I will consider any tasteful journals from anyone. Please contact me at Flemishstrings@gmail.com if you think you have a decent pictorial for everyone to see!
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Willey and Russ, Excalibur African Adventure Excalibur forum member Wiley Harvey (aka WalknTall) and his brother in-law Russ Pottinger took off to South Africa for a photo safari and to test their Excalibur tackle on an awesome hunt of a lifetime! August 9, to August 25, 2011.
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| Leaving home |
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| A few frames form the Smithsonian Airplane Museum ( man , there were enough pictures to post an entire new thread on that place ! )( I didn't know Excalibur had their own plane ? ) |
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| Once they arrived in South Africa ... Started at Kruger National Park for 3 days and nights with Sabie River Bush Lodge for a cool safari... Sabie River Bush Lodge organizes open-vehicle game drives into the Kruger National Park with its own qualified guide and game vehicle. http://www.sabieriverbushlodge.co.za/index.html Here are some pictures of the accommodations and tasty treats at both Sabie river bush lodge and Diekie Muller Hunting Safaris ... Not every day , you can sit on the deck > watch elephants pass by and hippo's " Do their thing " , day and night ! |
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| Here are some frames of all the cool birds and animals from Kruger ... |
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| Of course , there we elephants ! ... Wylie and Russ found out that when the elephants have young with them , the matriarch will help the Safari vehicle along if it stops for too long ! |
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| And no matter where you go in the world , there are always cool sunrise / sunset pictures to be taken .. |
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| Next on to the hunt , at Diekie Muller Hunting Safaris , http://www.dmsafaris.com/ Predominately hunting from ground blinds over food / water source ... |
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| And cover scent is the sweeeeet aroma of burning donkey dung ! |
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| They used Wylie's " Old Faithful " Excalibur Exocet 175 , equipped with a Maxzone scope , Boo Custom string , shooting Big John's Goldtip Bolts/arrows , c/w 150 Boltcutter broadheads . ( Combined weight of 459 grains ) And an Excalibur Exomax , equipped with a Varizone scope , Boo Custom string , and again shooting Big John's Goldtip Bolts/arrows , c/w 150 Boltcutter broadheads . ( 459 grains total ) The animal dispatch went as follows ... Wylie's first mission was to take out a nuisance baboon ... a 42 yard shot with his Exocet and the 150 Boltcutter broadhead make quick work of it ! And later a dinner pot Guinea fowl , with the same set up . |
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| On to the bigger game .... these animals were spread out over the duration of the stay . Wylie took a beauty , Blue Wildebeest , 27 Yards , Exocet 175 .. |
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| His next trophy was a 23 Yard shot on a real nice Impala , with his Exomax . |
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| Russ stepped up to the plate , with a 24 yard shot on another beauty Impala , using the Exocet 175 . |
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| His next hit was a 25 yard Kudu , again with the Exocet 175 ... |
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| Wylie then took a cool looking Gemsbok ... 26 Yard shot , with his Exomax . |
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| Russ also picked up a Gemsbok at 25 yards , using the Exocet 175 . |
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| And then Russ connected with a very heavy Eland ... 27 yard shot , with the Exocet 175 again . |
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| Yep , Big John's bolt / arrow set-up with the 150 Boltcutters , did the job well on all .... and the 2nd frame shows what happens when you miss low and hit a water pipe ! |
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| Next few frames show some of the needed help , gear and transport for such an adventure ... |
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| Last day , Last hour , Wylie and Russ were called on to put down a couple of warthogs , with a borrowed , Sako 270 ( Wylie 125 yards , Russ 130 yards ) |
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| Great way to wrap up the trip ... All trophies dropped off at the local taxidermist , to be prep'd , mounted and shipped back to Canada at a later date ... |
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| A picture with " the crew " and it's off on the long trip home !I hope you all enjoyed these few pictures , showing Wylie and Russ's excellent adventure ! Contact Wylie ( aka WalknTall ) by PM for more detailed info on the Safari and hunt ... |
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Thursay May 12, 2011 1st off ... here is a big Congrat's to Chris Kindree's 12yr old son Kurtis !
Took his first wild turkey (an 18 lb jake) on opening day ( April 25th ) .
