00:00:02 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast, your home for deer hunting news, stories and strategies, and now your host, Mark Kenyon. Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast. I'm your host, Mark Kenyan, and this is episode number one Tay. In the show, Dan and I are sharing with you are hunting experiences from the past couple of weeks, the ups, the downs, and the lessons learn All right, welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast, brought to you by Sitka Gear. And today in the show, we have two stories of the two thousand sixteen white Tail rut. One is of resounding success and the other is of utter despair. Come on, man, it's not that bad. One is Dan Johnson's and one is mine. But quickly, before we get to these stories and lessons learned, we need to thank our partners at sick of Gear for the support of this podcast and today, rather than our usual short sick of story, this entire podcast will be a sick of story, as all the hunts you'll hear about today from Dan and I took place while wearing our sick of So if you personally would like to learn more about Sitka's technical hunting apparel, which has helped me and Dan whether the element successfully over the recent days. Head on over to Sick of Gear dot com and now, Dan, tell me, how are you feeling right now? WHOA yes, sir, No, man, I'm happy. It's it's when it's just it's crazy, just so many emotions, um, and you know things that go through your head after you after you shoot a deer, and you know, you think about what you've done the past, what you've done wrong, what you've done right. Um, you know what you've you know, and then it's like the day passes and now I'm already thinking about two thousand seventeen. So it's just it's crazy. I know, I'm I'm super excited for you. And if anyone hasn't been following social media, they're probably freaking out right now and wondering what exactly happened. And we will get to that. Um, but I don't know, Dan, I kind of want to hear about what's going on with you first, because you've got the best stories to share. Do you want to start from the beginning with like way back since we last talked, and then just like take us up through what's happened most recently with your hunts. Right. Um, sure, oh man, when was when was the last time we talked? Because I actually missed a buck or hit a limb or something. It was one of the I'll just kind of tell the story because we haven't talked about that yet. I think we we haven't talked since like the end of October, because we had recorded that one early. It's been like a good ten to fourteen days since we've actually got new new stuff, right right, Well, I just want to kind of tell a really quick story before I go into into that one I had. I had the opportunity my stepdad. I was actually back home hunting my main farm, and I brought my daughter with me and she was hanging out with my mom, her grandma, and my my stepdad that morning shot a buck on the property that they live on. It's only seven acres and there it was just it's just a little you know, a little spike basically, Uh, that's cool. Actually, there's a law in Iowa. And he didn't know it because when it came through it was really dark and it was us I mean, there was one two inches of bone, uh, sticking out of his head. He thought it was a dough and he shot it. But the rule, the rule in Iowa is you can put your dough tag on it if the antlers are not forked. So um so that he didn't see it. He thought it was a dough He had a dough tag luckily when he shot it. So all that played out fine, legal and all that. But the cool thing about that was was I helped, you know, I take some I took some pictures. I helped him track the blood trail. He only went about fifty yards. And I had the opportunity to take my daughter, who's three years old, out and my my mom carried her into the woods after we found the deer, and um just to see the look on her face, and she asked so many questions, and you know, it's kind of it's almost like I wish I had more to say to her because I, as as a father, I was ill prepared for that moment on my life. It's like, so, Daddy, is this buck dead or this dear dead? Yes, honey, why did they kill it? Because you know they're taught, you know, you can't hurt things. You're not supposed to hurt other humans or hit or kick, you know, or or bite, So why did Grandpa kill this deer. I'm like, well, Grandpa killed this deer to turn it into meat for you know, our you know, for our food so we can eat it. You know, it provides us food. And she's like okay, and then you know I had to tell her, you know, just kind of working. You know, God created these animals for us and um, and you know, it's our responsibility to you know, when we shoot them. We got to put a good shot on them so they don't go very far. And you know, and she's just asking, you know, questions about the broad head and she's like, is this is this what poked the deer? And you know, I just it was it was a first for me and I thought that was it was really cool. That is that is so cool? Did she did she ask you anything that you didn't know how to answer? Um? Is the buck? Did the buck die? Or is the buck dead? Or is the dear dead? Is the dear dead? I'm just like, yeah, the deer's the deer's dead. She's like, oh, that's sad. You know. So there was emotion involved. There was a little bit more emotion for her involved in it. Um, And you know, there there wasn't a lot of blood because it was a good shot and he fell over fairly quickly, and you know, I wiped the blood off of his nose before before she got there, and um, you know, I just had to basically shoot from the hip and try to figure out what to say right then and there. And I think I did a decent job of just telling her, you know, you know, we're gonna we're gonna turn this into food so we can eat it with our you know, potatoes and carrots and you know, so that's awesome. Yeah, I imagine that's got to be just like one of the coolest things, Like when I think about future kids, that's like warm of the types of things that I imagine being like, so, I don't know, so filling, being able to share moments like that, right, And it was cool. My mom was there and my stepdad was there and they got to experience it's that little moment too. And I took some pictures and I haven't posted him yet, but I'm gonna. I'm gonna post him here in a little bit of her just like the expressions on her face like oh my gosh, this is this is this is cool. But you know, I don't know like she she liked it, but she wasn't like overboard like my son. I just know when I do that with him, he's gonna be like riding it, you know, touching it and you know, like patting it and stuff like that. She was just a little leary of that of it. So, um, I gotta do my part. Like when I when I told her that I shot my buck this year, she was, oh, yeah, Dad, good job. You know you shot him. You shot him, You shot a big buck. That's awesome Dad. I'm like, yeah, we're gonna turn it into food so we can eat it. Yeah, I'm gonna eat me, you know. So she was all jacked up about that and that, uh, that was pretty cool. That's awesome. So did she see your buck too? Um, she never got to see it because I took it to the taxidermist before I ended up bringing it back home, but I showed her pictures and she's like, oh, that's cool. I'm gonna shoot a buck someday to dad, right, right, dad, right? And I'm like, yeah, yeah, you are, come on, you're old enough. You can come hunting with daddy. That would be pretty cool. Yeah. So that I just wanted to share that story because you know, oftentimes we talk a lot about strategy on this and you know, how to actually kill the deer. But it's the moments like that for me now as a father, that have a little light shine on them as well. So that's great. I I love it. I love that story. Now let's let's forget about all that bs right, let's talk about let's talk about the meat and potatoes. Um, okay. So I ended up going back home, uh for a couple you know, for the last week of work. I ended up working a Monday, and it was that weekend before Halloween. I it was my very first morning hunt on my buddy Buddy's property, and uh, the evening before I saw an absolute giant buck um just like four yards away on a neighboring property. He was in one of the guy's food food plots. He's a he's got like a hundred forty acres over there, and it's it's basically no timber, but it's all food plot. So it's standing corn. It's like those tripod houses, those hunting houses, and