Last 7 Days Wk4 Buck Down!

On Michigan Wild this week Nate and Dan Johnson recap week 4 of Michigan's Archery Season.  A great week of bowhunting that ended with a buck down for Dan. Going into this fall Dan decided he was going to archery hunt with a compound for the first time. Ultimately Dan fulfilled his goal by killing a great Michigan 10pt! 

Throughout the episode Dan walks us through his season including some failures and learning experiences taking a compound into the woods. All the experiences eventually helped him have the confidence to make the shot October 30th. A crazy hunt that lived up to the expectations of the pre rut! 

Thanks for listening to the episode, if you would like to support Michigan Wild farther check out Michigan Wild's shop at michiganwild.hollercommerce.com.

Welcome to the Michigan wild podcast.

We're just here walking around. We're going to go set a tree stand. Don't worry. My dad's weird. He never shot a huge buck. I just shot a fricking big buck.

Get that one. Oh, you hit him. Go get that one, Henry.[00:01:00]

All right, welcome to another episode of Michigan wild. We have the last seven days, week four, and I have a special guest. First time coming down and seeing the studio and stuff. You've been to my house a handful of times. We're always looking at dead deer in the back of trucks and stuff like that. Or rabble hunt over the last couple of years.

Now you Matt's younger brother. What's going on, dude. Not a whole lot. We got some excitement to talk about today. We are drinking a celebratory beer right now. That is for sure. Yeah, but no, we just want to bring him on. We had a plan to do this podcast yesterday. So tonight is Tuesday night, the 31st.

Halloween to whoever's out there doing that with their kiddos. We don't have to do that. So that's nice. It's snowing and nasty out, but doing good. But no, we were gonna do a week update yesterday because you had a really good week of hunting. And then, yeah, we had to postpone that because someone drew some blood.

Yup, drew some blood. So we postponed it and we had a good time [00:02:00] last night. We did. So we'll get into that. But yeah, so I just do a little recap for me for the last seven days of hunting the fourth week. I had shot my buck on a Sunday night, the 22nd, and then I didn't get back out into the woods until.

Saturday morning, like the weather sucked. It got warm, so I wasn't too upset about that. And then I had a bunch of stuff to do, get ready. I got to bring the deer, the taxidermist and all that stuff. And then just trying to crank out as much as I can at work so I can get ready for my upcoming trip to Illinois.

But I ended up going hunting Saturday morning, which I think you hunted that morning. Also slow morning, though it was a slow morning. And then I hunted some state land cause I had a camera there and. Like I got up early I think six o'clock. I was in the truck driving around the property I wanted to hunt and there was the one side of the road there was five trucks parked and I was like man already like it's 6 a.

m. an hour and a half before light and For me, like I'm not a huge state land hunter So like I don't really [00:03:00] know like last thing I want to do is like walk by someone or you don't know where you're getting Into yeah, like every time exactly and I don't like I have private land to hunt to so it's not like I have to like only have these spots So if to me it's if guys are already there I don't really want to mess them up But fortunately for me, I knew another way in to where I wanted to hunt So I was able to drive around the section because pretty much wherever I parked the truck I had A mile walk, like three quarters of a mile on a mile walk.

So get to the other side. No one was there. I was like, nice. Except, but the wind was like whipping from the North, like that morning. So I had to access with the wind right in my back, which blowing where you're walking, not the best condition, not the best, but I took it as I'm just going to bomb straight and then do a hard 90 into my spot.

So I didn't spook any deer going in. There was a nice little spot I could access, which I've walked that before, but pulled the card and. Pulled the card after I got down, but I didn't see a deer Saturday morning, like ghost town. And I was like, man, is this what am I doing? And then get home and check the [00:04:00] card.

And I have like probably nine different bucks on that camera. So this is state land. And then there's three of them that, there's probably two that are three and a half years old. And I think one's a four year old. He's really big, I was like, I said, I sent him a few buddies that I know are still hunting.

And I'm like, I, when I'm in Illinois, someone needs to be hunting the this area, because this is a really nice buck. Yeah. It's a good above average sized deer. So I think I think we could possibly be into something for someone, but that's all I did. I just hunted Saturday morning and then. huNted through my buddies and you were the one that sent a lot of updates, but everyone was sending some snapchats and Sending some updates and telling stories and yeah, so that same saturday I sat I forget which stand I even was because I didn't see anything.

So it was so boring so Saturday was just a dud. I didn't see hardly a deer, maybe a button buck traveling through the corn, which the corn is still up, which is odd for us. Which is weird. Yeah. We had pitchers this time last year, the cover crop was up. It was all green. There was [00:05:00] food everywhere and now it's corn everywhere.

So we still have that food and the cover for them. Yeah. Cause when me and your brother did the where's Waldo episode, we talked about how it's like we get all those corns up, but then before season starts, it's chopped. Yeah. And it's gone. So it's it's a hard. Hard change like go from if it doesn't go this week.

I think it's gonna be up for rifle Yeah, so which will be the first time I've ever seen it up that way this yeah same so But you guys been struggling but also having some really good sits at the same time. Yeah, so we've been Strategic about when we're going we're we've played the cold front.

So if it's warm out, we're not even thinking about hunting We're doing other things traveling Mountain bike or whatever it is be outside. Take care of the house. Yep, honey. Do list so a couple of tough sets. I think the second set I had of the season, I took a crack at a dough and I've had a mishap with that where.

I learned a little bit about face pressure that night when I'm sitting down. Let's back up a little bit. So like [00:06:00] Matt talked, you guys are primarily grew up gun hunters and he's a self taught bow hunter and he used, using a crossbow for his first deer he shot with a bow and like getting into it.

You're the exact same way. Yup. This, the same exact way that you pee deer camp. Yeah. I, and then your first deer with a bow was with a crossbow, but it was with the crossbow is a really nice seven point. I think we scored them at about 118. Yeah. Not going to the seven point. Yeah. Just a gnarly buck. I remember like when I saw, wait, cause that day was a great hunt.

Like you can, we can touch base on a little bit, but you grounded him in. Yeah. Yeah. He circled right downwind of me after I grunted. And he stepped out at 22 yards and I just smoked him He ran out in the field and tipped over after about right in the field I never yeah, because I never drove the truck right to him That's right Because I drove by and I saw your truck out there and I never you reach out to man I was like who got was like banded and then you guys showed up my house and I was like you dropped the gate I was like, oh, that's a hammer.

Yeah And that was my first buck ever [00:07:00] So exciting. I got to share it with my brother. We brought it over so you could see it and share in that. And then you're like, if you don't mount this thing, I'm going to pay for it to be mounted. I will give you money to do that. Cause that was an awesome first buck.

So that was three years ago, right? Yeah, that would have been in 20, 20. So yeah, that was, so me and you both shot the deer before we shot this year, the bucks, we went three years. Yeah. Spoiler on that one for both of us, but he, so yeah, so then, but in this, you shot that your first deer with a crossbow in 2020.

