2006 PERSONAL HUNTING SEASON

2006--YEAR OF THE BOW, HANDGUN.........AND SHOTGUN!!

VERY UNIQUE BUCK WITH BOW

How 'bout a 160-inch buck with a 9-inch extra unicorn antler growing out of its skull??

The state of Kansas really blessed me with a fantastic buck this season! I arrived around the last week of October, and knew the first thing I needed to do is some heavy, long-distance scouting. After some serious scouting, I settled on three main spots to place my stands, and dump some corn. Baiting deer in Kansas is legal, as it is in many states. Not one to scimp on corn, I borrowed a grain truck from my friend that own the place I was hunting. They have 9,000 acres, and are super generous in allowing me to hunt it. I also have permission to hunt an adjoining 16,000 acres or so. I was the only guy bowhunting all this country.

Back to the mission of dumping corn.........I went to the grain elevators located at the feedlot owned by my friends, and loaded up 3,500 pounds of corn! Then, I just drove the truck out to each respective spot, backed up, raised the dump, and opened the rear gate, allowing corn to dump on the ground. I wanted to guesstimate about a third of the corn at each spot. I probably underestimated at the first two spots, and believe I probably dumped around 1300 pounds at the last spot. Regardles, each spot had enough corn to last the duration, and I wouldn't have to be re-baiting, and contaminating the area, as the season progressed.

Now is this a pile of corn, or what?!!! They don't call me the master-baiter for nothing! As a side note.....There's a little off-colored pile of corn on the near side of the main pile. This is 5 gallons of corn, soaked in C'Mere Deer concentrate. My real-life field observations were that the deer wouldn't even touch this stuff vs the straight pile of corn. I witnessed this for a couple of weeks, and at different locations. Final analysis: DON'T WASTE C'MONEY ON C'MERE!

So, once corn was dumped, and stands were hung, it was time for some real long-distance scouting. Basically, I would sit off at long distances, and watch different locations, trying to determine which spots had the best bucks coming around. I also had two game trail cameras I built this past winter, running 24/7. I built the cameras to be infrared capable, and I got some real interesting pictures.......many of which were at night. It wasn't long before I realized that at least one of my locations had some great buck coming to them. In fact, right off the bat, a huge B&C class 10-point buck was on the corn pile at my #1 stand. Unfortunately, I was several hundred yards away in my suburban, watching through my 60-power spotting scope. Of course, he was only 20 yards from my stand! So.....I decided it was time to get serious, and crawl into stands.


What a beautiful sunrise from the treestand!	This picture is the same view, looking to the east, during the daylight.

The picture above was taken out of what I called my #1 stand. It was a stand that I thought had a lot of promise. The CRP field is a mix of cane and milo. The cane in most places was taller than 6-feet! I could see bucks chasing does in this stuff......even then it wasn't easy to see them. The bucks would chase the does in this stuff because the does were reluctant to leave it, and they couldn't run very far before tiring and allowing the bucks to breed them. On November 1, I watched a buck breed a doe at 10 a.m., within 100 yards of my stand. That afternoon, at 4 p.m., I watched a different buck breed a different doe. Neither of these breeding bucks was what I would consider a trophy. Unbelievably, on November 2, I actually rattled in 3 bucks within 20 yards of this stand. One was a 150-class 10-pointer, and the other two were subordinate bucks running with him. You can't imagine how hard it was to turn a buck of this caliber down. Why did I do it??? Well.......about 400 yards away, on an open hillside, in plain view, was a huge 170-class 10-pointer!! He was with a doe, and not letting any other bucks get close. I figured since it was so early into my hunt, and the rut was just getting turned up, I might have a chance at an even bigger buck.

This picture is looking west from a tree located in a grove of trees positioned in the middle of this open pasture.

On November 3, I decided to hunt this spot. Corn had been here for a few days, and I hadn't even checked to see if anything worthwhile was using it. At first, I thought about just parking at a distance, and watching through my scope. Then, I thought about all the pleasant surprises that can present themselves when hunting a stand for the first time. Bear in mind that this is a grove of trees located in the middle of an open pasture. Since I didn't officially have a treestand at this spot, I simply crawled up on a leaning cottonwood and stood there. The wind was blowing strongly from the southwest, and it made it difficult for a fat guy to maintain good balance. I was really concerned about being steady for a shot if one presented itself.

