This was day 10 in a row of Late Muzzleloader hunting and to say we were getting frustrated was an understatement. Deer movement has been unpredictable and they have done nothing the same since day one. With only 5 days left in the season I was on a doe mission...hoping to get it on video too. This morning was the start of the doe mission, we got skunked! Then we came back to the cabin to find 2 bucks with 2 does a couple hundred yards in front of the cabin, cruising in the timber all afternoon. We him-hawed back and forth between setting up on these bucks or not. Finally at 2:30 we made the plan to let these boys sit as they weren't in a great spot we could hunt them without bumping them on the way in. However the wind was perfect for our "pond corn field" stand - we haven't hunted there yet this year. This was possibly the last night we'd be able to get in there so I asked Russ if he'd come video me and I'm going to shoot the first doe that steps out...

We get setup nicely in a fenceline, the field is filled with fallen corn, it was looking like this doe mission could really come through! Just as the sun sunk below the horizon out of the timber appears a GIANT! The closest it gets is 190 yds. With plenty of shooting light left and tape to burn we were going to let it close the distance. After it fed around for 5-6 minutes the deer in the field pick up their heads, go on alert...the neighbor fires up his chainsaw! I knew this buck wasn't leaving the field without a shot so at 195yds I stop him and squeez off a shot. Russ knew immediately the shot was on the money! This buck we have no history with. Russ just got done putting the tape to him and grossed him out at 177", regardless the footage is great; Russ couldn't have done better! He let the tape roll for over a half hour straight on deer in the field, including the last 5-6 minutes of this giant as he fed and squared down with the other bucks! I'm still not sure its has sunk in!

I'm not sure why, but I just had this feeling that with the snow falling, I needed to be in the woods. I knew I would in for a long cold evening if I went out, but I cut a deal with my wife that this would be my last bow hunt of the year and I got my 'honey-do's' out of the way. I truly feel that God was telling me to get out there; either that or He was rewarding my wife for suffering through all the hours I have been away. Either way, I was meant to be in the woods this night. I have never hunted this stand in the evening either. This is normally my morning stand, but I sat in my favorite ol' tree that works well with a north wind, and boy was it a north wind! I literally stood up the entire time I was in my stand hiding behind the tree to block the wind. It worked, but the problem was I was facing the direction I thought the deer would be coming from, but of course that isn't the way it went down. With about 20 minutes of shooting light left, I'm watching a doe meander around about 80 yards in front of me. I tried to peek back about every 15 minutes or so all night, just in case a deer came from the other way, but I truly did not think a deer would come from this direction. Well, when I peeked the last time, this buck was already standing at 15 yards, just on the other side of a little creek that I sit next to. I thought, "here I go again, looking one way, a big buck shows up from the other and I won't be able to get the shot off." However, I watched him for a few seconds and I could tell that he had no idea I was there. He walked this little creek to the most narrow point, which was only about 10 yards from where I first saw him, and in the mean time I spun around in my stand, brought my bow back in front when he was behind a tree, and drew back. He walked across the creek in a spot that isn't good for me to shoot, not to mention dead down wind, and luckily I squeezed an arrow through the crotch of a tree (about 3" of clearance left-right). I could tell from his initial reaction that he was hit hard. I watched in run and tip over less than 50 yards from my stand. I did not feel an ounce of nerves for some reason until after the shot was made. It's probably a good thing it all happened so quickly. Rage broadheads absolutely put the smack down. This is the biggest buck I've shot and I couldn't be happier (except of course, if it had been on film!).

The moon was full and we got in in perfect time and hung the lone wolfs. Weather was awesome and we were out of the wind. There was also a little bit of snow on the ground which really helped. Around 7AM we seen the ten point buck. He was working the ridge top above us. Right after he went out of sight a 1.5 yr. old came in. Next to walk through around 8:30 was a giant! He came off the hillside opposite us and walked about 65 yards away. He was on the move, and instead of taking a left on the trail to us he went right. He was the big buck we had one picture of and would definetly go close to boone....biggest deer I have ever seen on the hoof.

After standing for a while keeping a close eye on that ten I had to sit down. I hadn't sat down for 5 minutes when I saw a deer running down the hill coming right to us. I knew it was a shooter so I grabbed my bow and drew since he was coming fast. He actually slowed pace once he got down, but when he hit the bottom he started to move fast like he was getting a running start to get up the hill we were on. He was right on the 20 yard trail and I had to bleat loudly about 5 times to stop him. Once he stopped my brother just barely lost him with the camera. He said to wait, and I tried for a few seconds then told him he better hurry........and then shot. :D Having only taken one buck in my life I was not going to hold off. I knew that I would feel worse and regret it for not shooting the deer than I would if the shot was not on video. I have no regrets. So I shot and the deer dropped.......hit him a little high. He is definetly a great buck and I think he is 4.5. He's got a big chest and neck and has very dark tarsal glands. Would have been a ten if not for the broken tines, but still awesome none the less. Now I have the rest of the season to be full time cameraman!