It was your first buck, sweet deer. And then 21 and 22, you still were hunting with a crossbow, but then 22, you got a bow, a compound. Yeah. And 22, I got a compound. And so I did combination of my sets of depending on what stand I was in. If I was in a ladder stand, I was using the crossbow just so I could use that shooting rail, and then if I was in a hanger, I was taking the compound with me.

So that was a first last year and I never drew it back on anything. I just watched a [00:08:00] lot of younger bucks go by. And I, no, I did, I drew back on a doe, but then she caught me. That was December 1st. I remember you telling me that you're like, man, I had one and caught me. Yup. They get spooky after running around, dodging all the bullets.

And so I missed my opportunity there. So that kind of was your last opportunity in 2021, right? The 2022, sorry. The 2022, yeah. But I know for you, like from you as a friend on the outside, this past summer you really started getting into your compound. You started shooting more. Yeah, arrow setups.

You were like, I'm committed to this. I got new strings on the bow because I bought a bow from a buddy of mine for 150 bucks at old Hoyt the thing's probably 15 years old. I think it had the original strings So so so we got it a little tuned up and freshened up a new arrow set up and yeah, I was spending I think since the end of july Just shooting the bow as much as I could and you went to a good shop and you got You know, arrows set up this year and you [00:09:00] got some, some other things taken care of.

Like you said, the new strings, you're like, okay, if I'm doing this, I wanna get the right arrows. You got new strings, new arrows. And I didn't do go crazy on the weight. They're probably like 450 grains. . But I went heavy on the front end. Yep. Using you like 52 grain out surge dude. And then 125 grand Broadhead.

So like it's crazy that four 50 isn't heavy, but like before I knew about this whole heavy arrow thing, whenever that happened four or five years ago. I weighed some of my arrows I used to shoot and I'd have terrible luck with penetration. They were under 400 grains. Yeah There were 390 38, 395 And then I remember I used like the one arrow.

I was like i'm shooting 125s because I struggled with penetration 100 like i'm using 125 like I used to as a kid And I weighed the arrow and it was like 410 like it was so light. It just wasn't flying well. So now, but so like a 450 grain arrow, you don't have the longest draw length in the world, but you have the weight where you need it.

Like that weight in the front. So your FOC is pretty good. Yeah. I think I guesstimated it was like 17 [00:10:00] percent when you throw it in a calculator. So it's pretty good. Yeah. And it comes down to shot placement too, as I learned. Taking a crack at it. Yeah, so yeah, let's we can quick touch on that So this is your first year fully dedicated to compound It's like mindset for I know me and you and Matt, we're all like, we need to shoot some does.

So I've, we're all like an agreement with that. And I got one early doe season and then, cause we hunt within the same, few mile area, square mile area. So we don't have our properties don't touch, but we're in the, we, there's a lot of times we'll see the same bucks like on camera and sightings and stuff.

But yeah, so you had, was that the first week of October or second week? It was, I think. The seventh. So it would have been in the first weekend. The first, yep. And the morning sit, I didn't see a single deer. I saw a nice rainbow. Yeah, that's right. Got caught in the rain. Yep. And then that afternoon sat in like a creek bottom stand and had a nice west wind.

So it was a perfect setup for me. And these does came in and I moved a little bit. They spotted me and, but they didn't really mind too much because they couldn't smell me or. [00:11:00] Yep. That wind was important and played in my favor. Yep. And. When I finally drew back, it was as though she was standing like towards me and I didn't want to take a frontal shot.

That would have been just a poor decision Risking face or neck or whatever it might be. So I held full draw for a minute and a half on this deer And when she finally turned she was quartering to me fairly hard, but I was like, you know I'm feeling good with my arrow set up. I'm gonna let this thing fly.

Yeah, and when I did We found out later, or I found out later that the different face pressure from taking the shot, sitting down. Cause my broadhead kick left about six inches. Yeah. So I'm guessing I just clipped the brisket and got some muscle bloods. Yeah. Which, Tony, who was fine at Fred, we, I remember you, you had a pass through and you showed me the arrow and we looked at the arrow and trying to go through it and I'm like.

And we didn't really know where he hit it. Cause the first time he let loose on a deer and like lots going on. There's a lot of excitement. We [00:12:00] weren't sure, but man, I was thinking, I think this might look like liver. And then as soon as Tony sees, he's that's not liver. That's brisket. And I'm like, what?

And I was like, dude, it's, he's yeah, that he's it's gritty. But there's he just has so much more experience. He has seen so many arrows and tracks. He knows. I've, I think I'm close to. I'm in the forties with deer I've shot in my life. My whole family's full of them. I've tracked a lot of deer, but he will do what takes me 10 years to do.

He doesn't one season. So he said that to us and he's next morning we'll go look for, we'll go look. So he brought Fred out there and Fred did really good for till he hit a point. And it was like, Tony explained, he's yeah, i, he could tell that the deer wasn't dead, just the way that Fred was acting, which is so weird that they got it.

They just know the way their dog's tracking, but yeah, then we figured that was a brisket shot. And then, yeah, even since then, no dead deer in the property, nothing. No, we haven't seen anything. I looked for the birds around, any kind of sign and we didn't see it. I haven't seen her.

Yeah. I don't know if we've had any pictures of her, but we also don't have cell cams and we're trying not to [00:13:00] pull the cards all the time and invade the property. But I remember you saying like you knew something was going on. So like you did your due diligence after, and we're like, cause I explained to you obviously I'd missed a deer by this point.

And then I've had my fair share of mishaps and things go, I was like, yeah, just shoot your bow and feel good. And you call me one day, you're like. I sit down, I'm like six inches off at was like 25 or 30. Yeah, it was like 25 cause I've re, I was replicating the shot that I took from the tree stand.

And I was like walking you through it like, cause there's things I take for granted because I've been shooting a bow for so long. Yeah. And you started walking me through and I was like, okay and it was over the phone and I was like face pressure. And you're like, what? And I was like, yeah, face pressure.

So like the way you have your anchors hit, just that little bit. On your string can really throw your shot. Anchor point change when I sat down. Cause I was trying to do the same thing I did when I was standing. Yup. And it was just, it threw it. Yup. And I'm like, I never shoot sitting down. That's just something I'm not a sitter by any means.

Cause like I'm a taller guy. So first of all, every tree stand I grew up in, [00:14:00] my hip, my knees would be above my hips. If I sat down, it's super uncomfortable. So I'm just like leaning against the tree guys. So I don't have a lot of experience other than sitting in like a nice chair and a blind. I've done that or on my knees, but yeah, I know we're talking to you through that.

And then an hour later, you like start just sending me videos. I got it. We're hitting now. Yeah. We're figuring this thing out and I'm learning what I need to do. And part of that, cause I want to do my due diligence next time I have that opportunity. Whether it be another dough or what happened to end up being a nice little buck, so let's get.

We can bring this story ahead to this previous week. The week will be off a little bit cause you should end up hunting Monday night. But Saturday morning, we both didn't see anything. Saturday night though. Let's talk about Saturday night. That would have been the, whatever date that was.

