2009 Success

	Dean Jackson September 20, 2009 Somewhere in Minnesota Hi George, I harvested this doe on the archery opener, 20th of September, near Houston, Minnesota. I was hunting with my brothers, Joel and Kim as guests in Jim Gilmer's beautiful hunting camp. Muzzy broad heads and my Black Ice bow served well on the 23 yard shot. Thanks for the great hunt, Jim. It's great to be back in the tree stand! Dean Jackson
	Christian Hilgenberg October 3, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa Christian Hilgenberg, my grandson, got his buck Saturday with a great smoke-pole shot at just under fifty yards followed by a 30 yard recovery. We use only non-lead copper bullets. I was very impressed with the knockdown power and penetration using 80 grains of Triple Seven with a 250 grain Knight sabot. The perfectly mushroomed bullet was found just under the skin on the far shoulder after breaking the heaviest bone in that shoulder. The buck has a typical five point right side but the left side has a fat acorn-like point off its base, an 8 inch brow tine as it shoots straight up to a fork. It appears to be a two year old buck in great shape which field dressed around 200 pounds.
	Will Pingrey October 4, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa Good morning George, Here is the photo of Will’s buck. Synopsis for PI is this: October 4th, I took my son Will out for last evening hunt of the 2009 youth season. Slight north wind so conditions would be perfect for the spot we wanted to go. Settled in behind some round bales and watched a alfalfa food plot. We saw this buck come out of the timber and begin working his way toward the alfalfa. It took about 35-40 minutes but he finally appeared out of a draw and entered the alfalfa. As I looked over at Will to tell him the buck is there I notice he’s already got the T/C Pro Hunter "cocked, locked, and ready to rock". The buck is about 150 yards out and turns broadside. The Pro Hunter barks and the buck lurches forward and makes it about 40 yards before tipping over. I congratulated Will and he’s extremely disappointed because he can’t blood trail him. I tell him I’m happy as hell because I’m sicker than a dog with a cold and we can drive the pickup right up to him. This buck had a huge body and his neck was already swollen. All in all a great memory of a fantastic hunt with my son who is growing up too fast. Thanks George!!!!
	Nate Wendl October 4, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa Nate Wendl (9 years old) first deer shot by Muzzle loader.
	Dean Jackson October 9, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa Hi George, Here's the deer. I had an enjoyable hunt last night when I set out to try and shoot Ol' Limper. I've had my eye on this buck for a few years and this year he had put on some serious mass and added a limp, either from fighting, or more likely from being wounded by a hunter. He didn't appear to be much, if any, bigger than last year but his antlers were heavier. I was in the stand by 5:15 when I heard talking. Soon after the 2 hikers and their dogs walked past, pausing for a chat with me, and after I took some practice shots, 5 tom turkeys came out and put on a splendid show feeding, pestering each other and drinking from a puddle in the trail. At 6:25 a doe and fawn wandered by at 31 yards. A second fawn followed at 6:30. It was looking at something behind; Ol' Limper was cautiously headed my way 2 or three steps at a time. He was pausing and looking around as if he sensed this was not a normal peaceful evening. The ten minutes he took to close the distance seemed like an hour. As he walked through the first shooting lane I was at full draw. Limper was 25 yards and it looked like he might be closer in the next opening so I allowed him to pass letting off on my draw. I thought I had been silent yet he stopped and looked at the base of my tree for half a minute. Then he continued but at a trot and I drew my Iceman Bow. I called, using my best nasal bleat to put the breaks on him at 17 yards. He froze and looked straight up at me, down the shaft of a Cabela's arrow. I settled the pin behind the shoulder and squeezed the release. I watched the arrow connect precisely where I had intended as he twirled and raced back into the timber. I sat back and enjoyed what seemed to be a particularly glorious sunset, watched the turkeys wander into the woods and listened to the coyotes serenade before I gathered my equipment and descended from the tree. The brilliant stars were out as I called a couple of hunting buddies to come give me a hand. Ed and "Beaner" Golay showed up to assist in the recovery which was was slow, deliberate and full of stickers. The nine pointer looks like he has over 40 inches of mass with a very dark antlers. As you often find with deer who have been wounded in the past, his rack is uneven and full of character, but the main theme with this buck is maturity and mass. He's going to make great sausage and table-fare and, yes, a mighty fine addition to the wall in my den. But, I'm really going to miss watching him in the woods. Mzee Bwana Hodari Kidogo Sana