The next time Kurtis is out with his dad ( two days later ) he tells dad " he only wants to shoot toms now " 
This ... after Chris called in three other jakes !
A perfect 20 yard head shot on opening day , with a load of # 6 shot , out of a Remington 870 , made this the 1st turkey of Kurtis's turkey hunting career and made Chris K. a proud daddy !
Congrat's again guys ! ... Well done .
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Page break ... fast forward to Wednesday May 11th .
Caught up all the grass cutting and chores yesterday .
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So , when I got out of work today ( Thursday May 12th ) , I headed North to meet up with CH and Skip for an afternoon turkey hunt ...
Approx 3:00pm I was driving some backroads , scouting on the way up .... didn't even get half to where I was going to meet the guys when I spotted jakes and toms in a field along the South end of a bush lot ...
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There were no houses close by and I wasn't sure who's property it was ? ... I started driving to see if I could find the landowner ... was lucky enough to find the farmer working the field to the North , so I stopped to ask for permission to hunt ... after a brief introduction , he gave me the boundary info for his farm and agreed to let me go in with my crossbow only ... he said the area had been hunted pretty hard between his farm and the next 2 adjacent farms , and he was more comfortable with archery tackle then guns .
I thanked him and , and quickly gathered my gear for an afternoon set up ... I figured the birds had moved quite a ways since I last saw them , so I moved to the area of the bush that I felt would be closest to their travel route ( also based on some info the farmer just gave me re: where he sees the birds this time of day ) As soon as I got into the bush it was obvious there had been other hunters , by the amount of tracks ( lots of fresh human tracks. )
I figured what the heck and started walking South thru the bush ... about 100 yards from the field edge I spotted a bird that appeared to be looking my way ... with the amount of slash between us , and the fact that I was camoed from head to toe , I didn't figure the bird had seen me clearly ? So I backed off and set up at the base of a tree grouping that gave me good background and alowed me a good line of sight if birds moved back into the bush when I called ...
A quick loud hen call session followed by a few quick cuts and purrs on my box call , then I shut up and listened .... nothing ... 20 mins go by and still nothing ? ... Not even one gobble reply ?
I figure I must have been spotted during my set up , so I decide to get up for another peek at the field .... I get up on one knee slowly , look thru the slash and I freeze !
Approx 80 yards away I see one jake with his head down and another looking my way ... I ease back into my seat ( which is at a lower elevation then they are ) and get ready ... I slowly give a few quick light hen cuts and shut up ... I'm thinking " you know the routine rick ... just be paitent " !
Another 20 mins and still no response , no movement , nothing ??? ... Then I hear what I think is deer walking to my right ? ... I slowly turn my head , but don't see anything ... I scan front and left but nothing ... Then again I hear what sounds like the deer walking thru leaves ?
I turn again right slowly and freeze again ( stop breathing ! )
( I guess my eyes aren't what they use to be , because there wasn't anything there a minuet ago ? )
I now see two Toms together approx 30 yards behind some trees , looking my way .
Then I heard a light cluck , and out of the corner of my eye I see the jakes sneaking in out in front of me ( can't remember If I've taken a breath yet ) , but I slowly move my hand and trigger finger into place on my Y25 Relayer that was sitting perched on my raised left knee ...
A jake starts to alarm ...  ... then the jakes move off to my left ... I can't move because the toms are looking my way ...
The jakes putt off and the two toms walk into approx 17 yards ( they are still to my right ) ... the whole time they are looking at the jakes ( to my left ) ....
They freeze at 17 yards and look directly at me ... I think " that's it ... their gone ! ... I don't even want to blink !
Well luck was with me ! ... they walked bye me towards the departing jakes , and when the 2nd bird ( he had to longest beard ) , put his head down to peck the ground ( quartering away now at 12 yards ! ) ... I settled the 10 yard hash mark of my Lumizone > high / vitals , slapped the trigger of my Y25 Relayer and an Easton XX75 with 130 Grain Wasp Broadhead on board ripped right thru him !
All heck broke loose .... he somersaulted / flapped / ran about 15 yards and started flapping in circles ! .... The other tom came right at him to beat the crap out him , and the jakes took flight !
You should have seen the eyes pop out of the 2nd tom when I launched to my feet to secure my prize ! ... Let's just say , he flew " mach one " and caught up with the retreating jakes in a hurry !