uh, I think he muzzleloaded hunts. He lets a couple of guys bow hunt over there, and there's a tree line at all these deer come through. Well, there's a sliver of property that runs between the property that I can hunt in the property where all these deer coming I have a sliver. It's it's basically this giant pinch point that I talked about on my buddy's property that all the deer work through. And I think, um, I've told you in previous podcast last year, I was having trouble trying to figure out how this wind, this wind goes back and forth. So what I found was I have to get into the low spots and I have to basically hunt these stands where a north and a south wind are both bad. So not only am I the wind direct because the wind direction comes like a tide. It goes back and then it goes forth when the wind blows hard, you know, So if it's if it's a north wind, I'll have a pretty consistent north wind. But when the wind dies down, it's like everything floods back down to the low ground. Right. So I have to hunt this area where a north wind is bad and a south wind is bad, Meaning I have to go in there for only a south wind, but I have to know that the south the south and the north are both bad. So you're just praying that they come from the east or west. No, I'm praying that they walk through because the pinch point so tight. I'm praying that they come through that exact pinch point. And I have a shooting lane to the north, and I have a shooting lane to the south. So if there's an east wind, I'm screwed. If there's a west wind, I'm screwed. But I have to so I have basically I figured out that's basically to tree stand locations. And if they come from if they come too high to the south, if they if they come through to the north, they're not gonna really bust me because they're they're clear on the other side of the property, past the creek, and they walk through that ozonic streme and they don't they don't hear nothing, and they don't smell nothing. However, these deer are hunted hard, um. And I think I told you. I had a dough step out at about a hundred and twenty yards from me and walk out in this little grassy area which is somebody's backyard, and just you know, kind of feed towards me. And I did not move one muscle and she pegged me at like a hundred at a hundred yards. So I'm just like, oh my god, how did she I didn't do anything, but she pegged me. The wind isn't in her favor. That's just how spooky these these deer are. You know they they are so observant because they get hunted quite a bit in this area. So, UM, let's fast forward to the good part. Um that first morning that I was able to hunt on my buddy's property. Um. The previous night, I passed a little uh, he's I think he's an eight point or probably UM class three year old. Nothing, nothing exciting. The next morning he came through again and I was I passed him, but following right behind him, all I saw was a big dark body and then I saw I put my binonos up and through what I could From what I could see, there was these huge bases. Um, and so I go, oh, that looks like a shooter. And it was one of these things where I was so caught up in the moment that I did not do a very good job of observing the actual body size of this buck. I don't know if you've ever done that, And you just like you're so you're so focused on I gotta kill, I gotta kill, I gotta kill. And and so he came up, he made a scrape. Well, between the time he made a scrape and um, the time that he was going to follow this other buck out through one of my shooting lanes, three does came in behind me and busted me moving and they blew and they blew and they booked and then they ended up just kind of walking away from me. Um. But it's crazy out there because the deer blows so much that the bucks don't even care about it. So here he was just chilling. Of course, he of course he was focused right on this uh these does, and he was like, okay, what's the problem because he doesn't smell me, he doesn't see me. Um, all these uh, all these uh does are blowing and he's like, what's what's going on? These women are just crazy. So they work their way away and he kind of puts his nose to the ground. He's looking at this buck and he's looking in this direction. And I haven't had the opportunity to stand up quite yet, because as I'm standing up, these does bust me. So I slowly sit back down and just kind of waited out, thinking the hunts over does work their way. I stand up, grabbed my bow, and this buck starts working out again. And uh, he's in a shooting lane. I see his antlers, they're out to his ears there there. Um, I don't know, and he's maybe a one ten one, but I but I swear to he looked one sixty right all day long. Oh my god. You know, I was just so fired up because it was the first interaction. It's almost like I forgot everything that I learned in the last you know, ten fifteen years of bow hunting, right, It's like, what did what did you learn? Nothing? It's a big but I gotta shoot it, and uh, I drew back, I let the arrow go, and I something happened. I either just got buck fever and shanked it. But when I found the arrow, the the broadhead was off of it and the knock was off of it. So I think I hit a branch or or something. Well. Checking the trail cameras and and and after watching him run away, I was It sucks to say, but I'm glad I missed him and missed him clean. You know, I didn't hit him, I didn't wound him. Um, I missed him clean. And after I looked at trail camera pictures, I'm like, that's a three year old, right, So I'm just like, you know, I mean maybe I won't tell anybody about this, huh. I know that feeling. So how are you feeling? Right after that, though, I was pissed. I called my wife and I'm like, man, I missed I just missed big Buck. And and that was before I looked at Joe camera pictures and found out this Buck was not a shooter. And she's like, why did you miss? I wish I wish I knew rights. So that was that was one of the one of these encounters were it's you know, it taught me something because it helped me down the road this year. So imagine you know, in like the hours after that, like you're thinking through everything that went that, everything that happened, everything that went wrong, Like, did you analyze it and figure out anything you like other than the possibility that you hit a limb? Was there anything that you told yourself I think I should have done this differently, or I think I could do this better. Was there anybody like aha, moment for you after like replaying in your head. Yeah, and I think I think I right up rush the shot, straight up my my own fault. Um. I think I tried to pull off a shot where the deer may have already seen me or was on edge because those doors were blowing. Um or the fact that I got I got buck fever and straight up rushed to the shot. That's the you know, just admitting that I made a mistake. Yeah, man, I think it happens to just about all of us. I don't think there's a few people maybe other they're just stone cold. But but it's pretty hard to always have composed in those moments. You know, we always got we always try to get better, but it's pretty hard to be perfect, that's for sure. Yep, that's a fact. That's a fact. But I'm glad it was a clean mess. That's the perfect that's the best possible scenaire to come out of that. That's right. That's right. So I go back to work on Monday. Um, I end up going trick or treating with my uh wife and kids. Didn't hunt it all on Monday on Halloween, which I wish I would have. Because I go back and I checked my trail cameras and there's a stud buck walking through at like two yeah, um Halloween through that pinch point and midday movement. Um. So anyway that that passed, I went back out there um that evening and haunted again. And uh I got into the timber on November one at about um oh jeez, I don't even know, like one thirty two o'clock. So at about three o'clock, I saw this, the buck that I actually missed, walk through this back through this area, you know, three days after I missed him, and head to that those fields passed a couple other small bucks out of this pinch point. And uh then the next morning, because of that wind, and I was and I ended up having to move move farms, I had a bad win, so I didn't hunt that morning. So I decided, okay, November one, I'm gonna go back down to my main farm and I'll hunt that evening. So I get to my main farm, uh pretty early, I checked a whole bunch of trail cameras. Um, and through flipping through these trail cameras on