This picture of a doe was taken by my girlfriend's husband, Mike Donovan, while on vacation in Cades Cove at the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee.Monday, February 26, 2007
Pretty Doe
This picture of a doe was taken by my girlfriend's husband, Mike Donovan, while on vacation in Cades Cove at the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee.Saturday, February 24, 2007
Greg's Big 8-Point Buck
Greg's big 8-point buck taken south of Vicksburg, MS in December 2000. He was the guest of a hunting buddy/friend and used his inline muzzle loader. The rest is history! It weighed 255 lbs. and the antlers had an inside spread of 25 inches. This buck scored 131 on the Boone and Crockett. Congratulations Greg!!
This picture and story is also on my website at- http://www.marianladyhunter.com
Friday, February 23, 2007
Greg & 8-Pt. Buck
My step-son, Greg, harvested this nice 8 pt. on January 14, 2007 at Brown's Point Hunting Club, on Kings Point Island above Vicksburg, MS. Steve his friend video taped the hunt. Greg passed up a 9 pt. before he took this deer. They were hunting in climbers. Congrats Greg!
Thursday, February 22, 2007
My Second 8-Point Buck
This is a picture of my 2nd 8pt. taken at Brown's Point Hunting Club on Kings Point Island back in the early 90's. Bob and I were in a deer stand together on the MS River and this buck was chasing two does to the left side of the stand. All I could see was horns and neck. While standing, I took a neck shot and dropped him in his tracks with my .270 Ruger Featherweight. Bob had the hide tanned and I have it hanging on the wall with my deer horns on a plaque. It looks great!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Deb's Incredible Buck
Deb Luzinski of Woodbury, MN is a member of the Metro Bowhunters Resource Base, an organization that helps to thin out deer in urban areas in and around the Twin Cities. One day last October Deb helped to coordinate an archery hunt at a regional park in Ramsey County. After recording the stand locations of 15 other archers in the park, she picked a spot that nobody else wanted to hunt.
Deb hung her stand near a little swamp and climbed up for a short evening hunt, hoping to bust a doe. Cattails rustled and a 10-pointer popped out. Deb bleated, and the buck closed to 50 yards.
More cattails crunched and a giant non-typical stormed onto the scene. The 10-pointer snort-wheezed, but quickly backed down. Deb bleated again and the gnarly giant came in. The 38-year-old veteran archer and mother of two calmly made the 17-yard shot.
Deb sent me this follow-up email the other day on her great buck:
Hey Mike: I had the official score done on December 26, 2006. The rack was measured by Dave Boland of Chatfield, MN, a veteran scorer for both P&Y and B&C. The buck had 24 scoreable points and scored 228 2/8 gross and 222 2/8 net. This is the #2 largest all-time non-typical archery kill for MN, and the #1 largest non-typical archery kill for a woman in North America. Thanks, Deb.
My prediction: No woman will ever top Deb's incredible buck, certainly never on park land in an urban environment. Truly a public-land giant for the ages.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Hillary's Deer
Rex sent this to me of his neice Hillary with her proud Dad, showing off her deer that she had harvested. Way to go Hillary!!
Deer Camp Blog: Girls Get Deer Too!
Monday, February 19, 2007
My First Buck On Opening Morning
On opening morning while waiting for a thunderstorm to pass, all the other hunters left and went home after waiting impatiently for three hours. Bob and I decided to stayed and wait it out. As soon as the rain stopped, we got on the 3-wheeler and headed to my stand at Jasper Bottom Hunting Club. He dropped me off and I walk in very slowly. Bob decided to go further down from me and sit by a creek bed and hunt sitting up against a tree. He had just gotten to the tree and sat down and lit up a cigarette, when BOOM!!! - He thought I had accidentally pulled the trigger. I was only on my stand only five minutes when this 6-point walked out. I could not believe it! I was using my stepson's .243 rifle at the time. I took a deep breath and shot. The deer took off. Bob could not stand it anymore after waiting for about 20 minutes and came to check on me. I had gotten down to look for my deer and saw thick blood laying on the ground and leaves and started tracking my deer. When Bob showed up he said that I looked so sad....I told him that I had shot a deer but I was so upset because I could not find it. He said, "Looks like it shot you!"...I was so excited that when I saw the thick blood (lung shot), I reached down and splatter blood on my face. I initiated my own self! We found my deer and this is the photo that Bob took of me. I am now an official "Lady Deer Hunter". I was so happy! We went home and called the President of the deer camp and told him that I had gotten a 6 pt. and we found out later that word got around and they all headed back to the camp! (My 6-pt. never heard me walk in because everything was so wet and saturated)
Here I am showing off my deer to my Dad...(Mr. Love) He was so proud of me and thanked Bob for giving me the opportunity to be a deer hunter. I love and miss you Dad.
My first stand was called, "Marian's Stand," and the one I harvested my first deer from. Actually, I was facing the opposite direction when I shot my 6 pt. This stand faces the Big Black River dividing Warren County from Claiborne County. My stand no longer exists because they came in logged and tore it down.