I check the time and it's 4:45pm ... Takes me awhile to find my arrow but it looks nearly new with only one dull blade .
Here are some field shots of my 2nd 2011 Ontario Spring turkey ...
My set up ...
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Tagged and trophy shots ...
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And one shot at my favorite turkey hanging site ....
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Excalibur Y25 Relayer # 100
Custom " Boo " string and polished trigger unit .
Custom top load " Munch Mount "
Easton XX75 Aluminum Arrows with my favorite Wasp 130 Gr Broadheads.
Man that was one of the funnest hunts I have ever had ! .... I've had birds come in the the last 10 or 20 yards silent after a gobble session , but never had birds silent from start to finish ? ( I'm told it's not uncommon though for pressured birds ? )
I get ahold of CH by cell ... only to find out he called in a monster for Skip ( his father in law ) ... Skip " stones the monster " at 25 yards ,and CH gets the whole thing on video to boot ...
I will post the video when we figure how to get it off his camera ! ( I've seen it ... it's cool ! )
On to calling and pictures for friends now for the rest of the season ...
Good luck to all that continue to chase those bearded birds ! ... Hunt Safe and Have fun !
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Oct 14th, 2010
Been watching this tom for awhile , but have never had him close enough for a bow shot ...
Until this morning .... braved
the rain , and caught the tail end of the morning down pour .... was
starting to doubt my decision to hunt this morning when I saw a hen
pecking her way along a corn row corridor towards me .
I had a jake and hen decoy set up 70 yards North of my ground blind
( I do that as a distraction so the birds see the decoys and don't hang
up out of range ... I find fall decoy set up's are much different then
spring hunt ) .
The hen passed and about 5 mins later , this tom sauntered in ... he didn't have clue I was there .
It was amazing how much of a water spray cloud there was when my bow released !
Excalibur Y25 Relayer Crossbow
12 yard shot .
30 yard recovery distance ( he flapped down the bank to the swamp ).
Boo String , Munch mount .
Gold Tip Carbon Laser II , with 125 grain Innerloc Broadhead .
No field pic's because of the rain ... but I got a few quick shots after I dried him off in the barn ... Man those are the longest spurs I have to date .
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Off
to work now .... I'm on aft shift , but carved a new tree near a spot
that showed decent buck sign this morning .... Hope tomorrow morning is
as productive as this morning !
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Hi again Don,
Well my Wisconsin bow hunting has ended. The Boo string performed beautiful. I arrived back in Florida Yesterday 10-6-2010.
I was very fortunate again this year in that I got a nice doe, and a really nice 8 pointer
Saw quite a few deer early in the season. As things
progressed they seemed to turn nocturnal. There is almost no hunting
pressure in the area I hunt. Most years I never see another bow hunter.
Early on I hunted in a stand I call Honey tree.
Over the past 10 years I have harvested at least 6 deer , a mix of does
and smallish bucks from this stand.
Anyway, I arrived at this stand about 6:45 AM.
Shortly after I got in the stand two does and two yearlying appeared.
I finally took a shot that I probably should not have taken. The shot
was 23 yards with a fairly sharp angle. I had to shoot over the back of
one of the smaller deer.Trying to figure out the exit point I took the
shot. It was high up but I got one lung and the liver and apparently I
also got a major artery. The deer ran about 50 yards but I lost sight of
her. When I got down out of the stand I looked for the arrow to
verify a solid hit. No arrow to be found. And no blood trail. Darn
Darn. I walked to the spot I had last seen her and nothing. As I back
tracked to relive the shot I did find a slight blood indication. I
looked past the last blood sign, and.............. There she lay. A really nice mature doe.
My brother and I hunt in North western Wisconsin and we process our own deer.
A couple of days later I was hunting an area I call
the Monks house in which I have shot two really nice rack bucks in past
years.
My trail camera had crapped out so My brother-in-
law agreed to share his camera. We had pictures of 5 or 6 does, and two
nice bucks at this particular spot.
LO and behold about 6:15 PM out popped a really
nice buck. Usually a big buck takes about an hour to move 25 yards. This
guy just walked right up. I took the shot and had a great hit. The
buck ran over the crest of the hill and towards an 8 acre swamp. As
luck would have it the buck left a great blood trail for 75 yards and
there he lay.
