A Fused Freak of Nature

Over at Racks and Spurs forum, I came across this picture of a post made by 2poppa. He said -Look what showed up at a local taxidermist in Maryland!

It shares the main-beam and sticker points.

Hunt4ever said - sweet looking rack...I would of definitely shot that one for two reasons - to get it out of the gene pool and it is a fricking awesome looking rack.

Grizz1 said - That is a freak for sure...can you imagine someone trying to score this deer or what the animals forehead would have looked like if he had lived to shed the rack?

Kelly's 2008 Buck

Sue (rancher) and Kelly (artist/illustrator)

I recently met three nice lady hunters who live in British Columbia, Canada, through the HuntersNetworks, a social site for hunters. Kelly and her twin sister, Kim, are 45 and they have a sister by the name of Sue. Sue is a rancher and they all hunt deer, moose, bear or whatever. Below is Kelly's hunting tale of her 2008 harvest with Sue and with her permission, I'm sharing the hunt with you in our great wild outdoors.

~~~~~~~~~

My two sisters, Kimberly and Sue, have always been my hunting buddies. Between us we’ve worked out some lingo that nobody else would probably understand if it’s not explained to them. Roads are named by us according to things that happened, or things we saw there. If you’re not familiar with theses names you would never be able to follow any route we give you. And tree stumps that look like animals have been named too. In our time we’ve seen many a ‘bear stump’, ‘deer stump’, and from time to time also a ‘moose stump’ or two.

It has been two years since I got my last deer. I kept saying to my hunting buddies that I would love to get a four point buck … or better. Well, as they say, perseverance pays off. I was off with my ‘buddy’ Sue to go hunting. Our other ‘buddy’, Kim, had some things to take care of, and could not join us.

We drove down to where we were going to hunt. We went past ‘Tire Road’, took a left down ‘Ribbon Road’, went past ‘Gas Can Road’, took a left, and drove for another 1½km. You think you would have been able to follow this? Not a chance!

We were driving along, keeping our eyes peeled. There were quite a few false alarms. We saw our share of ‘deer stumps’. Then it happened! “Stop! Back up!”, I said to my hunting buddy. She was totally expecting me to say: “Sorry, false alarm. Just a deer stump.” But it wasn’t! About 200 yards away was this very good four point buck! My heart was pumping, and my eyes could not believe that this was my chance.

I slowly got out of the vehicle, moved into position, loaded my rifle, and got him into my sights. It felt like an eternity, and I’m sure Sue was wondering whether I was going to take the shot or not. I squeezed the trigger and the shot went off. The buck went down. I took a couple of minutes to gather myself, and we made our way over to the buck. It was a good, clean shot. I had my four pointer!

He was beautiful, but he was also pretty big. Here we were, two women, about 200 yards away from the vehicle with some pretty rough terrain in between. We had no idea how we were going to manage. But we were high and hopefully had cell range … or maybe not! We tried to phone for help, but realized that our other hunting buddy was the only one who could actually find us. We did not know any of the route markers on these roads, and only knew them by the names we gave them. Only Kim would know where ‘Tire Road’, ‘Ribbon Road’ and ‘Gas Can Road’ were! We had no winch on the vehicle, and no help forthcoming.

Maybe some other hunters will come along and help us. We always seem to run into them. Well, not today. The buck was dressed out, but it was still heavy! We started to drag and pull him to the vehicle. I’m sure the adrenaline helped us getting him there. We were driving a tracker, and this created the next obstacle. We couldn’t lift him that high. Out came the cell phones again, trying to get hold of our other hunting buddy. Still no luck. We dragged the buck onto some boulders to get some height, and Sue backed the tracker up. With one last effort we got him loaded.

Just imagine two women with this heavy buck, exhausted from trying to drag him 200 yards to our vehicle, and then trying to get it loaded. It was hysterical. The next day our bodies were aching all over.

