Thanks Jay. I spoke with him, thanks for the tip.

Thanks for the help guys. I have looked at the two suggestions mentioned and they seem great. Yesterday, I ran acrossed a guy in Wisconsin who has some pups with 3 national titles in the blood line. The titles are from ebonstar lean mac and the others are out of the candlewood kennel. If everything checks out I may go with him. I also looked at High Brass Kennels in Benson, MN. Any other info would still be appreciated though. Thank you!

I have not used it but Summit has an “openshot” stand that weighs in at only 14 lbs. The platform for this stand seems to be small thouh. good luck

Can’t wait to shoot another tooth pick of a bow and find it to be loud and unforgiving. Hope those new skinny limbs snap too! —–just a joke, there are several great bows out there but I will stick with my whisper soft Protec!

After reading everyone’s posts and simply revisiting my thoughts, I will say I think I agree with most of you. I have always been one that feels that the least amount of government or rules is the best government. With that in mind, I would be as happy as I could be if they simply moved the gun season back further. I would even be pleased if they moved it up a bit. The first week of November is about the worst possible time to have it in my opinion. Raise the fees somewhere……whether it is fishing or hunting makes no difference to me. Move the gun season out the most vulnerable time in a buck’s life and see where it takes us. MN still has good deer, I just wish I could see its potential reached!

trees…there are trees in the photo???? great mass, great buck!

registered and ready to roll!

I could be wrong…I said the 136 figure as I believe the extra 5 bucks goes to deer donation program. My Fathe rpaid 141 this year (from PA)Either way, I wouldn’t be against raising the price. Thanks for the info. Is it possible that we had a reciprocal fee in the last few years???

Here are my thoughts. First off, if I am not mistaken, Minnesota charges non resident hunters exactly what we would be charged in that state. In other words, if it costs me 136 bucks to hunt Pennsylvania as a MN resident, it cost a PA resident 136 bucks to hunt MN. This may differ a little bit in Iowa where they force you to buy both a doe tag and a buck tag but it is still a bit more than people realize. Perhaps they are only charged what we get for the buck portion of the license?? That said, I would be all for a higher non resident license.

Also, we all know that deer, namely big bucks, are most vulnerable during the rut. We also know that is far easier to kill a buck by way of a gun. Moving the gun season back at least two weeks would help bucks grow larger and live longer. These deer would grow big for gun and bow hunters alike. I am not sure how someone thinks a bow hunter would “corner the market”. Furthermore, I think we have an incredible amount of time to bag a buck with a gun. with a muzzeloader, coupled with the traditional gun seasons, I think you can hunt a month or longer with the ability to throw some lead around. I know gun hunters have complained about the length of bow seasons……why not pick up a bow and hunt?
I think we can get the bucks we want by doing a couple of things. I wouldn’t be against an earn a buck program. Why not make all non residents tag a doe first? For that matter, I wouldn’t be against having to do that myself as a resident. Perhaps all residents could be given the chance to bag a buck with a tweak or two. How about making residents earn a buck every other year? I have never really heard of a program like that for residents but I am all for our state producing larger bucks. I too hunted Iowa with my Father this year. I have hunted MN, WI, IA, PA and Saskatchewan. I am familiar with NY as well. By far my best hunt took place in Iowa. My Father would say the same I beleive. I am all for other suggestions but I would start by moving the gun season out of the rut. I would recommend some sort of earn a buck program for non residents at least. I also would not be completely opposed to a 3 or 4 point on one side minimum. I would have this rule for adult hunters only though. I think it decreases the amount times people shoot at running deer. This allows bucks to get bigger. It makes for a safer hunt for everyone as well. Any other ideas?

I shoot the NAP quick spins and I like them as well. I have not tried the blazers but I feel the NAP vanes are accurate. I would also say that if you choose the NAP’s I recommend using a multy bulls’eyed target. The NAP vanes do not hold up very well when you start slapping arrows together in tight groups. Aside from that, I have zero complaints with them.

I don’t want to be one to read into anything too far but I thought it could be that the antler is holding the head up. I am not sure but perhaps the antler is resting against th tailgate/light or maybe even the cable that holds the tail gate level….just a thought.

cool video!

look to the west I will do…if and when the time comes. Thanks a bunch guys!

congrats on a great deer. Love the fact you have him before and after!

Thanks John. I am not opposed to spending some money on a good line of dogs. I guess I just didn’t want my post to become a clasified add for breeders as much as anything. When the day comes, I am not opposed to spending a fair amount,,,,,,that said,two thousand is way too much in my opinion. In short, a fair market value is fine by me and I will absolutely remember your advice when the time comes. Thanks John and everybody else!

As long as it was legal, that is a great deer regardless of when it was taken, how long ago it was taken, or how it was cleaned. A real trophy, I would love to see the trail cam pics.

great story. I hope you let her dress it out for you…..just kidding. Congrats on a great hunt and a great day!

thanks for the help. I will continue to examine which dog to choose over time. I have never pheasant hunted or duck hunted to be honest. Duck hunting seems to be an awful lot of work but I think it would be enjoyable. Pheasant hunting would be fun but I think it would be hard to pull me out of a deer stand. It may be that I use this dog for a companion more than anything. I have a lot to think about but I do have time as it just would not make sense for me to own a dog for another 3 years or so. thanks for the advice !!

great buck. hope a great story follows!

An absolute monsterright here in Olmsted county….and I drive over an hour to hunt Houston County! Congratulations on a true trophy.

Iowa bow buck on State land. He measures about 155.