Since I am 78 years old and my brother-in-law is 70
we brought a 4 wheeler and dragged the deer up to the wood road and
loaded the buck on the back of the 4 wheeler trailer.
I can only bring back to Florida a limited amount of
venison so I only hunted for fun the rest of the time. Two deer was
plenty of venison.
It is really neat to watch deer and know that you don't have to shoot.
Don thanks again for the reserving on my strings.The Excalibur Exomag worked great.
Thom Erhardt
Port Charlotte Fl 33954
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October 1st ...
Been plaqued with wicked back pain and hit with a bad cold today ....
had to work till 2:30pm , feeling overall crummy , I almost passed on
this afternoon , but figured " Can't get a deer sitting at home " !
Sucked back some cold meds and a pain pill for my back , packed the truck and headed one hour North of home ... I'm on the road by 3:45pm
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A boundary scrape shows up at one of my favorite spots ... I'm hiking in by 5:00pm .
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After a slow climb ... ( my back is aching ) ... I snap
a picture of the trail , I expect the deer to cross , from bedding area
to food source ... It's approx 5:45pm now .
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It's actually a new tree I carved for my Sumit Viper
Climbing stand , right across from an " Old Faithfull Stand " that we
have used for many years ... problem is the old tree is dead and is
mainly supported by my old steel ladder .... weve deemed it unsafe ! (
schedule to come down soon )
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6:00pm ...
my nose is running off my face ... every time I do a thumb to nostril
purge , I sound like a deer blowing " alarm " , so I make a feeble
attempt to cover with a doe bleat and occational grunt ..
6:30pm ...
I'm startled by the sound of turkeys flying up to roost approx 50 yards
into the bush ... I get brief glimpses of hens and poults roosting ...
6:45pm ...
I catch movement out of the corner of my left eye , and turn slowly ,
just in time to see a whitetail butt and tail swish across the trail ,
thru the cover , into the clover field approx 50 yards away .... I turn
and see it was the last of 7 deer moving thru the clover towards the
beanfiled ( Ranged , spread out from 100 yards farthest to 50 yards
closest ... ) ( 3 small rack/fork/spike bucks and the rest are assorted
does/fawns )
Yikes ! , how did they get by me ?
, must have been while I was craning my eyes to get a look at the
turkeys ? ... It's also really windy and the bush is far from quiet !
6:50pm ...
I hit my Primo's can and let loose a few doe bleats ... No real affect ,
only one big doe lifts her head from feeding and looks my way ...
6:53pm ...
I let go one good grunt from my " Custom Cooper call " and that seals
the deal ! .... The doe does a stiff leg walk right to me ... 30 yards ,
20 yards , but no shot , she's facing directly at me ... at 10 yards ,
she doesn't like something , and starts to turn back ...
I'm watching her thru my Lumizone scope
and at the exact second she turns quartering away , I slap the trigger ,
my custom " Boo" string launches an new Eastom Aluminum XX75 , with a
130 grain WASP broadhead on board , off the deck of my Y25 Relayer !
Smack ! ...
Extreme angle ( I'm up 24 feet ) Arrow hit's high ... complete pass
thru , clipping just under her spine ... she dropps in her tracks !
I got deer scrambling everywhere now ... I gain my composure and check my watch ... It's 6:58 pm !
I stay up the tree for approx 25 mins to let the other deer move off and make a few calls .... CH is hunting close by and quickly verifies " he's on his way "
I take a quick snap shot of my arrow , and a walk up picture of the doe ...
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A " gear " shot at the tree ....
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Excalibur Y25 Relayer Crossbow .
Custom "Boo" string .
A beauty top quiver mount that forum member ( "munch" ) made for me.
(with # 100 Y25 on it )
Easton Aluminum arrows fletched in white with one orange vane .
130 Grain WASP Cam Lock Broadheads ( my personal favorite ! )
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And here is a picture of the two calls I used tonight ...
Custom Cooper grunt call ( by Mike Cooper aka wabi )
And a standard Primo's bleat can ..
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By the time CH and I dragged her out , loaded her up ,
went for dinner , I was rolling into the local butcher by 9:15pm .... It
was the 1st whitetail in at his place and I got my first 2010 Ontario
Hat for Hide trophy !