	Bryce Lambley Somewhere in Nebraska George The 2009 Nebraska deer season is off and running and indeed the first month is almost over, and I look forward to beginning to make use of my coveted Iowa Non-Resident permit soon. In the meantime, I've had a busy start. On Sept. 25, I had my 6-year old daughter, Emily, in the buddy stand with me when a tiny 1x1 came our way. I've tried to take a deer with one or both of my daughters in the tree but inevitably the only thing to offer shots on those days have been fawns or dink bucks. But this dink had antlers shorter than 6" and would therefore qualify as antlerless under our regulations and could be tagged as such. With my daughter wanting me to "get" this one, when it stopped at 13 yards I was able to double lung/top of the heart it and Emily led the way on the plentiful blood trail. I hope it will be a memory to last her lifetime; I know it will for me. On Oct. 2, there was light rain and it was blowing very hard. I'd been seeing deer travel into NW winds before to access a cornfield, but almost any stand option would put them in a likely position to scent me first. So I still-hunted the corn's edge rows until about sunset (having some close calls with does) and then did the same to the best part of the field as prime time rapidly slipped away. Suddenly, 10 yards away a big buck walked through the battered end rows and high grasses which had overwhelmed the edge of the field. He was upwind and I probably had two or three seconds to make it happen. Unfortunately the shot was a little back, which necessitated that I leave and come back in the morning and do a body search in a nasty 140-acre cornfield. After checking nearby water sources and doing a smell-check of the downwind part of the field, I began to check the rows and soon found my buck although the coyotes had beat me to the back half of him. Nice, heavy and wide 4x5 and I'm especially proud of how I took him. Oct. 6 I was back in the cornfield on a similar weather day (although the winds died down), this time posting up in the corn downwind of one of the entry trails. Was able to shoot a big doe at about 10 yards from the corn, perfect double-lunger and it ran a very short distance. Oct. 10 I was on a different property and was able to take another big doe, this time from 20 yards with a shot that broke through the elbow of the leg and entered the chest cavity just a hair below the heart (yes this is possible). I figured I either had a heart shot or non-vital, but this hit shows you're never too old to learn something. Turns out the arrow did enter as described above and I followed blood for approximately 900 to 1000 yards before finding my doe, basically bled out. Still looking for a better NE buck and starting to think about making sojourns over to western IA. All deer taken with a 55# Pronghorn takedown longbow and Wensel Woodsman heads.
	Drew Olberding October 11, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa Drew O, age 9, shot his first deer with his Matthews Mission bow. One shot, one deer. Good start!
	Drew Baier October 11, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa George, Filled the first tag of the year with a doe on Oct. 11. It was a good hunt because I had my fiancé with for her first time in the woods. We saw a total of 18 does and fawns and one 2 1/2 year old 8 pointer. I made a good shot at 23 yards, she only made it about 60 yards. I was very happy/impressed with my new 2 blade Rage broadheads. Hopefully I will be sending you a pic of a big buck harvest in the next few weeks. thanks George. Sorry for fuzzy picture, its from my cell phone. Drew B.
	Jerome Jensen October 18, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa This buck was taken on October 18th 2009 with a bow (Matthew’s Switchback XT) and a Spitfire broadhead. He came in for a twenty yard shot at 8:20 am. At 10:00 am I came down from the tree stand and he only went a short distance. A special thanks to Clint Petersen for helping get this brute to the truck. The rough unofficial score is 155 gross, 144 net. He had eleven points and a heavy body. Thanks Jerome Jensen
	Chad Behrens November 3, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa Shot this buck at 2:15 on the 3rd. I double lunged him at 18yds, he ran 75 yards before ending up in a creek. Great hunt, well worth a full day in the stand. Chad
	Ed Golay November 5, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa Ed Golay took this great mature buck tonight as it tended a doe. He made the 13 yard shot 4 minutes after getting in to his stand. You gotta love the rut! Ed had the assistance of his son, Brian, to get this bruiser out of the timber. The buck has a large rut-swollen neck and is a basic 10 pointer with 4 extra points and stickers. Way to go, Ed.
