I was blessed once again this year with another great buck that's fully mature. I feel certain I had pics of this deer last year as a shoonuff grown'un. It appears he grew a much better rack this year with soy beans on the farm. I started off the season here in Kentucky with low expectations. My camera surveys showed several nice bucks but nothing mature I was interested in. We have a pile of 3.5 year olds that should be great deer in 2015. What had me bummed was we had a pile of 3.5 year olds last year that should have been great deer this year. It seems as though they just vanished. What I have started to figure out a on this farm is once our bucks reach 4.5 they travel a lot more and become harder to pin point. We catch up with a few every year but not at the numbers I thought and expect we should.

Anyway on to the hunt. I started bow hunting the farm on Oct 27th. This was going to be a 6 day hunt as I like the rest the farm if possible 5 to 6 days before gun season. My first morning in the tree I knew it was going to be a fun week. With the approaching full moon and cold temps it had the young bucks swinging from the trees. Most of my sits resulted in 20+ deer seen with grunting and chasing taking place on nearly every encounter. Mid way through my hunt I passed on 3.5 130"+ 10 and 140"+ 9 point. I have never killed on this farm with a bow so that was difficult to do. These deer have huge potential to blow into something special so they got a pass. At the end of the trip I moved some of my cameras to some scrapes in hopes of getting a mature shooter on camera.

I arrive back on the farm the day before gun season. We slip around on the cart to check cameras. The first camera I check has the double drop tine on it. He's not a high scoring deer but has a 7"-9" drop and a 3" drop with long split brow. To go long with highly desirable rack was a huge body and neck giving my the indication he's was full grown. I set my sights on hunting this buck at that point. I can only hunt the first 2.5 days of the rifle opener so not a lot of time to get it done. Those 2.5 days fly by with a lot of action but no sights of "double drop".

I head back to work for 6 days. I had sechudled vacation due to Illinois first shotgun season opening in the middle of my work time. The extra vacation allowed me to me plan two more hunts on the KY farm before I needed to be in IL. I arrive at the farm at 2:30 and make the drive into my stand. There were two yearling in the standing beans when I got there so wasn't happy about spooking them. I get settled in and it wasn't long before I had a doe, two yearlings and a spike in the CRP that adjoins the bean field. I watch them for 30 to 40 min when I hear something walking in big hardwoods behind me. I slowly turn my headed and have one of those "Oh Crap" moments. After hunting in the Midwest for as long as I have I know it when I see a shooter. I slowly stand up and turn around but get busted because he's eye level with me on side of ridge. He stops behind some limbs and brush and starts doing the head bob.You know the game is about to be over type head bob. I search franticly for a opening to squeeze a bullet through. I spot a small window that offered a quartering too shot at his front shoulder. I settle the cross hairs on my mark and slowly squeeze off the round. He rocks back on his hinds legs to spin around but they collapse and he goes down.

I send my thanks up stairs to our lord and savior for another blessing that I do not deserve! I short sending out some text of the news as I'm fired up. I climb down shortly after to go put my hands on the beast. I get up to him and I don't see the long drop tine, it has been broke off. I look him over more closely and see his main beam and split off the long brow was also broke. At that point I had all kinds of mixed emotions running through my head. I was happy he was a mature deer but very disappointed about him being busted up. I'm not sure what I would have done if I had known. On one hand I think I'd let him walk and on the other he's 5+ or older. That alone makes him a true trophy in my eyes. I knew prior to me shooting him his right side was jacked up but thought it grew that way. I did not think he had broke his main beam. Oh well he's mine now and I'll be happy with him none the less. Now it's time to make hay towards IL for 3 more days of chasing some Midwest beast

Thanks for letting me share.

Congrats man!! Nice one...

Congrats buddy! if IFor I was a deer I would just run out in front of a car and get it over with so I don't have to be looking over my shoulder worrying about where you are at.

Good one Mike. Congrats!

Congrats

Nice buck Mike, good luck in IL.

Congrats, Mike

Congrats

Congratulations !

Great deer. Congrats

Congrats Mike!

Awesome man!

Awesome deer!

Congrats!!

Congrats!

Congratulations Mike, great read and buck!

Great Deer

Good buck.