Within an hour, this buck showed up. Then, a smaller buck, and a couple of does and fawns. I could hear this grunting in the trees behind me, but couldn't see what it was. I assumed it was one of these younger bucks chasing does. Around 9:30 a.m., this group of deer appeared across in front of me, travelling along the base of the hill in front of me. They were 220 yards by my rangefinder. Well, I was not surprised that it was the two bucks, does, and fawns that were at the corn earlier. However, in the back was this fantastic, white-horned bruiser of a buck! I'm mumbling to myself, "Where in the heck did he come from??" In hindsight, I think it was him making all the guttural grunting behind me. He just never appeared at the corn.

So, I actually watch this group of deer bed down in a draw that is visible in the picture above. Now I'm trying to think how I can slip out of there without being seen, and bring something back with me that afternoon that would allow me to safely sit higher up the tree. And hope that the deer reverse what they'd done that morning. So, I slipped down off my leaning branch stand, and made my way to my suburban. Once I got to a certain point, the sloping terrain concealed me from the deer that were bedded just 400 yards away.

This is a picture of "Jimmy-Don" holding my makeshift ladder stand.

My mind was racing a million miles an hour, while I tried to think what I could do to erect a stand to use that afternoon. Then, it hit me. If I could get hold of a 12-foot extension ladder, I could place it against the huge cottonwood branch and simply sit on the branch, using the rungs on the ladder for my foot to rest. So I went to a neighboring ranch that I also have permission to hunt on, and am friends with the owner and his hands. Big Jim told me I could take the extension ladder pictured above. However, it was silver in color. So Jimmy Don and I took the ladder into the shop to paint. Jimmy Don painted the green, and I came up behind him with the black for striping. Of course, these guys think I'm nuts...........I am a deer hunter!

So back to the tree grove I headed with my "new" ladder stand, rope, and everything I'd need to make an evening hunt. After parking my suburban out of sight, I carried the ladder (thank goodness it was lightweight aluminum) and my stuff to the base of the tree. All the while wondering where the deer were by now, and could they see me? As quietly as possible, I set the extension ladder up, secured it with LOTS of rope (I'm a fat chicken), left what I didn't need at the base of the tree, and by 2 p.m., I was straddling this huge cottonwood limb. Right away, I scanned the area with my binoculars, and quickly located the group of deer that held this great buck. They had move a couple of draws to the south, and were now 600 yards away......but in plain sight still! I rooted in for the afternoon hunt, and practiced standing with one foot on the ladder rung and the other on the large limb. I drew my bow and realized I had plenty of clearance in this position to make the 30-yard shot, should I get the chance at the buck.

My mind was playing evil games on me, thinking about the 9 million different directions these deer could head when they got out of their beds.....and NOT towards me. However, around 4:30 p.m., the group got up from their beds and began to meander aimlessly. Then, at 5 p.m., the entire group "committed" and headed my direction. In fact, when they were within 200 yards the two biggest bucks decided to break ranks, and actually sped up to beat the rest of the deer to the dinner table. This is real nerve racking to have this great buck in sight the ENTIRE time. Too much time to "what-if?" the scenario. Still pretty neat just the same. When the buck was within 100 yards and closing, I decided I wasn't going to be able to kill him with my binoculars, and I'd better be grabbing my bow. At 5:15 p.m. this great buck is standing almost exactly where the buck pictured above is standing. I drew and anchored my bow, held for 30 yards, and let loose my arrow........only to watch it hit in the dirt behind him!! I couldn't believe I'd missed him! He startled, and took two bounds to my right, placing him just under the overhanging cover of the tree branches to the right. Then, as if nothing had happened, he went right back to the corn and started feeding. This time facing to my left. Thank goodness the wind was blowing as hard as it was. It muffled lots of my noises.