30th, 28th, right? Saturday was the 28th of October. 28th. And then you saw some, was that the night you saw a few deer that night or did you not hunt that night? No, I... [00:15:00] Boy, did I hunt that night? I got a short term memory now thinking about this buck. I don't know the cold front hit Saturday morning, but it was really windy, so that was like the one thing that was cloudy.

I remember like we were talking, I was like, man, if it was a little clear this morning, it would be a lot better. And then maybe I never drive around. I think AJ, my brother in law hunted and he, I think he, or he was, yeah, I think he hunted, but like I did a little drive around and probably was a lot more deer out Saturday night.

And I remember Sunday morning. I think we had actually talked. I was like, dude, tomorrow morning will probably be better. Yeah. Cause that was the day that was crazy for you. Saturday, Sunday morning. Yeah. And so I'm remembering a little bit now Saturday night, I sat up, stand right, in the middle of the property, cause our cherry tree right on the railroad track, so you know exactly where I'm at, and I ended up only seeing a spike and a couple of does.

Okay. So it was slow. Still slow. Yeah. And then the next morning move stands to the other side of the farm. And I walked in, it [00:16:00] was like 6 AM. So nothing crazy. And as soon as I'm there, there's just deer everywhere. And you can tell it's going to be one of those mornings. They're going to be chasing in the hardwoods.

And so I'm right on the field edge of this corn that's still standing. And then there's deer everywhere. So it's a beautiful spot. Like the corn with the corn being up and may it's good without staying corn with staying corn, which is better. Yeah. Like obviously harder to shoot, but better for cover and deer feeling comfortable.

Yeah. And it's hard to see those deer in there. As I learned when I had our number one target buck pop out. Yeah. How, yeah. So you saw like some good chasing and stuff. Yeah. I saw some really good chasing and I saw. Bucks would pop out, they would check a scrape, they'd go in the corn, check another scrape on the other side of the field, and then I'd lose them for a while, and then they'd be behind me chasing a doe, and you couldn't keep track of where they were going, it would happen so fast.

And you saw a [00:17:00] four year old Saturday morning, right? We think he's four and a half, right? Did you see Timmy? Yeah, I think that was four and a half Sunday morning. He's just like a tank of a seven point and he's tall. Yeah, he's a good deer. He's probably as wide as his body. He's as tall as his body.

He's a sweet buck. Yeah. He's not going to score crazy, but yeah, we've had a little history of that deer. But yeah, you s because you said you've seen him multiple times doing that loop, right? Yeah. Doing loops around me essentially. And so the first time I spotted them. I was watching a spike off in the distance and then he just popped up in the middle of the corn at like 70 yards and I watched him come out and he checked a scrape at 46 yards.

And for me being a new bow shooter, that's out of my comfort zone. I'm not going to risk that, especially on our target buck. It's not worth it. Yep. So you have to, I know my limits and that's beyond it. Yep. That's good. But as a bow hunter, that's, something that's, you have to have that in the back of your mind, what that is I took a 45 yard shot and I nicked that one [00:18:00] buck.

And thank goodness I actually got a trail cam picture of him again last night. So he's still alive, but I, I am, I have reevaluated myself this year and it's man, maybe I'm not going to take any shots over 40 yards anymore, so like those things, like some of your mishaps too, that's on the back of my mind of, if this deer's alert at.

25 even he might be a ninja and dodge me So that's all in the back of my mind So you have this deer like this is like this would have been your biggest deer you've shot oh by far he's bigger than the one you shot before and You're over the compound and you have him working a scrape 46 hours And you just did this you did the right thing for you.

Like you stuck to your goal. You stuck to the game plan I'm not gonna do that. Yeah, and he turned and went straight away from me And when he hit the field edge, I gave him a little grunt And it stopped him. And then he put his head back down and kept going. And so I gave him one more. And the same thing, he put his head up.

He didn't even turn to look, he just listened. And then put his head down and kept going. So then he went into that thick brush. And was gone. [00:19:00] And then it was like, 45 minutes later. All of a sudden he popped out. It would have been straight south of me this time. And so he was like downwind of me because we had that northwest wind.

Yeah, checking out that ground. Yeah, probably yeah So then he was checking that other scrape and then he walked right into the corn and he did a perfect like 60 yard semi circle around me and went right back to this first straight chase And then from there he went into the hardwoods and I got to watch him chase A couple does just all the way around nice and then like you got it like a November, huh?

Yeah, I was like a that's like what you would dream about. Yeah. So meanwhile, like I'm watching him. I've seen a Two and a half year old eight point. I saw probably a four point six point A couple different sixes. Bunch of spikes button buck. Yeah, you said like 12 bucks. Yeah, it's probably 12 different bucks.

And so I saw more bucks than does I think nuts [00:20:00] which is I described it as probably one of the best sets of my life. Yeah, so good and I get to see you right after this because Henry, I've talked about, he wants to shoot a deer with his gun real bad, so that was another thing I did, like, all weekend put together a gun for him.

I have a 350 Legend, an AR platform, I got an upper and lower, I got it all assembled, and I have a suppressor hooked up to it trying to get all the stuff. But like, where we shoot, Corn's up so like we have no range because the corn's up still so I reached out to your brother I was like, hey, you guys have that one range at your dad's right?

He's oh, yeah, he's like you want to shoot I was like, yeah, he's I can't do it today about tomorrow or he's like you can go with Dan I was like I can wait till tomorrow. That's fine. Cuz I didn't have a gun put together yet So like around lunchtime or one o'clock. We're all over your dad's and you showed up and You're like dude, I had such a good morning You're like I should still be sitting out there cuz there must be a doe or something Yeah, and yeah, then did you so we shot guns and did that Henry by the way shot great.

So I was awesome. So but You did you go right back to that stand Sunday night? I [00:21:00] did Okay, so it's rare for Matt and I to sit a stand twice in the same day Yep, but I felt so good about it. I like I have to be back in there. Yep Cause these bucks are going to be around somewhere. Yeah. And I was still seeing bucks.

I saw I think the same, one of the same six points I saw, then I saw a different six point that he's a two and a half year old, but he's probably already like 14 inches that he's going to be special and if he makes it, he's going to be something special on top of some fours and some spikes that were chasing and then right at last light.

At 120 yards is across the railroad track that we're on. I saw a couple of does cross the railroad track to the other side of me. And then they stood there and I, they're staring. I was like there's looking at something and. So they went in the direction they looked and then two minutes later they're running the other direction and then I see a 10 pointer chasing them up and then they literally go off like into the sunset and it's dark at this point.

[00:22:00] So you've seen probably in two sets, you saw a total of 14 bucks, which is awesome. Yeah we do have a high deer population, but to see that many bucks at one time, you had pretty much all the bucks in the area. Honed in on this little area. Yeah, which so whatever that may be that could obviously they're feeling frisky like whatever but A doe could be coming in a little early Maybe one of the first does that's starting to go so it's driving them all crazy because i've had the same The buck I shot the 22nd.

