Post by Woody Williams on Nov 23, 2009 9:22:59 GMT -5
My Illinois hunt (Long)
I went over to one of Timex’s place in Dale Illinois to hunt the Illinois 3 day gun season. I met up with 5 Hunting-Indiana members at the Carmi motel on Thursday evening. I have met Tony, Rockie, and Don Mullis senior before when we did some prior scouting. I finally got to meet Mullis 56 and Mr. Opticzone (Jon who sells great scopes) from Michigan. I took Jon and his buddy Barry (the video guy) on a tour of the perimeter of the 700 acres farm.
Bowhunters from Alabama had been hunting the place for the last couple weeks. They had spotted several 140 class bucks, but had not seen any of the 160+ that we had seen the previous season.
Opening morning was slow with not many deer spotted or shots heard from adjacent properties. Rockie had the best showing by seeing 9 deer, 5 of which were bucks. He had a big 6 close enough to shoot but decided to wait for something bigger. After a little hindsight thinking he said he would shoot him next time he sees him. He never saw him again.
I had a 2 ½ year old 7 point harassing a doe close to me. He wasn’t really chasing her, but was trying to keep her in one spot like a sheepdog does sheep. I don’t think he was near big enough to keep her if a bigger buck got after her, so he wanted her to stay put.
That evening was a mixed bag. Mullis56 saw a good number while hunting the edge of a cornfield. Just he saw nothing that he wanted to shoot. Rockie again saw several smaller bucks but not the big 6.
Second morning was more productive in spotting deer. I had 9 does and one small buck come by me. The does split up and half went into another CRP field. Rockie again saw numerous deer. Tony decided to a take a big doe that suddenly appeared behind his stand. Good looking horse headed nannie that looked like she would got 130+. Tony left to take his doe back to Tell City.
Mullis56 got a call from home that his wife and child was sick, so he and his dad had to leave. That left three of us to hunt the rest of the hunt.
Jon decided to hunt that evening in the stand that Mullis56 had hunted on the edge of the cornfield. He ended seeing a good number of deer, including a small buck with a good 4 points on one side and just a beam on the other. That was one that Mullis had seen the r previous evening. He had two piebald does come out at 60 yards, but Jon had not bought a doe tag.
I went to hunt a stand on the fence line between the CRP field I hunted in the morning and the one next to it. There are two stands in that fence line but I chose the northernmost stand, as I did not want to get too close to where I had last seen the does. The one group of does had gone that way and I hoped a good buck would catch up with them. About two hours before dark I see a deer stand up in the CRP way out about 400 yards. I put the binos on it and saw it was a huge 8 pointer. He was bedded out close to where we had a tri-pod stand at. This field had a lot of water in it, but the back side is high and dry. I watched him as he entered into a thicket close to a bordering woods. I could tell he was by a doe as he chased a smaller buck out of the thicket. I tried rattling and the never looked my way. I guess he thought,” Let them boys fight. I’ve got mine”. I watched him for a long time. He would go in and out of the thicket. Spotting him at time was tough as the CRP was pretty high. Some times all I would see is his big white antlers. He reminded me of the big 6 I killed last year there, only he had 8 points and the points weren’t as long. He had closed the distance to about 300 yards
Out about 200 yards I see weeds wiggle and I spot a good 130 class ten pointer that was coming from the direction of the bigger guck. He seemed to be heading in my direction - decision time. If he gets close enough, should I take him or hope that the big buck will finally make his way over? I really did not end up with that choice as the ten seemed to disappear in the CRP never to be seen again.
All of a sudden I see a tree start shaking in a tree thicket 200 yards out. I put the binos on it and I see white antlers trashing the tree. I really start watching then. But, when he finally pulls his head up I see it is ANOTHER big 8. This one had much longer tines than the first buck I had spotted. Both would top 150.Light is starting to fade when I spot both big 8s in the 200 yard thicket. I thought, ”Oh boy! I’m going to see a buck fight”. Did not happen. They both milled around in the thicket ignoring each other. There was doe in the thicket with them but they weren’t nosing her. By the time they got to within 125 yards legal light was gone. I could barely make them out in the thicket. I would gladly have taken either one of these bucks.
BTW - they were within 75 yards of the other stand. Close, but no cigar. Great evening and I did not fire a shot.
That evening at supper time Jon and myself strategize what to do in the morning. Rockie was going back to his buck heaven. If that tri-pod stand was up I probably would go there. But someone had pushed it over and we had not set it back up. I would go to the stand in the same fence line as the evening before only the one closer to the corner of the CRP field that I think the bucks was headed to. Hope fully they would come back to enter the CRP from that corner. Jon said that he did not want to “mess me up” but he sure would like to hunt the stand that I had hunted the previous two mornings. I told him it was no problem as we would be 250 yards apart and across a very thick CRP field. The stand is in a big oak in a fence line. I told him it would be impossible to hang a double stand in it for videoing. There was another stand across from it at about 125 yards that Barry could use and do some filming. That was the plan.