uh see it would have been November one, I ended up seeing a mature buck working a field edge captured on among my trail cameras. So as a hunter, I'm like, okay, what's my goal at for what's my goal this year? I said, it's to shoot a four year old buck? Right antler sized? Antler size does not matter to me. I want to my goal. And like I told you earlier, this year, my goals to shoot a four year old buck. So I see a four year old buck on trail camera, so it's like, why not go set up on on this where this buck was seen. I hop in this fence line, um, and I'm hunting a field edge, but one on one side is a one side snag field. The other side is kind of like this marshy area and uh it's it's a gigantic staging area slash betting area for a lot of deer. And when it's right that marsh is on and cracking for the rut. And so I set up. I sit there and I see a couple of dos. You know, fast forward a couple of hours, it's like four o'clock. I see a couple of does work through. Um, they kind of do this big loop around. It's almost like their scent check in the marsh. To try to catch it and see if there's anything in that field before they step out. Well, a small buck stands up out of a bed. Yep. I can I ask you a question? How did what was your thought process in setting up where you did? Did you set up there just like right over near where the camera picked him up, or is this based on where you saw him come out? Or how did you choose where to sit specifically? Yep um okay, so, and I should have said this earlier, but this buck was working this Uh, we're working a scrape line basically, and there's like five or six scrapes along this egg field that's a picked corn field. And um, I don't have permission to hunt the marsh, but I do have permission to hunt the egg field of it, all right, So there's like very very little, very little cheeries to choose from. Yep. So I I just get up there, I set the stand up, and I basically am setting it up for an observation stand and hoping and with with the ability to shoot two of these scrapes and they're fresh scrapes right, um, probably were made when this buck came through on Halloween night. It was there the thirty one I hunted, uh, which would have been this the first night I hunted there was November two. All right, did the running, did the run and gun and uh went in there and uh, I didn't see I saw those does, right, saw this, uh this little dank buck stand up and start chasing these doughs away. Well, this something happened, and I think this buck that I ended up shooting was also betting in that area, and he was betting in this area specifically to catch does in between their betting, using this marsh as a staging area, right, and then he would send check them as they would go to the egg field, and if they were hot, then he would pursue. But it was still to the point you know where it's uh, it's still that they're not ready yet. So they're they're up on their feet, but they're not breeding. That that quote unquote kind of pre h reddit time. And uh, you know, I I see and I see a big buck stand up kind of that last light. I couldn't really tell what it, what his antlers were, but I knew he was big, and he started chasing these these doughs hard. I think one was a year ling and one was a mature dough. Um, and then that was it. That sun went down. They chased him back into the timber and nothing happened. Well, November three comes along and thunderstorms all day long. I I'm second guessing myself. I'm like, man, I should I even get into the timber. And I had the opportunity to hunt until like eight or nine o'clock before the rain started in. And I typically don't do this, but to the north it was lightning a lot. So I went into this giant ridge where stand where I could see, you know, I had the opportunity to see forever. Um. I saw a couple of couple, good dear, but um, they were so far away that I didn't you know, there's nothing to do. The front came in while I was in the stand, and then it started to rain, and uh, I get down, go home, and uh, I'm sitting there all day and I do some work, uh, you know, write some articles, you know, do some social media stuff, and thinking I'm gonna get reined out. And it's funny because I'm sitting there on social you know, doing my Instagram or Twitter or Facebook, and how it looks like I'm gonna get reined out. Basically, guys are calling me a pussy online. I'm pretty sure I left a comment just said like I said boo or something like that. So it's like, I'm getting called out here, so I can't. I can't let you know, I can't get called out. You can't let that happen. I can't. I can't let that happen. So luckily I did, and it was I didn't get set up until four o'clock. You know, I waited until the rain stopped. I left the house at three. I got into the stand at four fifteen is when I looked up and I was set up because that stand was already there. So all I did to climbing, climb up, strap in, and hang my bow, and I end up seeing two doors work their way in as I'm hooking up, but it's still kind of missing, and they're looking up at me, but they're not doing anything. They're not blowing, they're just kind of looking up at me and they're not I think they're just kind of disoriented because of all the strong winds and rains that had just happened, and they didn't really know what I was. And I was in my camel up in a tree, you know, And unlike the other property that I hunt, these deer can be kind of dumb when they see people in the trees because it's not a high pressure farm, so to speak, and they end up kind of getting really really really kind of spooked out and then not I guess, not really, but they're getting kind of spooked out, so they're they're going, they're bounding away and whatever. And so I'm texting my buddy right here as it's drizzling, and he's like, I'm in a I'm in a ground line right now, and I am seeing a couple dear kind of spawn their spawn with each other, kind of spar with each other. And I'm sorry, you're you're probably hearing a kid cry in the background, all right. The life of a podcaster whose wife also does a daycare out of the house. But but anyway, this um my buddies like, yeah, I'm seeing a lot of a lot of deer sparring. And I text another buddies like, yeah, I just watched, you know, to to dear kind of tickle each other's antlers. I'm like, I'm gonna rattle blindly, right, this is gonna be a blind rattle. This this this uh cold front just kind of came through, and it wasn't really even a cold front. It just rained right because the temperature stayed the same before and after it happened. And I throw the antlers together real hard for about two minutes, and I hang them down. I sit down. About two minutes later, I look over and this buck is standing at the end of this finger in this marsh, and he's working his way right towards me. And at that moment, at that moment, first stop. First off, the first thing that went through my head is you missed a buck earlier because you overreacted. Get your ship together, right, grab the buyos. Identify the buck. Okay, I see it was a see it's a ten pointer alright. Look at his body. Okay, that's a four year old. Okay, that's the buck on the trail camera that you said you were going to shoot buyos down. Grab the bow. I'm sorry, this kid's going bananas room next. All right, I'm sorry. Do you have an editing editing tool for editing out crying babies. We don't have a crying baby edit tool, but we have we have understanding listeners. So okay, so this buck is is on a on a frozen rope right right to me, like he's not trying to walk around anything. He's he's walking back and I'm looking at him, and then I still start to get excited because he's bristled up, his ears are back, and he's drooling like he's licking, licking his lips, not just coming out of him, and he's he's just hunched over and he's not a long bodied buck, but he looks like a pit bull right. He's all shoulders, all neck um. And it was one of these one of these deer that just makes you look at him, go, he's mature, right, He's a mature buck. And so he's getting ready to at about twenty yards step out into this into this one of the shooting lanes. And I didn't trim any shooting lanes. It was just kind of a get up there, see what happens. And I'm I'm getting ready to draw back, but he does a hard right turn and he walks the fence line of this marsh or he he kind of steps over the fence first and then takes this hard right turn and he's walking right to me. So my twenty five yard shot now becomes he's