Went out in the rain yesterday for a few hours.  Saw absolutely NOTHING!  Tom had been encouraging me to get out, saying that some of the best hunts can come out of crummy weather conditions.  So, I ventured out and sat until my fingers became numb with cold.  Turns out my shooting gloves are not waterproof.  I don't mind the cold, and I certainly don't mind the rain.  I run in cold weather and in rain all the time.  But my runs generally only last 45 minutes or so...and I am moving, which helps keep warm.  Sitting in the rain and cold is an entirely different story.  I was hoping the uncomfortable conditions wouldn't be a waste of time.  I had texted a buddy of mine who has bowhunted for over thirty years, and he said to tough it out, as he'd taken numerous deer on rainy days.  So, there I sat, watching and waiting.  And, like I said...saw absolutely nothing.  I did enjoy being in the woods while it was raining.  It smelled amazing!  Very serene and peaceful.  Cold, but peaceful!  LOL!  I noticed that all of the remains from where Tom gutted his buck yesterday were long gone!  Some scavengers had themselves quite a meal yesterday!  HA HA!  

The bowhunting stories and pictures are starting to really trickle in now.  I am hoping to read more and more each day!  We have a few friends who have shot bucks, does and turkeys.  Most of them in the past few days.   Several pics of really nice bucks have been showing up on our email accounts and messages on our blogs.  I have a co-worker who's filled all his tags already, and a couple of patients who have shot really nice bucks...although not as nice as Tom's, but still, they were respectable sized ones, and pretty cool stories to go with them!  A guy who lives near one of our hunting spots shot a nice buck on Saturday.  I saw the picture, and I think I counted 13 points.  Will have to see if Tom knows exactly how big he was.  

Don't know that I will have many hours to devote to hunting this week.  Maybe a couple every night until Sunday.  Then we can spend all day out if we can stand the predicted below freezing temps!  Will have to invest in some hand warmers!  Also, I have been hearing about a heated bow grip that will fit my bow that I might check into before next fall.  That sounds pretty nice! 

I think the plan is for Tom and I to be out all afternoon until it gets dark.  Didn't see a lot of deer on our commute into town this morning.  Saw three does bedded down and that was about it.  Maybe things will get exciting again with the colder weather that we are supposed to be getting! 

My handsome hubby got his buck on Sunday morning!  I was fortunate enough to be there to be a part of it all!  It was absolutely amazing to get to share this big moment with him!  I am so grateful for such an awesome hunting experience for him and myself.  I am going to post his version of the hunt, followed by my version of the story!  Can't wait for you all to read all about it and see the amazing photos!  Here goes...

 Tom's story...

What a weekend for hunting!! Deer were moving hard for the first time I have seen this year! Started saturday morning, got to my area a little late, @ 7 in the morning. Pulled in and started to send my wife a text to tell her where I was going to be and I looked to the left and a beautiful 10 pointer was not 15 yards from the car, going up over the railroad tracks in no real rush. Got out and put on scent-lok, grabbed gear, and headed in. Went about 20 yards and a nice 8 pointer was tailing a doe in the same field I had parked in! Watched them go into the woods, and headed on into the stand. Bumped a couple of young does on the way. Got to stand and sat for 45 minutes with nothing, then had a buck chasing a doe in the woods to my left. Couldn't make out how big he was for all the brush, but was decent, and he pushed her in there for 20 minutes before they took off to the north. Had a few does walk by the stand, nothing else till around10:00 when I got down and headed out. Went the long way around to spot/stalk. Saw a couple of does, and a lot of rubs and found a new bedding area close to stand!

 Saturday, Angie and I went to our lease north of town to hunt. We sat about 40 yards apart, and saw nothing for over an hour. I got bored, so I grabbed the grunt tube and the antlers and smacked them together. Kicked the leaves, ran into brush, made all the noise I could. Settled in again, and continued to see and hear nothing. Later, when we were leaving, Ang told me about the buck that came in to the rattling. She said he sounded like a horse running through the brush, and he came within 25 yards of where she was sitting, behind some heavy brush. She could make out some of him, had great width, height, mass, everything you could want!! She counted 6 tines on one side, but the brush and his moving made it impossible to count both sides accurately. What a beast he was!! That would have been so awesome if she could have had a shot at him!! What a way to start your bow hunting career!!! I never heard or saw a thing, so I was no help! I wish I would have known, I would have tried to grunt him closer to me so she would have had a shot. Oh well, nobody ever said hunting was easy!! Disheartening sometimes, and rarely easy. 