I quickly nocked another arrow, and now held steady on his left shoulder. This time I hit the great buck..........in the HEAD! Unbelievably, I had "missed" as far to the left, as I had with the previous shot. Only this time, my arrow struck him right where his upper and lowe jaw meet, angling down and slight rearward, coming out through his juglar on the right side. He ran off directly away from me, and piled up right at the base of the hill that you can see in the picture above. I couldn't believe my good fortune to have even hit this deer. I would never intentionally attempt to hit any animal in the head! However, I'll take luck over skill any day. Turns out........In my excitement I had forgotten to STAND UP, and my lower limb on my bow whacked the ladder I was using! Not once, but twice!

So not only did I get lucky with my shot, but I was able to watch this buck from 2 p.m., until I shot him at 5:15 p.m., and even watch where he fell. Thank goodness he even died slightly up the hill, so I could just back my suburban under him and roll him onto the tail gate. I don't think I could have picked this buck up by myself and load him up otherwise. On top of every other unbelievable twist to this hunt, when I walked up to him, I noticed he has this 9-inch extra antler sticking out of his skull! WOW! I've heard about, and seen pictures of deer with unusual growths out of the skulls. But, I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would ever see such a thing in the wild.....much less shoot one myself. The Kansas deer gods were really blessing me this year!

Enough of this story.......I'll post some pictures below of this great buck.


This is right where the buck died. You can see the tree grove I shot him from in the background	You can see what a "steer" this buck looked like.


This shows this buck's unique extra antler. I believe he lost his left eyeguard getting stuck on a tree. No other buck could fight this buck without dying in the process.....at minimum losing an eye.	This extra unicorn actually shed and re-grew each year, just like his left and right antlers did.


These are 3 fine fellows! Left, my pheasant huntin' buddy, Trevor, and his dad, Scott, center, came the next day to help me skin my buck. On the right is Rod, the ranch owner.	It always helps when the landowner will loan you his loader to hoist this buck for skinning! These guys are really great!


This buck has 24-inch main beams, 11-inch G-2's, 10-inch G-3's, and then gets short in the G-4's. Had the G-4's been in proportion with the other points, he would have a 170-inch main frame, NOT counting the 9-inch unicorn!	This buck has the whitest horns of any mature buck I've ever shot. I'm in love with my Hoyt Ultra Tec bow. This is the second year I've had it. I've shot at 4 bucks, and hit 4 bucks....albeit awfully lucky to have hit this one!


I thought this buck looked cool after I'd caped him. I took him to my taxidermist in this configuration, giving him a chance to see it before removing the skull cap.	Just another angle with the shop in the background where me and Jimmy Don painted my "ladder stand".

I'm no expert at ageing deer, but I brought the lower jaw home with me. I've been on the internet looking at various pictures from the jaws of various-aged bucks. Remarkably, I "think" this buck is only 3 1/2 years old! Maybe his teeth are just in good shape, and he's 4 1/2 or older....I don't know.

Since I filled my deer tag so early in Kansas, and my friends were just about to start harvesting milo, I volunteered to help them in any way I could. Even though I had a whitetail tag for Wyoming, that season didn't end until November 30, and felt I could afford to stay and show them a small token of my appreciation for letting me hunt on their place all these years. So they jumped at the opportunity to have an extra hand, and learned me up on becoming a professional grain cart driver. Course, I had to see some huntin' wisdom in the deal. I showed up for work each day, with my orange vest on, shotgun and plenty of shells.........and let the milo harvest begin. When I knew we were getting to the end of different swaths, I'd jump out in anticipation of the pheasants that were gonna' boil out. After a week of jumping deer, coyote and pheasants, I actually only got one good, clean, safe shot at ONE rooster pheasant......and I hit him! Where is my dog at so he could witness me actually hitting a pheasant? I'd left him tied up back at the rig cause I didn't have room for him in the cab of the tractor. One week and 1,000 acres of milo later, we were done with harvest. They made mention that it wiil be nice in the future to have an "experienced" grain cart driver available in future years. I'm certainly up for it, assuming I get my buck tagged as quickly as I did this year. In fact, since we didn't start harvesting each day until around 10:30 a.m., I was able to still be on a high spot at daylight and continue to observe deer movement, the rut, and see what I could have had from different stands. I can't wait until the 2007 season, as I really believe I've got a couple of fantastic locations that could result in another whopper buck. Now let's hope they don't rotate crops in an unfavorable deer huntin' way.........


