Wesley Kelley – the “turn around” wonderkid

I’m proud to say my good buddy Wesley (10 years old) smoked his first buck Thanksgiving morning.  It was a quick shot and deadly.  While watching a larger buck make some movement out in front of his stand, he heard a herd behind him.  With one motion he made the “turn around” and zero’d in on the only deer that hung around… that was a bad call on that bucks part. 

Great job Wesley!

 

Daddy Rabbit Connects Near Home

Chad took a good one (I assume with the 6mm) Saturday near his home in the Archer’s Lodge area.  Daryl and TPaul were along for the tracking but did not make the picture, even though I hear they are taking partial credit for reducing it to possession.  Nicely done Daddy Rabbit.

On a side note…I still planning on killing a deer before the season is over.

Chad Nov 14th, 2009

Walker Evans Is On Fire!!

Walker has shot a couple of bucks already this year.  He killed both in Johnston County with his rifle.  Good job Walker…now let your Dad kill one.

Hope everyone is practicing… cause its right around the corner…

Big Water

E and Big T took a trip to the blue water last Friday (May 8th). The trip out was a bit sporty to say the least but the weather improved as the day went on. We were hoping to find a tuna bite but ended up HAMMERING a boat load of mahi-mahi! I mean it was a complete brutal beat-down.

The big surprise of the day was a bite that came when E was up in the chair. By the time the reel went off and E got in the chair, we saw the big Blue come full out of the water! The pictures will not do it justice. I wish I could have taken some better shots.

I’ve been on a boat that landed a billfish before but not one of this size. It was definitely chaos (mostly organized) for the majority of the fight. Capt Charles backing the boat down on the fish was unreal. I don’t think I’ve ever traveled that far in reverse on a big boat. The “Rigged Up” was doing some serious work. We got the Blue Marlin to the side of the boat for a good release. It was sweet. Capt. Charles guessed the fish in the 450# range. I’m sticking to my story of it topping the scales at 500#.

Excellent job by E in the chair. Great trip. Should have enough mahi in the freezer for a while.  This might be worth a photo on canvas Joe… hint hint.

T

The boys are back in town

Falls lake crappie fishin is in full effect. Well make the move to bass very soon though.

DDave in Town

D-Dave made his annual pilgrimage south to God’s country last week. Here are a few pictures that were taken during the week of his visit. Dave took a nice deer with the smokepole…his biggest to date. I also harvested an old 6-pointer the same night E took a doe. There’s a trail cam picture of him at the bottom. Also included are some pictures of a nice 10-pointer that will make a heck of a deer if he makes it another year, and the pet albino which posed for some nice shots.

Big T Tags One From the Big Box Stand

There are 2 ways to tell this story:

Version #1 I had seen some good deer sign behind my house and decided to put my camera up to see if I could catch anything on it. I did end up getting several pictures of two bucks, a decent 8 pointer and a good 6 pointer. I hunted the 8 pointer for the next 10 days. I was hunting “behind” my house on Oct 30th and had both the 6 and 8 pointers chasing does in the pine thickets just behind my house. After watching the chase for a while, I shot the deer below as he stepped out of the pine thicket. He managed to stumble/scramble backwards about 10 yards but that was it.

Version #2 I woke up on the morning of Oct 30th at about 6:45 and eased into the kitchen to fix a cup of coffee. Before starting the coffee maker, I decided to grab my binoculars and check the back yard. From the kitchen I can see most of the backyard, into the pine thicket that borders it and a corn pile I have about 75 yards from the back deck.

I quickly noticed 4 does standing right in the middle of the yard. I also saw a buck on the corn pile but couldn’t tell which one it was. As I scanned back up the yard into the pines I picked out the bigger buck, the 8 pointer, as he sat back in the woods watching the does. I eased back into the bedroom and warned my wife that I was headed upstairs to my “large box stand” and that she may hear my shoot soon…and to be prepared.

I eased upstairs, threw on some coveralls and slipped to the window of the unfinished room that connects to my office. There, at the window, I have a card table with my H & R slug gun, a shooting bag, hunting binocs, spitter, water bottle, etc…all layed out. Similar to what one would have in any normal box stand. The bigger deer had started moving out into the back yard towards the does. as he did that, the big 6 came from the corn pile to met him. They fought and postured a little bit but then both started chasing does. They would run the does down towards the swamp, back up to the pine thicket and right through the back yard.

I watched them chase for a while and then as the last does started leaving out the corner, I shot the deer as he stepped out of the pines. The 12 gauge H&R (RPG as our friend Gary from VA calls them) is damaging and was definitely more than this deer could take.

Two different stories, same result. The next one I shoot from or near the house will need to be bigger than this one…unless I’m just in the mood.

WALKER EVANS TAKES FIRST DEER

Walker was hunting with his Dad and trusty guide, Daryl, on November 6th when he took this buck…his first deer!  They were hunting in a ground blind on the edge of a bean field and Walker, using shooting sticks for a prop, shot the deer at about 50 yards with his rifle.  Congratulations Walker!  I’d say he is a good 10-15 years ahead of when most guys get to shoot their first deer…and he’s significantly more photogenic than the rest of us.  I don’t think his Dad taught him that.

Daddy Rabbit With a Wide One

Chad took this buck in Johnston County this week (Nov. 6th) with the 6MM. It came out behind a doe and met it’s fate mainly because of nice main beam length and width. Chad will post the measurements later but it was in the neighborhood of 19″ wide with main beams in the 22-23″ range. Good deer Daddy Rabbit.