PS : Yep , forgot my knife
.. field dressed at butchers .. He's a young Mennonite that is happy to
take in local deer for extra income ...
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Just
finished downloading pic's and typing .... Off to bed ... Saturday
should bring a whole new adventure ! ... Good luck to all that are
heading out to the deer woods tomorrow !
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Rick's journal Dec, 27, 2009
We it has been an interesting week ... as our season winds down ( Dec 31st is last day out for us ) .
Here are some pic's I downloaded from the camera ..
A cool looking cat nods off in the sun at one of the farms we hunt at ...
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| A left over goose at another farm .. |
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| A beaver works on his winter food stash ... |
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| An escapee from the local bird processing plant .... This fancy chicken roosts in some brush on a windy day last week . |
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| But this bird had other plans and he shifts into high gear ! |
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| Some locals out for a sleigh ride ... |
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| I scope out a beauty corn field set-up with great deer sign ... |
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| Lots of food still there after the combine has been by ... |
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| I hide the Jeep down one end of the field ... |
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| Carve a new tree with some beauty shooting lane potential ... |
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| I had two close encounters , but have not " closed the deal " yet at that spot ... Although I do get frequent visits from Grouse and Turkeys , which makes the time on stand go by quickly ! |
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| The sun shines off the side of a Menonnite buggy as the night draws to an end ... |
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| I see deer in the corn fields and deer crossing the road on the way to set up today and earlier today Vic R. scores a beauty 10 point ! |
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| It all started earlier today with some planned pushes ( Vic R. , CH . J Stubs , and Dean ) ... Vic was pushing towards the crew , as he walked over the ridge of this corn field , he spotted a deer bedded in a corn row .... using the strong West wind to his favor , the stalk was on ! ( here are some pic's I downloaded from his camera ! ) |
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| After a long stealthy stalk ( Vic is one stealthy mf ! ) ... he gets to within 12 yards of the bedded buck and lets fly a bolt of the deck of his older model carved tip limbed Excalibur Exocet ( still a sweet shooter ! ) ... the buck bolts off and crashes thru the corn ! A difficult trail to follow ! LOL! |
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| After the drag out ... a better look at the buck . |
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| The crew ... ( CH , J Stubs , Dean ) |
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| And at last .... Vic poses with his beauty 10 point ! The grin says it all ! ... PS : Vic , what ever you do , dont get rid of that " lucky hat " ! |
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============================================================================ Gery Bourgoin Dec, 24, 2009 Well i took this week off work to spend with family and do a little hunting.  Ok a lot of hunting.
I had some close calls but the bucks were avoiding me. On Tuesday I had
6 deer coming my way and 2 coyotes came out and ran them off 
I vowed for revenge on the buggers. I waited to till the sun set and no
more deer came in. So I headed home for the day. Wednesday I was in the
stand at 2:30 and a balmy -11 out. At about 3:15 I see movement about
100 yards off or so and realize it is a coyote and he is heading my
way. click the safety on the crossbow is off. He comes behind me and
gets to about ten yards and he just knows something is not right. So he
turns and heads away from me. I had one opening at 33 yards. As soon as
he crossed it I mouse squeaked and he stopped and looked over his
shoulder. And crazy farmers bolt was on its way. I pinned him double
lungs and he ran about twenty yards and pilled up along the swamp.
So I was excited about that hunt and settled in for the rest of the
afternoon in case a deer showed it self. Then about 4:05 I hear foot
steps coming in the snow and look and see a little 8 pointer coming
straight for me. And right behind him about 40 yards back all I see is
horns coming through the woods. Talk about my heart trying to jump out
of my clothes. I am trying to convince myself to calm down and it is
not working. The closer he got the more nervous I got. Then the little
buck stopped and the bigger buck caught up to him and they tinkled
horns for a minute which was cool to see. They were not smashing each
other just lightly tapping each other. Then the little buck starts to
walk to me and the big buck was following right behind him. The little
guy passed at about 22 yards and the big buck stopped at 30 yards and I
was going to shoot him then but held off. Then after about a minute he
walked forward and gave me a 20 yard broadside shot. I settled the
scope on the crossbow right behind the shoulder and let an arrow fly.