	John Doonan October 31, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa On October 31st at 4:30 a.m. with a 40 lbs. of treestand and gear on my back I packed in……..through standing corn, 1 ½ miles in the mud to a creek I had never hunted. The topo looked really good so I had to check it out (a heavy creek intersection totally surrounded by corn). At 9:30 a.m. I let him pass through my first lane and debated but when he stopped in my second lane I took him at 25 yards. He traveled 70 yards after the shot. John Doonan
	Ryan Heuton November 10, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa I shot this 10 pointer at 12:30 in the afternoon with bow at 8 yards. I sat in one stand for an hour and didn't like the setup with the wind, so I walked to a different stand and saw this buck within a half hour. He ran 50 yards and piled up. I shot this buck 2 years to the day of my last deer on this website. I saw another nice buck and two smaller bucks while tracking. They really seemed to be active during the middle of this day. Ryan Heuton
	George Parris November 13, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa Well, I removed a 4x4 from the gene pool on Friday. He isn't a huge deer by any means but I had planned to take a shot if it was offered. This was the third time I had seen the buck on his feet. I also had a trail camera picture of him. He was definitely a mature deer. He was the biggest of five bucks really harassing a doe. The kamikaze bucks were hot on her trail with this buck falling behind. The shot was about 20 yards. I gave him a 'MA, MA". He stopped and appeared to be broadside to me but I later discovered that the arrow hit his right side, center mass, and exited by the opposite rear leg and stuck in the ground. I was extremely pleased with arrow flight and the 100 grain G5 Montec. I let bigger bucks go this year but I have come to realize that the biggest thrill isn't the size of the buck it's the whole experience leading up to the decision to pull the trigger and for me it has become the execution of shot. I have had extreme issues with execution in the past but as this buck approached and offered the shot I felt mentally prepared. Now it is time to harvest some does and wait for late season. Short post harvest video.
	Andy Golay Mid October Somewhere in Iowa This is a picture of Andy Golay's beautiful 8 pointer from mid October. It was a 15 yard shot with short recovery the first night he went out to hunt. Back to college for Andy.
	Mark Sexton November 15, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa I watched this deer run into the open at 3:30 and hunt for the trail of two does that recently ran by . Got him to stop 3 times on grunts and snort wheeze calls but he kept on their trail into standing corn. 45 minutes later the field lit up with does and two tiny bucks. Then he came back out to work on those smaller bucks. I got a good look at him and figured him in the mid 140’s so I grabbed the bow. He must have remembered where he heard the calls because he came trotting over towards the stand. He started to veer off slightly so I stopped him at 35 yards. The arrow hit him well. He went 50 yards towards the truck, staggered, tail wagged, and fell over. He’ll score in the mid to low 140’s. Luckily George was close by to assist and take awesome pictures. Thank you George. Mark
	Drew Baier November 5, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa George, I shot this buck Nov. 5th on an a.m. hunt. I saw him about 400 to 500 yards out, I hit the horns together and he came on a dead sprint. By the time I set the horns down and grabbed my bow he was about 25 yds. I shot him at 15 yards. He went about 20 yards and laid down and expired. Three more bucks came in right after the shot. I rattled in a total of 7 bucks and saw one other nice one at bout 200 yards. It was a great hunt and I was done on my First morning of a 10 day vacation. Thanks. Drew
	Ethan Cretsinger November 14, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa Here is a picture of Ethan Cretsinger's buck he got at 7:50 am 11-14-09 after being in the stand since 5:50 am. This joker walked by with 2 does so he had to put him down and he got to watch him drop from 50 yards.
	Chris Kitt October 3, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa George, Here is some pics from 2 does I shot Oct 3. Had deer all around me that night,had a doe and fawn coming down a trail at 5 yards away. I stopped the doe and shot her first. Then the doe fawn presented a shot too at 5 yards, put some good meat in freezer. Thanks George for having this cool site to post your deer. Check out my website at www.thundervalleyia.com Could I put a link on my website? Thanks, Chris H. Kitt
	Ronnie Hart November 14, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa Shot on 11/14 (ignore the camera date), 12 pointer with Gross score of 148”, 22 yard shot 50 yard recovery, Rage 2 blade.