I have to say that the story behind this buck is a fairly unique one. My Dad comes out to visit me and hunt with me every year and this year was no exception. I am from PA originally and he still resides there. To make a fairly long story as short as possible, I will cut to the chase. We were lucky enough to draw Iowa tags but we thought we would try our luck in MN first. I believe it was 10/29 and I climbed into my tree stand to tag a decent buck. At about 8am I saw a nice even 10 pt appear in front of me at about 40 yards. After a few moments I was able to get the buck to walk by me at 26 yards. I went to draw back only to realize that I had bumped my arrow off the rest….completely to the ground as I turned to get into shooting position. I heard the arrow drop but mistakenly thought it was mud from the boots. In any event, I tried to ready another arrow but the wise buck walked away with a bit of an education on stupid hunters. I will say that it wasn’t all bad as my Dad was able to harvest the same buck about a half mile away on the other side of the property. I was truly glad he was able to harvest him….I was able to sleep at least. Anyway, it was on to Iowa for us where we limited to state land for our hunting grounds. My first night in the stand was promising as I saw a decent main frame 10pt (12 scoreable). I let him go as I am well aware of the potential in Iowa. Previous obligations caused me to miss a day of hunting but I was able to hunt a ridge top stand that had tons of buck sign, including two large sign post rubs on cedar trees the following Tuesday. My Dad hung a set on a fence line that would be great for the prevailing NW winds we would get the next two days. I hunted that stand and I saw a lot of action! I saw no less than 8 bucks that morning all before noon. The next day was just as great as I saw two shooters. One shooter looked to be a thick beamed bruiser with a broken tine or two. I was unable to get a great look because I had that same 12 point I saw earlier in the week right below me. He had not spooked but was certainly curious as to what the greyish green blob was in the tree above him. I didn’t want to move and therefore didn’t get an accurate assesment of the broken tine and the rest the rack on the shooter 50 ards away. Giving the stand a rest, nobody hunted it the next day. On Thursday, my Father hunted the stand and he said he saw a shooter 8pt and a 10pt with a broken tine on him. He felt he would score 150 and that he had great beams and brow tines. he felt like my description of the deer I saw matched the deer he had an encounter with. The encounter……..at just 14 yards my Dad took a shot at he big ten. Unfortunately he missed. Fortunately, the limb he hit deflected the arrow enough that the arrow never touched the buck much less hurt him. After talking it over with my Dad, we felt like we had a good idea of the bucks habits. We felt like we knew where he was bedding and we would hunt him accordingly. We were confident but not positive because both times we saw this deer he was with a doe…for all we knew that buck would be 3 hills ov er chasing a hot doe the next day. Sunday brought winds out of the SE……horrible for the set we had hung. My Dad suggested I go in with a climber and go for broke. A long morning walk found myself searching for the perfect tree that would allow me to hunt the trail that led to the cedar thicket that hopefully held the big ten. I climbed a tree about 20 yards from the trail I wanted to hunt, only 80 yards from our original set. I saw a depressingly small amount of deer activity with just 4 deer from dawn until 3:30 or so. AT 3:40 I caught some movement from the cedars. The movement was topped off with some antler. A quick look through the binoculars declared he was a shooter. I quickly ranged my shooting lane one more time(23 yards). I stood and waited on the buck. He took his natural route, all by himself on this day. A few short steps before my shooting lane the buck stopped. A quick peek at his rack told me that he was a high racked buck with great brow tines. he didn’t seem too wide though. In any event, he was a shooter I would be proud to have. As I stopped the buck, he quartered to ever so slightly. I let the arrow fly, hoping to get a lung and liver. The shot felt, sounded and looked good. As my Dad likes to say, “it sounded like a my arrow hit a watermelon”. It was only 3:42 in the afternoon as I watched the buck runat first, and then walk over the crest of the ridge top. I saw him last at about 50 yards away, he disappeared with no crash. He looked hurt but with the shot angle I waited until dark and then backed out after retrieving my arrow. The arrow was covered in blood as well. I returned to the hotel to share the story with my Dad. An inclement weather forecast led my Dad and I to go back into the woods in the dark to try to find the buck. We unfortunately did not find a whole lot of blood to speak of. We did find enough to conclude that the back was walking a trail that angled down hill but began to level out. As I sat at the last site of blood, my Dad looked for the next blood spot approximately 50 yards away from me. It was at this point I saw m Dad’s head lamp fix itself on one position down hill. He followed the path of the light about 30 yards down hill and said “Mike”. Hurredly I said “yeah”. “You better go get the cart” my Dad calls out! I sprinted through the dark of the woods to get to the big buck. As I approached him, I experienced ground growth…not shrinkage. I was looking at a great main frame 10pt with a split brow tine. His unique rack shoots right out of his head and I think this confused me. His great V-shaped rack leads you to believe he isn’t wide. His great height makes his width look small. After further inspection, we saw the buck had a nice spread that measured 19 1/2 on the inside. A broken tine didn’t hide or dampen my excitement. I was elated to find the buck, the same buck I saw earlier and the same buck my Dad shot at but missed. Finally I get to the conclusion of the whacky story. I botched my chance at 140 class 10 in MN only to have my Dad harvest him the same evening. My Dad missed his chance at this buck, only to have me harvest him two days later! Turn about is fairplay I guess! My dad measures him out at 155 with 6 0f the 8 circumfrance measurements exceeding 5 inches. His bases are about 4 5/8 I believe. I am not sure exactly what he measures. I just know he is truly a trophy, broken tine and all. It capped a great hunt and a great 12 days with my Father. We were both successful in our hunts…a bit of icing on the cake. I will try to post a pic of his buck when he gets around to emailing them to me. Sorry about the long story and I hope you enjoyed it!

it took me a while to register but I am here. I will try to get a story of the hunt posted here shortly but for now I will say that he green scores about 155 unofficially. He is my best bow kill yet so I am happy. Glad to be a part of the site…. good luck to all!