Son first Buck on my new property..

[Paddy]

Nice family activity. I'm about 25 mi north of you in Monroe Co. My home office over looks our 20 wooded ac. Now the leaves are down, we see them daily within 100' of the house.
We need more folks out there hunting in Southern IN.

I prefer smoked jerky as the best prep method. I flat slice pc 1/4 to 3/8 thick(6" dia more or less). Make sure the grain runs like lumber. Soak in a mix of 1/2 cup salt to 1 cup sugar in large SS mixing bowl over night with qt of water. salt and sugar will pull water out. After the "soak", pat dry and spice it up with black peper/garlic/red peper. Load your smoker with the thicker slices on the bottom. I use a low wattage ele smoker and it takes about 12-18 hr. Don't use the high temp jobs that can cook, you are looking for about 150 deg. Since you are in Larry County, I know you have all the hickory bark you care to see! Place a hand full of bark on the element 2-3 times during the smoking time. I assure you if you make it into jerky, you will have to change your phone number.

 

[thingy]

Well,the good news is,,thats a fine buck,,bigger rack than I have ever killed,and I've killed maybe 50 bucks,got close,but believe that one beats me,,,,,bad news is,that might be the biggest he ever gets,,my little brother killed a massive 10 point,with a punkin ball when he was about 12,[we can use rifles here],,its the biggest he has ever got and probably ever will.

Got my first buck when I was 12,4 point,,410 punkin ball,,how,,I don't know,,pretty sure I blanked out,two or more shots and no people killed,,,,and,,,the deer was dead,,thingy

 

[ByronBob]

Thanks everyone for the feedback... he has grown up with me in the woods over the past 12 or so years... he is now 25... killed his first bow dear last year (A Doe) which was indeed special as well.. Bad news is the youngest 16 is a tad jealous... but good news is that is by far not the best buck on the property... I have a couple of 165-170 class and another that will probably go 185 -190 class...
But all in all just totally awesome buck... green scored 136 and had a whopping 26" neck ....
Hopefully that will not be the last one.. we post this year...

Again thanks to everyone and I LOVE this site... so refresing to find folks kind of cut from the same cloth...
Maybe just one more with Dad and the two boys...

Nice work there by all of you...

 

[kbiddle]

And one for Dad too...

Shot this one this AM....Could not let the boys have all the deer

 

[billbill1]

Dad, it looks like you did a good job too. Good to see a family doing something they all enjoy, spending time together over the holidays. That's what it's all about.

 

[Thomas]

Morning kbiddle.
Fine harvest indeed,and by the looks of his head gear that ole boy might have done some pushing and shoving w/others.

 

[kbiddle]

Thx all...
Yes he was a big ole mature battle axe... he had a 30" neck which is just HUGE....
I would guess that deer to be atleast 4+ years....and was ready to be harvested... It is just so awesome to be able to do that with your family on your own land....
When we first moved back here here in Feb. of this year (VA to IN..) we went to work right away.. bought a new created two 5 AC food plots... feather edged, mineral licks... etc....etc.. While it I am sure is helping this is just plain old good genetics... So while I am very proud of what we have accomplished so far I am even more excited about what the future will hold as long as we continue to provide good stewardship of the land....
Thx again all me and the family really enjoy the site...

 

[EddieWalker]

Kevin,

Two good bucks on the same land in the same season is just outstanding!!! Who knows what else you have there?

Have you put up any game cameras?

When you start prepping the land again, you should start a thread on what your doing and why. I'd sure enjoy following your process and seeing your results.

Eddie

 

[kbiddle]

Eddie,
I agree it is truley special two have two bucks like that and even more...
Yes I have game trail cameras out have had them out for about 6 months or so... I have some AWESOME shots of some great deer though the growth cycle....
I will start another thread on the who what etc..on the prep...
But here is a sort summary...
I have 123 Ac... In southern IN, that I bought in Feb of this year...when we were looking for property to move back my desire was to be able to hunt my own land as public hunting is becoming too crowded etc,,,
The wife wanted a old house... the older the better...

That in mind we got lucky... Very Lucky in my opnion...I bought 118 AC in the original purchase and shortly after we were here another 5 that abuts my property bacame available so I got that as well...

First thing I did was get in touch with the local biologist who has just turned out to be a awesome guy that I have bacame friends with over the past months....
So we created a plan... I wanted to manage for deer of course.. as well as quail...

Since being here I have clear-cut/ bush-hogged a over grown 5.5 AC old field that had not been planted for about 6 or seven years... tilled it added 2 tons of 12-12-12... the PH was 6.8 to 7.0.... so no lime was necessary...
Then planted a blend that I got from the DNR as well as some that I created myself at the local feed store...The second field was a little more difficult.. another 5 or so AC, it had not been planted since the 60's so I had to hire a guy to doze it... basically same process as the other one after it was cleared....
I also have set up a couple mineral site as well.
this being a pretty big AG area I did not really think about putting the feeders out. But I will once the snow flies and season is over... I have two #350 auto feeders that I will load up and put on each side of the property topped a supplement...
The good news is the land had been logged about 4-6 years ago and they did just a real nice job... did not take all the hardwood or leave a bunch of tops and bad skid area...
By the way I have really enjoyed following your porojects on here as well...
The lake is something I would love to do someday...

 

[EddieWalker]

Kevin,

Thanks, that sure would have been a fun process to follow. The pics of the animals you got on the game cams would be allot of fun to see too!!!

Every year I get more exited than the last year with all the posiblities and things to do!!!!

Eddie