	Dean Jackson November 2009 Somewhere in Iowa I got out of school an hour early tonight because of the holiday. Even though we had gusty winds and snow flurries I decided to head out to the timber to try my luck. Just after sunset 10 deer came out into the field north of me feeding on the sheltered side of the hill. A large doe and fawn broke off the group and walked over toward my stand. Once within 25 yards I just had to wait for a broadside shot. At 13 yards the doe gave me a nice angle and I put the arrow through both lungs. She kicked and ran twenty yards, stopped, and after 15 seconds wobbled and ran another 20 yards before going down. None of the other deer including her large fawn spooked. I waited until dark to collect her, which turned out to be a chore when I tried to hoist her into the truck. She's a big one! Again, it's time to give thanks! Mzee Bwana Hodari Kidogo Sana
	Keenan Bock November 21, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa Keenan Bock, my grandson, took his first deer with a bow while hunting with me on Saturday morning. He made a perfect double lung, top of the heart shot at 8 yards. We were very confident about the shot so I shot a nice mature doe about 10 minutes later. She laid down in view after running just 35 yards. After cleaning her and loading her into the truck we tracked Keenan's buck. The blood trail was quite steady, but it was not the simple task which I had expected. We finally found the deer two ravines and some 400 yards away, dead under a spruce tree. I had decided that the arrow must have hit farther back than I thought, but it actually was the great lung and heart shot mentioned earlier. These animals are tough and this little nine pointer was like a robo-deer. Keenan and I had a great day together and we both learned a lot..
	Chris Kitt November 8, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa George, Here is a buck I shot on Nov 8 2009 what a sweet morning hunt. He scored in the 150's. It was a 5 yard shot. It was cool to get a deer that close. Thanks, Chris
	Drew Baier November 7, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa George, Well I had a very good year. Never expected it to end like this. Hunted hard Saturday thru Monday. Monday morning me and a buddy watched this big boy lay down. There was no good way to sneak on him because of wind, so we decided to make a push. My buddy walked in and bumped him off his bed as I posted on a likely fence line he would take. He saw me and stopped at 100 yards. I took one shot and the copper solid put him down. Gross green scored 169 6/8. My best buck ever. Thanks Drew
	Jon Greteman December 2009 Somewhere in Iowa These are pics of Jon's deer. We got the deer up from a terrace opening day of shotgun season. Jon put 2 slugs in at 30-40 yards. The deer ran about 70 yards and piled up in standing corn. It was fun to see as I was 3/8 of a mile west of Jon. The deer will score about 165 gross & 160 net non-typical. It has a 20" inside spread, 25" main beams, 10 point main frame with a split brow, 2 drop tines and a couple kickers. David
	Kent Brandt November 18, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa George On November 18, 2009 at 5 p.m. I shot the largest buck of my life at a whole 6 yards. He came in with 3 does. With a little grunting he came in to search for 'the other buck'. I made a complete pass through. After waiting 3 hours I found him 100 yards away. He has incredible mass and nothing was broken. He's a true Iowa giant! Kent Brandt
	Ron Ludwig November 27, 2009 Somewhere in Iowa Hey George, Was looking through your photos and thought I would send you one of the buck I harvested this year. Not an absolute giant but a good mature deer. Typical 9 with split G-2 and a couple stickers. Shot on Nov. 27th. Tried to stop him @ 30yds but he turned and came right at me to 10yds. Held at full draw and he finally turned to leave. Made a good shot on him and watched him go down after running about 80 yds. Keep up the good work. Ron Ludwig
	Alex Golay December 2009 Somewhere in Iowa Hi George, Here are my deer from 2009. First deer was first day of shotgun season. 13 in G2's 12 points. Second deer shot Tuesday in 2nd season after school. Double Split Brows, Very even, 13 points.. Both Deer will score i the 160's. 2009 treated me well. Thanks, Alex Golay
Max photo size: 640 x 480 pixels	Name Date of Harvest Somewhere in Iowa Some tips on picture taking: Stick the tongue back in the mouth Clean off all the blood Find a dark background For bucks, keep the top of your head even with or lower than the the top of the deer's rack Don't be afraid of close ups Don't be afraid to use flash, even during the day Avoid pickup and garage photos Take the deer back out to the field with your buddy, it is a memory that will last your entire lifetime