought would allow me to cover the area most affectively. I was hunting the edge of a suspected doe bedding area with a river to my back and some tick pines to right. On such a windy day I was anticipating that the deer would gravitate towards the pines to stay out of the wind. With the wind blowing my scent out over the river I felt very confident in this set up. I got my stand set and was settled in about fifteen or twenty minutes prior to legal shooting light. As the darkness gave way to morning’s gray light, the river bottom started to come alive with the trumpeting sound of sandhill cranes gathering together before starting there southward migration. I so enjoy hunting along a river as you never know what other kind of wildlife you are bound to see. I was also visited by bald eagle who was perched a mere 40 yards from me scanning the river for his breakfast. These are the things that make being in the woods in fall so enjoyable and relaxing for me.

I had been in my stand about two hours with no deer movement when I heard a stick break to my right. I turned to see a doe trotting straight at me at only 40 yards. As soon as I saw the doe, I instantly heard a buck grunt followed by the sight of the sun gleaming off antlers. By the time I stood up, took my bow off its hook, and turned towards the deer, the doe was already under the tree at 10 yards with the buck close behind. The buck didn't follow the doe’s exact trail, but passed my location at less than 20 yards. Giving a verbal grunt in an attempt to stop the quickly moving buck, I was a little panicked that he would get past without a shot presenting itself. The buck took one more leap after my grunt and stopped directly behind a white pine full of dead branches. Now my heart was really racing. Here was a deer I wanted to shoot, in bow range, and no shot was present. My worry was the buck would either take off after the doe, or spook and blow out of the area. To my relief he started walking at a relaxed pace into another opening where I was able to get him stopped again. This time the buck was in a wide open shooting lane broadside! With my bow already drawn I confirmed my anchor point and settled the pin on the buck’s chest. THWACK, the arrow plunged through the buck’s chest! I watched as the buck trotted off and saw what appeared to be blood pumping out. As happy as I was with the shot, I started to get nervous when the deer got just out of sight. This is only because I'm colorblind and have a hard time seeing red blood in brown leaves. I waited a few minutes and got down out of my stand to look for my arrow. I found the arrow with good blood covering my wrap and fletching. The adrenaline was really starting to flow now as I attempted to text my wife that I had hit a buck. Confident with my hit but wanting to give the buck a little time to be safe, I quietly packed up my stand and hiked back to my car. I made a quick trip to a nearby gas station for a few bottles of water that I thought would nice for the drag that I was hoping to have.





Arriving back at the spot of the hit, I picked up my arrow and slowly started in the direction the buck traveled. I was finding blood, but having a hard time seeing it, which made the trailing slow. It took me about 15 minutes to go the 50 or 60 yards to where I last saw the buck. To my relief he only made it about 10 yards from the last spot I saw him. Taking a few minutes I sat down and took in the events of the morning and enjoyed the woods around me. Finally getting to the work at hand I field dressed the buck and began the drag back to the car. During my drag I was filled with a great sense of pride and accomplishment; this was the third year in a row that I was able to put my tag on a public land deer and I couldn’t be happier.

[Bucky]

2014

Was a year of high anticipation....

My food plots looked the best they had in the past 5 years.





All summer long I was consistently capturing multiple shooter bucks on my cameras and spotting them in the evening when I was able to long range scout. Opening weekend did not disappoint as I was able to get a shot at a mature buck I had been actively hunting for 3 years. But, as you can see in the photo I missed the mark! If you look close at his front left leg you can see my arrow and broadhead about 6"s low.



Mid way through opening week I was able to get onto a even higher scoring buck from stand observations when I was hunting the 8pt and this time I made a better shot!







My attention then shifted towards Southern WI where if I shot a doe I could again be buck hunting with a bow during the rut. I made about a trip a week to check cameras and try to kill a doe. I was disappointed in what I was seeing on camera for bucks but the does were plentiful. On my third trip down I was able to shoot a doe at earn another sticker to buck hunt.



I continued to run cameras until finally a buck showed up that I was interested in hunting. He looked heavy in the pictures and better yet he had showed up in daylight once and was consistently in the area.







I was now into my rut vacation and could focus my efforts daily on trying to kill this particular buck. On Nov 4th I saw a slightly smaller 8pt that was really tempting but he never game me a slam dunk shot. Nov 7th I finally saw the main frame 10pt

Here is the story from the Kill Zone Thread

My creek bottom kill...



