IA Bow Trip

[BAY KINGFISHER]

Counting the days until we leave for our IA bowhunt. Two weeks from tomorrow we will be headed to Afton IA in Union county. Needless to say I am so fired up!!! Hopefully we catch some of the rut! Any suggestions, on stuff we should take that could help us make a smooth trip Id be happy to hear them!!!

[whitedog]

Were leaving Friday A.M. for Illinois for our hunt. They have had a lot of rain and it real wet you there now. You might want to carry warm stuff, you should see some cold weather. The deer usually respond real good to the horns and calls around that time of the year for us. They are seeing a little chasing starting up in the last couple of days, you should hit it real good your week. Good luck and post up some picks when you get back.

[BAY KINGFISHER]

Got a text last night from the farm manager on the property we are going to hunt..."Big Buck down!!!" he text me later to report: 284# 170 class 14 point!!!. He did say that the rut is slow to come on and that we are going to be timing the trip perfect. Also, he said that the guy who shot the deer saw a bigger one 5 minutes earlier Needless to say Im fired up!!!!!

[cwink]

Any suggestions, on stuff we should take that could help us make a smooth trip Id be happy to hear them!!!

Yeah take ME


Hope yall have a good time.. and good luck

[Jeff]

It should be good Johnny. We'll be across the river in IL, hunt family farm every year over there. A few things to consider this year, it's WAY wet this year, there will be a LOT of crops that haven't been harvested yet. Be prepared to hunt on the ground in a blind or something to hunt unharvested crops along with normal setups in timber and such.

Prepare for 10-20 degree mornings with wind. Scentcontrol helps a lot. I like battery operated socks to help keep the toes warm, if I keep them warm the rest of the body has no problems. Also if you have wind blocking clothing bring it. Good luck and take pictures for us.

[BAY KINGFISHER]

Thanks Jeff, so you prefer the socks over the chemical inserts" Toasty toes"? We are all getting real excited, I dont know how I am going to work next week!!! I will take many picts!!! thanks for the advice!!

[Jeff]

I just need warm feet period. I don't want to burst your bubble, but my father in law just called and said we may not want to come this early. They still have about 70% of their crops yet to be harvested and this will make the deer stay in the fields and no way to see them or really get them out of there.

He of course said the rut will help, but it will be much tougher hunting than normal. Hopefully we can make things happen on both sides of the river, if not I'll be shooting honkers.

[BAY KINGFISHER]

Thats what we are hearing as well, but we dont have the luxury of waiting, so we will have to do the best we can!!! I may bring the shotgun and chase some honkers too!!! well good luck, be safe and have fun!!!

[whitedog]

Just got back from Il, last night. Fields are still of crops, 3/4 of our land was 4ft under water until wed. The bucks are rutting pretty heavy. They were chasing does hard. The weather was real good but did start warming up yesterday, they are calling for 70's for the highs next week.

[parker m]

What part of Illinois are ya'll hunting? Are ya'll huntin public land or private?
I went up in pike, brown, adams county last week and saw some big deer but it was bad wet and all crops still standin. Buddy of mine killed a 8pt with 24 1/4 inch spread.

[whitedog]

We are hunting private land in schuyler county. Right above brown cty. I killed a 135 8pt and another guy killed a 140 10pt. This was our 10th year to hunt this place.

[Jeff]

I am hunting family land in Illinois. I keep the location under my hat as we kill big deer every year and to date have never had problems getting drawn there. I figure post where on the net and that will change sooner or later.

[dukhntn]

I am hunting family land in Illinois. I keep the location under my hat as we kill big deer every year and to date
have never had problems getting drawn there. I figure post where on the net and that will change sooner or later.

Note to self: Place homing device under Jeff's bumper...

[BAY KINGFISHER]

Well we made it back at noon today, 16 straight hours!!! Dammm Im tired. Anyway, I had a great trip, saw a lot of deer, (probably 5 bucks seen to every doe), all the does were scared to come out!!! We saw a ton of bucks cruising, but not a lot of chasing. Maybe saw two bucks tending, overall made for some tough hunting, not much response for rattling and grunting. I did manage to shoot a decent deer tuesday evening but it was a long shot and a bad hit, in a driving sleet, snow, rain storm. The old "wintery mix"!! I had a lot of blood but I couldnt keep up with the rain. Followed the trail to a creek( to deep to cross) and couldnt find blood once I got around to the other side. Deer wasnt a giant, but pretty nice, Tall, 16-17 inches wide, 11 points, a lot of character. Yesterday, I dropped my standards and harvested some meat, a nice young six point with some ugly antlers. I averaged 3-4 deer within bow range just about every sit, and passed on at least 7 or 8 other bucks 12-14 inches similar to build like the one I wounded. Man, after hunting deer in South MS it was like hunting horses up there!!! Those deer are huge!!
Overall, I had a great time, I didnt get the big one, but I spent some quality time with me father, something we havent had the time to do for awhile. Im ready to go back already!!!!

[OleMiss]

Sorry to hear of your bad luck Fisher. ...maybe next time you'll get that Giant!

BTW, my hunters in Iowa are 7-7 for with the bow. Who did you hunt with?