The following weekend I shot my second deer, a spike. I shot it while in a cypress (on the ground) deer stand with Bob. We were in Mike's Patch at Home wood Hunting Club in Claiborne County, MS. There were three deer crossing at the end of a big opened field and I shot the biggest one. I now had harvested two deer in two weekends with two bullets and I told everyone that he took the guns away from me after that! I shot Bob's .30-06...to harvest this deer late in the evening and it was the first time I had ever seen fire coming from a rifle. It was awesome!
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Jasper Bottom Hunting Club
I took this picture of Bob and Reed walking over the Beaver Dam at Jasper Bottom Hunting Club in Claiborne County, MS. He had been Bob's boss back in Champaign, IL and Bob had invited him to come down to hunt with us for approximately two weeks every deer season. He had had a stroke, but did not let that stop him from hunting. We miss him very much!
This picture was taken as I walked around to Reed's stand to hunt when he was out-of-town.Thursday, February 15, 2007
Grandchildren @ Christmas
My grandkids..from left to right: Stephen, Carl, Victoria, Lucy, Ethan, Laura and John. I have two more that could not be with us for the Christmas holidays....Candace in Great Lakes, IL and Sonya in Magee, MS. I have four more out in Santa Fe, NM - Jessica, Christina, Brittany and Brandon.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Friday, February 09, 2007
Icy Swamp Picture
A beautiful scene of an icy swamp below Monroe, LA. Photo taken by John R. May, who is now deceased. It is one of my favorite pictures. He took it one day headed to his hunting camp.Cow Painting
A painting of cows that my step-daughter, Karen Whitmore, did for me!
She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Enie, Minie, Mightie and Moe
Besides deer hunting, I enjoy taking pictures of cows. I don't know why! They are so interesting to me. I have a lot of pics of them. At my husbands camp "Homewood" you have to go through a cow pasture to get to the main gate of the camp. So one day I started taking pictues as I drove through. I want to share some of them with you. I named these cows; Enie, Minie, Mightie and Moe and they were all looking at me, which is so cool! Hope you enjoy the pics of my cows. Marian
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Article In ATCO's "The Habitat"
Article from the "The Habitat" published twice annually by Anderson-Tully. The company is dedicated to the management, conservation, and stewardship of Anderson-Tully lands and the natural resources associated with those lands. Photo was taken by Glenn Smith.
Marian Phillips proudly exhibits the fine eight point buck she harvested last New Year's Eve on Brown's Point Hunting Club. Marian gives her husband Bob much of the CREDIT for her SUCCESS. It seems that on the morning hunt she saw several deer from her stand while Bob did not see any from his. Over lunch, Bob sagely suggested they switch stands for the afternoon's hunt. The rest, as they say, "is history". Congratulations, Marian!
My First 8-Point Buck
"My first 8-point taken on New Year's Eve '89
Article by Fred Messina, editor of "On Target Outdoors", from the Vicksburg Evening Post on Friday, January 19, 1990. Photo by Bob Phillips.
Bob Phillips came up the other day with a photo of his wife Marian and a deer she got on Brown's Point New Years Eve. The deer was an 8-point with 16 inches of inside spread that weighed in at 190 pounds. A nice trophy in anyone's book. However, the tale Bob told is that this was Marian's fourth deer this year and he claimed that he would have done better than he did if he had not spent so much time hauling Marian's deer out of the woods. Come off it, Bob. We all know who the hunter was.
John's 10-Point Buck
John is my step-grandson and I am so proud of him!It was an unusually hot opening weekend; one of the warmest that I can remember; lows in the 50's highs close to 80. Opening morning we saw two small does and 5 gobblers (4 long beards, one Jake). That afternoon we went to 46 and were bomb bared by ~500 ladybugs, so we left there and went to 38; didn't see a deer (too hot). The next morning I asked John where he wanted to hunt, and he said 3, so that is where we went.
We got to the stand probably 15 minutes before light. Just when it started breaking light, I saw a white tail sticking up. I told John that I see a deer, but I could not tell what it was. I saw the white tail one more time, but the weeds were too high, so I was never able to tell what that deer was. Shortly after it broke light, a big ole doe came out. I grunted at her and she stopped right out in the middle of an opening. John got his gun, but he was not able to see the deer. He was trying to find the deer in the scope, so I told him to find the doe with his eyes before he looked through the scope. The doe took a few steps before John spotted her, but by then she had made it safely to some cover.
I immediately looked behind me, and I saw a buck coming up out of the bottom. I asked John to let me have his gun so I could see how big he was. I knew immediately that the buck was big enough to shoot, so I told John that he was a shooter, and we switched chair positions. I grunted at the buck and stopped him in an opening broadside. I grabbed my video camera and started videoing the buck. John could not find the buck in his scope at first, so I told him to look over the top of the scope and find the buck with his eyes, and then find him in the scope. John found the buck then, so I told him to slowly squeeze the trigger and shoot when he was ready.