Blue = creek
Red = access and Red X is tree stand
Pink X = deer beds along grassy areas or blow downs in creek
Green trails = deer trails
Yellow = CRP/chest high praire
Brown = wooded edge
Orange 50 yards across
Grey is wind direction
Black is trying to depict topography... the stand is roughly 75-100ft higher than lowest section of oxbow inside the creek

I had been getting pictures of the buck on multiple areas of the creek bottom which typically holds a fair # of does. I monitor this area with trailcams all season... he did not show up on camera until Oct 28th... I have cameras (4) of them peppered all over in strategic places that allow me to check when heading to stand sites (creek crossings) and the "funnel" stand that I shot him out of. By accessing through the water I'm able to hunt these stand location(s) multiple time(s) on the right wind direction(s). My wind blows out over the creek (or down the creek in other locals) and I try not to leave much of a foot print inside the oxbow. This particular buck was racing a doe around out in the CRP/praire depicted in yellow. Grunting up a storm... I saw the same thing happen last year on Nov 6th... this year it was Nov 7th! I grunted a few times and eventually snort wheezed at the chasing bucks (3) of them. The two little bucks immediately responded and came into the timber from the grass. About 15 mins later the doe popped out of the grass and also stood in the timber. I'm certain she heard my snort wheezes... I think she was hoping for a break with a challenging buck. She slowly worked over towards me and he followed to roughly a 27 yard shot. I heard a loud crack on impact ( last rib) and I think it was opperator error although he may have taken a step at release too... so I caught liver and the arrow was hanging out of him as he ran away. I could see right away I was too far back and I was not happy with myself. He bedded down on the ridge depicted in black with his mouth gaping open... I knew he was hurtn for certain. So, I sat and enjoyed the woods from 7:30AM until roughly 2:30PM before I got down. I slowly worked over to the impact site... no blood. I knew in my mind I should give it even more time so I went to my truck via the same route I accessed and dropped off my heavy bibs and outer wear. By 3:30PM I was back to the site of impact.... I walked foot over foot towards the spot he bedded with an arrow nocked. At the ridge top bedding site the buck had reached back and pulled the arrow out... this helped as now I had a blood trail. Although it was only a drip here and there.... I figured that after he got up he was going towards water in the creek and that is in fact where I found him. He was stiff as a board so I'm sure he was dead hours earlier.

In the past 3-4yrs creek bottoms have become my absolute favorite rut spots to hunt because the travel is so predictable and the access can be clean by using the water or hunting trails on the opposite side of the creek. When it is warm there is still activity with the available water, and usually in creeks that do not dry up does make them home year round as long as a food source is nearby. The bedding is also very predictable... see the pink Xs... those are areas that I have watched does and bucks bed when coming back to the creek in the AMs

At this pointed I was pretty content with my season but I really wanted to try and finish off the 8pt. So I started monitoring cameras again... the farm that I have access to for bow hunting was gonna have a group of 3 hunters opening weekend for rifle. So I decided to road trip over to Western WI for opening weekend. I had a great opening morning and by 1 in the afternoon I had seen 13 deer. One was a pretty decent 10pt that I let walk by at 10 yards... I hope he made it!



I was able to return to hunting the farm where I knew the 8pt was close on Tuesday of gun season (the temp had dropped roughly 15-20 degrees). Wouldn't you know as I was approaching my box blind on the 2 acre standing soybean field he was already out eating in it (I was super late getting there as I went after work)!!!!! He saw me and spooked before I could 100% ID him and get a clean shot. Strike 2 for me

Wed the weather changed to much warmer and my kids really wanted to go hunting. So I decided to take them out to the same farm. I knew that shooting a doe in the same area you are hunting a mature buck is probably not the best idea but I wanted my kids to have a successful hunt and I thought there was a chance that the 8pt could show back up. Within 15 mins of getting in the shack 3 adult does and a fawn came sneaking through on the marsh edge. A quick shot and the biggest doe was down. My son and daughter were super excited and it honestly was the most fun hunt of the year for me.







I continued to hunt almost every other day all the way through muzzleloader and I did have another shot at the 8pt. It was Friday Dec 7th and the 8pt popped out of the marsh to work a scrape at 4:27PM. The range was 209 yards... definetly a long poke with a muzzleloader. I shot and when the smoked cleared... the buck was still standing there scanning the area trying to determine where the sound came from.... as I tried to reload I watched em walk off the field edge and back into the marsh. STRIKE 3!

