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Offline BowEd

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Iowa buck down
« on: November 09, 2021, 12:30:47 am »
Unseasonably warm today.Close to 60 degrees F.Very little wind and what their was was in my favor for the stand I was in.I have been seeing bucks most times out lately,but not close enough to shoot.Even hunts like that are good.
As a safety side note here with all my hung treestands I tie myself off every time from my safety vest.Ladder stands I do not.
I had put a ladder stand along a hedge row of some old hedge along a fence line about a half mile from the farm back in early september where there was excellent sign of deer traveling.A few scrapes along it were being well used.The corn field lies parelell with this fence line.Some hedge along this row are probably 50 years old and 50' feet tall for sure.They hav'nt lost their leaves yet and are usually the last trees besides pin oaks that'll lose their leaves in the fall.They are burnt though from all the killing frost we've had lately but still good camoflauge.Still using the same osage self bow [red rat bow] and dogwood arrows.

I was in it for a couple hours and to my left 40 yards a big old 8 point bruiser came over the fence from behind me.At least a 4.5 year old.Crossed the 50' grass strip and went into the corn field a good 20 yards.Turned right out there and went past me about 40 yards out going from my left to the right with the corn row plantings.He was walking with his mouth open a bit close to the ground like a hound with his head in a scent stream and seemed hot and on a mission at the pace he was taking.I grunted a little but he did'nt have anything to do with it and went on his way.I imagined seeing a clean arrow fly to it's mark while watching him go.Sure would of liked a shot at him.Guess I should practice more for those 40 yard shots as these self bows will easily kill at that distance too.

I did shoot at Mo Jam some years ago with my horn bow & a selfbow horseing around.Back then I think I got 1/3 of the shots in an 8" circle out of 6.The other 1/3 were within a 12" circle with the other 1/3 close to a foot and ahalf off the mark.Not really consistent enough IMO.

I suppose another hour went by and I heard a corn stalk snap out in front of me a good block into the corn field.It was another buck walking at a liesurely pace.I was hoping it was the same buck but it was a little smaller one by the looks of the rack.He was coming my direction cross row from the corn field but to the right of me a good 30 yards or so.

I debated on whether to shoot at this one or not if he came by me but wanted to see him clear the corn field first.When he did I made my decision as he was a large bodied buck by his length & width.I was hoping he'd turn my direction to his right when clearing the corn field too.He did heading to what looked like where the other bigger buck had exited from over the fence only he was taking a route much closer past me.

He gave me a really decent broadside,a little forward downward angled shot at about 10 yards with him coming from my right going left.Shot him on the walk.He never knew I was there.The arrow zipped in like a dart where I was looking,disappeared,and passed through.

He rocketed over the fence behind the hedge row and me.Within 20 seconds I heard him crash and struggle even with my stocking cap and hood on.He went into something what sounded like long grass along a pond I knew was there and was no more than 50 yards behind me.I could'nt see through all the hedge and leaves.The noise subsided in a few minutes.I figured he was dead in 5 minutes.

Found him exactly where I heard him crash.Robin helped drag him to the fence line.Quite a chore yet.We had to go around a very healthy thick,huge black raspberry patch with a lot of thorns.After skinning and gutting him the devastation was very evident.His heart was sliced big time.His lungs were tore up too.Two huge blood clots a foot long and 3" round in the chest cavity.No wonder he went down so quick and hard.I imagine he went the distance he did on adrennaline.

Any naive modern archers stating these self bows are toys should of seen this.That heavy dogwood and ace broadhead did it's job in spades.

Only 1 I seen go down faster was with the .54  besides spine shot deer.Back then I snuck up on him bedded down in middle of a treeless section from behind a 2' tall snow bank where he was bedded in a waterway with a couple does.Spotted him from out of the top window of the barn a good 3/8 mile in there.Snuck up [belly crawled] to within 30 yards.Stood up on my knees and shot him on the first bound he took.I remember seeing the red patch flash on him right where it needed to happen after I shot even with the all smoke coming out of the .54.Ball went straight through his heart looking at the damage done later while gutting him.He bull dozed into the dirt with his chest within 10 yards and did'nt get back up.He was a big deer.