Then it is a blur. He took off out of sight and I start second guessing
my shot. It felt good but I have a terrible habit of pulling my head up
to see were I hit the deer after a shot. And of course you never can.
So I gave him an hour before I got down from the stand. When I went to
where he was when I shot him there is blood everywhere and the trail is
easy to follow. It is spraying out 3 feet everywhere and he only went
about 70 yards or so before he went down. Man there was no ground
shrinkage on this walk up. If anything he got bigger. And of course it
was the one hunt I did not bring my four-wheeler with me. So I had to go
home and get the bike and help. Man this buck has mass he has 6 inch
bases and 13 points and very cool bladed brow tines. And he has a
kicker on his one side off the G2. I put the tape to him last night and
I come up with 169 gross and he weighed 185 pounds. What an early Christmas gift for me. I love to see all the countless hours scouting
is paying off. the first pic is the coyote I got. I took that pic this
morning after I got up and the other pics of the deer are at the spot
were I found him. Good luck to all that are after whitetails still.
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Rick's journal, Dec 21st, 2009
A quick summary ... the season started off well ... I was able to get " red arrow " and " trophy " shots ...
CH on opening day ...
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A nice sized doe for me ...
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A nice November harvest ..
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The biggest deer I saw in the field that week was this one ...
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Now late season and we are seeing deer ... but they
are not cooperating with the 20 yard shots ... of course it helps to
range occationally so you don't get rusty , as I found out with this
shot ... with only an over the back haircut to show for my efforts !
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Been lovin the time outdoors though ! ... Seeing lots of turkeys as we move from stand to stand ..
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Buried in the snow further North ...
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Got the young lad from next door out for a bit ... he
is a great apprentice and a quick study .. I hope to post some pictures
of his 1st harvest , when he connects with his Wolverine !
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============================================================================Ian Ferguson, Dec 20, 2009
It has been another very frustrating season for me, done my homework,
scouting, trail cams and glassing. I have put in all my spare time into
it this year like every other and I have never seen so few deer in a
season. Two out of my three hunting area's have produced almost zip for
sightings this year and only a handful of sightings in my third area.
This weekend passing was my last kick at the can, the buzzer, do or die
etc etc. I have been fighting a sinus infection for the last week or so
and been doing my best to be rid of it (without success) for this
weekends final attempt to fill a tag and put some meat in the freezer.
I finally got a couple young bucks on the trail cams this past week so
I crossed my fingers for my final hunt. Saturday got up early and went
ice fishing for the first time this year with three buds (we caught 7
Walleye 2.5lbs-9lbs) came home got my gear together had a coffee and it
was time for a good hot lunch.
Got Bundled up as it was chilly
at -8 degrees and a steady breeze out of the north east, was settled in
the stand by 2:40pm. Well I waited and waited and it felt like my
sinuses were going to explode and could not breath through my nose at
all and my forehead was pounding. I tell you an hour on stand felt like
three and after what seemed like an eternity the sun was setting behind
the trees over my left shoulder. At this point I was beginning to plan
my exit and get out of there and in someplace warm. Just then I could
hear faint crunching hoof steps in the hard snow to the north east of
me approaching at a steady pace. I watched him come right to me and
stopped at about 33 yards but he was facing me I had no shot, just then
a smaller buck came into range from the east. Finally after what seemed
like 10 min. but was probably only 30 seconds the bigger one turned
broadside at 33 yrds to face the oncoming smaller buck. I placed my
30yrd marker in the lumizone at the top of the bucks heart and
squeezed, the arrow hit its mark with hollow thud and the buck reared
his hind legs straight up putting the buck in a vertical position then
he hit the ground running. He ran like a bullet for 40 yrds before
piling up near the fence line. I got out of my stand hoofed it back
home to get some help, get warm and food in my gullet. Returned for
recovery with lots of help and all with full guts, the blood trail was
very easy to follow. Lots of handshakes and high fives, I feel very
fortunate to have the opportunity to take a buck this year, I honestly
didn't think it was meant to be this year. Numbers seem to be way down
in most areas.