head on and there's like three trees in this fence row, So I have no shot. The next time I have a shot, he's gonna be five yards if not closer to me. So he stops and he he stops first just a second to the point or just long enough to where I'm going, Uh, oh boy, what did he catch my scent? Because I had it. I had it angled to where if he would have walked past that initial shooting lane, he would have caught me. Right. So it was a north northwest wind, and if I had a straight north wind, it would have been blowing right down into the shooting lane. Now, me and you talk a lot about about cutting the wind right, So you have to you have to be aggressive to the point where the shot has to come right before you get busted. Right. And that's how I that's how I set up this particular tree stand and hunted this particular wind. And he's he's standing there and I'm thinking, oh boy, did he smell something? Did he smell me? But he's just kind of observing his body. His body didn't change like he was still in that aggressive state. His ears came forward a little bit to look around but he was still drooling and slobbering, and he's still bristled up. Now you weren't drawn back yet, right, not yet? What were you waiting for? What was your He was behind behind something or he was the only point At this point. He was about ten yards from me, but the only spot I could see was his left antler in his hind quarters. I had no vitals, and he was still hard quartering towards me. Right. So he he keeps walking all the way back to this uh, all the way back to the um or like, past these two trees, and I'm I'm excited right now. I'm pumped because I'm reliving this this moment. Uh. He walks out of this tree, he walks out, he goes he after he walks by that tree, he walks into this little green shrub. No shot. He steps out, and he's five yards from my tree stand. So I'm shooting straight down at him right, almost let the arrow go. I didn't even try to stop him because he was walking really slow, and I spined him and he dropped straight down in his tracks. I freaked out for like one second, like, oh, just shot a buck, And then then I saw him flopping and then I turned back into finish him off mode, you know, grabbed another arrow, knocked it, launched it right in his heart dead, and I sat down. I hung first time, hold my bow up. I sat down. I'm like, oh boy, oh boy, Like what do I do? Like, because I haven't shot a buck since two thousand and twelve, I think it was, and like all this I kind of had like flashbacks of all these mineral stations, all these trail cameras, all these running gun sets, all of all the years past, right, and it finally kind of clicked for me. It's like, put up your trail cameras, find where the action is, and go set up on the action. It's like it's that simple, you know form for me anyway, right, I don't know. And so I pick up the phone. I called my wife, and my wife is just you know, like she's just this year, she was more. She was really supportive of me. Um, and I had, you know, going into this this rut. I had until November seventeenth until I had to go back to work, so I was ready to grind it, you know. And I killed two days into my rutcation. So it's like I called my stepdad he helped me drag it out and he was he it up dying right there where I shot him, and I to the you know, it's just he's not a giant antler deer, which I don't even care about. He is a mature deer. Uh. I thought he was a four year old. But I took him to the taxidermist, and his head is gigantic. Right, he's got a the biggest neck of any deer I've ever shot saw in the picture. I was like, man, he's got a big old, big old neck on him right, his body short. Uh, he's he's a brute. He's still a heavy deer. He's well over to fifty. But I take him to the taxidermist, and the taxidermists like, holy cow, that's a big, big, big deer, like big body deer. His head is huge. It's kind of funny. I don't know if you've ever walked into a taxidermist and with your you're so proud of your buck. You're walking in there, you're walk in the door and everybody else is dropping their deer off or he's got mouths there, and you're just like, oh, you know, just kind of a oh, there's a there's a booner, there's a booner, there's a booner. You know. A guy walks in with like eighty class non typical while I was there, and I'm just like, yeah, this guy was mature, right, Like I don't know, I just I thought that was funny. But in Iowa you've got some serious competition to stack up against, right. But the guy's looking at it and he goes, man, I don't think a regular mount is gonna be good. Like a regular amount we're gonna So he shows me. He opens his catalog, right, and he's he's flipping through these uh these forms that the hide goes over, right, and he's like, I think we're gonna need one of these these mounts. And it is amount specifically for Canadian deer, who are like bigger net, bigger body an. So I'm just like yes, like that that to me jacked me up. And it was like, yeah, you may have big rack, but my bucks a badassid right, So that is awesome. And other than that, you know, it's just like get the pictures done. You know, we had them processed, uh, all the way processed, and you know, the end of the next day and I got a really bad case of poison ivy because of dragging him out of the thick stuff. But it's all worth it, right, So what's what is your base lesson learned from this whole thing? Oh? Man, For me, it was I'm I'm starting to understand, especially for for a family man, that there are times where you want to hunt but you probably shouldn't. That's just that's one thing. It's like, Okay, I went out this year, and I love hunting and I love being outside, and I've had some encounters, some good encounters in off what we would consider off conditioned days. But you know, I think I'm learning this year that you know, we talked a lot about first time in best time in I only sat that particular tree. That was the second time I sat in that tree. And that was the first time all year I sat in a tree stand more than two times. Yeah, So I didn't ever double up on tree stands or locations. I didn't ever, you know, I was going where the sign was at. I was being as mobile as possible. Um, I was doing what I had taught conditioned myself to do throughout the years, and that was you know, you have your trail cameras tell the story where are the deer at Okay, if there's nothing showing up, you gotta go somewhere else. On these trail cameras, you know, if if there's you know, bucks that are coming through in the middle of the night, it pointless to hunt that area because there's no sign of them coming in during shooting light anyway. So a picture at midnight is like no picture at all when you're trying to hunt him. I saw this picture of this buck. It was at last light on Halloween, meaning he's gonna make himself visible in this marsh before then, and that was my best intel. So I set up in that area and lo and behold he he he was there before you know, he was pulled away by a hot dough and I had the opportunity to capitalize because of the information my trail cameras told me. If that makes sense, well that's awesome, man. So come together and it's it's not like there was even a plan. It was. It was literally the starting point of what I wanted to do for the next you know, seventeen days, for you know, fifteen sixteen days, I just started. I there's a lot of luck in what happened to me as well. I luckily ran into a place where a buck walked in front of my truck camera I climbed up in after a rainstorm, and that buck just so happened to be betted in that marsh. But I think, I think when you look at these types of situations like this, there's always gonna be an element of luck. But the luck wouldn't have been able to play its part if you hadn't done a whole bunch of little things that allowed that happen. So, for example, you hunted on a day when it was rainy, and a lot of people maybe wouldn't have gone on and hunt that day, but you did, and you were there after the front passed and that dealers on his feet. You you know, you planned your wind right, and you made sure that you weren't going to be blowing your wind into that swamp and stuff. You know, some guys might have tromped in there and didn't care about the wind and would have blew them out before you even had a chance to shoot him. Um, I bet you the true you picked, there's probably some experience and some things you learned in the past that helped you pick the right treatise in that