Some fun with my youngest in the ground blind...We did not see a deer...but we had a lot of fun exploring all my hunting stuff in my bag...She played on my iPhone most of the time...Very upset we didnt get a deer...She said "but I want to eat one"!!!

Hinky had to bail so I went scouting instead...

I ran into this group...It was kinda fun to watch...I first saw the 8 point as I rounded the fenced in garden. He was nibbling on some browse and it seemed odd to me that he was so exposed so early in the afternoon.

I kept looking around and found the true object of his desire....he followed and sniffed every step she took.

There was some competition though....in the form of a little half racked juvenile. He was not much of a threat...more like a wannabe that wished he could be in the position of his larger counterpart. He stayed out of the way for the most part until I lost sight of the whole gang.

Its doe time...

It has been a loooong season...We still have a few guys with unfilled buck tags...but its time to start blazin some females. Paul and I were out the other morning and got the ball rolling...

Went to a spot that has been silly with does and had one certain girl in mind. She has been busting us here and at two other stands. She just seems to know every time... She is unmistakeable with the white spot on her face. Very same area I killed the big six last year. We have seen at least 5 deer this season with this crazy white spot but hers is the darkest and shaped a lot like an arrow head.

Well...true to form she hung up at 35 yards but that was no issue for Paul. She didnt make it out of the wood lot. We waited almost 3 more hours and Paul shot another mature doe before getting down and giving these deer to a friend that has not shot a deer this year.

I cannot thank Paul enough for videoing my buck earlier and I am basically devoting the rest of my season as his camera man...I know these does dont equal a buck but it was fun and we are on the right track for a late season buck!!! NEVER give up!!!

Finally!!!

It has been a tough, tough season for me personally....I dont think I have ever had such a rough time even getting to the point where I felt comfortable that I could even see a good deer on stand. If not seeing big ones on trailcam was the only problem I dont think it would be so hard to deal with....but its the outside interference that has had me contemplating taking a vacation from the woods.

One step forward and two steps back could be used to describe my efforts this season. From pre season scouting til a week ago I have been on a roller coaster. I have been plagued on a couple of my properties by some "hunters" that think its ok to just go back in the parks behind my properties where no hunting is permitted or simply trespass where I have permission and they dont. I even had a guy trying to get permission on one of my properties shoot a deer from the driveway while waiting. Thanks for that buddy.....I wasnt going to kill that one yet as he was a dinker and more like a pet as he was on my trail cam daily.....

I am not one to let adversity keep me down. I keep plugging away and trying to get over the obstacles that are thrown my way. No sense crying....but man did I want too....Just couldnt win....

So my daughter Riley was sick on one of my vacation days....I was supposed to be in a tree this morning but Family comes first so I had to stay home....Frustrating but no biggee...at least I got to hang out with my rugrat....She loves to "Hunt " with Daddy so when she started bouncing off the walls...(not real sick.....hmmm) I asked if she wanted to go find deer... We drove to a couple of my spots and checked cams....Action was a little spotty as the rut was winding down....Just when I was feeling another bout of no buck depression coming on I saw him. A big buck that had a reputation in the area I hunted...He was in the front yard of a facility near a property I had recently yanked a stand out of.

I personally had never laid eyes on this guy but had heard stories about the crab claw 10 with a split G2... I pulled into a driveway and started shooting......my T2i.....at the deer getting some great shots of the big ole boy...He was king...His queen was laying against an ornamental bush and apparently close to "ready". other deer including some lesser bucks were mingling around the yard as well...but you could tell who was in charge...it was just a matter of time.

The crazy thing is I knew he almost had to have walked right by my tree that was empty that morning...I quickly retrieved a stand and put it back in the tree. Riley was on her best behavior waiting for the McDonalds reward I promised her for letting me get this done. (Father of the year award is in the mail i'm sure....hehe) I was now ready to hunt this guy and was just hoping that he would be in the area for more girls and this was not the only one.

A couple days later when the wind was right I was back in that tree with Paul. There had been heavy doe traffic on the cam and that seemed good. No good bucks or sightings of the King but I was not worried as I had never captured a pic of him on trailcam yet.

A gang of does were heading our way when we had a problem....The wind shifted....While watching them I felt wind on the back of my neck...It was kinda running down the side of the ridge we were situated on. I figured that if he was to come from that direction that we may never see him before he got a whiff....