He was lip curling grunting. I heard the loudest grunt i've ever heard yeah, and then 20 little grunts like he was Fired up. So if you get that, you can have a November like hunt in Rocktober because it just takes that one doe. Yeah. Just, I think one doe and I'm watching these bucks and every single doe that I could see, there's bucks cruising behind them and they're just pushing and waiting.

And then I even had a button buck in the corn right in front of me and I had bucks come out to come check this thing. Cause I thought it was a doe at first, but then, cause they just see a deer. [00:23:00] Yep. They see deer and we will look at it. So it makes you wonder how a decoy might work at this time of year.

So I think another point that I think why guys have really good hunts and high deer population here is like Michigan in October, more so than November, because there's so many does. So like when a majority of the does are in heat, ready to be bred. There's so many of them, the bucks don't have to compete because they can just go wherever and find one and they can just hang out with her for a couple of days, no competition.

But when it's the first doe or some of the last does, there's so many less of them, there's a, there's competition like what guys will see in November. So I think that's why that's good and another thing to keep note on. That will recur year to year on properties. If that doe group stays the same or maybe if that doe doesn't get shot I don't know to what extent, but I seem to find certain properties are like what you're talking about in late October, the twenties of October and other properties aren't good until a day or two before gun season [00:24:00] or maybe like the seventh the tenth kind of a thing Yeah So I think you have to learn your area learn your property and kind of find your doe groups that like that And i've had similar sits like this in the same exact spot as previous But never to this extent no because you shot your first buck what that was october , that was also right?

No, that was that November? November? Like 14th, 13th, or 14th. Oh, that's right. That was right before gun season. Before gun. That's right before gun. That's when that was. Okay. Was it Matt that saw the Really, he had a really good October hunt close to there too. Did he see the one deer in October, couple years ago?

He may have. Yeah. I think he was telling me the story. So I was like, you guys, so like the point we're making is that you guys are patient with this property? Yeah. Because you know when the pre-req starts, that's when all the bucks come to your area. Yeah. And are you talking about. What we called Waldo.

Yeah, Waldo Junior. Yeah, that deer. So I did have, we both had October sits with him. With him Yeah, and he like nowhere to be seen and then pre rut comes in comes strolling. Yeah So that's why I like, I think Matt had him in October in the [00:25:00] pre rut and then I saw him in like lockdown. Lockdown That's right.

Yep So that was like hearing you like guys who've picked up on the stories like you guys talk about like you really focus on those cold fronts and There's not a big rush for you guys to get in the woods early October because cold fronts and wind, yes, Hey, we just need to be patient.

Let's not pressure this too much end of October. Let's get after it. And you've had really good hunts doing that. Yep. Okay. You saw the 10 point was new in the night hunt, and then you, I remember you telling me, yep, the Timmy or right. Timmy is a shooter buck. And then that 10 point, I'm going to shoot if he gives me a chance.

I'm going to shoot that. Yeah. Cause you're like, I have a compound first year. Like you're not going to be super, you're like, you're picky, but you're like, there's a kind of a criteria. And he's yep, he's in the, he's in the, he's in the criteria. Like I want to shoot him. I talked to Matt and we had four bucks on camera that were going to be shooters for me.

I think he has one, maybe two, but he's like me, I guess I can't give him too much crap. Cause I'm very similar. Yeah. And I didn't want what happened in the years prior where we got so [00:26:00] focused on one buck each year where that's all we were after. And so like last year I didn't even shoot a deer. I didn't even shoot a doe cause I was so worried about ruining the hunts of taking a doe for one deer.

Yep. It's hard. It's hard man. Especially for a Russian. So this year... Yeah, I told myself, I can't do that. I need to get a compound kill. I don't care. I do care what it is, but to an extent yeah, that's a little different. Like you, cause that's the thing you haven't shot a lot. You've only shot one other buck.

So it's not like you've got like this like history of, shooting deer and like climbing the ladder. You Hey, you rolled into this Hey, we're passing deer. So it's a weird spot because what do you pass? Yeah, do we, we have big deer around, but it's you're also gotta you learn a lot.

You got to make those, shoot deer, have ethical kills, climb the ladder kind of a thing, which I feel like Matt's done that too. Like he hasn't shot a lot, but he tries to like. He's climbing that ladder every time. And he like, dude, he was so giddy that he shot this deer. We'll get into it. So let's just go right to it.

Yeah. [00:27:00] So Sunday we shot the gun and you made, we had the plan. I was like, Hey, you had a great hunt this morning. We should talk about it Monday night. Yeah. Let's do the last seven days, week four. We'll chill. And you're like, I joked yeah, unless matter, I shoot something out on the property.

Yeah. You're like, yeah, Monday night, one of us is going to shoot one. And I was like, oh yeah, way to call your shot. I'm working, and... I, I worked till five, five 30, get home and four 50, I look down on my phone's going off and it's you. And I'm like, there's no way this joker shot a deer ready.

Like I was thinking, maybe he's just calling, maybe didn't go hunt or something. I answered, I said, hello. I was like, there is no way you shot a deer right now. He's I did, man. I was like, no way. We're just losing it. It was great. I was so excited. You were my second phone call. Matt was my first. So I called my brother, gosh, and I knew he was probably in, so it was four 50, right?

Yeah. Let's, yeah. It was four 50, give or take a minute or two. . And so I called him, I was like, he's either just in the stand or walking still. Yeah. So I was like, this is perfect time. And knowing now [00:28:00] later he thought I fell out of a tree stand, or who knows what, thinking I'm calling a dead lane at the bottom of it.

Yeah. My brother's calling me right now, like what happened? But I call him. And he's what you got? I was like, I just shot a buck. And he's no way. And so I guess I can, yeah. So tell the story, lead. Yeah. Go to it. Cause you, yeah, lead us to what your mindset was going into that hunt Monday night.

Cause you guys didn't have any new intel. Like you didn't pull cards or nothing. Did you? Nothing. So you're just like, I'm going back to the, going back to the spot. Yep. So another rare thing is going back to that spot and the deer weren't blowing me out of there. So I felt confident that we didn't blow that stand at all.

So I was like, I'm going to go back in there. I felt good. Even though the night before I didn't see the one target buck, it was like, it's gotta be good still. So I end up, I park and the guy that lives right next door, he ended up like swinging around to come over and talk to me for a couple [00:29:00] minutes, just curious who I was, cause I'd never talked to him before.

And so I talked to him for a couple minutes and then he says, good luck, whatever he pulls in his driveway. And I actually walked like 30 yards towards the stand, realized I forgot my binoculars. So I set my bow down and I run back to the truck. And grab them and go back, grab the bow. And I sneak and you hit a corner spot where if you're not careful going around that corner, you can see deer off in the distance.

And then also. If they're up on the ridge across a railroad track, they can spot you too. Gotcha. I glassed it as best as I could. I got low so I could be below the tops of the corn just in case something's up there and I didn't see them. They could still see me. I'm like hunchbacked walking to their stand.