night. I bet all of your experience, the things you've done doing so many running guns set ups. You know, the day before when you set that stand up, you probably did it really quietly and slowly enough that you didn't spook that deer that maybe it was betted close by. I bet there's so many little things like that. I always try to look at my hunts, you know, when I have like a close en counter that goes wrong versus a close en counter where I actually steal the deal. And when you start looking at all these tiny little things, there's usually a bunch of these things that if I hadn't done this one little thing, I never would They'll kill that buck, you know. It's like that one limb. You know. Sometimes you you don't trim the one tiny limb, and that's why you couldn't kill him. And then sometimes you do trim that one little limb, and then that's where you got the shot. I think there's a lot of things like that, probably, and I guess I didn't really think about it, but and and I have a problem with over analyzing things too much. This year, my goal was to be more fluid in my approach And what I mean by that is, let the sign or the information you have dictate where you're gonna hunt. Right. Don't don't say, oh, man, but this area looks good or this area looks better, or if I go one tree over, maybe i'll maybe I'll do it, but it's a little bit more risky, or you know, it's like it just for me, it just happened this year. I didn't put a lot of thought into anything that I was really doing. I knew I used the information that I had from you know, seasons past, um and what I've conditioned myself to do over my years as a bow hunter. Um. You know, I'm not trying to make myself sound like this God's gift of bow hunting. But for me, it just it just it it happened, right, If that makes sense. It does. Sometimes it just that's how it goes. Right. Sometimes you just have to be out there and play as many of your cards right as you can and then hope it works out. Yep, that's a fact, man. So yeah, I'm I'm pumped. Uh, I'm trying to figure out I got a couple of months to figure out where I'm going to hang him, and uh, I just I'm just so blessed, you know. And like I said to you, you know after when I called you that night or that that next day, I shot that buck and I almost had this feeling of remorse, you know, I shot him. I love these animals so much. You get a little bit of this remorse. So you're like, oh, man, that sucks that I had to take a life. But I'm a hunter. That's what we do. He's gonna feed me, and I executed the plan perfectly. That's why he's dead. Then the next thought is like, man, my season for the most part is over. Well, I want to talk to you you about that. Yeah, because in Iowa, you guys can get a second tag for muzzleloader or shotgun right right, And yes, yes that's true. But where I hunt, man, this isn't like a managed farm where these you know what you see on TV, these guys like, oh, late season success, Yeah, late season success on a highly managed farm with forty acres of standing corn. Nobody leaves forty acres of standing corn up around here or around where my farm is. Yes, there are times where maybe a cold front can move through, and I'm talking in extreme cold front. We're we're talking twenty five degrees below zero type of weather that gets these feet on their on their daylight, you know, daylight moving. It's just very, very hard to locate those deers. And you know, I'm not gonna say it here, but you know my situation, there's other people in the area who who have tons of food plots, and so when winter hits and after shotgun season comes through this these properties, these deer leave my property and go to safe havens on other farms where there is that forty acres of standing food. What about the little property. Yeah, that's uh, that's a good point. Um. I had some good, good quote unquote luck there last year. As far as seeing dear, however, they're all to the north and I just it's like I would be shooting through two properties with my bow two to to get a shot at him. It's just it's very hard. They don't tend to use that pinch point as much. They use the field edge on the north side of the creek, and it's just it's it's very difficult. And to be honest with you, that's you know, that's time for me to be doing other things to allow me to hunt the rut. You know, it's they allow me to hunt, maybe go on that western trip, and that you're telling me. No, I know what you're saying. I'm giving up, Yeah, given up? No, No, how can you? How can you not hunt from November two through the January and it'll be a two and a half months where people could be deer hunting and you're gonna be able to sit in your house and not Felix scratching your eyeballs out. No, I'm gonna hunt, don't get me wrong, but I'm saying that it's very difficult and very hard to do. I have three dough tags left that I'm by playing to fill uh in the next couple of weeks. Actually, so I'm still going to get out and enjoy some of this you know, this rut. But I'm you know, I'm saving my vacation so i can go to some trade shows. Uh, you know, I'm I'm only gonna I'm going back to that weekend warrior type status. And it's it's very hard late season when you know, if that cold front doesn't land when you're in your cubicle or when you're not in your cubicle, then you're kind of you're kind of just you know, you gotta hit that luck stage again. You know, I gotta that luck has to that cold front has to come through on a on a Saturday or Sunday, and if it doesn't, then you're set sitting there hunting. UHT. Five degree December days and those aren't fun to hunt. But but I uh, it's not that I'm not gonna be hunting. It's just that it's just changes. You know, You've got two kids, and you know I can't sit here and say I'm not I'm not gonna hunt, because I will. It's just that the opportunities as the season goes on become less and less. Yeah, alright, Well, I just wanted to make sure you weren't thrown on the towel completely. No, no, because there's still an opportunity. I'm gonna be running a lot of trail cameras on my buddies, and if a big boy starts coming through, I'm gonna be on him right, go get him, you man. I mean, I'll tell you what's a good feeling when you're out there hunting and you already have your pet, your tag field, and you've got you know, none of that like monkey on your shoulder. Type pressure. It's all bonus from here. So that'll be a nice relaxing sit when you get back out there next time. All right, mark uh speaking of monkeys on backs. Yeah, speaking of monkeys on backs and trying to relax. Oh man, you want to talk like you know how I was saying the definition. I was prepared to grind it out and I had success early. You actually are grinding it out right now. Yeah, it's it's talked to us. Yeah, grinding That is exactly what it is. And um, it started a lot earlier this year than most years for me. You know, usually my grind starts, you know, Halloween or something like that. But you know, last time we actually talked about my hunts that you know, I had that encounter on the October where I got to folder on holy Field, you know, and that whole thing kind of set into motion my hunting marathon earlier than usual, because all of a sudden, I started seeing holy Field daylight all the time, and so I was like, well, I saw him daylight last night, better hunt tomorrow. And I saw him daylight that night, so I better hunt the next day. So since October, I think I've only taken two days off from hunting. Um, so I'm whooped, like, I'm I'm tired. I'm I'm just leveling with you. I'm just like, I'm exhausted right now. What is it, Tay's November eight? Is that right? So since that time since I've been after one deer and one deer only Mr Holyfield, and he continues to evade me. So you know, we talked about it. Came full draw on him, but it was just too dark. The next day he came into the field but got spooked by something on the road ran back in the cover. Um. The next day hunted a different spot. I didn't see him. I went back in, I saw him again. Um. I took two days off because of warm weather, was back in there and saw him again. Um, all right, I got a question. Yeah, I know you we've talked about this a little bit, but tell us where he where this buck is living, and and why maybe you're not able to get any more cracks at him on on the property that you're actually hunting. Yeah. Yeah, that's important for me to talk about because I feel like everyone's like, how come you don't just move and kill this buck