I'm back from KS and I have a little souvenir

[skin_dog1]

He's busted up real good on the left, but I think his right side profile is nice!:D I'll post some more pics and a story later, but I just got in and it was a 14 hour trip. We both tagged bucks, but my buddy couldn't hold out for a big one. Mine field dressed at 207 lbs! and if his left side matched the right he'd have about 150 inches of antler! His left G4 is busted at the main beam and the left G-2 is busted to about 3 inches from the beam. His right g-2 is 11" and g-3's are both 10", and 21.5" beams. He's got character and is gonna look awesome on the wall! Thanks to everyone that wished me well. It was the trip of a lifetime!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v34/skin_dog1/DSCF0451.jpg

[deerhunter401]

GOOD JOB! GREAT BUCK. we were startin to miss ya glad you had a good hun and a good trip

[beef]

Nice buck skin dog 1, Glad you had a good trip.

[WhitetailHunter2000]

Amazing, SD...super nice animal. Congrats.

[turk2di]

Wow buddy, that's some bruiser! Details! A huge congrats on a great buck and im sure, as u walk around on cloud nine, memories for a lifetime!

[H-Digger]

Good job Skin D , Man your having a hell of a season , congratulations.

[ril7572]

Congrats. Dave, that is a great buck.

[S.Pace]

Wonderful buck!!!!!!!!!!!! Congrats!!!!!!!

[lab]

Awesome job Skinner. Can't wait to hear the story. Glad to have you back.

[RutNBuck]

Congrats...very nice deer...deer god's have sure blessed you this year..

[Mount-N-Man]

Congrats, great buck.

[N2MyWake]

Great buck! Wow my mouth is watering to go hunting this weekend.

[skin_dog1]

My first evening in the stand I saw a real nice deer. He came to the horns and made a scrape 12 yards away broad side. He was a good sized bodied deer, but his rack was mangled. He had 6 points on the left, but is right was just a big beam going straight up and forking at the end. I got a quick shot of him on my digital, but you can only make out his body.

The second evening was another great hunt. At 4:30 I rattled in a 1 1/2 y/o 8 that i got some pretty good footage of. He eventually saw the camera and busted me, but it was the second buck in as many days I had passed on. 1 hr later deer started filtering into the stand. Shortly later my buddy called on the radio and said he had one down. It turned out to be a 2 1/2 y/o 8 with 2 kickers off the bases. He field dressed at 158, and my buddy was amazed at the body size after only ever hunting in WV and SC. It was also the first deer to walk past him. About the same time I was filming a real nice 10 pointer and a small 8 fighting at the other end of the field I was in. Eventually 4 bucks eased out in the field and had a little action with one another. In all that evening I saw 5 bucks, 7 does, and my buddy tagged out. The best buck was the 10, and was in the 120-125 range.

The hunt continued like this every evening and morning with deer sightings on all hunts but 1 and buck sightings on all but 1 of those. One day we saw
One day we saw a Hawg chasing a doe across an open field and got a few seconds of video. It was about a 150" 9, maybe better. We hunted him a couple times but never saw him again. Another evening I rattled in a 1 1/2 y'o 5 pointer that worked a rub on a cedar tree as big as my wasit! There goes the theory that only big bucks make big rubs, cause this little guy was tearing it up! Later at last light I heard fighting out in the field and could barely make out the action. A little work on the horns brought in the smaller bodied deer, which turned out to be a 16" wide 8 pointer, not quite what i was after. The bigger deer came to within 80 yards, but wouldn't commit. He did make an awesome grunt snort wheeze that sent chills up my back. We waited til after an hour after dark to get down.

Then came day 8, next to last day, and I'm doubting whether or not I'm gonna get a buck. I had determined that regardless, it was a successful hunt. I had passed on 7 or 8 bucks, saw fights, saw a buck mount another buck(a little post prison fight frustration I guess), a little buck make a huge rub, a sign post 8 inches in diameter, rubbed to 4 inches, and lots of other first time sightings, and close to an hour of wild video footage. I made the comment aftet the first hunt that it looked like I was going home with a tag in my pocket. As we climbed our trees that evening, everything was screwed up. The wind, the noise, me sweating in the 60 degree temps, that had been near freezing a few hours earlier. I got up and everything went to hell in a hand basket. It took an hour to climb the tree and get settled. I thought about all the screwed up situations that have turned out good for me in the past and it lifted my spirits.

30 minutes later my buddy told me he could make out a nice buck down near the big cedar rub, 150 yards away. A few minutes later 2 does ran across a corn field behind us and across the creek we were sitting on. The worked their way down the creek bank and directly behind us. After a minute or so the buck crossed and chased after them in the corn field. The first time I got a good look, he was across the creek at 50 yards. I had tried rattling, grunts, and my buddy had hit his can call. No response frome him except a bunch of grunts. Eventually the does feed off and he followed, I thought out of my life forever. Shoprtly later a small fork horn came down the same trail, but he decided to cross the creek and give me a perfect shot! He was down wind and I just knew he would bust us, but he vever did.

Occasionally I could here the big buck grunt just out of sight. I held hopes he would return, and my buddy was trying to keep my hopes up. I had wanted to set up within yards of where he had just been, but he convinced me other wise.

About 40 minutes go by and I have yet to breath or move a muscle, when I hear foot steps coming towards us. The does were making their way back towards us. This time he passed at 70 yards and started rubbing the life right out of a tree at about 80 yards away.

