This kind of group deer hunting success happens very infrequently.

Just wanted send a e-mail letting you know how we did this year.

First of all we would like to say thanks to Jon, John, and Shaun. You all have been so helpful in everything you do for us members.

We had a great time bow deer hunting the first two weeks of November this year. We started out in [location deleted] after being bumped to another property by some fellow members from Georgia. We set off to hunt some other farms.

We all tagged out on bucks and a few coyotes and a doe with in the next 3 1/2 days. [name deleted] got a 12 pointer, I took a 10 pointer and [name deleted] harvested a 10 pointer. [name deleted] 10 pointer was about 275 Lbs and it actually broke our deer cart that was rated at 300 Lbs.

We then took off for [location deleted] for a week of bow hunting. At first sight of the land we where a little hesitant on our chances. After checking a few of the areas John W. had recommended we hung a few stands and started our hunt. It took the first morning to confirm we where in a great area, I saw seven bucks the first morning on stand. We stayed in the same unit and on the same properties most of the week. [name deleted] scored first on a 13 pointer which grossed 159 and I took another 10 pointer. [name deleted] had a few opportunities but no chance to get a clean shot off.

We are already looking forward to next year as we should draw for Iowa with the preference points we already have.

Again thanks to all of the staff at Mid-America for all the help you extend to us members.

The guys from [state deleted]

The deer that broke the deer cart.

The other side Just as we were building this web page we received this email and we posted it here to illustrate what is a more reasonable expectation of the deer hunting quality we offer. We thankfully receive a lot of deer hunting feedback from our members. Some are posted to the web site, the update page and much we keep for our own consumption as intended by the sender.

The More Common Deer Hunter Experience

John,

I haven't had much to send, in the form of pictures because the harvests have been far and few in between this year. That is not to say that I haven't had another great year on MAHA property....I just haven't harvested that big boy.

The year started out much like last year, warm and windy with a few deer seen, but no shot opportunities. I took my daughter again this year during the youth season, she had plenty of shot opportunities, but with many deer and turkeys under her belt, she was holding out for a mature deer. She had her opportunity on Saturday evening and made a great shot........ on the tree right in front of the deer. OH WELL that is hunting. I told her if you haven't missed, you haven't hunted very long and welcomed her to the club. Her miss was just an opportunity to spend more time in the field with her, so I still won. She passed a few more small bucks and ate "tag stew" just as her father has done many times in the past.

As far as my long deer trip goes, I had a great time in the stand even though the weather didn't cooperate for the majority of the trip. I saw two borderline bucks (135"-145" range) and three legitimate shooters. Two were 150"-155" and the other was a monster buck that I figure would conservatively go in the mid 170" range. All three were within bow range, but just as bow hunting goes, there was no shot opportunity.

The only buck I had a decent shot at was severely quartering towards me and I didn't want to take that shot. Unfortunately, he got a whiff of me before making it to my next shooting lane.

The 170" buck came in across an open field and entered the tree line at about 15 yards from my stand...at the only location where I had absolutely no shot. I stopped him but there was no way to slip an arrow through all the honey locusts and hickory limbs...so he walked. I figure I got to see more big bucks in one week than a lot of guys may see all season or even longer, so that adds up to a successful trip. We took a few does out of the herd, saw numerous small bucks and the shooters will be even bigger next year.

[name deleted]