every time you see them? And then like gosh, I wish I could. So here's a situation. Imagine like like a like a checkerboard or board, and you break it up into four four squares, all right, the four quadrants. Okay, So the line that runs right down the middle, that is my property line. I've got the two quadrants on the left side. My neighbor has the two quadrants on the right side. So in the bottom left quadrant is the only cover I have on my side of the property in this area. I've got that food plot I planted, and I've got tall grass, and then a strip of timber behind me. Now adjacent to that on the neighbors side of the line to the right. So the right bottom right quadrant is some cover like some timber. The upper right quadrants that would be the northeast quadrant that is this stellar bedding, really tall grass, the brushy bushes. Don't know what they're called, um, but just like tremendous. And then the top left quadrant is my property. But it's just a cut bean field. It's a wide open bean field, and my property line is on the edge of that bean field. I have one tree on my side. Everything else is the neighbors. So where I see him all the time is in the upper right quadrant in that really great bedding, and from my tree stand in the bottom left quadrant, I can see in there really well. So on night number one, I saw him in the right quadrant top right. He came into the wide open bean field chase a dough. I've snort wheels to him. He came down into the bottom left where I'm at. But you know what happened there. That's the only time he's come down to my quadrant since that was October. All the other times I've seen him back on the neighbors in that cover um, except for one time November November three, he actually showed up directly next to me in that bottom right quadrant in the on the neighbors in the thick cover though at sixty yards. That's the closest he's been to me recently. And he was just staring into the food plot and there was two little button bucks that had just come out, and so I was like, first of my crap as he did he bust me. He's staring at me, and like for like several minutes, he was just frozen, and I just barely inched my binoculars up and it looked at him, and he was looking straight ahead. He wasn't like looking up at me. He was just looking into the food plots. I think he was looking at those two deer. And he just sat there for a couple minutes and then turned and walked away. Now, so why I can't move is because I've got one tree in my food plot in the bottom left quadrant, and there's one tree in the top left quadrant, but it's just on this wide up and bean field right. So my thought process was, all right, I've got a great set up here in this food plot. Does are still coming out to feed? I just needed him to come out and following these doughs when these times and I'm seeing him chasing does back in the cover. He chased the dough once out into the open bean field at one time. Um, and issue here is I can only hunt here with like north northwest winds something like that, because if I have anything that blows from the east or south, it blows up into all that cover. So long story short, I'm stuck with this spot and I see him all the time, but he's on the neighbors back in this cover, and I obviously can't hunt there. So long story short, you know, I saw him multiple times. I saw him the morning of and then the third was the time when he was at sixty yards. I watched him then go back into the upper right quadrant, run around, chase some dose in there. Then he actually though did pop out into the upper left quadron. He popped out into my bean field at the very top northern border for like ten yards and then walked into the north neighbor's property, which was the cut cornfield. Um so that was the third. My issue was, I was at this point, I was, Okay, I want to sit up in that one tree up in that ud because there are a bunch of does that are coming out to feed in there. And he has popped out there once right by that tree, and then October he popped out and then worked south one time, came in my food plot one time, spoot something. Okay, these are my only options. I've hunted the food plot stand so many times, like the exact opposite of what you've done. You've hunted only you know, everything once or twice, and that's what I want to do. But I've kept hunting this stupid stand because it's the only place I can see him like he's nowhere else on my farm. I'm not getting trail camera pictures of him anywhere else. I'm not seeing him anywhere else. But every time I go here, I'm seeing him. But you're seeing him on the neighbor's farm, right, Yes, except for three times, three times, three times he's come onto my farm, but just in the edges of it. Um. I take that back. One morning he was right in the middle of the field running around. Um. And then earlier in October I had seen him in front of my food plot. Um. But most everything was on my neighbors. So my thought process kept on me, Okay, this isn't a great situation. You've hunted this stand so many darn times. You know, I'm hunting a stupid field. It's not what I want to be doing. But I don't have any better option on this property, like I'm not. There's no other reason to hunt anywhere or place else. If he's the only buck I'm trying to kill, and if I don't think he's, if he doesn't know him here yet, which I don't know, um, maybe he'll follow a doe. So that was my thought process, and that was kind of like kind of the news I've hung myself on is that I've just stuck with this one area because it's the only place I think there's a small chance of him maybe making a stake mistake and I could hunt it, and I knew he wasn't winning me, and that the one thing that I told you before is that I've convinced my wife to come with the fore wheeler to this property and pick me up every evening. Okay, so I'm not spooking these deer as a person at all, And so I think because of that, I'm still seeing a lot of activity every single night. There's still deer feeding out in these fields. If he's still very close to my property or popping into my property for brief periods of time. I think that if I had been walking out of this area even once or twice, I don't think that would still be happening. But I think with her driving in there and spooking these deer off with the a TV, they're just so much more forgiving of that. So then day of the November four I finally had a wind that I could go hunt that tree stand up in the top left quadrant, because again, like I said, anything westerly blows into the bedding, so I had to wait till it's something that would either be straight south so I go straight at the edge or something easterly. So I finally got that the night of the fourth I snuck in. I did a running gun set. It was an absolute disaster. I got to my tree well, so first it was like it was a quiet It wasn't windy. It was super crunching the leaves. I'm like, okay, how do I get to this tree which is right on the edge of betting. I mean, the tree is right on the edge of the stuff. So I'm like, how do I get in here without spooking deer there? Bed in there? Well, luckily the neighbor was combining his fields, so I'm like, okay, I am going to wait and I'm gonna time my walk into the stand with when the combines nearby so that they can't hear me. So I walked to the edge of the field and I see the combine has stopped and he's waiting to dump off his little corn. So I'm like, okay, I'm just gonna sit here and I'm gonna wait. He'll be ready to go. Well half hour passes and he still hasn't started going. So I'm like, well, son of a gun, I need to get set up. But luckily he gets going. So finally gets the combine going. I've wasted half an hour, but okay, I'm gonna make sure I get in here quiet. I don't have a good set up. I'm not going to spook dear. So as the combine is getting close, I scurry in there. I get to the base of my tree. I'm like, okay, nothing spooked. Nothing knew I was in here, at least not that I think of the winds, great combines going by. Let me hang these sticks, yep. And I look at my backpack and I realized I forgot to bring my climbing sticks. Oh boy, oh boy. Mark. Yeah, so I had like an aneurism, and I was at what in the world, Like I am the biggest idiot in the world. I got so mad at myself. I was, okay, I'm not like, I'm not gonna go all the way back home. So then again, we have to give props to my blessed angel of a wife. I called her and said, hey, honey, I know I don't deserve this, but can you do me a favor, and I had