But it was worth every effort! I was extremely pleased with my buck, and could not stop smiling. He dressed out at 160lbs. What a hunt! I’m still smiling, and even though he is probably not the biggest you’ve ever seen, he is big enough for me. I’m going to have a mount done so I can look at him every day. In years to come there might be better ones to follow, but for now I’m pleased as punch! ~Kelly

(Kelly said that in British Columbia they count racks differently and she is not sure why that is. She liked how we counted our racks and that would make her buck an 8 or 10 point ;)

The Miracle

This is from California and I thought you would like to see this sketch by the local “Sacramento Bee” editorial cartoonist"...that was published on January 18, 2009.

(Some offerings, in fact most offerings, by “Political Cartoonists” are sometimes hard to take, regardless of their artistic quality. But, this is truly inspirational, and totally, without equivocation, a TRUE and ACCURATE offering)

Youth On The Hunt

Eight-year-old Jack Dowe III, of Vicksburg, bagged this beautiful 9-point, 221-pound buck on private land in Hinds County the day after Christmas. He made the 135-yard shot with a .243 rifle. He is the son of Jack Dowe Jr. and Karen Dowe.

Brandon Thompson bagged his first deer while hunting with his father, Charles, at the Shiloh Hunting Club near Port Gibson on January 2. He shot it with a 7mm-08 at a distance of 100 yards. Brandon is the son of Charles and Dennis Thompson.

Gage Laird, 10, killed his first buck on November 23 while hunting with his stepfather, Jerry Montgomery, in Issaquena County. The 6-point buck weighed 160 pounds and was shot at 70 yards with a Contender 30-30. The rack was 14 inches wide with 16-inch beams. Gage is the son of Jerry and Speler Montgomery and Chris Laird.

Anna Brasseal, 12, shot this 145-pound, 8-point buck while hunting with her grandfather, Richard Hanks, on December 14 in northern Warren County. Anna made the 100-yard shot with a .243, the same rifle she used to take a 115-pound doe at 160 yards the day before.

Dillon Hearn, 8, shot this 115-pound spike deer while hunting with his father on youth weekend at the W&W Hunting Club in Oak Ridge. Dillon made the 50-yard shot with his .243 rifle. He is the son of Dean and Karen Hearn.

Lauren Whitaker, 9, killed this 125-pound doe while hunting with her father, Wesley, and her brother, Bryson, on family land in Redwood during youth weekend. The deer was shot with a .222 Remington at a range of 125 years. Lauren is the daughter of Wesley and Sherry Whitaker. My congrats to all our young hunters in our great outdoors!

To Brighten Your Day!

Thought I would put some cute pictures up today to brighten your day! Have a great weekend everyone! Charming, Just Charming!

A Hog Wild Weekend!

Mark's 200 pound wild boar.

A picture of Rex and I at the famous Christmas Place Plantation and Hunting Club with one of three boars that was harvested last Saturday. This particular one weighed 200 lbs., and was shot by Mark Stewart, the mailrider. He also harvested another hog and a doe. It was absolutely a hog wild weekend! I told Rex that I was interested in trying to harvest a hog myself. We have made plans for me to come back in the spring and get on the Privy Stand, since they have been tearing up the ground over in that area. Jeff over at LowCountry Hunting and The Hog Blog are two sites that I will be checking out to learn more about wild hog hunting in our great outdoors. Charming, Just Charming!

Dear Daughter

Here are my Birthday wishes for a very dear daughter, Kathleen Love "Kathy" Day, who turns 43 today.

You are a sweet and lovely daughter and my wish for you is to have a very happy day and year!

With all my love, Mom

(Kathy is the only one of my four daughters that loves to deer hunt and we have enjoyed hunting together many times in our great wild outdoors)

One Last Hunt

A view from my deer stand yesterday.