When I got to my stand it was very foggy and it didn’t take long to know I had screwed up as the wind went NW on me. All I could do wait until the fog lifted and hope that one of the 8s was already in the CRP field or would come from a different direction.
The fog was eerie. As light came it appeared that the CRP was one big lake. Neat! It took awhile to clear.
Glassing I could see Jon and Barry in their stands.
My morning was uneventful with no deer spotted, much less the big 8s. I had planned to get down and go home at 10am as we had a church function to attend that evening. At 8:50 am CT Jon’s Savage MZ roared. Man, they put out a lot of smoke! I glass towards him and I can see him moving about in the stand. All of a sudden the Savage roars again. He must have one down.
Long story short I go ahead and get down and make my way trough the thick CRP (tough going) to his stand. He is already down by the time I get there and had made his way over to Barry’s stand. I go through that smaller CRP field to Barry’s stand and see that Barry is on the ground and Jon is in his stand. ?? The buck that he shot is bedded about 50 yards out from the stand in the CRP. Jon climbed up and is watching him to see if he stands up or if he can get another shot at him.
After some discussion we decide that the buck bedding that quick he has to be hurt bad and wont get up again. We walk up and Jon puts the Coupe De Grace on him. He was a very nice 2 ½ year old six pointer. He is probably related to my six pointer as his beams are starting to curl up. Two years in arrow that a six pointer was taken from that stand on the opening Sunday morning.
Barry got it all on video as the buck was standing pretty close to his stand when Jon shot. Probably about 125 yards or so. Barry also got one of the big 8s on video as it was making its way down the fence line to Jon. Evidently it saw Jon move as the wind was in Jon’s favor. It made an abrupt U turn and went back the way it came.
I’m supposed to get some picks and the video from Barry. I’ll post it later.
Rockies’ buck heaven paid off as he took an excellent 9 point buck with a 19 5/8 " outside spread.
I REALLY enjoyed hunting with some of the members here and hopefully some of them will be back for the late season. I know I will… I’ve got a date with a big 8.
I went over to one of Timex’s place in Dale Illinois to hunt the Illinois 3 day gun season. I met up with 5 Hunting-Indiana members at the Carmi motel on Thursday evening. I have met Tony, Rockie, and Don Mullis senior before when we did some prior scouting. I finally got to meet Mullis 56 and Mr. Opticzone (Jon who sells great scopes) from Michigan. I took Jon and his buddy Barry (the video guy) on a tour of the perimeter of the 700 acres farm.
Bowhunters from Alabama had been hunting the place for the last couple weeks. They had spotted several 140 class bucks, but had not seen any of the 160+ that we had seen the previous season.
Opening morning was slow with not many deer spotted or shots heard from adjacent properties. Rockie had the best showing by seeing 9 deer, 5 of which were bucks. He had a big 6 close enough to shoot but decided to wait for something bigger. After a little hindsight thinking he said he would shoot him next time he sees him. He never saw him again.
I had a 2 ½ year old 7 point harassing a doe close to me. He wasn’t really chasing her, but was trying to keep her in one spot like a sheepdog does sheep. I don’t think he was near big enough to keep her if a bigger buck got after her, so he wanted her to stay put.
That evening was a mixed bag. Mullis56 saw a good number while hunting the edge of a cornfield. Just he saw nothing that he wanted to shoot. Rockie again saw several smaller bucks but not the big 6.
Second morning was more productive in spotting deer. I had 9 does and one small buck come by me. The does split up and half went into another CRP field. Rockie again saw numerous deer. Tony decided to a take a big doe that suddenly appeared behind his stand. Good looking horse headed nannie that looked like she would got 130+. Tony left to take his doe back to Tell City.
Mullis56 got a call from home that his wife and child was sick, so he and his dad had to leave. That left three of us to hunt the rest of the hunt.
Jon decided to hunt that evening in the stand that Mullis56 had hunted on the edge of the cornfield. He ended seeing a good number of deer, including a small buck with a good 4 points on one side and just a beam on the other. That was one that Mullis had seen the r previous evening. He had two piebald does come out at 60 yards, but Jon had not bought a doe tag.