Okay, now the best part of the weekend. Sunday morning, 11-09-2008. We once again got a late start, got to the lease @ 7:15. By the time we were dressed and in the woods, it was 7:30. We were ground hunting, and we found our places and scraped the leaves out of the way and settled in. Angie was behind and below me about 25 yards, and I couldn't see her unless I stood up and moved away from the trees I was by. It wasn't 10 minutes and I could hear something coming our way, so I stood up and waited. As he rounded the brush, all I could see was antlers! Instant rush!! I pulled back and judged the shot, but he was too far away and had some small brush in the way, so I let down and watched. He went on down the ravine toward Ang, although I did not know if she had a shot or not. He got to the bottom, and I had pretty much given up hope for a shot, and had squatted down to sit again, when he turned and started back up the ravine. Here I was, almost sitting, without the release ready on the string! He slowly made his way up, stopping to sniff and look around with each step. I had a scent wick hung above my position, and he had caught a whiff of that, and was coming back to check it out. He came back to the point where Ang may have a shot. The buck stopped and started to stomp the ground and snort, and I thought he must have busted her, but after a couple of minutes, he started up the hill again. He went behind some brush, so I stood up quickly, and when he went behing another tree, I drew back. He came into my shooting lane, and I grunted. He stopped and looked straight at me, and I let it fly!! Straight into the side, a double lung shot! I honestly thought I had shot too far back, but he only made it 30 yards before he collapsed for good. Saw the whole show!! Angie came over and I showed her where he went down, and that is when she told me her side, and that she had a possible shot on him, I just beat her to it by a few seconds!! I had no idea she had a chance on him, or I would have let her try. I really can't wait for her to get her first buck!! I will be as excited by that as I was with mine! She reassured me that I had the better shot and she was glad I took it. We went down and found my arrow, dripping with blood of course. Then went ahead and followed the blood trail, even though we could already see the deer. We got up to him, and he was awesome!! No ground shrinkage at all! We got some pictures, and went back to hunt some more as the deer were moving well. Later, we went to the car and got the girls to come down with us, and we wanted to give them their first lesson on following a blood trail. We took them to where the deer was shot, and they found the trail and followed it right to the buck. They did a great job for their first time!! We all stood there and took more pictures and were talking, and a decent six point buck came through the stream at the bottom of the ravine and right up past all five of us, and never even stopped or looked at us. There we were, in bright sweatshirts and such, and this buck walked within 15 yards of us and didn't even slow down. He was on the trail of a hot doe and nothing was going to stop him! We got to the task of dragging him up the hill and out of the woods, which is quite a job when your atv has a bad fuel pump and you are doing all the work manually! We got him gutted and loaded up, hung him from a tree at the grandparents home, and took him to the processor/taxidermist today. Plenty of jalapeno/cheddar sausage coming!!

Now I have the pleasure of being my beautiful wifes' hunting caddy as she pursues her first bow buck!! Easy job for me, I sit back, rattle the antlers, and watch her looking smoking hot in her camo!! We may just miss the buck of a lifetime from extracurricular activities in the woods!! =)

Angie's perspective...

Before I get started, can I just say, "OMG, you soooo did not just type that!  This is going out on email and on our blogs!!!".   

But, he won't let me change it!  LOL!   

Moving on... 

I am absolutely ecstatic that I had the opportunity to watch Tom in action, shooting this amazing 10-pointer!!!  He's worked long and hard to take a buck like this one, and even gave up much of his own hunting time last year to take me out and show me the ropes and try and get ME a deer!  Finally his patience and perserverence has paid off!   

Sunday morning, we set out quite hopeful, knowing that we'd seen more deer out and moving about in the past 24 hours than we'd seen all week long.  Seemed like the bucks were outnumbering the doe sightings...about an equal amount of small guys to nice shooters.  Although we arrived at our lease later in the morning than we had hoped to, we quickly threw on the camo and headed out.  Found an AWESOME spot on the lease where we both had excellent views all around us and down into the ravine.  Good coverage for us to "hide" in, as we were hunting from the ground  (my favorite!), but also plenty of shooting lanes in all directions.   

I kid you not, we had not been in our spots for 10 or 15 minutes, when I hear a deer headed north, down into the ravine, on Tom's side.  I couldn't see Tom, as he was down behind a large tree.  I prefer to stand, so I could really see the deer well over the brush he was walking through.  I watched him walk downhill towards the ravine, wondering if Tom was watching him too, or if he couldn't see well from where he was, low to the ground and all.  Coming down the slope, he was a tad out of my comfort zone for shooting, and, I didn't want to scare him off...Planned on waiting to see where he headed next and see if a better shot presented itself.   

