2022 Season So Far

[Tsimms]

My 2022 season started out with an issue that caused my hunting buddy and I to lose our two tracts of land in KY that we had hunted for abut 5 years. This happened about two days before we were to leave on a trip there. I called a good friend of mine in Illinois who I had hunted with for about 15 years and he said come on, I'll get you on a farm. We arrived on November 4th late in the evening and called it a night after visiting with our friends and a steak and a few beers. Slept in the next morning and went and got tags and licenses. Met my buddy at the farm at 11 that day and made a quick pass along the front edge with him explaining access points. Back at the truck at 11:30 we grabbed our bows and threw our stands and sticks on our backs. We split up and I went to the East side of the property and my partner to the West. With a straight North wind we could work into it without much fear of getting winded. The wind was blowing about 30 mph and I figured the deer would be bedded in the bottoms out of the high winds. As I scouted my way down this ridge there were big rubs everywhere. I came to a small flat with about a dozen red oaks on it and a hogback ridge running down to the bottom of the draw. I figured any deer wanting to feed on the oaks would come up out of the bottom via this ridge. I found a good tree that had some cover and got set up. Not very high, only about 15' off the ground. As I was scanning the area I noticed a well used trail to the West on the ridge top 38 yds away. It was one of those trails that you just look at and imagine that is where the shot will be, so I climbed down and trimmed a few limbs to give me small opening to that trail. Back in the stand I started seeing deer immediately. About 4 oclock I had a 3.5 yr old 9 pt chase a doe up out of the bottom and run her around the oak flat for 20 mins. He was a super nice deer and will be a stud next year. I continued to see deer and almost all of them came to the oak flat to feed on the falling acorns. About 5:45 I heard a chase coming and a 1.5 yr old buck chased a doe up out of the bottom and bred her twice about 30 yds from me. They worked around to the West and she did something I have never heard in 40 years of hunting. The doe bleated four straight times, it was very similar to the can calls we all have but much more grunty than the can sounds. She just stood there and squatted and peed multiple times. I thought if there is a big one around surely he heard that and is on the way. Not two minutes went by and I saw movement and here came a shooter down the trail I had cut a lane to earlier. When he crossed the lane I was drawn and stopped him, settled in and let it go. It was nearing dark and I saw the arrow in him as he ran off and felt really good about the shot. He made it about 50 yards and flipped over backwards. Turned out to be a 6.5 yr old 13 pt that my buddy had three years of pics of but had never seen live. A most memorable hunt. The next evening my hunting partner killed his best bow buck, a 140" 8 pt.

Illinois 2022.jpg

After getting back to NC my son and I headed to our lease that weekend. I set up on one of the few white oaks we have on the property and at daylight instantly started seeing deer. A small buck was chasing a doe around in circles and just as I thought no other bucks were joining in I saw a rack coming. This buck walked right in my lane and stopped to look around. Settled in on him and had my second buck of the year down. A respectable 18" 8 ptr.

Anson 2022.jpg

That's my deer season so far. I also took my son to Colorado and we both killed a bull. This was his first elk and his graduation present from high school.

2022 HS Elk.jpg

2022 TS Elk.jpg

[muddy]

That split3 buck is super cool. Congrats

[Lockdown]

Congrats!

[stash59]

[Findian]

Congrats

[WVArcher32]

Nice job. Congrats!

[Dpoole90]

Congrats! Awesome season your are having.

[Bonecrusher101]

Great season congrats!

[Uncle Lou]

Id say you are having a great season. Congrats to you and your son, elk are awesome.

[Edcyclopedia]

Gaaaaametacular!

[Wannabelikedan]

A bucktacular season with some nice bulls on the side. Congrats!