I went to hunt a stand on the fence line between the CRP field I hunted in the morning and the one next to it. There are two stands in that fence line but I chose the northernmost stand, as I did not want to get too close to where I had last seen the does. The one group of does had gone that way and I hoped a good buck would catch up with them. About two hours before dark I see a deer stand up in the CRP way out about 400 yards. I put the binos on it and saw it was a huge 8 pointer. He was bedded out close to where we had a tri-pod stand at. This field had a lot of water in it, but the back side is high and dry. I watched him as he entered into a thicket close to a bordering woods. I could tell he was by a doe as he chased a smaller buck out of the thicket. I tried rattling and the never looked my way. I guess he thought,” Let them boys fight. I’ve got mine”. I watched him for a long time. He would go in and out of the thicket. Spotting him at time was tough as the CRP was pretty high. Some times all I would see is his big white antlers. He reminded me of the big 6 I killed last year there, only he had 8 points and the points weren’t as long. He had closed the distance to about 300 yards
Out about 200 yards I see weeds wiggle and I spot a good 130 class ten pointer that was coming from the direction of the bigger guck. He seemed to be heading in my direction - decision time. If he gets close enough, should I take him or hope that the big buck will finally make his way over? I really did not end up with that choice as the ten seemed to disappear in the CRP never to be seen again.
All of a sudden I see a tree start shaking in a tree thicket 200 yards out. I put the binos on it and I see white antlers trashing the tree. I really start watching then. But, when he finally pulls his head up I see it is ANOTHER big 8. This one had much longer tines than the first buck I had spotted. Both would top 150.Light is starting to fade when I spot both big 8s in the 200 yard thicket. I thought, ”Oh boy! I’m going to see a buck fight”. Did not happen. They both milled around in the thicket ignoring each other. There was doe in the thicket with them but they weren’t nosing her. By the time they got to within 125 yards legal light was gone. I could barely make them out in the thicket. I would gladly have taken either one of these bucks.
BTW - they were within 75 yards of the other stand. Close, but no cigar. Great evening and I did not fire a shot.
That evening at supper time Jon and myself strategize what to do in the morning. Rockie was going back to his buck heaven. If that tri-pod stand was up I probably would go there. But someone had pushed it over and we had not set it back up. I would go to the stand in the same fence line as the evening before only the one closer to the corner of the CRP field that I think the bucks was headed to. Hope fully they would come back to enter the CRP from that corner. Jon said that he did not want to “mess me up” but he sure would like to hunt the stand that I had hunted the previous two mornings. I told him it was no problem as we would be 250 yards apart and across a very thick CRP field. The stand is in a big oak in a fence line. I told him it would be impossible to hang a double stand in it for videoing. There was another stand across from it at about 125 yards that Barry could use and do some filming. That was the plan.
When I got to my stand it was very foggy and it didn’t take long to know I had screwed up as the wind went NW on me. All I could do wait until the fog lifted and hope that one of the 8s was already in the CRP field or would come from a different direction.
The fog was eerie. As light came it appeared that the CRP was one big lake. Neat! It took awhile to clear.
Glassing I could see Jon and Barry in their stands.
My morning was uneventful with no deer spotted, much less the big 8s. I had planned to get down and go home at 10am as we had a church function to attend that evening. At 8:50 am CT Jon’s Savage MZ roared. Man, they put out a lot of smoke! I glass towards him and I can see him moving about in the stand. All of a sudden the Savage roars again. He must have one down.
Long story short I go ahead and get down and make my way trough the thick CRP (tough going) to his stand. He is already down by the time I get there and had made his way over to Barry’s stand. I go through that smaller CRP field to Barry’s stand and see that Barry is on the ground and Jon is in his stand. ?? The buck that he shot is bedded about 50 yards out from the stand in the CRP. Jon climbed up and is watching him to see if he stands up or if he can get another shot at him.
After some discussion we decide that the buck bedding that quick he has to be hurt bad and wont get up again. We walk up and Jon puts the Coupe De Grace on him. He was a very nice 2 ½ year old six pointer. He is probably related to my six pointer as his beams are starting to curl up. Two years in arrow that a six pointer was taken from that stand on the opening Sunday morning.
Barry got it all on video as the buck was standing pretty close to his stand when Jon shot. Probably about 125 yards or so. Barry also got one of the big 8s on video as it was making its way down the fence line to Jon. Evidently it saw Jon move as the wind was in Jon’s favor. It made an abrupt U turn and went back the way it came.
I’m supposed to get some picks and the video from Barry. I’ll post it later.
Rockies’ buck heaven paid off as he took an excellent 9 point buck with a 19 5/8 " outside spread.
I REALLY enjoyed hunting with some of the members here and hopefully some of them will be back for the late season. I know I will… I’ve got a date with a big 8.