He came in around 25 yards down and to my left, but of course, stopped where there was a lot of brush/small trees in the way of my shot.  He looked as though he was going to walk a straight line, right in front of me, so I decided that when he went behind the next big tree, I'd draw back.  As I had suspected, he began heading straight east, following a fence line, and was going to be walking right in front of me, giving me a shot that was well within the range I am currently comfortable shooting in!  I drew back when he stepped behind the next big tree.  I watched him through my peepsight as his head and neck came from behind the large tree.  Then, he stopped.  He looked as though he were sniffing in the direction of Tom's scent wick.  I held steady, not knowing what he was going to do, and not wanting to scare him off.  I held back as long as I could, waiting for him to look away so I could let down if he wasn't going to move out into the open for a shot.  He kept his head up in the air towards the scent wick that was uphill right in between Tom and I.  Finally, he turned and went back behind the tree, and I was able to let down.  By then, my arms and shoulders were just shaking...I think both from excitement and fatigue!  HA HA!  He was now on Tom's side of the large tree, headed back the direction from where he came, and I had several yards where I could have a fair chance at a shot at him.  I drew back slowly, when he appeared to be looking towards the west.  He stopped dead in his tracks!   

CRAP!  I was thinking to myself..."If Tom is watching this whole thing play out, I will never live it down if I've scared this big boy off and ruined my chance at a shot at him!".   

The buck stompped and snorted a couple of times, but I continued to stay drawn back, watching him through my peepsight.  I guess he wasn't too alarmed by me, because the craziest thing happened.... He began heading back up the slope towards Tom and I!!!!  I am guessing that the scent wick had gotten the best of him and he just HAD to come and check it out.  He took a few steps, and had two or three smaller trees in between he and I, and I had made up my mind to take a shot at him.  Would be around a 20 yard shot, 25 at the most, and I knew he was a goner!  He didn't take his time, and before I knew it, he had stepped out from behind those trees and was dead set on heading towards that scent wick!  Three times I grunted at him to try and get him to stop and hold still for a shot, but he ignored me all three times and kept on a comin'! 

The next thing I know, he's come to a dead stop.  I didn't hear it at the time, but I now believe it was Tom grunting at him that got his attention.  It was just too perfect!  In a good shooting range, a small amount of brush around but no trees, quartered slightly away from me downhill still.  I was lining up that pin in just the right spot on him, and remembering how I was going to follow James' instructions to breathe through the shot, not take my eyes off of the spot I wanted to hit, not blink or flinch, trying to control my breathing and shaking at this point... 

I had just thought to myself, "I hope Tom is watching this whole thing!!!". 

I am looking at this awesome deer just a second or two from pulling the trigger on my release...and... 

WHACK!   

Through my peepsight, I see my big, handsome buck jump a little and trot off slowly to the west.   

Only I hadn't taken a shot... I was still at full draw, wondering what in the heck just happened... 

I let down, and now see Tom standing up, watching the deer trot off, and I realize he'd taken a shot at it!  I heard a few choice words spewing out of Tom's mouth, and couldn't tell if he was excited or upset.  I couldn't decide if he had hit the buck or not.  The buck wasn't running, but he didn't seem scared or alarmed either.  I watched him trot about 30 yards I was guessing from the spot I was about to shoot him from.  And then... 

The BIG BOY WENT DOWN!  With a THUD!   

And that was all I saw.   

From where Tom was, he could see him try once or twice to lift his head, but just couldn't do it, and then he was still.   

Tom looks over at me, bow and arms in the air, half-whispering, "He f-ing went down!".   

I hurry over to Tom, both of us grinning from ear to ear!  "You got him!"  He grabbed me up and hugged me so tight, my toes left the ground!  HA HA!  I could see my adorable husband shaking and trying to catch his breath...his eyes were just lit up with excitement and I am certain that our smiles stretched from ear to ear!  We stood there and watched the buck for a few minutes as he told me the condensed version of what he was seeing and doing from his side, and I shared with him my side and how I had twice drawn back to take a shot and nearly did, but he had beat me to it!  HA HA!  You should have seen his face when he realized I was in a position to shoot this buck myself!  He felt just awful, I could tell!  But he had no idea, not being sure of where I was able to see from my stance.  However, standing from where HE was standing when he took the shot, it was quite evident that he was slightly closer and had a much better shot at this buck than I did.  I was just so happy that one of us had not let this one slip by, and just seeing the excitement on his face was enough for me!  He's worked much harder and much longer at a nice buck than I have, and he is so deserving of a moment like this!  How could I be anything less than thrilled?  Besides, I will get to enjoy the story and the memories and pictures, and see this buck's head on my wall for years to come...not to mention the backstraps and sausausage and meatballs I will make out of him!  HA HA! 

I can just hear it now... Someday off into the future, I will be able to bring up the "Remember the year you stole my buck from me?" story!  HA HA!   

We headed down and quickly found his blood-covered arrow and a nice blood trail.  We could see him still lying motionless not thirty yards away.  Went ahead and followed/examined the blood trail, and to me, it looked as though he had been dripping blood out of both sides.  Tom had an arrow ready just in case, but we hadn't seen him take a breath or move the entire time we were walking his way.  Tom poked at him with an arrow and got no response.  He reached down and grabbed his rack and picked up his head, and we both stood in amazement at how much bigger he looked up close! Tom tells him, "Sorry, Buddy.  But it had to happen!".   