And it's windy, so I don't have to be quiet, thankfully. Yep. So I just quick get to the stand, glass around a little bit, cause I like to see everything before I climb. Get to the top. Pull my bow up as soon as I like get my bow in hand. I blew two [00:30:00] does out They start blowing at me. I'm like, okay, whatever.

Yeah So then I turned you're like son of a gun. I looked I was quiet I was trying to be strategic and they still got me. Yep. They still got me and I didn't see him either You just hear okay. You just heard him. Yep. Just heard him and then I saw the white tails running. Gosh So stupid dose and then I turned And I saw a deer standing on a railroad track.

I'm like, that's a darker body, it's bigger. So I quick glass him. I was like that's the 10 point. Yeah. So then he starts walking into the cornfield that I'm in. How far away was he at the railroad track? It's about 120. Okay. So that was the same spot you seen him the night before? Yeah. Okay, I gotcha.

Yeah, but this time, I didn't see any does around him over there. And he was... Like he was on a mission and so I think he heard the other does blow thinking maybe there's another buck over there. And so he's going to go investigate. Yeah. So I'm starting to panic here. A little bow is hanging in the tree or in your hand.

It's in my hand. So you just, I have to untie it. Still. So I'm undoing my knot real quick [00:31:00] is coming your way and you have your line is still hooked to the bow. So I quit, get that untied. I quit, get arrow out of the quiver and I don't like shooting with my quiver on. So I gotta get this thing off.

So I'm like half fumbling, trying to get my quiver off, watching this deer. And so by the time I get my quiver off and I just set it down on the seat he's probably 60 yards in the corn and he's closing fast arrow on the string. Yeah, arrows. I got pulled the, okay. So before you pull the quiver off, you're like arrow knocked, got that ready.

Okay. And I'm thinking. He's going to go to that same scrape that they've been hitting the last two nights. He like, that's for sure where he's going and he's going to be out of my range and this is going to suck. But he's aggressive so I can probably grunt him in is what I was thinking. But I was like we're just going to see where he goes.

And so he ends up coming much closer than I anticipated. And so he ended up stepping out of the [00:32:00] corn at 28 yards and I was already like drawing my bow back and I did the classic Matt, and he stopped, put his head up. He didn't even turn. He started to turn his head to look in the direction and I zipped him.

And you're ripping ? Yep. And I got the perfect swack. Yep. And he just booked off. I thought I heard him crash. But I was just like, I'm staying right in the stand. I called my brother right away. It's I just shot a buck. I'm shaking nuts. I'm excited. We're talking like you weren't even in the stand for a minute and you've seen this deer, that has got to be one of the quickest is like other than shoot one walking out.

But nuts. Yeah. It was like television. Yeah. It's the things that I've seen on TV where you get in the stand or you hear the stories about guys getting in the stand and it's literally a minute or maybe two. Yeah. And he came cruising by. I remember asking you, I remember being so pumped. I was like, no way.

And then you're, you're worked up and I was like, okay, like new [00:33:00] bow hunter here, like compound. Cause it's probably like crossbow. Even if you shot it through the crossbow, it's different. Like the bolt goes so crossbow. It's flat. It's a little different dynamic. So I remember asking you a few things like, okay, do you see your arrow?

And I don't know when he took off run. Nope. I didn't see. I was like, okay, good. You got a good fixed blade. I was like, okay, what did you hear? And you said it was a good hit. I was like, was it a high crack? You're like, no, it wasn't a crack. It was like a good, like a hit in the diaphragm. Like that noise.

Kind of like hitting a watermelon almost for a pop. Yup. So you told me that and I was like, okay, awesome. And you're like, I think I heard him go down, but I don't know. And I said where did he go? And you told me, and I knew the area from being on the property. I was like if he ran through that whole thing, you would hear him because it's thick and you didn't.

So I was like, I was pretty opportunistic. Like when you told me what you told me, you didn't hear him for very long. I was like, okay. And you thought you heard a crash. But I still was like, okay, let's just play this smart because this is good for all new bow hunters. Like this is stuff I have to learn, too.

And talking to Tony and all these other guys that do deer tracking like. [00:34:00] Waiting is the most important thing to not push a deer. Yeah. And that's what I talked to Matt about on the phone. I was like, I think I'm going to get down and back out right now. He's there's deer everywhere smashing around.

It's like there's does and bucks coming out of the woods where you just shot. Okay. Yeah, cause you could see it from a distance. That's right. Yeah. So he's like, why don't you just stay there? I was like, I'm not shooting another buck. Cause what we're trying to do on the farm is if I shoot a buck, I'm not going to shoot another one there.

Yeah. And that's, Like one of a booner or something. I did pass a booner after shooting my buck a few years ago. You did. You did. You're good. I know the self control is strong with you too. Yeah, it is. And that's a lot for a lot of respect for my brother and what he's trying to do with that property too.

Very good. Yeah, that's why it's good, because you guys have similar mindset. You're on the same page. Yeah. Yeah, you, I never told you the same thing. You're like, that's what you said. And I was like the only words of advice I could, I asked, which way is the wind coming from? He told me, I was like, so there's no way your wind's going where he went.

You're like, nope it's loud. I was like. It's 4. 50. It doesn't get dark till 7. 10 or whatever. So I gave [00:35:00] it like that 20 minutes and then I got down and I ended up checking the blood. Yeah, you just snuck right over to it. Snuck over to it and I found the hit site and I had blood immediately. Yeah, where you shot him there was blood.

Yeah. Which for a fixed blade, that's not normal. Like sometimes it takes a little, it can happen, but to find blood right away, I was like, yeah, I'm just like, but I couldn't find my arrow right away, but I didn't want to go searching too hard for it. So I actually ended up getting back into the stand and I told, I think you guys have a buck after you went back in the stand and I think there was a spike in the corn and then.

I don't, I think I was talking to my brother again. I was like, there's a, what was I talking to you? I was like, there's a four point in the woods. I should probably go. Yeah, that was me. You're like, there's a four point in the woods I should probably go. I was like, geez, dude. Like that, the power, that's what I'm saying.

If you're, you can either be in a ghost town and there's no deer or you're in just the right spot where they're all at and they will be there for multiple days in a row. It's not like a one day thing. If that doe was hanging out and you don't pressure them, like you could have good hunts multiple days in a [00:36:00] row.

But so yeah, you waited like another, what, how long did you wait? Cause you didn't, I ended up saying, Hey, get a closeup picture of the blood. Cause I wanted to send that too. Yeah. I think it was maybe closer to like maybe quarter to six when I actually finally got down for the final time. Cause I thought Matt was going to hunt the whole time, but then he ended up calling me and said that he was going to end up, he was going to back out.

Yeah. And he can get out fairly easily. So he backed out and we were trying to get a couple of things prepped for when we have to take care of this deer. And so I got down, I took a couple of closeups of the blood. I didn't even send it to you yet. Cause then I went a couple more feet. I'm like, there's my Lumenok flashing.