Bob and I went to our hunting camp, Hwy 61N Hunting Club, to hunt yesterday afternoon. It was really cold and windy. Their were three other hunters in the woods beside ourselves. No one harvested a deer. The rifle season will end tomorrow and primitive weapons will pick up until the end of this month. Most likely we will not muzzle load this season. This is the first time that either one of us had not harvested a deer in the years we have been hunting. Sunday afternoon we received a call from, Greg (my step-son), that he had harvested two deer over the weekend and wanted to give us one. Before we left the Christmas Place Plantation and Hunting Club, Rex gave us some deer meat as well as Mark Stewart (mailrider) some hog meat. My daughter, Kathy, was given a deer and she offered to share half of it with us. We are so very fortunate, blessed and thankful for the kindness of our family and dear friends.

A Bobcat and a Spike!

Right view from The Privy Stand.

Front view of The Privy Stand where the spike walked out at the far edge of the green field. He came out from the right side and walked towards the wooded area to the left.

I took this picture after I got out of the stand to walk back to the camp.

Rex put me on a stand called, The Privy Stand, early yesterday morning and saw on spike walk out at 6:55 a.m. in the far front end off the green. It was just a beautiful cold morning to see the woods come alive and the fog to lift. The shadow of this stand was taken around 8:30. I hunted until 9:15 and walked back to the camp which was not far away. I was hoping to also see a wild boar and try to harvest one since they have been seen routing around in this area. I would like to get on this stand one day and go wild boar hog hunting. We had a great weekend where one hunter bagged two boars and another hunter bagged one. Check out Rex at Deer Camp Blog for more great stories of a wild weekend hunt.

As always, Bob and I had a wonderful time at the famous Christmas Place Plantation and Hunting Club this past weekend. I was able to get back on the Arrowhead (tripod) Stand, the same stand that I took a picture of a yearling suckling during a Youth Weekend Hunt. I have never seen a Bobcat in the woods and was surprised to see one walk out. At first, I thought it may be a yearling, but as it walked towards me I saw that it was a cat! I reached for my camera out of my hunting pack and was fortunate to take this one picture. He just stopped and looked at me. My camera did not flash, but as soon as I took it, he turned around and ran back in the same direction he came from. Unfortunately, I did not see a deer but was so excited about getting a picture of one of God's creatures in our great wild outdoors!

Swamp in Delta

I took this picture today coming back from the famous Christmas Place Plantation and Hunting Club in the MS Delta. This picture is for you Big Al of Dismal Swamp! You have to stay tuned tomorrow to see what happened while hunting in the great outdoors! Charming, Just Charming!

One Last Chance

Bob and I are headed up to the famous Christmas Place Plantation and Hunting Club in the Mississippi Delta this morning. Rex invited us up to have "one last chance" to deer hunt since this weekend is the end of the rifle season. Muzzleload will pick up until the end of the month. We are looking forward to visiting with our friends and hunting in our great wild outdoors!

Youth On The Hunt

Collin Magoun, 9, killed this 7-pointer while hunting with his father, Bo Magoun, at their camp in Utica. Collin killed the deer on Christmas afternoon with a .243 rifle.

Connor Smith, 12, killed this 8-point buck on December 17 - his second deer of the your season - while hunting in northern Warren County. Connor is the son of Carl and Stacey Smith of Vicksburg.

Joshua Sullivan, 9, shot this 8-point buck, his first, on November 15 while Hunting a the Jasper Bottom Hunting Club in Claiborne County. Joshua's parents are Robert and Rachel Sullivan of Vicksburg. (Jasper Bottom Hunting Club is my old stomping grounds where I shot my first deer, a 6 pt. buck, back in the 80's). My congrats to all hunters in our great outdoors!

Bear Feeder???

Ever had problems with squirrels getting into your bird feeder? Well, look at this…

What the heck is that line made of?

Two Nice Mississippi Bucks!

Bill's 10 pt. buck.

Richard's 12 pt. buck.

Last Friday evening, Bob had to get a hair cut at his favorite place, Downey's Barber Shop on Clay St. Mr. Downey, the owner, has deer head mounts in his shop and is an avid deer hunter also. Bob's barber is a really nice lady by the name of Patti. She told us about her husband and son both harvesting big bucks in the outdoors and showed us their deer pictures. I wanted to share them with you since they are good quality bucks.