Just about the time I thought our hunt was a bust....the whole gang looked up hill in front of us...we did the same and noticed a bunch of deer.

The entire herd on the hill came running down full speed as if they had just been bumped. It was a Saturday and there was a lot of activity in the surrounding neighborhood so this would be normal. At the very end of the pack was a big buck....Paul simply said..."its him" and I went numb!!!

Even though the whole group seemed to be running scared I noticed that my boy was hot on the tail of yet another potential mate...The guy gets around!!! I knew it would only take that doe coming into range to get a shot at him but the whole group continued out of sight and possibly out of my life....

A mere 15 minutes later while Paul and I were going over the chances that they would come back I caught movement in the direction they had gone...It was a doe......Followed by HIM!!!

and a couple young straggler bucks.

After what seemed like an eternity I ran a Rage through my best buck ever. She led the buck right past us and into my trap. The buck took off at the shot and stopped after 20 yards looking at the other bucks. He didnt know what happened and soon fell to the ground.

I was shocked at my own reaction upon watching the video. I dont believe I have ever acted like this after shooting a deer. I think it had a lot to do with the relief and pride of finally "winning" I had put a lot of effort in to this season and finally paid off....BIG TIME!!! Just shy of 147 inches!!!

Paul has yet again captured some ridiculous footage that I cannot wait to put together and now its his turn!!!!

Andys big 8

Andy puts probably more hours on stand than anyoneI know. His favorite game is picking out a certain buck and hunting him. This season I have spent quite a few days behind the camera during this chess game and this guy is intense...It is nice to see him get the hook up on a suburban giant via his close friend Felipe. Felipe is known to year after year put down some giant Whitetails in Md. He, like the majority of the overkill crew focuses on suburban hotspots that harbor some enormous freaks. He shot a super giant about two weeks before taking Andy into one of these haunts....

Here is a pic of Felipe's giant and then Andy's version of the events.

Well, I'll try and make this as short as possible but theres allot to say and be thankful for. Anyone that hunts with me knows I normally am bringing people to my properties to hunt, but I was invited to hunt one of my buddies (Felipe who shot the 177" buck I posted pics of a week ago) spots which was a really nice change, thanks Felipe, one hunt I wont forget. I was just in Illinos hunting for 9 days with no shooters in shooting range, and Ive had 46 sits this year already. Our goal was to get kill footage for 2012 Overkill DVD and my hopes were high becuase Felipe has managed his properties over the years and its payed off big time. Felipe had several good bucks in this spot on his camera so with a little luck a shooter would show up. Felipe was manning the camera for the first time and did a fantastic job all the way around. We saw several bucks, some small bucks, some were in the 120" class, some I was ready to shoot but he called me off. We saw one nice 8 pt breed a Doe, was exciting from start to finish. At about 5PM all the deer moved on chasing Does etc and everything was quiet for 30 minutes. Felipe said a buck was coming, then he said thats your buck, it was coming from directly behind me and I couldnt see it until it was literally right under me and it was a no brainer. He passed right by the stand and moved out to about 40 yards and I couldnt shoot as Felipe was trying to get the camera back on him when he walked around our tree. I waited to see what he would do before trying a grunt, bleat or anything to try and get him to come back in, but he turned and walked back towards us, straight at us. He tortured me for a few minutes directly facing us with no shot and it only made it worse as I started to get JACKED up. Finally he turned slightly quartering away at 19 yards and started to move off, I gave a "bah" and stopped him long enough to take a shot. Felipe hangs his stands high, really high, like 30 to 32' so Im not used to shooting down at that severe angle. I hit him a little back, looked like liver/lung shot so we backed out and decided to go back in the morning. I knew he was dead but it was still a long night. Thanks Felipe, Jason, Todd and Todds son for the help tracking and dragging, was good experience for Todds son who recently started hunting and killed a few deer already. Unfortunately the foxes found him before we did and got a little of the hind quarter, but not bad. Troy/Bowtrolls son Dawson whos 13 took these pics and did a great job. Troy also took some pics and Im sure he will post some up later. This was the first time in 29 years of hunting Ive ever been invited to hunt a spot where big mature bucks were around and given the opprtunity to shoot one, Felipe, you are the man!!! The buck scored 145 6/8", had a 20 4/8 inside spread, split brows and cariied mass all the way out. I couldnt be happier or more greatful. You'll see the hunt on the 2012 Overkill DVD.