I used my trusty old Exocet 165 with added
magtips and a Boo string, 2117's with white wraps, 2" orange blazers,
Wasp Boss 100grn, Lumizone and Bushnel Yardage Pro. The shot was a
complete pass through through the heart at 33yrds. Recovery was 40yrds
with a massive blood trail. 8 point buck.
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Rick's Journal Oct 23, 2009
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| Some of you might remember my young GSP " Axle " ... Although he will sit still for a picture , he is usally in high gear like a race car with no brakes ! He has been feeling neglected since I was spending so much time chasing whitetails .. |
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| Even Wylie H. ( aka WalkNtall ) has been putting time in the new stand ..' |
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| Today , I had planned to try out the new Boo string on my Y25 Relayer and a new " Tagged Out " , Sight System that Ed Humpert sent me , in an attempt to fill my fall turkey tag before time runs out ... I was bent on teaching " Axle " some manners in the blind , so I took him along ... ( a plan I was questioning later !) A brutal windy rainy day was stripping the leaves from the trees in my yard ... |
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| Headed down the lane and snapped a picture of the house on the way out early this morning .. |
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| Drove North approx 1.3 hours to my favorite turkey spot ... |
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| A long drive back the muddy lane at the farm ... |
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| To my blind |
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| Which over looks a cut hay field |
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| That the turkeys skirt to get at the overflow spilled sileage in the corn stubblefield ... |
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Then it poured and poured and the wind picked up .... the blind was leaking like a siv ...
I got miserable and wet , real
quick ... but I did get some encouraging e-mails from misc forum
members , telling me to hang in there !
When the 1st birds arrived , " Axle " started to whine ... I
clamped his muzzle and gave him a firm under my breath " nooooooo ! " I
was just about to line up on a jake when he jammed his head out the
blind and barked like a madman , nearly knocking me off my chair !
Needless to say the birds bugged out and " Axle " and I had a " little discussion "
I was still getting , " wait em out R.J. " e-mails from friends ...
And wait em out we did!
Shortly after 11:15 am ... I
was looking at my feet , watching rain run off my hooded head , when a
long line of hens and young birds parade past the blind ... Axle is
laying down and has his leash screwed into the ground with a stake at
the LH side of the blind ... I see a bearded birds about 60 yards away
and two hens peck each other about 15 yards in front as the rest of the
birds filter to my left ... thats when " Axle " starts to rise up when
he hears a cluck ...
I know this is it ...
I center the " Tagged Out " crosshairs on the closest hen and let fly
my standard 2213 / 130 grain Wasp combo , propelled by my new " Boo
string " , as " Axle " spots the rest of the group and trys to jump
thru the partially open left side window of the blind pulling the stake
out of the ground as he goes ...
Next thing I know I'm sitting in the downpour with no blind watching "
Axle " tangled in the blind , trying to scream across the field after
one of the flyers ...
I scramble to get the camera under my coat and out of the elements ...
My bird had done a crazy flap dance out of sight around the corner to
the corn stubble before " Axle " could get untangled from the tore down
blind ...
Here is the " walk up "
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| The only good thing " Axle " did was find my arrow ... I had searched for it and gave up on finding it .... as I was collecting gear that was scattered about , I noticed him licking the ground out in the field .. I pulled my arrow back out of the grass and took a quick picture . |
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| All I could do was laugh out loud and praise him ! After all , he was having fun ! Laughing Laughing Packed up the Jeep and headed home ... |
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| When we got home , I set up everything in the barn to dry out ... " Axle " was kinda diggin the blind as an ambush point ! |
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| He was eye ballin this Kitty ... , but the kitty's are too fast for him ! |
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| A quick gear shot showing my " Y25 Relayer " , with " Boo string " and " Tagged Out " sight system .. |
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| Then ... on to the bird cleaning before the Kitty's get it done for me ! |
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Congrats to all that braved the weather today! ... "Can't get em sitting at home"!