So I just took a video from like 20 feet away, just zoomed in on it and he calls, you call me and you're like. Are those like, dude, are your fledgling red or was white? You're like, yeah, one's supposed to be white and two orange. Dude, that is awesome. It's all red. What you want to see as a bow hunter for sure.

And so definitely once I grabbed that arrow, I was like, this thing is dead. Yeah, for sure. [00:37:00] Yes. You did not have anything like that, like seeing that I was like, okay. Cause granted, like even the arrow could lie to you. Like you have seen really good arrows and not found deer. But that was one of those ones was like everything you described and blood on impact and the blood that we did have it was like, okay, I think we're good, but you still waited and I ended up getting to see the arrow on my home and met you and I was looking at that and I was like, I don't know if you can tell, but I was like, Oh yeah, like you wanted to go right there.

I was like, we could probably go find this deer right now. Cause I was like, call your brother and see how quick he wants to go track. Cause it's already been. Yeah, it was like. What? 620 630. So we're talking hour and a half hour and a half after shot. I was like, dude, this thing's cooked. And you call your brother.

I was like, the older brother, he was like, I think we should do this. Let's eat some food first. Cause you know, it's even midnight before we eat. And I was like, yeah, you're probably right. We've been in that situation a couple of times. Yeah. Like the night I shot my buck. I was like, and he said that I was like, that's a really smart thing because I shot my buck.

I ate lunch that day, didn't eat dinner and didn't eat anything until lunch the next day. And I was like, man, I don't feel good. What's wrong with me? I haven't eaten anything for 24 hours. You [00:38:00] probably don't drink any water either. Exactly. Just maybe a beer or two. But no, so we, how, what time yeah, say seven 30 ish, we probably, seven quarter to eight, something like that.

We started. Yeah. It was probably seven 30 or so. We started tracking. With your dad, your brother. Yup. Had dad come out. And brother, sister in law. Yeah. I think shooting deer has always been a family thing. And so that's what it's all about. I wanted my wife there with me too, but she's not big into going out in the woods hunting and she's seven months pregnant right now.

So she's I don't want to be cold out there. Yeah. It's a new thing. Like she's new to it. I know my mom she grew up in a family of, hunters and stuff. And she never really got to go hunting because it was not the girls didn't really hunt. So like, when she was with my dad, she like, took, tagged along and she really enjoyed it.

And then once she started having I'm always the sixth kid. So her time in the woods is very, was limited, but she still shot a few deer and she still likes it. But took her, it piqued your interest and then she'd cherry pick like, Oh, how cold is it? And then if it was nice out, she would go and do that kind of thing.

My wife, she sat with me a couple of times in [00:39:00] our double ladder stands. Yeah, that's right. And one was like muzzle loader, December, freezing cold. And she's I don't know if I want to do this ever again. I was like, you wanted to go in December. What'd you expect? Yeah, that's what I expect. It was really cold.

Like, why can't you come out in October? Oh, it's nice. It's nice. But yeah, so I felt pretty, I was like very, I was thankfully let me tag along with that cause it was cool. I mean we live close together so I was like this is perfect cause of course when I shoot deer it's 20 minutes away and like I gotta do this and it's like late and I'm like I feel almost guilty and it's I don't really know.

This is one of those things where it's like, this deer's, this isn't going to be a good time. Like I can't miss out on I just want to be there for that. So yeah, we wanted Henry, but he had school and mom said, no, mommy was being smart. Cause he was, but he was pretty pumped. He was like, you got to send me some pictures and stuff, but no.

So that being talk about, I guess we stuck out there and I would say. The easiest track job I've ever been on yeah with a bow for sure like it was I've seen the deer drop like if it wasn't so thick you would have seen those deer [00:40:00] drop from this tree. Oh for sure Yeah, 40 yards might be stretching it from where you shot.

It wasn't far No, and fantastic, but it was an easy track job. And I like to say my dad cheated Yes, he recently purchased a Thermal monocular. Yup. We're shining flashlights, like idiots looking for blood and he's standing off to the side. He's there's a blob right up there.

Yeah. It's right there. We're like, what? He's yeah, it's right there. Yeah. No. So it was sister in law runs ahead. She's yup. There's a deer right there. It was so easy. I was like, this is nuts. It was maybe 50 yards from the shot per and yeah, I'd say maybe that might be stretching it. But even the blood that was there, for.

What I could see, we would've found that deer, even if that deer ran a hundred yards, it would've been easy. It was, there was good blood. You hit him money. Great shot. Double lung. Awesome. Double lung. Just missed the shoulder. We butchered it today. I was gonna ask you, where did the, looking at the deer laying there you were you could feel like the hard part of the shoulder and you know You have the disc or the I don't know [00:41:00] Part of it. Did you end up hitting going through that at all or no? I took the tiniest nick out of it Okay, so I'm perfect. Yeah, if you ran your thumb across it, you could feel like the rib of the Where it brushed it.

Nice. So it just snuck it in there. You tucked it right where you, but with your setup, you'd have probably zipped through that part too. Cause like you weren't close to the hard part. You were, the hard part was higher and off to the, the right, a little farther. But yeah, dude, that shot was like money.

That's dude, that was a great shot. I couldn't ask for a better shot. Perfect. Yeah. Just perfect. In the lungs, just above the heart. Yep. You sliced through both lungs. Great. And he was so unexpecting of it where he wasn't panicked. He just tried to, he. He did a nice hard run into the woods, but obviously he didn't make it far.

Yeah. Like a couple of bounds and you can just see where he stood there and boop, tipped right over and yeah, he was done. So tell us about this buck. What was he like? You like, what'd you think when he saw him? Cause we were all like, ah, yeah. So at least I got to see him at a distance first.

He didn't surprise me. And I'd seen him the night before and the morning before. So got to see him a little [00:42:00] bit. I know he was darker antlered. And I knew he was at least eight, if not a 10 point, it's using eight power binoculars. It's hard to tell across the field, but I just knew that he was going to be something.

Yep. The whole time I'm like, I don't know if this thing's an eight point or a 10 point until we walk up to him. There he is. And he's perfect. Five by five. Perfect. Pretty just a pretty, I hunted 18 years with a bow before I kill a 10 point, like that's, I've shot some nice deer, but like the 10 point thing has eluded me, so I'm just like, dude, this dude's on fire.

He just. First year I'm going to, I'm going to use my compound all year. And man, I'm going to shoot a very nice three and a half year old 10 point. Come on, dude, I think it's I would say, did you measure inside spread? Cause I figured he was, I didn't even take a tape probably.

15, 16 inch inside spread. I would say, he's got good, nice symmetrical tines, like just a great buck, like awesome deer and congrats on that, dude. It was awesome. It's not the biggest rack in the world, but I'll take it [00:43:00] all day long for the first compound kill.