Well this youth day sika hunt has been a month in the works. As you all may recall, my son Tyler spent a week and a half at Children's Hospital for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Meningitis. I kept his progress up to date here on MWC and the outpouring of thoughts and prayers was overwhelming. Well, as a result of all the support, my son Tyler got an invite from Mark (aka Sikafreak) to hunt his Dorchester property on youth day for Sika. Needless to say, Tyler and I were speechless. Neither one of us had ever been Sika hunting and we were very excited. At the time of Marks generous offer Tyler was still at Children's in his hospital bed, and I can honestly admit it was the first smile we had seen on his face in days.

So Tyler and I went down Friday night and stayed at the Days Inn in Cambridge. We met Mark Saturday morning at the Royal farms store and began a friendship with a quick introduction and hand shake. We then followed Mark to his property where we met up with a few other MWC'ers who would also be hunting that morning with bows. We met Chip (aka Marshrabbit20), Kirk (aka Marshnut), and Sam (she is the daughter of the Huntress). Man what a great group of people and they were all very accommodating and excited for Tyler to get his first dose of Sika seduction. We all said good luck and Mark took us to the stand which was a tri-pod stand over looking the marsh. It was beautiful seeing the sun come up and the marsh come to life, oh yeah and all the duck hunters around us opening up their season with a bang. We were settled in and I will admit I had to climb down out of the stand and take of some business Royal Farms had left me. Once done I walked back over to the stand and Tyler whispered down not to move that he saw a stag. Tyler had the gun up looking through the scope and I thought I was going to miss it all. After a minute or two he said to come on up. I climbed up and asked what happened. He said it was a taller spike stag that popped up at about 50 yds walking away and he goes "Dad it just disappeared, I never had a shot". I chuckled and said that's why they call them "Marsh Ghosts". We sat there for another hour or so watching the scenery hoping for another sighting. We were sitting there talking when all of the sudden a brown shadow came bolting through the reed grass at about Mach 5. I told Tyler to get his gun up. This thing broke out into the marsh in the opening at full speed and I eventually just yelled at it to stop. Of course it stops right behind a bush. It stands there a few seconds and takes off again. I yell again and it stops again this time in an opening. Tyler was able to get the gun on him and that TC Venture 7mm08 barked. The stag stumbled and turned back to the reed grass running off with blood pouring out of the wound. Tyler had the biggest smile on his face and we were hi-fiving. I made the call to Mark that Tyler had gotten one and the calvary came. Mark had even called Oakcreek and his son Alex and they came to recover the stag also. Well the blood trail was quite impressive through that marsh. We found it with ease. Everyone was so pumped. I think that is the coolest thing about the kids being successful is everyone involved feels even better than if they had actually shot it themselves. We took a lot of pics and got the stag out of there.

Knowing Tyler could only shoot one Sika we were contemplating leaving for home. But, all that home talk subsided when Mark offered up his stand to me for the evening with my bow. I was all over that. Mark actually sat with Tyler for the evening hunt hoping for a whitetail encounter, which they actully had but couldn't get a shot. My evening in Mark's stand was awesome. I saw 2 small spike stags and a hind. They were at 10 yards for probably 30 minutes and I passed hoping for a nicer stag. They eventually walked off and that was it. Needless to say I am hooked. Mark said the invitation is open for January and man am I anxious to get back down there with that group of dedicated Sika hunters.

All in all a fantastic day. Thanks Mark for the invite and making us feel at home. You have a great group of people there. Tyler was tickled with his first Sika and you made his day a success. Tyler insisted on having it mounted so I dropped it off at Tim Young's last night. He wanted to have it mounted because now he will have his 1st whitetail, turkey, and sika mounted. I guess the best news of the whole story is Tyler has had several follow ups from his illness and is back to good health with no limitations. Thanks again guys.

For the third out of five seasons now I have videoed doug shooting his "best buck ever" out of the same spot within a few days of Halloween... Every time, doug looks up and says, "that's my best buck!!!". If we keep this up it will be a booner in a few years...

Here is Doug's take on the events...

