As the title says my Midwest season is in the books. I was blessed to kill some nice deer in very unseasonably weather for the part of the country I was hunting. I started my rut hunt in the fine state of Iowa. I leased an 800 acre in SE Iowa with 3 buddies. We went up in August to hang stands and cameras and learn the property. The farm was better than expected so we left with high hopes.

I placed 3 text cameras on this farm to keep tabs on what was showing up on the property. I was not pleased with what the cameras were showing. This property did not have many deer living on it nor were there any mature shooter deer showing up. I was also getting the land owners dogs running deer on the property on a regular basis. I had a couple heated conversations with the owner and the last one left me in bad frame of mind about this whole deal. He basically threatened to run me off over my concerns about the dogs running all over the farm. At that point, I dropped the issue because I had a lot of money and time invested to draw this tag. I did not want to be out of a place to hunt before I ever got the opportunity to hunt.

My buddy and I show up on the farm October 30th. I had plans to hunt through November 11th if needed. The weather was crappy with highs in the 70' and 80's. We were seeing some deer on the morning hunts but nothing big. We had a small cold front arrive on November 3rd and bucks were starting to move. We started to get some good deer on camera as well. I went to stand near an area my buddy was hunting. I did not have much confidence in this stand and really didn't want to hunt it. However it was my best option for the wind we had. The morning starts off with action at first light. I had a doe come by soon followed by a nice 8. He was not a shooter so I passed. Soon after I had 10 hens pic this out in front of me followed by one lone tom. For the next hour I listened to a lot of turkey talk and watch the tom strut for his hens. Finally they feed off and I decided I'd do a little rattling.

I hit the horns together and demonstrated a dang good fight. Within minutes I had a buck we named "muley" coming through the timber straight to me. I decided I was going to kill him given the opportunity so I went into kill mode. As he was closing the distance and I heard another deer coming from behind me. I sneak a peek behind me and just see tines coming through the timber. My first impression was this new deer is bigger than the one in front of me. I position myself for the shot as he steps out at 15 yards. I take another quick look and in my mind he was a shooter. I come to full draw and pick a spot behind his shoulder and let the rage eat. I absolutely 10 ringed this deer and he falls within sight.

I text my buddy and tell him I shot what I think is a 150+ buck and he's down. He ask me a few questions about the deer as he thought it might be a buck he had under him at first light. He said if so I had shot a good one. I was uncertain as things happened pretty quick. As I'm texting him Muley comes back and proceeds to stand under my tree. I text my buddy and tell him Muley is under me. He hits his rattle bag and Muley makes a bee line straight to him. Within a few minutes I get a text that he had shot him but wasn't sure where he hit him.

We meet up and recover my deer. I'll say I had the wind let out of my sail when I walked up to my deer. He was not what I thought I had shot. It's been a long time since I misjudged a deer this badly especially with my bow. He's nice and I'll live with my decision. I'm not going to be ungrateful for the opportunity the good lord gave me or whin about it. It's over and I can't get a redo. I've got a heck of story since Steve killed his and we recovered them both. A lot to be thankful for!!

Muley under my stand.



Muley leaving headed to Steve.



My expensive Iowa lesson.



Steve and Muley