I figure this deer is a 3.5 year old.We'll see for sure later looking at his teeth.He is a lot bigger than the does though [thicker longer neck/deeper chest and longer body] and bigger than the previous 8 point & forked bucks I passed on.His neck was swelled considerably.Plenty of tallow left on this boy.
Well that's my bow season for deer I guess as it's my final tag I bought this year earlier.Unless I go buy another bow tag.First 3 bow tags cost me $19.00.Another buck tag will cost $33.00 now.I still have a paid for antlerless tag for late muzzle loader season too late december [$15.00] with my .54 Johnny Brown Hawken I've had for over 40 years.It has produced dozens of deer in the past for me and should produce a big doe,or a big shed buck which should put me over the hump to get 200 pounds of deer meat.
Some muzzle loader kills from 1 season seasoning froze solid from the past back on the farm in northern Iowa.

Slim chance of that shed buck but I've seen it happen.Sometimes big bucks will get injured and can lose their rack early.Horn hunters will leave them go on.That's ok I'll pick up the slack then.The law says specifically antlerless and I'll go by that.Got the bow turkey tag to fill yet too.

The garden and the woods for deer is still the cheapest and healthiest grocery store out there yet avoiding all the processing/preservatives/and artificial flavoring chemicals they put in food nowadays.I believe many people suffer from a bad gut running that stuff through their system.The weather is timely turning a bit cooler into the 30's and 40's a while with a little snow in the forecast.
I'll let the meat season a few days.First I'll trim all the tallow off him I can while hanging.Remove the front quarters and debone that for hamburger.I mix beef fat with deer meat of about 15% for our hamburger.Take the outer and inner loins out.Remove the back strap sinew from the outer loins [these are over 2' long dried & 3" wide at their widest].Trim the neck and rib meat for hamburger too.Debone the 2 hind quarters cutting along the meat grain and make roasts and steaks from that.

The hides I'll brain tan & smoke.I'll also tan & make some pouches from the front leg hides.The skull I'll skin and debone/boil/trim and clean up.Then bleach it with a thin pastey mixture of grocery store bought 3% to 4% household hydrogen peroxide and magneseum carbonate [a very fine white powder and can be gotten from Van Dykes Taxidermy supply] applied with a small paint brush while the skull bone is moisturized yet but dry to the touch from boiling.That turns and keeps it white as a fresh snow bank.No need of paint or lacquer as a covering.You can get magneseum carbonate on line other places too.If you have a skull wanting to bleach it I would suggest getting the 3S degreaser [a little goes a long way] from The Tannery inc. also to use when par boiling the skull.It breaks up those collagen connected tissue bonds pretty good and takes out the fat residue leaving good dry white bone to be bleached.



Pictures of the ladder stand 15' tall from the bucks' point of view from where he was standing when shot.The leaves for camoflauge have left now since.It's hard to see in the picture but the stand is set back in a pocket of the trees.With the tree branches from trees to each side sticking out farther to conceal me a bit better leaving me a shooting lane out in front of me.Also the grassy strip and the corn field he came out of in front of me.


A picture of a recent scrape being regularly used.I watch these spots like a hawk executing a game plan to ambush them.

Enter hole

Exit hole

Heart sliced by the broadhead

Arrow exit hole side of deer.

He would of been a real dandy in 1 more year but that's ok.There's plenty around already there yet and there's always next year too.

I kinda get a crowd hanging around me when ever this happens.
Three arrows loosed and three deer.Lost 1 broke arrow shaft but recovered the broadhead.0 blood trail to follow.Can't ask for anything better than that.Heck of a bow season.
Post script....This deer produced 85 pounds of deer meat.Bringing total to 200 pounds.Close to 50% hamburger & 50% loins/steaks and roasts.Goal met with 3 deer & 1 more tag to fill yet.
« Last Edit: August 14, 2022, 07:51:43 am by BowEd »
BowEd
You got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything.
Ed

Offline PaSteve

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Re: Iowa buck down
« Reply #1 on: November 09, 2021, 06:58:35 am »
Congrats Ed. Always a good feeling vwhen you hear or see them go down. With that shot placement he wasn't going to make it too far.
"It seems so much more obvious with bows than with other matters, that we are the guardians of the prize we seek." Dean Torges

Offline Pappy

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Re: Iowa buck down
« Reply #2 on: November 09, 2021, 08:38:51 am »
Nice job Ed , congrats. Pappy
Clarksville,Tennessee
TwinOaks Bowhunters
Life is Good

Offline rps3

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Re: Iowa buck down
« Reply #3 on: November 09, 2021, 11:13:34 pm »
Great shot. You've had a stellar season. Congratulations.