We headed up to get the girls, then brought them out into the woods and led them to the blood trail to let them practice following one.  They followed it without any problem, and around 5 yards away, Emmy looked up and saw him!  They all three helped us drag him up the steep slope, up and out of the trees.  Man were they excited!  We took lots of pictures, Tom told the story repeatedly throughout the day, got a lot of people really staring at that big ol rack sticking up out of the back of the pickup truck!  He enjoyed every minute of it!  =)   

First thing yesterday morning, I got pics emailed out to everyone and ordered him up a nice set of prints to be picked up at Walmart today so he can show them to his patients, friends, family.  The phone calls and emails have been pouring in constantly since Monday and several this morning as well.  I am having so much fun watching him and listening to him retell his story, each time just as excited as the first time he told it!  HA HA!   

Now I'm even more pumped to get MINE!  I remain optimistic!  ;)  I have a hunch Tom will be nearly as excited when I get mine one day as he was for his own.  The cool part is, I still have the rut ahead of me, and I have him to focus on rattling one in for me and being an extra set of eyes for me.  I think he's going to have a lot of fun...the pressure's off him, and now he can enjoy the rest of the season helping me get mine!  Now I feel the pressure to get one more for him than for myself!  HA HA!  A matching set sure would be nice!  =) 

I went out for a few hours in the rain yesterday.  My Scent-Lok is water-proof, however my shooting gloves are not.  So, I stayed until I could no longer feel my fingers and decided to come back and get warmed up a bit.  Had family obligations in the afternoon/eveing, so didn't get to venture back out.   

Ang

When I got home yesterday late afternoon, the dogs were all just itchin' for me to take them on a run.  Tom and the kids weren't home yet, so I figured I had enough time to get them out on a good run before I started dinner.  After our run, I usually take them to the bigger of our two ponds for a drink and a swim.  I was walking along the outer edge of one of our food plots where I saw HUGE tracks last year, hoping I'd find a set again.  So far I have seen plenty of tracks back there, but nothing as impressive as the set I found last season.  Yesterday, however, I FINALLY found some!  They were about half as long as my own foot.  In this picture, I had slipped my work shoes on, which are big, chunky CROCKS, and placed my foot right next to the track for comparison. 

I should be able to do some hunting this afternoon/early evening.  Hope it's more exciting than it was the other night.  =)  I saw a small buck on my way home yesterday.  Not a shooter, but maybe one day he will be.  One of my patients at work told me that he saw the biggest buck of his life about 2 miles away from our home, just south!  Saw him just a couple of weeks ago.  I'd love for a big buck like that to come pay us a visit sometime!  HA HA! 

Tom and I went out for a VERY short hunt late afternoon yesterday.  I think it took more time for us to throw on our camo and treck out there than we actually spent hunting.  Went to my least favorite place to hunt, but we wanted to see what was going on out there.  Found about three rubs on the way out, took a pic of the biggest, which is not nearly as impressive as the ones I have photographed at our lease.  Bumped a doe on the way in, then saw nothing else.  I thought Tom had his antlers out rattling at one point, as I could have sworn I heard them on two seperate occasions to the south, but I asked him about it and he said he wasn't rattling.  I didn't think I saw him carry them in with us, but we were so rushed, I just didn't know for sure.  The place we hunted yesterday is just west of town, and it looks promising.  Might have been more impressed if we had been able to spend a little more time out there.  Can't expect to see a LOT of excitement if you are only there an hour or two.  Lucky if you do, but I am not surprised when that's how it plays out.  Hubby likes it out there, as he's seen some nice bucks in the past from his tree stand.  I am hoping I get a chance to see some of them too.  For now, I am pretty content to hunt our lease, being so familiar with it.  Don't know if I will get a chance to go out tonight.  A possibility that I may have to work late.  I volunteered to stay late if no one else can do it.  And, being a Friday night, I am guessing there won't be any takers.  I am hoping Tom will go out alone this evening and hit his tree stand.  Don't know if he will or not, what his plans are.  Fridays are CRAZY busy for him at the office, and he very well may end up having to stay late himself.  He should have all weekend to hunt.  I will get out some too, but have household stuff waiting on me, and I am dying to do some fall baking with my girls!  ;)  They are so cute and getting excited about the holidays!  I wish I could get my deer early and take one of the older two out with me to just watch and observe.  We'll see what the season brings...  ;) 

I posted some new photos this evening for ya'll to check out!  Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments on my blog and photos!  The photos I added tonight were of some nice bucks on display at the Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, MO.  I also included a nice shot of the view from the cabin we stayed at on the lake over the weekend.  Enjoy!