John said that he was too far; the scope was on 4 power, so I cranked it up some, and John said that was better. I was concentrating on keeping the camera steady when John said that he was scared and that he could not keep the gun steady. John asked if I would hold the gun steady. I put my camera down and reached over and put my hand on the scope to try and steady the gun. John was still having trouble keeping the gun steady, and I didn't know if I was helping him or making it worse, so I took my hand off the scope and grabbed my video camera again. The buck then reached back and licked himself, and that is when I saw what kind of rack he had. He had some long G2 tines and good beam length, and I asked John if he wanted me to shoot him. John said no. The buck looked forward, and started to walk off, so I grunted again to stop him. The buck looked right at us. John said that he couldn't keep the gun steady, and when I looked over at him he had his head down looking at the floor of the stand. I realized then that maybe his chair was a little to low for him to hold the gun steady, so with the buck looking dead at us, I moved John up and I moved over to his chair and sat him in my lap. John said that was better, but he still couldn't keep the gun steady, so I reached around him and put my hand on the scope to help steady the gun. I told him to concentrate with the cross hairs on the shoulder and slowly squeeze the trigger. John shot, and the buck lunged forward with his right front leg not moving; I knew he was hit hard, and he ran over a slight ridge and into a little depression. I felt the deer had gone down, but I wasn't sure if he had made it to the bottom he had come out of. I set my compass to where the buck was standing when John shot, and told him that it would help us find exactly where the buck was standing because the woods look different when you are on the ground. We both walked over there, and John said this is where the buck was standing, I told him no it is over here to the right. I just new I was going to walk up on the deer any second, but I couldn't find any blood, and I could find the buck piled up like I had expected. I was so excited/nervous that I couldn't concentrate on finding blood, I was just looking for the deer. I then replayed the video, and noticed a leaning tree just to the right of the buck, but I could not find the leaning tree where I thought the buck had been standing when John shot.
I told John that I was going to have to go back to the stand to see if I could see the leaning tree. Sure enough when I got back to the stand I could see the leaning tree, and realized that I had set my compass wrong. I set it on a small opening to the right of where the deer was standing, and I noted that John was right when he said that this is where the buck was standing. I told John that he was right, and he beamed back with a smile. We found one pin drop of blood, and I noticed that some overturned leaves where the buck had gone over a slight ridge. I had John lead while I videotaped him. He walked up the small ridge and there he laid. I asked him how may points he had, and he said 8, I said boy you better count again, so he did. John's first buck was a 10 point with 191/2 inch beams, 9 inch G2's, 8 inch G3's, 13 inch spread, and 190 lbs (scored 128 4/8).
By: Greg Phillips
Stephen's First Mounted 8 Pt.
Stephen's First Mounted 8 pt. Buck
Photo taken by a proud Gran Gran on May 8, 2005.
From The Vicksburg Post
Stephen Kelly is following in the footsteps of his grandma with a nice eight-point buck for his first buck taken December 20, 2004 in Hinds County. The buck weighed 190 pounds and had a rack that measured 17-1/2 inches inside. Stephen also bagged his first doe on youth weekend.
Congrats to Stephen!
Gran Gran is so proud of you and so is your Grandma Jane!
From The Vicksburg Post
Stephen Kelly is following in the footsteps of his grandma with a nice eight-point buck for his first buck taken December 20, 2004 in Hinds County. The buck weighed 190 pounds and had a rack that measured 17-1/2 inches inside. Stephen also bagged his first doe on youth weekend.
Congrats to Stephen!
Gran Gran is so proud of you and so is your Grandma Jane!
Carl's First Deer
My grandson Carleton "Carl" Thomas, with his first deer - a 5 pt. buck - taken with my .270 rifle on youth weekend 2003. I was so proud of him....an experience I will never forget and I know he never will either. Good memories!!
Monday, February 05, 2007
Hunting With My Grandson, Ethan
My handsome Grandson - Michael "Ethan" Ramson Kelly
I took this picture of a shadow of a deer stand, around 4 p.m. on a November day, just after deer season opened for youth. I had my grandson Michael "Ethan" Kelly and we were hunting at Jasper Bottom Hunting Club, in Claiborne County, MS. I submitted this picture to The Vicksburg Post in December and it was published in the paper on Sunday, January 14, 2007. Readers can submit photos of interest to the paper via e-mail. I was so excited to see it! We had a fun day hunting and he used my .270 Ruger Featherweight. This picture was the only thing shot that day! 
Before we started our hunt, I let him shoot my rifle and as you can see, he centered a coke can. He was so proud!! He will make a great hunter! I have three grandson's and a step-grandson that are hunters now and I am so proud of them all. Will get their pics up soon and show them off!
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Picture that my daughter took of me on our hunt together on November 26, 2006, at Jasper Bottom Hunting Club in Claiborne County, MS. We had a great time even though we did not see a deer.
Picture of my daughter, Kathleen "Kathy" at Jasper Bottom Hunting Club. She is the only one of my four daughters that is a deer hunter. I am so proud of her!