Well I'm all back and unpacked and settled after a grand week of hunting in Iowa. Hit it perfect this time. Great weather for trip out, got cold while I was there for the first week of gun season and then had good weather coming home (tornadoes stayed south of me and snow stayed north en route). Had fun visiting some good friends whose farm I hunted, and man oh man he has that place set up right. Corn stubble, thick cover, stands, blinds and food plots all over. Worst hunt I only saw 20 does, most mornings and evenings had a half dozen smaller bucks in front of me feeding and sparring. Passed a big, broken up 8 point one morning at 10 yards, passed a really nice 140ish 10 pt that we thought needed another year or two another evening. He had one old buck with all sorts of extra brow tines and stickers we were after, big bodied, old buck . I saw him twice mid week but couldn't get a shot, just too far one morning and no shot angle one evening before he vanished in the corn. Finally, last night of the 5 day season, he stepped out into a turnip patch. Buck fed to 80 yards, thrashed a few corn stalks like he was making a rub, then turned broadside. Checked my watch, one minute left in legal shooting light for the season. Now or never, lined up the sights and touched off my .58. Smoke filled the air and the blind and I had no idea of the result.
Walked down the field edge, grabbed my pal out of his blind and we started looking. Found blood pretty quick and the deer soon after, only went 75 yards or so from the shot. Wow those deer out there are big. Mass on the antlers is exceptional, hard to get a picture that really shows it all and the extra little points and stickers.
What a week. Also got to see some neat stuff I never see in Maryland. Turkeys everywhere, flocks of them. Several days saw a momma bobcat with twin kittens, really cool. One day they stepped out in the field and 7 hen turkeys actually charged them, putting and carrying on, and drove the bobcats out of the field!
Rifle specs - .58 P Berry rifle by me, 38" Colerain Oct/Rnd barrel, 90g FFF goex, pre lubed pillow ticking patch with .570 ball.