Offline BowEd

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Re: Iowa buck down
« Reply #4 on: November 10, 2021, 04:53:44 am »
Thanks fellas.
Congrats to your season too.There's a lot of nice deer being put down with these self bows that are'nt shown on here.Congrats to those guys too.
« Last Edit: November 10, 2021, 05:03:11 am by BowEd »
BowEd
You got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything.
Ed

Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: Iowa buck down
« Reply #5 on: November 10, 2021, 08:32:20 am »
Indeed, that feller had a nice reserve of fat for the winter. Healthy and strong, just like every one of his ancestors that have run that ground from time immemorial.

I bet you're glad he didn't find his way to the middle of those black raspberries!
Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.

Offline BowEd

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Re: Iowa buck down
« Reply #6 on: November 10, 2021, 09:39:02 am »
Yes he was considerate not doing that.I would of had to go get the nylon cordura chaps for us from coon hunting.
As a side note here before this hunt and others I lightly smoke my hunting clothes and myself with a braid of sweet grass for good luck.
« Last Edit: November 12, 2021, 05:46:06 am by BowEd »
BowEd
You got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything.
Ed

Offline BowEd

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Re: Iowa buck down
« Reply #7 on: November 12, 2021, 05:43:19 am »
Finished up on the skull and lower jaws.Took approximately a full day to do altogether.A par boil of about an hour is good enough.Over boiling and you'll lose the teeth and your lower jaws will come apart too.If you've got to glue pieces back on you've boiled it too long.I use our canning pot and a turkey fryer.

A boning knife and the longest longnose pliers you can get.A wire brush will come in handy too.
Skin/debone/boil/and clean up took just a few hours.Bleaching it with the bleaching mixture is left on overnight to half a day to dry.Then the dried powder is blown off with the air compressor and it's done.The powder is as fine as dry wall or gypsum dust.

You can see this buck has been working on trees/scraping/marking his territory for quite some time by how rounded his front tips are.His brow tines are shiny smooth also.I've seen his scrapes along the route to my stand.


I've done quite a few of these skulls in the past.All but a couple shown were shot with self or horn bows.
A few summers I helped a fella with his gutterless service visiting many yards in this area.This little collection of skulls and horns does'nt compare to the racks I've seen on some of the locals' yards.I'll show a few pictures of what I mean.
First a little look into my screened in porch war room where I have some of the skulls with functioning accoutraments made over the past years hung from pegs on an 8 foot 2" by 8" cedar board .Many other items are left in boxes not shown.

Some more scrimshaw work on cow horn and the rosette bone of an elk antler.Ivory is the easiest material to scrimshaw on as it's structure is very tightly grained.

Now a small 8 point from back in 2012 with a plaque picture of one of the B&T's I won B&T Days with.A national hunt win against 1100 other coondogs.A beaded coon dog treeing on a round piece of brain tan laced in a willow hoop to commemorate him.An epoxy encased 4 leaf clover hung in center of skull also.

A cedar frame showing the free articles from national magazines like Full Cry,Coonhound Boodlines,and American Cooner wrote on my dogs.

Some more bleached whitetail deer skulls,horsehair locks,and hooped scalps.

Buck of 2017.

Buck of 2015.Many could'nt believe this buck weighed 385 pounds on the hoof.Got over 125 pounds of deer meat from this fella.Figured he was at least a 7.5 year old.

This one has an extra rossete coming out of his skull.His lower jaws and hooves glued onto an oak burl.He was found dead on my property.Picture is as I found him.Sure would of liked a shot at him too.I think he was either injured from a gun season on the neighboring land and died there or EHD got him.These type skulls are the most difficult to bleach.The hide is dried onto the skull.

Took this skull to an informative meeting held by the DNR.There was a certified  deer rack scorer there so he measured it.It's catagorized as a non typical rack.Score on it was a net 168 and 1/2" after deductions.

Some coon peckers hung on the right hung on one of his tines.Used to have 10 times that amount of coon peckers but a little terrier got to them one time while I was gone coon hunting....ha ha.I did have plans of making a breast plate out of them.