That's me inside that John Deere, dear. These are proof pictures for my wife. She thinks I don't ever do anything anyway.	My grain cart would hold about 600 bushels of milo, enough to fill a semi-trailer half full.


Pheasants beware!! Actually, I could have mounted shotguns pointing in 360-degrees off my tractor.....and STILL couldn't hit one of the boogers.	Of course, in between buck bustin', milo mashin', and pheasant flingin', I made time to jump shoot some bucks for buck.......good dog!

Now here's an interesting side note to the area I hunt in Kansas. There is also a pretty good population of mule deer around. Problem is.....a nonresident can only hunt mule deer if you draw a muzzleloader any deer tag. I've had this tag in the past, and missed a couple of real whopper mule deer bucks. It takes 3-4 preference points to draw one of these coveted tags. So you have to go a long time without drawing before you'll draw this tag. Anyway, one of the ranches I hunt has a feedlot where they feed out cattle. A couple of the pens have not been used for years, and the mule deer seem to love hanging out here. Here's pictures of a really great buck that was hanging around when I was there. Due to the proximity of the feedlot to the houses, barns, shops, etc., no one is allowed to hunt here. On rare occassion the "boss man" will allow one of the boys to shoot a feedlot buck. I know this big bruiser made it through the season unscathed. I bet he's gonna' be a great one next year.......


Look at this great mule deer buck....Kansas has some good ones.	He's just going about his rutting business, without a care in the world that I'm taking his picture.


Look how heavy he is on the base. And the extra points coming out from around his bases. Not to mention great eye guards!	Check out the ears on this doe! Either they froze off when she was young, or the coyotes got hold of her when she was a fawn.

GREAT WYOMING 12-POINT WHITETAIL WITH THE T/C ENCORE HANDGUN

Using my Thompson Center Encore handgun, chambered in 7mm-08, I was able to take this great Wyoming Whitetail at 195 yards.

After finishing up a great hunt and harvest (deer & milo) in Kansas, I headed for eastern Wyoming, where some good friends ranch on 5,000 acres. I've hunted their place in the past, but hadn't even applied for a tag the past 3 seasons. I showed up on a Monday, and was glad to renew friendships and settle in. Turned out Hoss was getting a shoulder operated on Wednesday, so I helped them move cattle on Tuesday, and didn't even hunt. Hoss and I rode out to the back side of the ranch Tuesday evening, only to see a couple of smaller bucks. Very few deer at all. The deer numbers, and the quality of the bucks has really gone downhill over the past few years in this area. On Wednesday, while Hoss was having his surgery, I headed upriver 35 miles to catch up with a couple of Idaho buddies I knew had just arrived in Wyoming on Monday. I wanted to see them, and see how their hunt was going. I caught up with them down in the trees, cutting up a buck that one of them had taken the day before. They had the same dismal deer report.......very few deer, very few bucks, etc. The three of us had supper together that night, and I headed back to the ranch I was staying at.

Thursday morning was the first morning I got up with the intentions of doing some serious hunting. The ONLY tip I'd had since arriving was from Hoss's nephew, Tee. Tee had told me he had seen a pretty good buck on the neighbor's place while driving in one morning. Said the buck had 6 points on one side that he knew of. Anyway, since I already had permission to hunt the surrounding neighbors' places as well, I headed to the side of the ranch that would offer the best vantage point. After about an hour of glassing, I noticed this buck with a couple of does working his way along a tree line, and eventually bedding down in the tall weeds. Now I had to figure how I was going to get within range of my Encore handgun, with literally nothing for cover between me and the deer.


This is a distant picture of the landscape between me and the deer. Basically, short pasture grass, LOADED WITH CACTUS, a couple of haystacks, and the weeds the deer were bedded in.	This is a closer look at where the deer were bedded. In the tall, brown weeds between the treeline in the back, and the short pasture grass in the front. It was tall enough, however, to swallow a deer when bedded.