her drive my climbing sticks to the tree while the combine was nearby. Again, so again hoping that you know, this vehicle coming up to the edge of this field will be just like another piece of farm equipment. So she drops off my climbing sticks. I try to hang up in the tree. The first tree I tried to hung that I thought I was gonna get hanged up in. I realized I can't because there's two big trees that are grown together. So I didn't realize this. I can't get straps around it. So I'm like, well, son of a gun, so longs for short because this could go on and on. It was just a complete disaster. I tried to get up in like this tree, and then I realized was one other trick and maybe get into. So I tried to get into that one. I couldn't get into that one because it's kind of just a little cluster of trees like right in this area. Um. And while I'm pulling the sticks down from one tree, I look over. Here's a big buck coming and it's Frasier three and a half year old. Um. He walks within ten yards of me. I filmed it on my phone and then he kind of realized something's wrong in boogers out of there, finally getting a tree, and well, just you know, it was a disaster. But I got in the tree for the last hour of daylight and I saw Holy Field come out of where I think he was betted. But he walked by like a hundred yards still in the neighbors, popped out around the other side of the field. The combine starts back up, spooks him, disappears, and well that's basically it. I went back again last night. I didn't see him. Um, And that's you know, that's that I've been hunting some different places in the mornings. This stand. This property just is not good for the rut unless they're hitting my food. So I've got I've got one chunk of timber that's like my sanctuary. So I just it's a it's kind of a swamp and I just never go in there. Um. Otherwise it's just field that's kind of and um, you know, for whatever reason, they're not in my food plots as heavy as they usually are this time. I think it's because there's been no frost. We haven't got a frost yet. So they're not hitting my braskas because they usually don't hit those till it's cold and frosty. So you know, they've been hitting the neighboring corn field and my bean fields and UM, I don't know, it's been tough. I can't get in the cover he has been that. I've been hoping, you know, maybe he'll be cruising in the morning. Um, that hasn't happened. I've never seen them on the main body of my property, just up in that one little corner. Um. The one interesting thing that did happen to me is on our last podcast where we were talking about um our rut stands that we're looking forward to, there was one stand I told you about this in the back side of the swamp, on a little piece of of high ground that runs between CRP and the neighbors and my little swamp sanctuary. And I had set a stand on the back side of right in that piece of high ground that runs in the between, and I hunted that a couple of days ago, and that was an awesome morning and I actually saw two of the bucks that I was considering shooting this year. Um that we're what I believe to be three and a half year olds Frasier, and then another buck I'm calling Foreman, and Uh. I had both of them at ten yards, and I decided to pass on both of them, um, because it's just at this point, it's it's holy feeling. Nothing else is getting me excited, Like I just want to kill this one. Dear so had really cool counters with them though, and that was fun. And then I actually saw Foreman again last night and I passed on him at ten yards, and I saw him again this morning and I passed on him about twenty So you know, I've it's been great Michigan. Actually it's been really cool. Like I'm seeing these bucks and like a lot of these nights, I've seen holy Field, I've also seen Foreman. I've also seen Frasier. I've also seen this other buck I'm calling Mayweather. So I'm seeing a bunch of NICs three and a half year old bucks, more than I've ever seen. So Like, even though I've hunted the same place over and over, I'm seeing way more relatively mature deer and that's exciting for the future for sure. Um, it's just been frustrating because my hands have been tied trying to get on this deer, and it's basically just been hoping to get lucky hunting these fields and just hoping that maybe tonight he makes a mistake and it hasn't happened. Okay, I have a couple of questions. Yeah, I rambled there. Sorry, No, you're fine. Question one, calling at him? Have you grunted? Have you snort wheezed? Have you done anything to try to get him to come to you? Yes? Good question. Okay, So the very first time I saw him, I snort wheezed and he came into the food plot, but he was falling two doughs, so I don't know if he was falling if he came in because of the caller her cannon, because of the does So. Night number one, he responded to the call Night number two. I tried grunting and he the only thing about this. I grunted once or twice, and he looked with din Karen kept walking by. I tried snort reis again and he kind of just like turned and tried it away, So he wasn't feeling at all. So I'm okay, I'm like, okay, I kind of blew it um. The next time I tried calling to him was when he was at six, that sixty yard encounter when he was right next to me. Um, and okay, so I'd grunted at him and I snort reased at him and it kinda he didn't like it so much. So I was like, okay, I'm not gonna try that. I'm gonna try doblate maybe. So I tried the can call. He didn't care for that. He turned and walked away. Another time I saw him pop out a little ways off the one other time when he popped out into my field north of me a couple hundred yards, I was like, okay, I've tried all these different things. He's not feeling it. But Dan Johnson told me I need to try rattling, and even though I don't like to rattle in Michigan, damn it, I just need to try something. So I was like, I'm gonna try a little light rattling maybe you know who knows. So I tried that. He looked and then turn and walked straight back into the woods. So no call has worked. Um. I considered trying a decoy, but I've watched him around other bucks and he's not like super aggressive with other bucks. And I don't have a good spot to hunt with the decoy, like the food plot stand. He wouldn't be able to see it until he's in the food plot because I've got this tall food plut screen all around it so you can't see in or out of it. So I could hunt that bean field edge with it. But the issue of that is that he needs to come into the field to see it, And if that ever happened, it would be with a bunch of doughs out there and around here. I think if I put that decoy out, I'd get blown at by all those doughs before he'd ever pop out. And any deer that came out would probably be surprised because they'd come right out where they come out that all of a sudden see this decoy ten yards away from him. So it's not like they show up on the other side of the field and you could see it. He could come my way. So so yeah, I mean, calling hasn't worked. The decoy just doesn't seem like the smart move. Um and here I am, yep. Well, it sounds to me like two things are going to happen. Well, first off, when is Michigan's gun season start Novema. So that's a week from today, and when people hear this, you will already be on the road or have already hunted in Ohio, right yea. I'm leaving for Ohio tonight after the hunter or after the podcast that we're recording right now. I don't know. I was planning on hunting tonight because I thought I could hunt that corner stand one more time, the new one I hung, because it was going to be a west southwest wind, which would kind of cut the edge a little bit. I thought it might be able cut the corner, But now it shifted to a northwest or west northwest, which just blows out the entire bedding area, and some like I just can't, Like, there's just no way that will work. If it was southwest, there was a small chance I could work with anything northwest, just like there's I can't even get in there without everything smelling me um. So I can hunt the food plot, fine, but that will be like the bajillion time of hunted there, and that seems like low odds now, And so I don't know. Part of me says I should hunt just because you never know. Part of me says that I should just get to Ohio and get a good night's sleep so I can try to turn the page and trying to make the best of this rut. Still, I think you should hunt tonight. I think you should hunt Michigan and be as aggressive as you