Iowa Bow and Missouri Rifle

Big Buck Down!

 My cousin was able to harvest this public land Iowa monster tonight.  A quick tape job said 170ish with over 20" of non-typical stuff! So happy and proud for him! #PTL

Got more pics of two hit list bucks: white-collar (I have his matching sheds from last year) and wide ten! 

Movement Update

Finally starting to see some bucks with does and the fresh scrapes are starting to pop up!  Time to log some time in the woods!  I'm up to 8 bucks I've passed up including a 10 pnt (pictured above) which is a first for me.  Still looking for the big one!

First Blood

I let my buddy hunt one of my stand and he was able to harvest his first Iowa buck! Congrats Jeremy!

Halloween Nightmare

Here are some updated pictures of toothpic.  I finally got the courage to update the blog of my Halloween night hunt.   After a long absence on the trailcam I got pics of toothpic again.  I decided to chance it and go sit where he was moving.  Much to my amazement he showed up at 6:00pm. Watching him through the brush for 15+ minutes gave me  plenty of time to check out his 15pnt rack.  He eventually moved into 15 yards slightly quartering away!  I was shaking and my mind was in a fog!  I was already envisioning my hands on those tines!  I let the arrow fly but to my horror the arrow flew slighty left and hit square in the shoulder bone making a loud crack at impact.   I let him lay all night and prayed that I got enough penetration.   After a sleepless night I went after him and immediately found the arrow but was very discouraged to see absolutely no penetration at all and not a drop of blood on the ground or the arrow.  The good news is he might be a gimp for awhile but he should be fine.   I can't even say how disappointed I am after so much scouting and work over two years and that it came down to my lack of focus on an easy shot as to why I don't have him.  But that's hunting and I'm hopeful to get another opportunity at him.   It is amazing to see that one inch can make the difference between a perfect shot and a missed opportunity.   I was thinking about it all and what I can learn from the situation while walking back to the road.  I was struck by how great a reminder that it was that just like one small error can cause you a big buck, it just takes one sin for us to fall short of heaven (Romans 3:23).   How thankful should I be that God provided a way to solve that problem!  (Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, John 3:26, Romans 10:9-10, and Ephesians 2:8-9 are some interesting verses to ponder).

Sighting in the Old Long Guns

I was very happy with the way my new TC encore 50cal shot!  Next time a 3 shot group will hopefully tell me she is good to go. As usually the 30-06 is 2"
high @ 100 right were she needs to be.  After stepping out to 350 paces I took a three shot group at 9x using the first mil dot at about a 12" hold over and was very pleased with the results! 

10-27

Green wing teal in the am! Passed 3 8pnts in the pm including a super cool 5 yard encounter! Looking for the big boy still!

After work duck hunting = 1

Slow so far...

Well I've been out 5 times now on the stand. It's been really slow but I did have a fun encounter with a forky on Saturday.  I'm saving the good spots for November and am just hunting the fringe so far.  Went out for ducks last night but nothing flying till after dark. I'll keep ya posted!

Season is Open!

Well bow season is open!  Just waiting for the cold snap that is supposed to hit this weekend before I get out in the woods!

Early Season Ducks

Had a great time hunting some early season ducks with some of my buddy's and my brother! Not a lot flying in the evenings at least on public but enough to make it fun! I'm hoping to do a little  more waterfowl hunting this year. It's a new experience every time a duck fly's in.  Anyway bow season starts next week! I have a new summit open shot climber and a new pair of Nikon binoculars to use! Let's go!

Here he is folks! Toothpic!

The first two pictures here are of the buck "toothpic" which I hunted last year, saw in person, got pictures of, and found one side of his shed.   He is way bigger this year and I am so excited to hunt him!  The story of toothpic continues!

2012top2bucks from Ronnie Hemsworth on Vimeo.

Off Season Scouting

 I had some great luck shed hunting this year and was able to find the set for White Collar and one side of ToothPic.

 So far this summer I've taken pics of 4 different shooters.

 This buck looks similar to toothpic but the kicker is on the wrong side.  Maybe the same gentics though. I call him "toothpic too".  The shed on the right is the smaller side of toothpic and it measure 85inches.   He could be massive this year!  I'll think he'll be a booner and is #1 on my list!

 This shed I believe to belong to the buck on the right.  I call him jawbone because of the quantity and short length of the tines make the shed look like a jawbone.

The Big 8 in the pic I haven't ever seen before but hopefully I have more encounters with him as he looks to be a dandy!

This buck looks to have a huge frame and a big body! Never seen this one before either.  Looks to be a shooter as well.

I'll be bringing more news and pics as the data comes in.  Getting really excited about bow season!

bwcaw from Ronnie Hemsworth on Vimeo.

BWCAW

 I was able to go to the Boundary Waters in MN with some of the youth group guys from Community Baptist.  We were able to push about 55 miles on the water during the week and there was some great fishing on a couple of the days landing 50+ smallmouth bass!  The purpose of the trip wasn’t just for fun though.  Through trips like this we have the opportunity to let God teach us about His word, ourselves, and others.  The serenity gave us lots of time to think and reflect on what Christ has done for us and on the areas He is working on in our lives.  What a blessing!

Gar from Ronnie Hemsworth on Vimeo.

Beauty of New Life