All packed up for the after Christmas hunt! 5 days of hunting left for me and 4 tags. It's crunch time!

Found one the coyotes got to. To bad he was a mature deer.

Thursday Am

2nd Weekend Nov

This is why you run trail cameras: Toothpic!

Toothpic is still out there!  I am completely blown away that this deer has stayed around for now my fourth year of hunting him.  At this point he is a 7.5 year old buck as best I can guess, as he was fully mature in 2012.  It appears he has not grown bigger this year maybe even lost a few inches.  We will see what the weekend hunt reveals!  Getting this picture was almost as exciting as shooting a buck for me.  The history with this buck has been so fun to build I hope you guys have enjoyed it also.

Top trail cam pictures so far this year!

Last weekend was great!  I saw 12 bucks and my wife even came with me on Sunday evening!  Nothing big in range but a blast to watch the deer.

November 7th

Oct 31st

Buck selfie from last night!

Oct 29th

Just a little too small. Fun encounter though!

Bucks were moving.

Sat Monday night with the cold front coming in. I didn't see any deer but Eric sat the whole day on the same piece and saw 5+ bucks include 3 shooters one of which was very big. Unfortunately he wasn't able to get a shot on one but was able to harvest a doe. 

Hunt 3

Saturday morning sit only held one doe sighting.

DIY: European Skull Mount

I made this video last fall and never uploaded it.   Here is how Eric and I do our European skull mounts.  I also recommend using rain gear or waders when power washing it is messy but fast.   Note: If you use the boiling technique it will disqualify them from most record books but if your deer is that big get a shoulder mount!

The rest of the night in 30 seconds.

Finished my arrows!  I got all the tools recently to do my own wraps and viens. I got tired of the ones from the stores. In my opinion they always come in greens and yellows which are poor colors for the fall. I wanted something more flashy so I can follow them to my target and find them afterwards.  It was an enjoyable project to work on.  Here are the specs: Easton Full Metal Jacket 340 tipped with G5 montec 100 grains. Finished weight 460 grains with the new bow set at 65lbs I'm excited to see the new setups penetration performance.  I'll be in the woods tomorrow stay posted!

Hunt:1

Intro 2015

Finally got some time to put up some pictures of last months fishing trip!   Had a great time and caught a bunch of nice eating size northerns.  

 I'm going to try to get in some summer scouting soon but this summer is crazy so we will see. I did not draw a Kansas tag so that is out for this year.  More time for bow hunting :)

Outdoors update

Eric and I ran the Hyvee half marathon again this year and plan to run the dam to dam as well.   It pays to be in good shape for hunting season!   I haven't been out much this winter/spring.  In fact I skipped turkey hunting all together.  I did however apply for a Colorado Mule deer preference point (now I have two) so hopefully Eric and I can draw in 2016.  I possibly might hunt Kansas this year with my Grandpa's 1873 Winchester too!   Eric, Phil, and I are headed up North for some pike fishing over the coming holiday weekend.  Pictures

to follow!!

Late Muzzleloader

Southern Iowa produced again though I didn't get one my hunting buddy Eric did. I saw countless does but no shooters in range. 

New Year's Day however did produce a muzzloader buck for me! I passed a couple bucks bigger than this one but I only had a second to shoot and thought he was bigger. A lot of ground shrinkage but as my Grandpa Lobb always say it is a trophy for the dinner table!  

Now I'll try to get my brother on one and maybe sit a time or two with my bow and call it a season.