The does milled around directly across the creek for 20 minutes and eventually fed back down the creek. I motined for my buddy to hit his can call a few times and the buck lifted his head and started looking for the does! UH OH, they were gone, he had done screwed up and lost track of them. He headed to where he last saw em and started sniffing like a bird dog. I guess where they stood around confused him or where the little buck crossed earlier confused him. Either way he started making his way down the creek towards us. I knew I couldn't let him cross casue he'd smell us for sure. Directly away broad side at about 35 yards he stopped and I drew. I settled my 30 yard pin in his lung area and let it fly. It was a perfect shot, right through the shoulder. He went 40 yards and fell dead!

I turned and saw my buddy was going nuts and I was shaking so hard I couldn't atand it. We didn't get the shot on video, but did get about 4 seconds of him the first time he came through. We filemed the recovery and took pics in excellent light. I shot him at 4:36 on election day! Like I said before, he's busted up, but I know what he is and what he was. He is the biggest deer I've ever had a shot on. The neat part about the location is it's less than 100 yards to the spot where we camp at when we pheasant hunt the area. I could see the fire ring and picnic tables from my stand. Hope everyone can stay awake while reading this, I had lots to tell from the hunt of a lifetime!

[lab]

Dude, that was one awesome hunt! I could see every move that those deer made on my mind as I was reading. It makes me want to leave work and go to the stand.

[INKYHUNTER]

Nice buck! Looks like you had some sunshine.

[boonectyhunter5618]

awesome deer :) wow that is a monster!!!! congrats!!! the memory will last forever!!

[Blevins Gap Outdoors]

Great buck, congrats on your kill. Thanks for sharing the story with us, you will remember your hunt forever.

[fordguy]

Nice buck, and good read on your story - congrats!

[gung]

It does sound like you had the trip of a lifetime.congats.

[drew]

Man awsome hunt! Were you hunting w/ an outfitter or on your own? What a hog.

[mapman]

Great story, super deer...I hope I get the chance to hunt the mid-west within the next few years.

[aceoky]

Great buck,and awesome story and pics, thank you very much for taking the time to share them all with us!

A GREAT hunt shared with a freind, man that's living! :)

[deerhntr]

Great buck,congrats

[N2MyWake]

Great story. Sounds like you had your money's worth. Are you having the taxidermy done locally?

[Rusty Ruble]

Congrats on that nice buck!! I had a chance to hunt Northeast Kansas one year and loved it.

Rusty Ruble

[HornHunter]

I thought you said it was a little souvenir!!! nice buck!

[GSP]

Nice one! Glad you had a great trip. Those deer out there look like cattle. What county were you hunting?

[skin_dog1]

This hunt was all done on our own. We spent a good portion of the time on public ground, and hunted just 3 or 4 times on private ground. This one was killed on private ground, but my buddy shot his on public. The other 2 good deer we saw were both on public ground. Not being a butt head, but I'm gonna keep the county to my self. I will say it wasn't in Eastern KS where everyone thinks all the big ones are. Nearly every county in KS has great public oppurtunities. Bow hunters put very little pressure on the deer, and gun season isn't til well after the rut. It gives the do it yourselfer a great chance. I did alot of cyber scouting with aerial photos and we spent the first morning and mid day scouting, and we were easily on deer. We spent a couple additional mornings and afternoons scouting different areas. We concentrated on 2 core areas about 30 miles apart. I had access to 2 square miles of private ground that had an awesome creek bottom through it. I think alot of that land will be public next year.

[GSP]

This hunt was all done on our own. We spent a good portion of the time on public ground, and hunted just 3 or 4 times on private ground. This one was killed on private ground, but my buddy shot his on public. The other 2 good deer we saw were both on public ground. Not being a butt head, but I'm gonna keep the county to my self. I will say it wasn't in Eastern KS where everyone thinks all the big ones are. Nearly every county in KS has great public oppurtunities. Bow hunters put very little pressure on the deer, and gun season isn't til well after the rut. It gives the do it yourselfer a great chance. I did alot of cyber scouting with aerial photos and we spent the first morning and mid day scouting, and we were easily on deer. We spent a couple additional mornings and afternoons scouting different areas. We concentrated on 2 core areas about 30 miles apart. I had access to 2 square miles of private ground that had an awesome creek bottom through it. I think alot of that land will be public next year.Not a problem and I can't say I blame you. I use to hunt out there every year (birds), I don't deer hunt much anymore. I hunted Washington, Cloud and south from there. Also hunted the Abilen area. Hunted alot of the public grounds. Why I asked was I was wondering if you had any bird reports from out there.

[WBBP]

Dave: Great deer. I am so glad your trip was sucessful!

I am going with you next time.................even if I have to sneak!

K

[turk2di]

I agree, riviting story. One must have a good ticker to with stand all that fun! Look 4ward to gettin with ya and seeing some more pics!

[bck-skinnr]

yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. great kill on the big sad daddy.

[Whitetail Nut]

Great deer! Thats what bow hunting is all about!

[P. Beyer]

Great Buck Skins! Congrats:D

[Jblack]

nice deer by anyones standards, especially with a bow, and on your own without a guide.

[12 pointer]

sd, remember before you left i said not to tie the trunk and the luggage down to tight cause i was in there too, well you did and i couldn't get out. i missed the whole trip!!!!!!!!!!! :rolleyes: congrats on the buck and appreciate the story. mike

[Hammer]

congrats!!

[cornbread]

Way to go Skin_Dog! Sign me up for the next trip!

[HUNTTHERUT72]

Good deer and even better stories. Congrat to both of you!