On December 26, 2008, her son, Richard Cox, harvested a 12 point buck that weighed in at 210 lbs. It was shot in Hinds County, MS and had a 23-1/2 inch spread. Her husband, Bill Neal, three days later harvested a nice 10 point in Claiborne County, MS. It weighed 195 lbs., with an 18" spread. My congrats to both hunters in our great wild outdoors!

Happy Birthday Buster!

Today is my only brother, Marion "Buster" Love, Jr.'s, birthday and he is 64 years old. The picture above was taken some years ago on his birthday and one of my favorites with him on his special day. He is an independent carrier for The Vicksburg Post, our hometown paper. May you have many more birthdays to come my dear brother. I love you! Your sister, Missy

Puppeteer Extraordinaire

Deerless

One of 5 vehicles leaving the camp.

Looking down in front of my stand and saw that I need to get this small tree cut down before next season. I only hunted twice at my camp this season. Bob joined a new camp this past summer and had been hunting with him most of the season.


I went deer hunting at Jasper Bottom Hunting Club in Claiborne County yesterday evening. When I got there all the hunters were in the woods. My stand is right on the main road and your hunt can be disrupted at any time. What I thought was really odd was only three hunters had signed in and 5 vehicles were at the camp house. At about 4:00 p.m. I had all 5 vehicles to leave the camp. I hunted until 5:35 and walked back to the camp to sign out. I also noticed no one had signed out. Whatever! I locked up the camp house and headed home without a deer. Will try again next weekend and that will be the end of the rifle season. Muzzle load will go until the end of January, but I will not muzzle load this year. Time is slowly running out. Hopefully, will get a deer this weekend. This could be my DEERLESS season....a first!

No Excuses...

A deer track at the farm south of town.

Getting ready to check and zero in my .270 rifle.

Greg checking the target at 100 yards.

I was off 3 inches low and Bob 3 inches high.

Bob and Greg at the farm zeroing in the guns.

Yesterday morning bright and early we all headed down to the farm south of town to zero in our guns. I went first and my gun was off 3 inches low and I was pulling to the left Greg said at 100 yards. Bob was 3 inches high. Now we have our guns on target and I'm going this afternoon to hunt at Jasper Bottom Hunting Club. I hope a deer walks out and so I can shoot and know that I'm not getting rusty in my old age. That would be pitiful! We were shooting Federal Premium 130 grain Sierra Game King BTSP and Bob wanted to try the Winchester 130 grain power-point bullets. My step-son Greg said that he will reload bullets for next season for us. Bob used to reload bullets but since his stroke, gave the reloading bench to Greg. I recently missed two does with 5 shots last week at the Christmas Place Hunting Club and hope this is all corrected now. We only have this weekend and next and it will be the end of the rifle season. Muzzle load picks up till the end of January. I plan to do a lot of target practice this year starting with my .22 rife.

Vicksburg On The Hunt

Dustin Shirey, 9, killed his first deer, this 9-point buck, while hunting at Fox Creek Hunting Club on December 26. Dustin is the son of Tracy and Jennifer Shirey of Vicksburg.

Raegan Bagby, 10, of Austin, Texas, bagged her first deer, an 8-point buck, on November 11, while hunting with her grandfather, Greg Bagby, on his land in Bay City, Texas. Raegan is the great granddaughter of Claude Bagby Sr. of Vicksburg.

Raylee Barwick, 10, shot this 11-point buck in Warren County on December 23. Raylee is the daughter of Greg and Darla Barwick of Eagle Lake.

Vicksburg resident Cindy Hays caught this 46-pound white catfish in the Mississippi River on December 27.

Vicksburg Post sports write Ernest Bowker caught this big bass while fishing in a private pond in Rankin County on December 27. The bass weighted approximately nine pounds, and was his second big fish of the day. He caught a six-pounder a few hours earlier. Congrats to all our young hunters and fisherman's in our great outdoors! Charming, Just Charming!