Average Joe Hunting Adventures with Dan and CJ

I ended up getting into Texas a day before my work conference started.

The WMA I hunt in Oklahoma is only a few hours away so I decided to blitz out for a day trip, to hang cams, built some blinds, and scout my honey holes.











I spent the morning glassing an creek bed that I knew got active during the pre-rut and rut.

I saw a doe, a spike, a very pretty fork horn mule deer at 72 yards and then the second biggest whitetail I've ever seen alive in person.....at 80 yards away. Ahhhhh
I had a couple minutes where I was able to watch this monster in my binos and I FIRMLY believe he was a 150+" 8 pointer.....

Im not a trophy hunter by any means, but I just wanted to say his score to give everyone an idea of how big this guy was.

He was one of the nicest looking deer I've ever seen. He had dark chocolate tines with ivory white tips. Ahhhh that buck will haunt my dreams until I get back out there.


I'm very familiar with the area this buck was in and now that I knew there was a mature buck in the area I checked some other spots that surrounded this area. I checked them because I had focused on this area hard in 2014 when I was chasing a very mature buck (who happens to be the biggest deer I've ever seen in person and now hangs on my wall)

Well.... he's in the same areas as my other buck was.











I'll have time against me because I haven't been able to scout this place all year like I use to when I lived in NM, but I will give it my all. My buddy did hang a camera for me in one of my honey holes before I got out and I've got lots of activity....

Here are some of the pics.















Speaking of hogs, I did have one come in at 45 yards yesterday, but it happened so fast I couldn't get a shot off! They are quick!
I found a few hog wallows so I'll be chasing a lot of things the next few days.




So now I'm stuck at my work conference dreaming of hunting. I'll be back out there Friday evening and I cannot wait!!!

Double post

I just need to get through a few more hours of this work conference, pick my buddy up at the airport, and I am heading back to Oklahoma!!!!
Temps will be cooling down tonight and I cannot wait to get back out there!

It's been a couple weeks since I checked this thread. Congrats on your guys' continued success!

I bet the freezers are overflowing.

LCH said:

It's been a couple weeks since I checked this thread. Congrats on your guys' continued success!

I bet the freezers are overflowing.

Click to expand...

Thank you! The freezer is definitely doing well and it keeps me and my belly happy.
My goal is always to put enough meat into the freezer so I can eat it throughout the year and not ration it.
When I have a slower year I feel like I'm working a budget, but for my meat. Ha ha

The nice thing about this year is I've been able to share some with family and friends as well. My wife usually doesn't allow me to give away elk, but we've been able to share some deer and antelope with some good people and they appreciate it!

It's amazing how much you can promote hunting through letting non-hunters try game meat for the first time. I've got a few friends who want to go buy freezers and bows now. Lol!

I picked my buddy up at the airport and we made our way to Oklahoma.

Before we left Texas we stopped to visit a buddy to see his monster whitetail that he shot this year.... talk about some motivation.





Talk about STUD!


Alright, back on the road!

Once we hit the border we stopped at a tiny little towns steak house and enjoyed a quick meal.




We got to our "camp", meet up with another buddy, set up and grabbed some snacks.













Tomorrow is going to be a WINDY day, but we will make it happen.

I'll check cams and get us a good game plan going.

Today was a very busy day.
We woke up to 40mph winds and that made it pretty interesting morning.

I wasn't seeing anything, so I met up with a buddy who said he was watching some does play about 600 yards away.
I put up my binos and sure enough there were some mule deer bedded down across a canyon.

We couldn't walk directly towards them because they would have pegged us, so swept a long way around and game in on the same level as them. We got within 30 yards and saw there was a buck and three does. I told my buddy he could shoot the buck and I'd shoot a doe. My buddy shot and then I shot my doe. I watched her go about 50 yards and fall over. These mechanicals do alright on deer!

We went to investigate my buddies shot and after about 4 hours of searching we came to the conclusion that he didn't hit the deer.

Here is my doe



Today I saw a total of 14 deer, but no bucks that I was interested in.

The winds are gone now and the temps are dropping a bunch, so I have a real good feeling about tomorrow.

I'm pretty dang excited about this doe.
This is my fourth season using a bow and this doe was my number 10 deer bow kill.
On top of that this was the first deer that I've seen bedded and been able to sneak in on. Even better I was able to do it right next to a good buddy.

Today was a great day.

Well tonight's going to be a long and dreadful night.

This season has been so good to me, but today I sucker punched myself....

The morning started great. Super crisp and cold morning after a super windy day.

My buddy wanted to sit a food plot and had two deer come in early. One being a nice buck.