I feel blessed and grateful to continue on with these passions.There's always next year to add to them too.To date recollecting I think I was in the stands around 30 to 35 times taking 3 shots total this year.I'd say close to 150 hours of hunting.Some years are more or less than others.Got busted a few times too.Deer hunting with primitive self made equipment brings the best out of a hunters' skill.More patience is needed but then the reward is more satisfying too.
My coonhunting/buckskinning and primitive deer hunting through these times turned out to be more than a hobby.More like a lifestyle that stays with me to this day with no regrets.You get what you put into things.
Saw lots of deer passing on 3 or 4 this year for sure that were just too small that were in the right shootable situation.Many I would of liked to shoot at but were'nt just right.If they are'nt I don't shoot.I try to stay away from foul shooting deer.Waste of effort and time.Chances are if you don't pull the string you'll get another chance down the line when everything is just right.That's if you are'nt detected too.A lot has to go right for a successful hunt.Some call this ethical hunting.I suppose they're right.I call it productive hunting.
If one is just starting out getting one shot and down of any size is a good thing too.It can build ones' confidence.
The red rat self bow has held up nicely IMO over the year of shooting.It still holds over 4" of reflex from starting out at about 4.5" of reflex.Excellent shooter.
To put my outdoor life experiences into a proper context is that for 45 years of my life this is what I did.Then I got married.It's who I am.If I was'nt in a tractor I was in the woods year round.Always connected to the land and it's inhabitants.House was just a place to rest.No domestic obligations.
I've never been one to pay someone for my experiences or accomplishments.I'd rather earn them myself.Everyones' demographic challenge can be different.Some places are just plain harder to hunt than others.It's where the true full satisfaction and knowledge is experienced.
A side note.....There a large whitetails all over this country of the U.S.A.Canada included.I've  coon hunted in at least 10 different states and seen them at night.This area though harbors it's fair share of big bodied bucks as well as any of them.


« Last Edit: August 08, 2022, 08:57:46 am by BowEd »
BowEd
You got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything.
Ed

Offline bjrogg

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Re: Iowa buck down
« Reply #8 on: November 12, 2021, 02:42:01 pm »
Nice buck Ed. Congratulations on a really good season. I’m sure you will fully utilize your animals. Look forward to seeing what you do with them.

Bjrogg
A hot cup of coffee and a beautiful sunrise

Offline Hawkdancer

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Re: Iowa buck down
« Reply #9 on: November 12, 2021, 03:56:54 pm »
Nice deer!  We haven't had a chance to hunt yet, but our firearm season opens tomorrow, we have a hunt planned for next weekend, Thursday through Sunday, thumbtack to bows and muzzleloaders.
Hawkdancer
Life is far too serious to be taken that way!
Jerry

Offline BowEd

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Re: Iowa buck down
« Reply #10 on: November 12, 2021, 05:31:24 pm »
Thanks fellas.
I guess we all have our little projects to do through the winter to stay out of trouble.It's a bit too cool around here to try to flesh & dry these hides in a frame properly this fall.Right now it's trying to be winter.The buck should be big enough for a pants pipe on it's own.I've got one other ready to match it.
Some more different type pouches to sew up too.
One more tag to fill in late december I guess.They'll be plenty of corn left on the ground in this field here.The deer should put on a little more size and weight in a little over a month for the .54.
The turkey bow tag might happen yet too.
I'll turn my attention to a sinewed winged elm soon I'm letting cure.Medium length bow with some decoration planned for good all around hunting.
Seen a huge 8 point dead along the road.Half his rack missing.Other half busted off but hanging on by the hide.His whole left front leg was missing from the shoulder on.I'm sure some truck is wearing a couple grill ornaments somewhere.
Good luck with your endeavors too.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2021, 08:05:50 am by BowEd »
BowEd
You got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything.
Ed

Offline Stixnstones

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Re: Iowa buck down
« Reply #11 on: November 19, 2021, 12:33:46 pm »
Congrats. Great story and great buck
DevilsBeachSelfbows

Offline Piddler

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Re: Iowa buck down
« Reply #12 on: November 19, 2021, 07:01:26 pm »
The sweet grass must have had big medicine. Nice shot on the buck well all actually.
Piddler
"My goal in life is to try and be the kind of person my dog thinks I am"

Offline BowEd

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Re: Iowa buck down
« Reply #13 on: November 25, 2021, 07:31:42 am »
Thanks fellas...Don't know for sure if the sweet grass did any good for luck,but any amount of confidence is a good thing....ha ha.
BowEd
You got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything.
Ed

Offline ssrhythm

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Re: Iowa buck down
« Reply #14 on: March 06, 2022, 04:42:10 am »
Nice buck and great shooting,  I'm pretty sure that the beard made you invisible to that deer and gave you incredibly good ju-ju.  Jealous.