2022 Live From The Tree

Saw a big one this morning.
DT

deertracker wrote:

Saw a big one this morning.
DT

Tell me you’re bored in the stand without saying it..

IDO keeps it hopping after my nap.

deertracker wrote:

Mine isn’t as pretty because of the wind but drifts up to my knees walking in.

If it was up to my knees I seriously would stay on my porch all day.

Last night when I got back to cabin with headlamp on I noticed a couple pairs of eyes on one of the trails and that’s the first (probably) deer I’ve seen this week. . Not even sure if it’s a joke that I should just sit there or not anymore.

BigWerm wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>deertracker wrote:</div>
Saw a big one this morning.
DT

Tell me you’re bored in the stand without saying it..

Gets to be a long week when you are not seeing mature bucks.
DT

deertracker wrote:

Saw a big one this morning.

Did you forget to bring bullets?
A+++ for effort!

Another little buck, fork horn, tonight. Can’t figure out where the big brothers are hanging out.

Wrong thread

My son’s from tonight. He’s been hunting hard for this deer and it paid off tonight.

Insane!
DT

That thing is a creature!

WOWSERS!!; NICE!👍👍

That is a dandy buck! 2 matching drop tines no less. Sweet!

I have to ask though. Is that a pink tractor?

haleysgold wrote:

That is a dandy buck! 2 matching drop tines no less. Sweet!

I have to ask though. Is that a pink tractor?

It’s a Mahindra sub compact tractor. It sits outside and paint is faded.

I will gladly own and drive a pink tractor and a pink truck if I get to shoot bucks like that.

Congrats to your son!

Curious what part of the state?

Whoa, great buck! And agree we need some more details on that Hoss!

What a giant, congrates to him!

That is a stud!

Drop tines!

deertracker wrote:

Gets to be a long week when you are not seeing mature bucks.
DT

Heck, I’d give my middle nut just to see a spike the way things have been going.

Shaping up to be a good evening. Already had two small bucks chasing does before 3.
DT

Pailofperch wrote:

I will gladly own and drive a pink tractor and a pink truck if I get to shoot bucks like that.

Congrats to your son!

Curious what part of the state?

SW WI Lafayette County.
He saw it on camera this summer. He lives in the country on 15 acres. It touches about another 65 acres of timber with other hunters on 3 sides. This is ag country with patches of timber that deer move around quite a bit. He figured it was a 3.5 year old. He was afraid if he let it go it would get taken during gun season. Probably be a dozen hunters within a half mile of him come gun season.

Really interesting scenario I witnessed from my stand. On a cut bean field to my south about 150 yards away, I see a big black stray cat walking across out in the open. I had seen this cat a few days earlier too. All of the sudden a coyote appears behind it and it’s on the cat like stink on a monkey. The cat jumps up into the air and when it lands the coyote grabs it on the back of the neck. Done deal. Dead. The yote carries it off for a meal. That cat was living dangerously and got caught in the open without any trees nearby.

One cat down, 20,000 to go.
DT

deertracker wrote:

One cat down, 20,000 to go.
DT

Lol I know. Made my day though.

Have to start somewhere.
DT

Where I hunt we would have gotten our a$$ chewed big time for not shooting the coyote.

Red Eye wrote:

Where I hunt we would have gotten our a$$ chewed big time for not shooting the coyote.

I actually briefly thought about taking out the cat. But then I realized it was only 7:15am and I was intending to sit there for most of the day deer hunting.

Given the choice between having a yote around or a cat, I’ll take the yote every time. At least they are a natural predator.

Well, it’s taken a while guys, but I finally got in the right place at the right time on Saturday.

This is at the Midwest Monster Farm near Hinckley, MN. I had guests hunting on opening weekend, so I did a lot of running around and not much hunting. This past weekend was just me and my dad, so a lot quieter.

We still had bucks on the cameras including the one I called Mr. Big, but all pictures of bucks that were bigger than forkhorns were always at night. Mr. Big was no exception, I had him on multiple cameras over the past 2 weeks, but always moving in the middle of the night.

Saturday morning there was nothing moving. Dad saw a few does on a field, I was sitting on a big ridge that tends to see a lot of crossing activity and I saw nothing. There were no shots in the area except for one from the neighbor to the north and he had texted me that he was short on time and had to “shoot whatever came”. So he got a spike buck that walked past. None of the other adjacent properties has any hunters present.

Saturday after lunch, I moved up to dad’s tower stand that overlooks a field and it also has a ridge that the bucks tend to run as they visit the other fields. It was snowing lightly and a north wind was blowing and I didn’t feel like another sit in the woods.

We sat from 1:00 to about 3:45 and saw nothing. Finally, at 3:45, one grown fawn showed up to eat. That was it. The fawn must have gotten driven off the doe and it was head-down eating in a strip of Eagle’s Buffalo Blend winter grain. After about 20 minutes, I had just decided the fawn was going to be the only deer we saw, but then it put its head up and looked toward the opposite side of the field.

Suddenly, 2 mature does walked into the field. They were big does with no fawns with them. In the trees behind them, I could see another deer and I assumed this would be either another doe or a hanger-on fawn. The does came out and started to eat, but then the deer that was still in the trees moved closer and that caused both does to run into the middle of the field. Strange!

And just like that, Mr. Big trotted out into the field. Holy Moses. I had to do a double and triple check through the binos, I could not freaking believe it. “It’s Mr. Big.” Dad and I whispered it in unison.

Dad said, “Take him out your side, he’s too far for me.” I was just about going nuts thinking he was going to chase the does out the far side of the field and be gone before I could get a shot set up.

Luck was on my side. Mr. Big, apparently, decided that since he could keep his little harem in sight, he may as well stop for something to eat. So he put his head down and started eating. Which produced a huge problem for me because he was facing straight away from me and all I could see was his ample arse-end.

A lot of cursing ensued as Mr. Big spend what felt like 237 years working his way slowly across the field, but all the time he was still facing straight away. The good news is I had plenty of time to screw around with rangefinders and making sure my rest was stable. The bad news was I was damn near having kittens thinking that he could spook at any time and bolt straight away from me to disappear into the woods without ever giving me a shot. And to add some stress, I was running out of shooting time. It was 15 minutes to sunset and since it was cloudy, there wasn’t going to be much chance beyond that.

To add another layer to the complications cake, I was shooting a brand-new rifle. I just can never have full confidence in a rifle until it’s actually proven itself on the real deal–by taking down the game. Until then, I’m never confident.

He was at 158 yards and after watching him for about 5 minutes, I said to dad, “Keep on him with your binocs, I’m going to shoot.” Mr. Big took 3 more steps and suddenly swung to my right offering a quartering-away shot. Not great, but I was running out of options and daylight.

“I’m shooting. Watch him, I’m on him. 3—–2—-…” BOOOOM! The new Weatherby spoke and a load of Varget powder sent a 120-grain, 6.5 MM slug on its way at about 160 yards.

WHOP! Mr, Big pitched forward and died with his boots on. The Nosler BT hit him about mid-rib cage and exited his neck about halfway between his shoulders and head, killing him instantly.

To say I was relieved would be the understatement of the year. I have never seen a buck this big on the hoof, much less had a chance to take a shot. This is an absolute trophy for this area, it is very rare to have this kind of opportunity in 159, the combination of hunting pressure and winter attrition are hard on bucks.

What a weekend. It was so great dad and I got to be together to take the biggest deer that’s ever come off of the Midwest Monster Farm.

Nice heavy rack. Is that your stand in the back ground of that one photo?