I hunted Sunday, Tuesday, and the last day of muzzleloader Wednesday with no further sightings. My goal now is to find his sheds after spending some much needed time with my family over the holidays... and start preparing for 2015 with HIGH ANTICIPATION

[Kraftd]

This is my first Beast Big Buck Contest. I just missed signing up last year after finding this place, but that’s for the better based upon last season. I found this forum after realizing that relying on seeing good deer by simple hours in the stand, primarily during the rut, wasn’t as practical anymore with two little ones at home now. In 2012/2013 I really started dedicating myself to learning how to scout better and hunt smarter. Last year was rewarding, as I learned some new stuff on the fly, but this year things really came together a bit, and I think I have really established a good base to keep building on and developed an understanding of what it takes to be a stone cold big buck killer, even with limited time.

I really had three primary goals in refining my hunting approach. 1. To learn to consistently kill the big bucks we get on cams in our tangled mess of an alder/cedar/ash swamp in Central Wisconsin. 2. To figure out SE WI CWD public land to the extent it can be. 3. To up my game on a good piece of property I have in NE Illinois.

Goals 1 and 2 are in progress, with some great strides made this season. I got within bow range of two shooters in two days in our swamp sitting two spots I have not sat in years or ever. Didn’t connect, but time up north as my kids get a little older should help there. I sat four new pieces of public in SE WI, focusing on water access parcels. Found some great sign, and am very excited for spring scouting this year.


Goal 3 is where this season really came together. Our season opens October 1, and in the past I would have been hitting my spot down here hard from day one. The spot is about 40 acres of restored marsh grass with a river bisecting it and wooded Forest Preserve land on three sides. I generally hunt the opposite side of the river from our access, hence the canoe. We have limited trees along the property edges to sit. As the marsh has matured, the deer have really taken to using it for bedding and travel. In years past I sat two primary trees. This year I made three sits before November. These were generally from more observation based points and I was very very careful about access and wind. The four previous years I hunted this property, I probably would have had 4-5 sits in my best cruising stands by then. Oddly, in past years I saw some great deer but often times across the marsh or on the other side of the property from a few days before…
On Saturday November 1st, with a cold front having passed through earlier in the week, I planned my first all day sit along the woodline I have most often seen rut cruising activity. I had deer moving through from first light on. A more detailed accounting of this hunt is in this Kill Zone link ( http://www.thehuntingbeast.com/viewtopic.php?f=287&t=27479 ) , but a strategic wind and activity based move north to a second tree around 8:30 ended up with me tagging this buck that came through with a doe at around 8 at around 10:30 when he made his way back towards known bedding in the woods to the south. While not a beast bed hunt, this was the most planned well thought out hunt that led to a kill for me ever probably. This also happened to end up being my biggest buck to date. He grossed 138 and change and weighed in at over 205 pounds dressed.


I made it out a couple of times on WI public and one more sit on my IL property in the next week, which happened to include my four year old daughter on her birthday on November 7th for her first hunt (we made it about 40 minutes total, including some stump shooting with her little bow, no deer seen, but many memories made). I headed north on November 11 for few days at our place in Central WI. I had the week off and managed to see two shooters on my second day, but the cams and sign just weren’t great, and my wife was a little antsy to have me home, so I headed back midday on Thursday with a second IL tag in my pocket.

Friday the 14th I dropped the kiddos off at daycare and was set up in a new tree where I had seen a shooter move through earlier in the season by around 9:30 am. It was a cold and windy day, but had sporadic enough movement that aside from a quick warm-up walk to make a work call, I hung tight. Around 2pm things just sort of had that feeling, and as I looked down the tree-line a big lone doe was working my way, with the wind in my favor. A full rundown is here (http://www.thehuntingbeast.com/viewtopic.php?f=287&t=27762) , but as she got into range, I noticed a mature buck paralleling her a few yards in the woods, and made the shot count a few minutes later when he presented and watched him tip over 45 yards. This one weighed in at 196, and I’d guess without being broken up may have touched 140. Haven’t even rough scored him yet with the broken brows and G2 on his right side he won’t score well, but I’m tickled with him.
Haven’t gotten out to try and fill my WI buck tag yet since.


The wife ended up sick for gun season, so I took the girls up for their first deer season to spend the weekend with Grandpa and ice fish a little.

Definition of a dream season for me. Hopefully hard work, and the great community and info here has set me on the path to this being a more likely outcome than tag soup is!