Yeah. Field dress, he was 150 pounds, so he had a nice body on him too. I never razzing your brother a little bit because I was like, man, you keep letting him shoot all these deer. When you gonna get ? You get one. He's dude, I'm just ecstatic. Someone can shoot one. He's like it just seeing someone get it.

He genuinely was. Like I said, you guys are on the same page. He generally does get a kick ass seeing, you be successful just like him. And it's a good thing going that we, have, and this friendship's awesome and it's, we're so much fun for each other. Yeah. I think I've only shot three deer off of that property and he was hunting for all three of them as well.

So the first buck I shot, he was able to just, at night just skip across the farm there and meet up with me. And then I shot a doe and he was... I was in like the creek bottom and he was in one of our ladder stands and He texted me doe was coming across because there's a little hump in the field I can't quite see across and then they crested that thing and came towards me Shot her at the 44 and he's like I saw the smoke come out the [00:44:00] side of her Saw where exactly where she went and he gets down we're high fiving and so it's just so So much fun to have doing that with my brother.

Yeah, that's really that's a great memories and that's what I mean That's one of the reasons why we do, obviously, you do it to eat the deer and do that kind of thing. There's an important aspect of that, but then also having these memories with your family that you're going to remember this forever.

That's that thing. And the whole family dynamic, like having your dad there and doing this it's just really cool. Like seeing other families similar to my family, cause that's how I am too. And that's what brings us all together. Cause we all have this thing that we like to do as a hobby.

We care about the deer to a level that. People don't necessarily understand unless they're like hunters, from the outside, looking at, if you do it posting the deer on social media or whatever, like it doesn't tell the whole story. There's a lot that goes on, like with you and your brother set up the property and being on the same page and like going through and all those years you pass and like how many hours you spent I would say there's so many hours of, yeah, all the prep work that I did of shooting the bow all [00:45:00] summer long, I think it was driving my wife crazy because I'd get home from whatever I was doing, I got to shoot the bowl for an hour, and then I started trickling it down to we're doing last light shots.

Yep. Trying to do those cold shots leading into the season as much as I could. Those are important. Yeah. But then, we're trimming deer trails in July. Yeah. It's hot. June, July, it's hot. I'm sweating through three shirts, that's the stuff that's paying off for us and it has for the last couple of years.

Yep. It's good stuff. We may not be getting the target buck every year, but we're getting smarter about what we're doing and how we're accessing the property. I recently bought a saddle, which I'm super pumped for. That's going to be a new adventure for me. Yeah. Cause I told my brother, I was like, I think I need to move like 30 yards.

Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So this is the way to do it. Yep. Yeah. That's going to be cool for you guys. This is a good growing, climbing the ladder and whatever that can mean anything that can mean the deer you shoot, the how you hunt, the, what you learn the property stuff. And it's just a good overall thing.

So yeah, it's good management. We're talking about planting trees. I transplanted a couple of oak trees this [00:46:00] year. I don't know if they're going to make it because the time I did it, but they were rubbing on it. So they're probably going to die. They're probably dying to kill. You're protecting trees by shooting the bucks.

That's what you're doing. Yup. But no, I think it's cool. It's a cool thing. And like I said, I got, I think I was still smiling today just from being a part of that and seeing that. Oh, I got to go to work this morning and I'm showing all the guys, cause they're like, how'd the hunt go last night?

I was like, I got a 10 point. And they're like, no. Yeah. Yeah, you did. You did. And, beyond the hunt for the family time this afternoon, I got out of work, went right to my parents house and we spent the, this afternoon we were butchering the deer. So we skinned it last night, let it hang in the garage, nice and cold.

We could have given it a couple of days with how cold it's been lately, it's snowing right now. It's been clean the kitchen table off, sanitize everything and go, cut the shoulders off first. And then. I got the tenderloins out the night before, so that would have been last night.

And then, so it's mom, dad, my wife and I were butchering the deer and vacuum seal the whole nine [00:47:00] yards and now it's in the freezer. It's a whole process. I'm going to grind the burger on Thursday. My dad shot a doe this morning, which. He didn't even tell me I was at work. He didn't tell me. I just show up at the house and there's deer hanging there next to my fricking slayer.

Yeah. Your dad's like the silent killer, like Jesus . Yeah. He's not a bragger by any means. No, he is not. He is. He's a good dude. He tried to play a prank on me. He found an old set of antlers up in the garage. Okay. And he like duct taped it to the top of its head. So I walked shot. I'm like, what is this thing?

Oh, I love it. That was awesome. It was like a basket seven from years ago. I was like, you shot that little thing. I was giving him a hard time. And then he's it's a doe. I'm like oh, you got me. Oh, I love it. That was good stuff, but no, what a this is probably, I, this is a great episode. Like talking about the last seven days, how it's good, like I said, who knows when this will launch because guys are hunting and stuff like that, but I, looking back on this and hopefully guys can learn that.

You have the right property. The fourth week, [00:48:00] October can be money. And you could like, I would say the hunt you, what you experienced, I don't know if I've ever experienced that in November in Michigan, like I've had some good hunts, but nothing that crazy. One of the best hunts of my life.

And I'm newer to archery season in the last few years. And so I didn't get to experience that during rifle, especially up in the true P you don't see that. No, you don't get that. Yeah. So yeah, this is a sweet thing. I would say if I were to look at the fourth week of the season from like an extended forecast like Obviously the week the sunday I shot my buck.

That was a really good day Monday was probably still a decent weather day. Then we had that warm spell that Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday, started dipping down a little bit, but like those hunts were probably not as effective. So I know I was like, I'm using this time to get all this stuff taken care of before I go on my state trip.

And then like you look at it, it's okay, that weekend cold front, which awesome that we've had some like weekend cold fronts, like as a bullhunter, you're like, yes, you're like, it's happening. I don't have to skip work. Yep, [00:49:00] exactly. And But if you looked at it, it's okay, the Northwest wind, you got your spot, use the history you have in the area.

And like you, you hunted on the fresh sign too. Like you, you let your eyeballs tell you what you're seeing. And you didn't leave deer to find deer. You stayed there and did that. And then I think that same thing will apply going into the fifth week. Obviously november is a special time. Yeah, I told matt he's gotta be in the woods and The wind shifted today from yesterday and I was like you need to be there He's like that's snow and i'm not gonna go I called him some names Yeah

tHere's a little he's got a but then like last year man he picked his days and then he saw that giant, you know that one morning He's like I feel he told me he's like I think that's gonna be a good day And then that day he was only off by 40 yards, And he would have had that near the neighbor shot.

Maybe we think what we don't even know But like he's got a good gut instinct for that too. And you know me and you I think we're more like We got to get out there. We got to get out there. Let's do it. But he's very good [00:50:00] at being remote, a little more reserved or like picking his good opportunities.

Yeah. He definitely picks his days, especially with his schedule. That he does have a crazy schedule. Yeah. So he has to be selective and when he's going and like I say, I. I respect everything that he's doing and letting me hunt the property with them. And, I try to treat it the best that I can.

