Ok so Ive been back for several days but the only pics I took were real film so had to get them developed... I hate stories and threads without supporting pics.
In May, while in Iraq, I discovered that a 10 year friend had never mentioned a 200 acre farm in his family in Washington County Wisconsin. Well, I had my research done an hour later. So, I took leave from the Army, hoped a plane to Chicago and drove to SE Wisconsin for a 7 day hunt for whitetails. On the drive up I saw a 10 pt buck chasing a doe just after 12 noon... in a wide open field... just at the Illinois / Wisconsin border. It seemed like a good sign.
I arrived at the farm and glassed from the house but saw nothing but cows... moooo cows that is
5:00 am, Im in a ladder tree stand freezing my butt off... all I see is a doe.
Later that afternoon I see a 1.5 year old 3x2 in my 20 acre field for an hour...never even thought about
pulling the trigger. I climbed down around 530pm.
The next several days are spent the same way. Nights in a hotel, lunch in my stand, dinner was Taco Bell burritos. I was staying on the stand from 5:00am until 5:30pm with about an hour of scouting and stand shifting at 11am or each day.
I kicked my doe up next to a swamp during a mid-day scouting trip following a rub line. Strapped her to the trunk and took her to the check station.
I was getting nervous later in the week so I tried tracking deer in the snow. I hit some public land only to have a deer drive push right under my stand and all they pushed out was me.
I saw a 150 class 10pt and discovered my rifled barrel and scope combo on my 12 gauge isn't made for 200+ yard shots. Neat to see him though.
The day before flying home... after seeing plenty of bucks all week and holding out looking for 140 class deer I had neat little 9pt buck stop in...and I decided he would do.
He is no where near the monsters Ive seen people take in the area... he isn't even related to the 150 class 10 pt I missed... but he was big enough to ride in my rental cars trunk.
Ill be getting him put on the wall... and Ill be back after that 10 pt next year unless Im back in Iraq.
Thanks for reading.
dave