This tree has really paid off for Troy and I over the past few years, and it's always within a few days of Halloween, and this year was no different. I worked at the firehouse on Halloween and was anxious to hook up with Troy knowing our favorite time to hunt this tree was now. We met up and headed in very optimistic about the evening, but after getting into the stand, it was so freaking warm we just weren't sure the bucks would be cruising like usual. The evening progressed and was an absolute riot on stand. We laughed and joked and got loud at times laughing so hard because we weren't really concerened with the woods being so dead. We even spent about 15 mins making a hellacious racket trying to lasso a limb I've been meaning to cut with Troy's pull rope and hook. We would never do well in the rodeo. But, we got it. Troy rattled several times throughout the evening but as the the 6 o'clock hour approached there just wasn't anything happening except for the typical yearling coming into check for handouts. So, Troy looks at me and says I think I need to rattle one more time, give it a few minutes, and then hit the road if nothing shows. So, he rattles, and Troy had no sooner put the horns on the hook and I hear him say good buck coming. I couldn't see the buck because it was coming from behind my stand, but Troy assured me it was a shooter so I grabbed my bow. I finally was able to glass the buck and agreed it was a shooter. As the buck approached, he was following a doe and had another doe following him. Well, he was closing the distance on a steady walk and the lead doe had already passd at about 5 yards. As the buck approaches at 15 yards I drew my bow and was preparing to stop him, when all of the sudden he just stopped, and unfortunately it was right behind a limb. So, I end up letting down. He took another step or two forward and the again the shooting lane had some trash in the way. As I stood there ready to draw, the doe bringing up the rear is now looking up at me and now I'm getting nervous as to what she may alret him to. Well, it felt like an eternity, but finally she turned her head and I was able to sit back down on the seat which allowed for a clear shot, a shot I didn't have standing up. So with the buck at 12 yards, I came to full draw, picked a spot, and squeezed my release off. (As a side note, a logistical mistake on my part, I had forgotten the camera boot for the camera arm so Troy was holding the video camera by hand, and since the buck came in behind us he and I were on opposite sides of the tree andTroy never saw me draw my bow, and when I shot, I scared the crap out of him and he jumped a little with the camera but no biggie). Well those Carbon Express luminated nocks sure are a beautiful color of red in that evening autumn woods. That arrow burried itself right on the mark and the buck spun around and ran back to where he had just came from. We watched him make a 60 yard dash and just crash to the ground. It was amazing. Troy turns the camera on me and we are high fiving and I give him my famous same line I give every year about this time and say, "that's my biggest buck". Man oh man I don't get tired of saying that. So, we made all the necessary Overkill phone calls we had to make and then climbed down. What a feeling walking up and seeing those beams sticking up. And, the body was remarkably enormous. It was a perfectly symetrical 10 pointer that we felt would be in the mid 130's. Well we were right. The next day at KS Kuts in Damascus we put a tape on him for a rough score and came up with 134" gross. We also weighed him there and he was 193 pounds field dressed, so we are guessing at least 230 pounds on the hoof. Wow. What a buck. And, this is the same tree my son Tyler shot his full velvet 10 out of opening night. I was on cloud 9. After everything that has happened recently I really needed something good like this to happen. My first P&Y and it is all on film. Thanks again Troy for being there with me and getting it done. I dropped my buck off today at Young's Wildlife and can't wait for Tim to bring him back to life like he does so well. Alright, I gotta get to bed. Off to be Bowtroll's camera Bi+ch again tomorrow. And thanks fellas for all the kind words thus far. I have hunted since I was 12 years old and was finally able to surpass that 125" mark. What a relief!

Kevins Giant Freak Buck

Last season left Kevin and I scratching our heads as the 145 plus inch 9 point we had been seeing seemed to be visible every day that we were not in the blind....right wind, right location, just no buck....It was like he knew. On the last day we hunted the set...A smaller buck paid the price and became a movie star. The big 9 was first spotted at the very end of October in a completely different area of the same neighborhood. Kevin and Chris were set up in a promissing spot where this guy had made a strong presence in September. He came to the edge of the woods and was about to enter the small meadow where the boys were perched and he just....decided otherwise.... The deer mad a small appearance in last seasons DVD
(He is in the intro where I was talking about suburban sprawl and the giants that come from the parks to the neighborhood yards) He was a clean 9 and we wanted to see Kevin put a tag on this guy bad. We had good trailcam photos as well, but as is the rule between all the boys...we really dont show the good ones until the deal is done...Its kinda like some bad JUJU or something...