Yeah. He's and he's so good at that. Like I never, I think the one year, I don't know what year it was. It might've been the year he saw Waldo hunting. I was blowing him up. Dude, it's you got to be in there guy. But he's nah, I'm just not quite. And then he's I'm going to hunt this day.

And I'm gonna hold out for that day. And I was like, man, I can't believe it. And then he goes, he's dude, I saw him like that was when he saw him running across the food plot. Yeah, that one, I dunno if it was Waldo Junior or if it was Waldo, but it was like, I just never shake him my head. I'm like, how did he know?

Like how did he know that and know? And he doesn't hunt. He's not a volume hunter by any means. He picks and chooses and he's just really good at it. So it's a nice having friends, you can learn like I'm learning from you, hey, even though you see a lot of bucks and maybe they weren't, you were seeing the little deer, but the does, but you stuck in [00:51:00] the area that it just matter of time, boom, there's that deer you want to shoot and go right back to it because your access was right.

The wind was right. And you got them the next time. Exactly. If I could have been there Monday morning, instead of going to work, I would have been there. Yes. And you probably, who knows? You might, you probably would have had a great hunt still, cause like you have a spot that's set up great for access with that wind.

There's a lot of things you can do but yeah, we're leading into the fifth week of season. Like you said like We have still some really good weather like today. It's snowing tomorrow's the first november 1st There's some rain coming this weekend, and I think it's still gonna stay cold. Yep. Stay cold. I think if you guys I think the same, you have your game plans throughout the year So hopefully whoever's hunting you have some history to play on or maybe some fresh sign, but go find that sign not necessarily mean you got to hunt right over the rub line or do that, but may find some scrapes.

Cause like you have, like you said, you seen all these bucks checking scrapes. Cause that's, I've seen that too. Like they will be on scrapes and if you find the fresh ones good, and if you can see where the deer [00:52:00] are, the does are set up off of them and just maybe you can be in the game. Don't you know, you don't necessarily want to go blow your best spot out But if you can ease your way into there the first few days in November You can have a good huck.

I know a lot of guys are taking the first, you know Take the first week of November off. Take the ruckation. Ruckation and do that So yeah, keep good attitude and just search for that's gonna be my mindset going down to Illinois So I'm not leaving until this end of this week and you know The weather looks like it's starting to warm up a little bit So maybe it would be nice to go right now.

Like I wish I was in Illinois right now But that's my mindset. I'm like, you know what, I'm going to go to the property, go to wherever we're going to scout and try to do like an easy scout and see what's going on and just let my gut and my eyes tell me where to go and then find that area, sit, and then if I see something, that's why it's nice being mobile.

I see that I need to be 50, 75 yards forward. I'm going to go, that's where I'm going to make your move. Yep. So that's. Take advantage of it. Man, we're here dude. Like it's it's time. Pre rut's going hard. Like the rut's starting, you know My definition of the rut [00:53:00] is the seeking Like the bucks looking for does the bucks bumping does you know the breeding to me is I don't classify the rut is when they're Actually breeding because I don't know how that's not really happening right now That's more to me, lockdown got, that's lockdown.

We got week and a half, two weeks. Yep. Exactly. So get out there and take care of. But dude, thanks man, appreciate you being on the podcast. Yeah. I'm glad I could be on and have a nice story to tell. Yep. And we'll yeah, it's good stuff and like I said you're the core group of friends that I have that I wanna do this anyways it worked out great that you, it was perfect.

Yeah, it's good stuff. But yeah. Is there anything else you wanna touch on? I guess for like any words of encouragement or what you learned or. I mean you feel like you learned a lot the past like season like yeah summer with bow and the last few Weeks have been a learning curve missing. I hit the dough, but I say mister.

Yeah and then I had a nice hunt that I think the day you shot your buck. Yep that morning I sat at your dad's stand at the edge of our food plot, and it's a hard sneak to get in there sometimes, and I must have been [00:54:00] trying to get in the stand at 5am, and it's not legal light until 7. 30 right now.

Yeah. But when I was walking in, I heard two bucks just fighting like mad, and I ended up seeing two of our other shooter bucks that morning, they're 200 yards away. But I learned about where they're starting to go to their bedding. So that's given us idea where to set up for the next time and playing that wind and not being super aggressive just yet.

And they're pre rutting hard and I love it. Yep, it's so awesome. Good stuff. I'm so excited for my brother to get in the woods And I don't know what I'm gonna be doing the next few weeks I was talking about that state land and you got a saddle now, so he went to do a little treppin around I've got to figure out my system and I'm actually thinking about taking up to the UP and trying to bow There you go first time ever.

That's what's fun about mobile hunting is like every time is like You can get, you can get your enjoyment maybe a different way. If the season's not going the way you want it. It's Hey, I'm going to go hunt a new tree here. I'm going to learn a new [00:55:00] spot. Cause like right now, yeah, you've got what you're, you guys shoot your one buck for the property, but maybe you can throw a sit somewhere and learn something for the following year.

Do those kinds of things. Like always try to have that catalog of things to learn. And then you'll be like, man, I remember two years ago when the corn was up. That these bucks, the 20th of October we're hanging out and they were heading to that veterinary over there, maybe we need to tweak a setup or kind of take advantage of that the following year, the next time corn's up or, there's all those, there's so many things that my brains is constantly like going to, especially this time of year, because it's exactly.

Cause you're like, this is the time, this is the time I need to capitalize like early season, I feel is very strategic and to an extent where you just got to get lucky, like if he's daylight and or whatever, the kind of a thing right now, it's this is my best opportunity to get on a target deer this two week period with a bow, like granted gun season, you can have a whole different approach, but with a bow, it's I always feel like that, like pressure Oh my gosh, I need to go, I need to hunt, I need to hunt, I need to hunt, I need to hunt.

And I was joking around with my wife and I was like, man, the snow's [00:56:00] coming down, I was talking to her on the way home. I was like, I feel like I just need to be in a tree. And she's and she's you shot your buck. And I was like, yeah, I shot my number one buck in Michigan that I've wanted to be.

It's been my number one for years. Like always a deer that I tell anyone I was like, I will be a static if I shoot them, but I still want to be in the woods. It's I just want to be in the woods, just experiencing it. Seeing what it only comes around once a year, like you want to be after shooting the buck yesterday.

Like I almost don't even want to shoot a deer right now. I just want to go and literally set my saddle up somewhere on the property that's brand new to me and just chill, take a camera. Cause we're outdoorsmen and we're hunters. That's when there's a lot that go into it. But yeah, so if you shot your buck already, like me and Dan have for the year.

Still go out there and hunt is what we're saying. So get at it, do that. But no, thanks for listening. And I hope you guys enjoyed this this episode of Michigan wild. And like I like to say, go out and enjoy creation this week. Get out there, take, get after it. Good luck. Shoot straight, aim low and yeah, have good book, short blood trails.

It'd be tough to beat yours, but I wish it [00:57:00] was going to beat it and we're going to be happy for them. Yes, sir. All right. Have a good week guys.