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Rick Johnson's journal Oct 17, 2009
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| The bucks have been eluding me since opening day ... Had a few close calls but never closed the deal ... Moved around from farm to farm ... crops coming off now and some fields are getting plowed under already ... |
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| Some farms , harvest the old fashion way ... |
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| I bought a fall turkey tag as well and set up a ground blind ... to use for turkey and deer ... |
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| At one farm I hunt , they nearly lost a load during the corn cut ... |
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| But got enough tractors hooked up to it and were able to pull it out .. |
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| Been hunting the small corn plot at the river flats were I have seen a few bucks ... |
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| Fresh doe tracks over my Jeep tracks since last time in ... |
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| Found a new , well used trail thru the grass ... |
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| Carved a new tree for my climber ... |
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| With a nice 20 yard view to the field and some intersection trails ... had a nice buck coming in after a series of grunt calls but he held up and spooked when the farmer made a pass with the corn trailer .. |
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| Got out with a couple of guys from work thru the week ... We drove in Gabes Tachoma , and we hunted a bean field were I saw a beauty buck last Sunday .. |
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| Have been seeing human and dog tracks around the property perimeter , and heard a beagle tounging the other night ... This old gent has been crossing a few boundaries walking his dog lately ... Maybe thats why the bucks have been spooky ? |
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| I put Gabe in a ladder stand with a West wind in his face ... |
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| I went up another tree with some decent shooting lanes overlooking good food source .... but still no luck .. |
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| More and more beans coming off ... |
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| I keep moving around and scouting from farm to farm ... as the farmers keep busy taking advantage of the good weather to get crops off .. |
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| I see many does , but the bucks elude me ... |
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Until tonight !!
Got off work and got into the field late , but figured " can't get anything staying at home "
I packed my climber for a walk
around the property ... Gave my Y25 Relayer a rest and just for the
heck of it , took out my snow camo Vixen ( The one I won from last
years photo contest ) ... I had recently put a new string on that I got
from Boo and sighted it in with the factory fiber optic sights ....
shooting great groups at 20 an 30 yards ..
The wind was out of the East
tonight so I kept it in my face and scouted for fresh buck sign ... On
my walk about , I found some great sign just inside the bushline where
a buck had left some fresh boundary scrapes and tree rubs ...
Decided to try a buck bomb ( although I figured it was too early for it , I was interested to see if I could get any action ..
I sprayed out the buck bomb ,
and I climbed on about 12 feet with my climber to shoot an opening on
the fresh trail I found .. Did a quick series of aggressive grunts then
shut up and waited to see what the evening would bring ..
I heard a loud branch snap
around 6:00 pm ... by 6:10 pm I had a large bodied buck grunting his
way along inside the treeline ... I got ready for the shot but he
passed just outside my shooting lane with too much slash in the way ...
I tried to grunt him back , but all went quite ? .... I figured my
night was over ...
Approx 6:25 pm , I hear a metallic thud behind me , I turned slowly and just about had a heart attack !
15 yards away , a beauty large bodied 10 point has his head down and is
pawing at the empty buck bomb can ... This bucks neck is swollen and
he's zoned on the buck bomb !
As I slowly move the Vixen into
position he starts to lift his head to look towards me ... I slap the
trigger and send my standard 2213 / 130 grain Wasp broadhead combo at
him ..... WACK ! .... He spins and crashes into the bush ... then quiet
.... about 20 mins later , I hear coyotes yelping ? I wait and listen
till dark ... climb down and look for my arrow .. It looks good .
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| My arrow is not far from the turned over empty buck bomb can ... I upright it and snap a quick picture .. |
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| Then I get calls from CH and Sandman to see how I'm doing ... help is on the way ! I snap a quick picture of my gear at the base of the tree ... |
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| Thanks again to Boo for donating the Vixen in last years photo contest ! It's a sweeeeet shooter ! |
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Thanks again to Boo for donating the Vixen in last years photo contest ! It's a sweeeeet shooter !
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| As I follow the blood trail I can hear the coyotes yelping close by again ... I only go approx 45 yards and fiind him piled up at the base of a tree .. I snap a couple of walk up shots and find he is actually an 11 pointer ! Very Happy 15 yard shot ... 2213 with 139 grain Wasp Broadhead .. complete pass thru , high but clipped both lungs ... 45 yard recovery distance .. |
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| CH and Sandman arrive to help with the drag out and take a final picture ..... man we cant get over how big his neck is and how much he stinks of rut ! ( seems way to early for that ?? ) |
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| Field dressed and tagged .... time to download pictures and get some sleep ( gotta work tomorrow) |
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Been a busy week! ... But I put in my time and it paid off! ... good luck to all that are chasing Whitetails this weekend
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