We were dying to see what the deal was with this guy as the cameras went out this season. I got a ridiculously excited voicemail from Kevin one day and we had our answer....The ole boy had become a freak...We had noticed a wound on the deer in the last days of the season that looked to be from an arrow or bullet just above the sweet spot in the back...Could this be what caused the massive abnormality??? The rear facing trailcam photo told the tale. The crazy rack that now sported 4 beams still carried the same basic frame that he had the previous year.

The deer vanished as quickly as he had the previous season but we felt like we at least were on the right track because the location was the same. A quick look on the aerial told us where he was likely spending his evenings. A large beanfield to the south was the largest draw in the area. The sighting we had via trailcam were in the same small meadow where numerous bucks were frequenting a WYLD Mineral site. The differance for this season is that Roger and Kevin had moved the stand to just inside the wood line where the Buck had made his entrance last year. It was to only be hunted on a strong south wind.

When Kevin called and told me there was a south wind...I really didnt think to much of it as we had not seen this guy since the end of August. Our friend Paul, whom we had just asked to join us in our endeavors, was available to run the camera for Kevin this evening.
Paul was in the MWC @ Full Draw competition last season and Captured our Friend Rob Cardosi shooting a Monster Buck that scored just shy of the Boone and Crocket minimum. Paul was also just featured on Solo Hunter on the Sportsman Channel shooting a big freak of his own so I felt good knowing that if the giant happened to head into the meadow to feed, he would have no problem capturing footage of Kevin putting his signature heart shot on this deer.

I lost all track of time during the evening as I was busy signing papers on my new SUV and trying to make it to work on time. I had just turned the key on my brand new Rav 4 when the phone rang. I was sitting still in the dealership garage when Paul whispered...."I must be good luck behind the camera....the big freak is down" I about lost my mind!!! I wanted so badly to go see this thing...The evening was filled with stories and cell phone pics flying around like wild. Paul was convinced it was 170. I was not sure from the pics but I knew it was not to be topped in the unique category. Regardless, the big boy was in Kevins truck and is now the Overkill Poster Buck for 2011 Season 4.

The next morning I headed straight to Kevins house with my camera. As soon as I looked at this deer I knew he was as special as we had thought. The size of beams would be impressive as a normal 2 beamed buck but add in two more and you have a 4 beamed super freak with points to match!!! 15 scoreable points in all for a grand total of 166 6/8 gross inches. Unofficially this guy nets out at 157 non typical inches. Knowing what I know about Kevin....He will probably shoot a higher scoring deer one day....but this deer will always be tops in the crazy category!!!

And about that signature heart shot....After grabbing some 20 plus minutes of Big Buck rutting behavior, Paul followed the buck as he headed into the danger zone....20 yards in front left of Kevin!!! Kevin is perhaps the most meticulous stand setup guys I have ever seen. I always refer to kevins perch as his throne...He learned the art from Jeff and has taken it to extremes with his latest sets...I dont believe I have ever seen him have to move to shoot a deer....They walk right down and give it to him off of his left front every time!!! I was not surprised when Paul sent the picture of the beasts heart with a Slick Trick X in the dead center of it!!! I have honestly never seen anyone do this on such a regular basis...

Congrats Kevin on an Awesome and incredibly Unique Trophy. It looks like you may have the best buck on the DVD 2 years running....You hunted this guy smart and you deserve it!!!

So it has been antlerless time in the Overkill woodz
I have been making my rounds trying to video as well as laying down a few slicks my self...

The other day Kevin and I went to "The Doctors" for the first hunt of the year...
He informed me there was no pull up rope and to bring one which I did....
After tugging his gear up it was my turn to climb up so I was throwing a my rope up to Kevin....

That has never cost me a gash and a black eye before....

I was throwing and I guess the motion caused my binos which are on my safety belt to bounce up and hit me in the eye.....I thought this was just a fluke and since the rope didnt make it up to Kevin....I threw it harder!!!!

And it hit me harder.....Seriously staggered me like I just took a knockout punch...My bino cups were glued into position by me and it broke the seal....

We killed a couple anyway.....hehe....once I stopped the bleeding

My second angle cam was dead so I used my iPhone...
It worked awesome...I held it on Kevin with my left hand and propped it up on a tree for my deer that Kevin filmed!!! ahhhhTechnology!!!

Anyway...Im back in bucktags!!!