While he was watching those, I was in a little deeper in a spot I knew deer traveled through a lot in November. Sure enough at 7:55 a buck came in at 36 yards... quartering away... calm... I stop him, fire, and hit back. The second I saw the hit I knew I wasn't going to be having a good day. He ran 35 yards and stood there. He was behind some brush and trees, but with my binos I could see him. He stood for what seemed like 3-5 minutes and then bedded down. I was able to see his antlers doing the dead head wobble for about 30 minutes.
When I figure hit the buck back I told myself I was waiting a 4 hour minimum.

After 1 3/4 hours and being over an hour since I saw the head moving, LIKE AN IDIOT.... I decided to move to higher ground to get a better view. As I crested the top the buck was alive and could see me. I sat down and watched him in my binos, but after 10 minutes he got up and walked off....
He was moving really slow and I knew he was hurt. In my head I was thinking I hit liver and guts. From the side I could see (entry side) I couldn't see anything.

He was heading towards and area I'm familiar with and I decided I needed to get ahead of him because he was moving so slow. I sprinted across a canyon, 4 fingers, and got to a ridge I knew he would probably pass. As I crest that ridge, guess who is under me.... then like an idiot... I went into kill mode instead of take your time and range mode.... I figured he was 40 and shot right over his back...
He was at 30 yards.....

I watched him walk away. He didn't sprint or blast out. So I marked last spot I saw him and backed out.

I went back to where he first bedded down and this is what I found.









Based off this blood I think I hit liver.
Now I was really mad because if I would have just sat still or backed out this buck would be in my truck.

I backed out for lunch and an additional 3 hours. I went in to where I saw him last this evening and grid searched for 3 hours until last light... nothing...

I could be sick. I'll be back out there all tomorrow looking for this buck, but I'm so mad at myself for breaking my own golden rule. If in doubt... pull out! Don't push those deer! I'm so mad....
My arrow reads 100% gut, but I still think I hit some liver too.







On a positive note my buddy shot a nice buck tonight.










I'll post results of how the search goes tomorrow....

Well tonight's going to be a long and dreadful night.

This season has been so good to me, but today I sucker punched myself....

The morning started great. Super crisp and cold morning after a super windy day.

My buddy wanted to sit a food plot and had two deer come in early. One being a nice buck.



While he was watching those, I was in a little deeper in a spot I knew deer traveled through a lot in November. Sure enough at 7:55 a buck came in at 36 yards... quartering away... calm... I stop him, fire, and hit back. The second I saw the hit I knew I wasn't going to be having a good day. He ran 35 yards and stood there. He was behind some brush and trees, but with my binos I could see him. He stood for what seemed like 3-5 minutes and then bedded down. I was able to see his antlers doing the dead head wobble for about 30 minutes.
When I figure hit the buck back I told myself I was waiting a 4 hour minimum.

After 1 3/4 hours and being over an hour since I saw the head moving, LIKE AN IDIOT.... I decided to move to higher ground to get a better view. As I crested the top the buck was alive and could see me. I sat down and watched him in my binos, but after 10 minutes he got up and walked off....
He was moving really slow and I knew he was hurt. In my head I was thinking I hit liver and guts. From the side I could see (entry side) I couldn't see anything.

He was heading towards and area I'm familiar with and I decided I needed to get ahead of him because he was moving so slow. I sprinted across a canyon, 4 fingers, and got to a ridge I knew he would probably pass. As I crest that ridge, guess who is under me.... then like an idiot... I went into kill mode instead of take your time and range mode.... I figured he was 40 and shot right over his back...
He was at 30 yards.....

I watched him walk away. He didn't sprint or blast out. So I marked last spot I saw him and backed out.

I went back to where he first bedded down and this is what I found.









Based off this blood I think I hit liver.
Now I was really mad because if I would have just sat still or backed out this buck would be in my truck.

I backed out for lunch and an additional 3 hours. I went in to where I saw him last this evening and grid searched for 3 hours until last light... nothing...

I could be sick. I'll be back out there all tomorrow looking for this buck, but I'm so mad at myself for breaking my own golden rule. If in doubt... pull out! Don't push those deer! I'm so mad....
My arrow reads 100% gut, but I still think I hit some liver too.







On a positive note my buddy shot a nice buck tonight.










I'll post results of how the search goes tomorrow....

This was the buck I shot today.

Well the elk hunt with my buddy was uneventful. We saw zero elk, and my buddy managed to catch a pretty bad cold so we called it after the first day. We saw quite a few deer, and I rolled a coyote but couldn't find him in the sage and grass.

Shooting that coyote have me the predator hunting itch, so this afternoon I took my coyote gun for nature hike in the foothills.