So I struck out on my stalk that started at 8 a.m. I was able to keep some rolling terrain between me and the deer for a short while. Then, I had no choice but to belly-down and crawl in order to close the distance. I'm writing this in early 2007, and STILL have cactus in me from head to toe! This is the second time I've stalked a whitetail in this same area by crawling, and the results are the same.....you get stuck from one end to the other. Not to mention that when my fat butt goes to belly crawling, I leave a new irrigation ditch behind me in the process. Hopefully, someone will be able to benefit from this!

By 9 a.m., I was 275 yards away from the bedded buck. The wind was blowing about 25-30 mph crosswind. When the buck stood up to stretch, I couldn't bring myself to try that shot with the crosswind. I shot a caribou here in Alaska at 267 yards the first year I bought this handgun. But, I wasn't confident with the wind blowing as hard as it was. The buck bedded back down. Knowing that there was a good chance he would stay bedded again for some time before stretching, I figured I might as well keep crawling and see if I could cut the distance down some more. In the process, I anglee to my left some more, creating more of a right quartering wind.


Buck getting his picture taken with my buck. Good Dog!	Although not real wide, you can see how heavy and long his points are. Much better than average as Wyoming whitetails go.

I spent the next hour or so closing the distance. What else did I have to do? I was able to crawl within 195 yards of the bedded buck. Now, it was a matter of patience and waiting him out. All I could see were the tips of his antlers, and not very well at that. At one point, the older man that owns the place decided he needed to drive in and kick rocks and pick up sticks for about 45 minutes. The entire time he was going about his business, the deer were bedded down within 100 yards of him! Eventually he left, and I'm trying to keep from going crazy waiting for this buck to stand and stretch. Then..........at 11:40 a.m., he finally stood up. I already had a solid rest for my Encore handgun, settled in for the shot, and squeezed the trigger. My 7mm-08 loads "only" travel at 2400 fps, pushing a 150 grain Nosler Tip bullet. However, there was an unmistakable whack of the bullet meeting flesh.

In the instant it took the gun to recoil, and me to gather my wits, I did not see hide nor hair of the buck. Didn't see him jump, crash off for the trees, nothing. A little concerned, I held my ground. All the other deer in the immediate area just stood up and looked around for what that noise was. With the wind blowing so hard, they certainly weren't panicked by the shot. After about 15 minutes, the doe this buck was tending walked over to where he had been standing, put her head down and sniffed at the ground. The weeds were too tall for me to confirm she was looking at my buck, but past experience told me there was a pretty good chance he was there. At the reaction of this doe, I gathered up my stuff and made my way down to the weeds. Right where the deer had been standing, he had dropped like a bad habit. I'd hit him in the neck. Thus the reason there was no running wildly away after being shot, etc. This is the first buck I've taken with this handgun. He is much better than I expected, considering the current conditions in this area. I applied for this tag in the leftover drawing because I hadn't drawn the archery hunt I wanted in Colorado. I doubt I'll even apply for this hunt again until I'm hearing some better reports from folks I know there. Regardless, Wyoming also blessed me with a great deer. Between Kansas and Wyoming, I can't remember a time I've put forth less effort, with better results............not too soon.......the Idaho bowhunt (read tough hunt), is coming next.


It's extremely difficult in the world of whitetail hunting to find and shoot a main frame 6X6 buck. This buck is a solid 6-point on his right side.	However, the 6 points on his left side consist of a mainframe 5 points, and a curly extra point coming out from the base of his right antler. He gross scores 150, with about 5 inches of his G-2 broken off.....almost as much as the Kansas whopper!

After leaving eastern Wyoming, I headed for another part of the state to spend a week visiting some friends I hadn't seen for a couple of years. Also wanted to see our horse we keep on their ranch. During the week, I was able to get some neat pictures of a few really good bucks. Some with the trail camera, and some with my handheld camera. The following pictures are of a couple of bucks I took with my handheld camera.


I had just got into town, and was crossing a bridge over the river, when I spotted this buck tending some does.	This is another really great buck. Hard to tell, but he's in the 30-inch wide class, and probably scores around 180....really a nice buck.