possibly can, knowing that there's there's a period of time between now and the time that the gun season starts. So I know, you remember how Jim Shocky talked about pressure on a deer like ripples on a pond. Eventually they go away and everything becomes normal again. I think that if you're aggressive tonight and you potentially spook him, you know, like you're gonna spook him or you're gonna kill him type ods. Right, So let's say you spook him, by the time the gun season starts, he's going to be back to his normal routine, and there's that chance that he's still working his way on your property. So and by that time you're gone anyway, and then by the time you come back, you know, the rut could be over. It could be that post rut where they're looking for that last dough, or you know, anything could happen between now and then. Yeah, So I'm my I don't know about you. But I'm that kind of person who's like, I'm gonna be knowing what I know and knowing that you're going to leave for Ohio in a in a day or two, be aggressive and if you fail, you tried. Yeah, you know. It's funny you mentioned that because I have been sitting here thinking about the same thing too, and like I don't want to sound like, um, well, let's just be a well, I don't want to sound like a winner, but I want to kill this buck to be selfish. I want to be the person to kill this buck, and I almost want to spook him because if he keeps acting like he's acting right now, as soon as my neighbor or one of these guys goes in there and gun season, he's dead. Like he's so killable, Like if I could hunt this stupid property, he would be so dead right now with a bow, I believe. So let alone when these guys start going on there with guns, so I almost, you know, maybe it's not a batty to hunt there tonight, knowing that probably chance I will blow out any deer in there and he will probably smell me. But maybe that's what they need to do to smarten this deer up a little bit, and then by the time I come back and try hunting him again later in November, he'll love you know. You know, that's the thing I'm worried about, is he's gonna get killed. But if he doesn't get killed, maybe then I do feel good. If he survives gun season. I feel very good about my late season chances because I have by far the best late season food I've got two really good, great big Braska food plots that are lush and huge, and they haven't really been touched very much yet because of the fact we haven't got a frost, so I gotta believe as soon as we get cold weather, they're just gonna hit them so hard. And last year I had him Montreal camera during daylight in December on my late season food plot ten times in daylight. So so if I can get this buck through gun season, I think he's very killable in the late season. So that's my one silver lining. So maybe I should just be aggressive tonight, maybe just going there and it's it's it's a rattle for four straight out. Give him a fair warning before the Orange Pumpkin Brigade comes in. That's right, Yeah, you know, maybe You're right. I know that if I was planning a hunting the night, but then just this afternoon, like when I was coming in to do this, I was like, man, tonight, the drive's gonna suck tonight, and I'm gonna get in it like midnight. I'm gonna four hours of sleep. But I know, I knew i'd feel bad about not trying. Still, does this make you feel better? Mark, I'm going to work tomorrow, so how about you stop winding? Yeah, that's a good point. It's a very good I'll tell you what. I'll go to Ohio and you can sit in my cubicle. Okay, point well taken, Point well taken. So all right, I'm gonna go in there and set again, and I'm gonna try to kill him, and if I did, like I might cry, I'm gonna be so happy. Call me, call me and I'll say, Okay, stop being a baby for a second and thank me, and just say thanks Dan, because you told me to rattle when I thought I should know for for four for an hour, just I mean, get get two decoys out there, have your wife dressed up as a deer. I have her bite that decoy, and just rattle and rattling, rara, snort, we'se the entire time. He's gonna come out purely just based on like insatiable curiosity, Like he just has to see what's going on over here. You know I've got enough to see it. You kill him right, doing something so stupid like I rattled and snort, reason and grunted and rattled some more, which nobody ever does. And he comes in that night and you kill him. And then I can see some article written by Mark Kenyon how I conquered the rut by actually give an advice to people. You know it was. It was nothing but my my genius strategy of very specific calling tactics. Oh gosh, yeah, I don't know, man, I guess you know, we'll see who knows. You never know. Um, So that's my story. That's been my run. I'll tell you good luck, Thank you, sir. You know, I had one other thing that's worth mentioning. On one of the hot days we had, like a seventy degree seventy degree day that I didn't want to hunt here, I went to one of those other farms of hunting, and I ended up having a really close call there too. Um. You probably saw on social media. Maybe we talked about on text. But at ten o'clock I spotted a shooter bock back in this big timber I was hunting, and I watched him for four hours, locked on a door. He betted at a hundred. Then I watched him get up and stalk around, and then betted down again and stalked around. I tried calling to him a couple of times, and he wouldn't come my way. And then finally, like one thirty year, between one thirty and two, the dough got up and she came my way. She passed a fifty through my shooting land. I'm like, all right, I can do that. If he passes right through there, this is game over. But he hung back like twenty yards further back or thirty yards further back, and he passed the seventy seven yards um. And he was a four and a half year old buck for sure, like just a really solid, big, nice eight pointer. Ah. So that was a cool encounter for like a seventy of your day. I wasn't really expecting much, um, And that just goes to show you that you never know during the rut. So it's the rut. Yeah, you gotta give it a shot, and they're gonna rut because anything can happen, right throw try throwing hill Mary's if it's you know, like I'm telling people out there, no, hey, what about this. I only have one day left to hunt or my vacation or I have you gotta do whatever you can. Tear your tree, stand down, go go dive into that bedding area down wind, and you know, if you see him and he's walking away from you, run at him. If he doesn't respond to a grunt, snort, weeez at him, if he doesn't snort, if he doesn't respond to that rattle at him. I mean, what do you have to lose? Yeah, if you're if you're down to the end of your trip, or if you don't get to hunt a bunch more or whatever, I mean, yeah, you gotta you gotta go out swinging. Right So there, get pays to be safe and conservative and smart, but only to a point, you know, like if your opportunities they're not gonna be there anymore after this, then go for it. So so that's kind of where I'm at in Michigan for the time being. So I guess on swing, Hey, swing for it, all right? Well, any other final thoughts from you just you know, all the people who are out there grinding, man, good luck and you know, be safe and man, I don't know. I think I can speak for Mark when I say we we really hope as many of the listeners out there are as successful as humanly possible. Unless you share the same de farmancy as Yes, I gotta tell you that it's been super cool, Like we've been getting a lot of tweets and Facebook messages and stuff with people thanking you and me um for the podcast, but because you know, help them in some way kill this book or the biggest book or or stuff like that. And that's that's really cool to see, so very very exciting to see that kind of stuff. So I agree, good luck to everyone out there. And um, I guess as we do. I'm just gonna shut her down. We do need to thank our partners who help us keep this podcast going so big. Thank you too, Si Gear, Redneck, Blinds, Hunter a Maps, Yetie Coolers, Ozonics, Carbon Express, maybe an optics, white Tail Institute of North America, and uh, I think that's every one. And I guess then finally, yes, thank you all Ford listening for tuning in for for kind of joining us as we kind of share all of our ups and downs here during the rut. We'll have a new guest on here soon, so enough of me and Dan blabbing and until next time, good luck, luck, and stay wired to hut m m mmmm