I didn't find any coyotes, but after I found these 2 bucks trying to find some love I was reminded that I should have bought a second deer tag while they were still available...

Well today did not go well.....
I searched the entire day and found nothing. I looked for blood, I looked for him, I grid searched the entire area and well beyond.... nothing.
I'm absolutely sick! I've not gut shot anything before and it's not a good feeling at all. This was quite the learning experience and not a fun one.

During my search I did find some trash (which I picked up), a bunch of sign, and a shed.





If you ever wondered where those balloons fly off to.... its Oklahoma WMAs.





Very nice whitetail shed. If this was last years then he's going to be a dandy this year and the next. It's cool how he has the sticker on the inside of his beam.







There's something like 6-8 rubs in this picture.


My two buddies sat a food plot tonight and had a buck come in, but it didn't present a shot. They got it on film though and it came out pretty cool. Young buck with a main beam snapped off on one side.

As much as I hate to say it, but after the all day search I am officially calling it off. Tomorrow is my last day to hunt before I go spend thanksgiving in New Mexico, so I will hit it hard.

It'll be some nasty winds, but we will make it work.

I'm back in Florida and ready to hit the ground running. The season doesn't start back up until Dec 16th, so I've got some time to fine tune some scouting and get some area ready that I've been saving for the next few ones.

Before I left I found out that the big buck I was chasing last year is alive and.... WELL...
He added some serious everything this year.

He's a main frame 12 with split dual G2s (14 point)

I don't want to post pictures of him yet until he's dead, but here is what he looked like last year.













It's definitely exciting to have this great buck to chase along with many others. I've actually got some cameras out that have been soaking for a few weeks and I can't wait to see them.

I'll keep you updated on the camera pulls and once the season starts!

I haven't really been out in the field hunting much as of late. I've been spending some much needed time with the family, and practicing with the tradbow for the javelina hunt. Time's slipping by quickly, and that hunt is sneaking up on me.

Yesterday I took the kids out for a Christmas tree hunt, and after long drive with many ups and downs, we were able to overcome and put our tag on a healthy young Douglas fir. I'm sure there's nicer ones out there, but this one will do just fine.



The kids didn't seem to have any clue as to why we were cutting a tree down and were much more excited to play in the snow.



After we had the tree tall setup I had to get out and do some exploring, and maybe try to find some coyotes. Well..... I've really struggled to get on the same page with the coyotes, but I can't seem to go anywhere without finding decent deer.

This is easily the biggest 2 point I've ever seen in person. If we cross paths next year it's going to be tough to pass him.

Tag soup for me this year! Was a great year of getting out in the woods and got to spent time with my dad, but the big bucks eluded me this year. My one hunting buddy though had a dream season, killing an 7 and 8 point on my place and killing a whopper 193 inch whitetail in MO and making it into Field and Stream for the first time. I have some great bucks still on camera and I'm looking forward to changing things on my property to make my hunting even better.

It was a joy to watch you two fellow Vets go out there and show the rest of us Average Joes how it is done! You guys both had a great season and should be very proud of yourselves!!!

My it's time to start making knives that I promised, doing a little rabbit hunting with hounds, some predator control, and a little ice fishing.

Crossbowguy said:

Tag soup for me this year! Was a great year of getting out in the woods and got to spent time with my dad, but the big bucks eluded me this year. My one hunting buddy though had a dream season, killing an 7 and 8 point on my place and killing a whopper 193 inch whitetail in MO and making it into Field and Stream for the first time. I have some great bucks still on camera and I'm looking forward to changing things on my property to make my hunting even better.

It was a joy to watch you two fellow Vets go out there and show the rest of us Average Joes how it is done! You guys both had a great season and should be very proud of yourselves!!!

My it's time to start making knives that I promised, doing a little rabbit hunting with hounds, some predator control, and a little ice fishing.

Click to expand...

Wow! I'd say your buddy had a great season for sure. Was the MO buck on private or public?
Sometimes it's just as fun to watch other people shoot stuff from your property as it is as shooting your own. Im just he's pumped you let him take those two bucks from your place.

What types of things will you be changing for the upcoming year?


This was such a great year and my freezer is definitely happy because of it. I'll be able to make it through until September and start it all over again!
Florida is crazy though and I still have plenty of season left... I can hunt until mid Feb. Im going to spend my time chasing one buck and one buck only....






Good luck with your predator control and ice fishing!

We hunt as a team my 2 buddies and I so when one makes a kill its a team kill.

My buddy got that 193 on a private lease in MO which is actually for sale.

Good luck getting that FL monster which might break state records. I sent ya some pics on your cell of the bucks that made it through, and the 193 mo buck.

Hey guys, are you done for the year or what? I'm not ready for this adventure to be done yet.