This is a neat shot I got of him jumping over the fence.	If you look closely, you'll see that he has been horned in and around the right eye. His face is all festered up with infection. And he's blind in the right eye. Why can't I find a deaf, dumb and blind buck???? Maybe on my bowhunt in Idaho....

BOWHUNTING MULE DEER IN IDAHO

I know....I know.....This isn't a picture of an Idaho mule deer. However, I got this picture while trying to bowhunt mule deer in Idaho. A sure sign that there are too many cougars in the area. Serveral people I know saw way too many cats during this hunt.

2006 was the first time in several years that I decided to actually buy the tag associated with this drawing hunt. I've drawn the hunt every year in the past. I've just used it as a backup in case I don't draw some other good hunts in other states. With the early good luck I had in Kansas and Wyoming, I actually arrived in Idaho 2 days before this hunt opened. Figured since I would be there for the entire hunt, I'd go ahead and buy the tag in case I located a good buck a long distance from town. Then, I wouldn't have to drive all the way back to town to get all tagged up before hunting.

I thought this hunt was going to be "one of those years" because of the early snowfall. For this hunt to really be great, there needs to be lots of snow, pushing the deer from a closed area across the road, into this area, their wintering range. There certainly was no shortage of deer overall........if you like looking at hundreds of does and fawns, with the occassional smattering of young bucks. During the course of the hunt, the temperatures soared up into the 50's, making for a real slush pit for a few days. Then, a hard freeze set in making driving and stalking conditions extremely loud and crunchy!! I had deer spooking a half-mile away as I struggled to crunch my way closer. Very frustrating!!

When the season ended, and I left Idaho, there were still tons of deer staying over in the closed unit across the road. Simply not enough snow to move wholesale numbers of big bucks into the open area. With all this said...........a few good bucks did start to begin filtering in towards the end of the hunt. I know a fellow that killed a great 188-inch buck, probably the best buck killed on the entire hunt. What follows is some pictures of some deer that I took while on this hunt. Most were taken through my spotting scope, so could be a little on the blurry side. You should be able to see that I was still seeing enough good bucks to justify applying in future years......and hope conditions and/or my efforts, will pick up. Between bad knees and bad back, it's always challenging for me the more challenging the terrain. Where's that blind Wyoming buck when I need him??? Truth is, the two biggest bucks I saw, I didn't get pictures of......I was too busy trying to catch up with them. Both Boone & Crockett deer for sure!!


I saw this buck a couple of times.	This was the only day I saw this one.


These next four pictures are of this buck. It's amazing how in certain shots, he doesn't look that good.	You can start to see some of the depth this buck carries.


This is just before he disappears into the brush. I saw this buck several times....just couldn't put it together.	This blow up is getting a little grainy. Hopefully, you'll see the great forks and mass he has.

Did I mention there were too many cougars in the area???? I should have packed my Encore and used my deer tag on one of these deer killing machines!


I saw this buck on two different days......just couldn't make it happen!	Again.....hopefully this shot is not too grainy that you can't see the great mass and depth in this buck's antlers.

I DO HAVE A SOFT SIDE, TOO.....NOT JUST MY BELLY EITHER

Meet my new little friend, Kyen. He is just short of 3 months old in this picture. His momma and daddy are a nice, young Idaho couple, who offered to let me have my picture taken with their little corker. He's quite the bobble head. And his daddy promised to put me in a place next year that I'm guaranteed to get a shot at a whopper of a buck. And that he was willing to beat the brush for me, and.....and......Hopefully, little Kyen will grow up to be the fine figure of a man that I am......minus about 100 pounds!! Good Baby!!

This fine looking fellow will be sought after by women around the world, have the squared-jaw good looks of a movie star, and loved by everyone........I wonder how the baby will make out?

for more information:

4 W AIR
BOX 4401
SOLDOTNA, AK 99669
(907) 776-5370 voice and FAX
e-mail us at: fourwair@alaska.net

Please include your name, address, phone number, area of interest, and number in party.

Back to 4 W AIR Main Page