 Second
SeasonHere is the archery deer I got from association land this year. He is not as big as last year (last year's buck officially scored 138 1/8). Enjoyed every minute of the six days of bowhunting. Had a chance to see three larger bucks at a distance and passed on two smaller bucks and several doe. The number of turkeys seen was amazing, they were even gobbling in the mornings -- something I haven't heard before in the fall. One evening I counted 60 turkeys. About 30 of them roosted all round me and it was a beautiful sight with the sunset behind them. Thanks again for finding such great land. Brian First Season Via email: Jon, I joined the association January 2003, after studying your
web site for about a year. I am extremely excited to tell you about my recent
bow hunting trip. I live in the midwest, but I am not a resident of Kansas,
Missouri, or Iowa. After joining, I couldn't wait to get the maps, I studied
them many hours in the winter and printed many, many aerial maps off of
terra server. My first experience was to hunt for spring turkeys. I decided to
turkey hunt last spring as an excuse to scout for whitetails. I called you and
you gave me a list of several suggestions and general ideas about properties
with both turkeys and deer. I ended up hunting three days for turkeys on two
properties and shot a jake the second day. I was surrounded by turkeys the
entire time and I was extremely excited to see how remote and wild some of the
property was. I did not see another hunter the entire time, I never even heard a
gun shot in the distance. I also didn't even see a car go by on the roads for
the entire hunt. The last day of the season, I left seven gobblers on one
property, without ever getting a shot. Moving on to archery this fall. I had spent two days scouting two properties in September and had planned to scout a few more as bow season progressed. I had turkey hunted one of the farms and had noticed lots of huge deer tracks there. On the single day September scout, I jumped a large trophy quality deer in a bean field on that farm. I ended up setting up four trees that day, one of which seemed to be the perfect funnel area and convergence of trails. I finally bow hunted the first time on association land on October 27, the wind was right for that perfect tree, and it was a hunt I will never forget. I am a believer in letting good spots alone until all conditions are just right, I have over hunted areas too many times before. On that hunt, I had seen several does and I had even counted 33 turkeys in one flock that afternoon. About sunset, I gave two soft grunts and within five minutes, an aggressive stomping and grunting buck came up a dry creek bed. He stopped about 20 yards from me in the steep creek and I couldn't see him. He then came half way up the creek bank and spent about 3 minutes tearing up a 15 foot hackberry tree. All I could see was the tree shaking. He finally came on up the bank and right under me. I made a clean shot on that large deer at only five yards. He is the largest deer I have ever taken, with a total score of about 141 to 143 and only 3 or 4 inches of deductions. After bow hunting for 17 years and harvesting over 20 deer, many on public land, the association has opened up a whole new world for me. For this kind of quality hunting, I feel the dues are well worth it and I plan on being a member for many, many years to come. Attached are some pictures of the deer, notice his huge neck and large body, he was a real hog. My daughter, Emily, age 9, was almost as excited as I was with this deer. Sincerely, Brian.
Turkey Bowhunter
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John,