After spending some time in a treestand for 28 days so far this season (not just IA), it finally came together for me on Saturday morning, only my 2nd time in the bowstand in IA this year. I went out Saturday morning with a plan to sit all day if needed. First light came and a light snow was falling but swirling winds had me questioning my stand choice. I was sitting on a side hill about halfway between a bedding and feeding area with a good trail running on each side of my tree. About half hour after light I decided to hit the can and did a couple grunts. Within a couple minutes I see a doe working her way towards me on another trail that parallels the ones I'm on but about 50 yards from my stand. I hear a buck grunting behind her and grab my bow. As soon as he comes into view I put the binos on him and see that he's a buck that I have a few trailcam pics of and he's on my hitlist. The doe passes at about 50yards with the buck still trailing her. I wait til he's about 60 yards out and turn my head the other way and do a snort wheeze with my mouth. I didn't have much faith in it with the buck hot on that doe's trail, but he immediately turned and came walking right towards me. He got on the trail that passes my stand at 10yards and and he looked pretty ornery, ears laid back and all bristled up. At about 20yards I draw and he stops right behind a clump of trees and starts pawing the ground. I let down and he starts walking again. He's under 15yards now and closing and I draw again and right before he comes into my shooting lane, he turns off the trail and heads right for my tree! Its amazing how they can pinpoint a sound so accurately. At 10yards and closing, I make a soft "murp" and stop him. He's quarting to me a bit and I send the 3-blade muzzy on its way. It hit him tight behind the front shoulder and he bounded off about 20yards and stopped, wide open and broadside. I can see the arrow hole and it looks good, but I start grabbing for another arrow. He walks off before I can get it though. He's humped up and acting like he's gut shot, so I start to worry. Over the next 10 mins, he makes it about 100 yards and is getting pretty wobbly. I thought I saw him lay down out in the thick stuff, so I sat around another 45 mins. 5 does came by at 10yards in that time but I figured I didn't need to be looking for 2 deer that morning. I snuck out of my tree and headed home for a couple hour wait. Got back in there later in the morning and ended finding him right where I thought I saw him bed down. Ended up being a one lunger. The arrow went in good and came out back quite aways. I set up a little tripod and took some pics of myself and then started the almost 3/4mile drag. That really sucks on your own, but it was worth it for my first IA buck ever. It took me 3years of hunting here to get him, but I finally did it. He's a mainframe 8 with a split g2 on the one side and attempt at a split on the other. He had a 16" inside spread and 10" G2's.

Well here is how the past few days went down. We hunted Monday night and seen 5 does and 4 bucks, all but one of the bucks were cruising with their nose to the ground. Tuesday morning we hunted until ten and had one young buck pushing two does, they did not get close enough for a shot. We were in our afternoon set on the north by 12:30. Did not have any action until this guy cam strolling by at 5:20. He walked into my 35 yard shooting lane and I bleated him to stop, even though he did not hear me he stopped to smell out scent bomb. I took my time and settled the pin and released the arrow. I seen the placement was perfect left and right but was high. I was dumbfounded because I did not think it could have hit the shoulder bone yet figured if it stuck in the spine it would have broken it. Well I could tell it stuck in something as it did not pass thru and the penetration was not to deep. I did not know what to think or say. So we got down and looked where I last saw him and found a decent trail of blood but we knew we needed to go home and look at the shot and let him sit the night. So we went home and checked out the video with Steve and Matt Hoffert. They thought the same thing and Matt had a good point that it is either going to be dead right away or alive.

So we got up early this morning and headed out in the dark with hopes of seeing the lumenock lit. We did not see it. Only a half hour or so after looking Jordan found him laying about 150 yards away! We were very happy to say the least. He had actually been eaten by something, we assumed foxes because there are so many and the were eating a doe I shot early in October. I am just very thankful to have found him and that our prayers were answered.......I hate that overnight stuff though.

At the Oleson household we have the early season rotation of who gets to hunt with Dad while the weather is still warm enough for the kids to sit and not get froze out. So Saturday rolled around and it was Rebekah's turn to hunt with Dad.

This year I went with a early season muzzy tag and brought the bow along in case one came close enough. So off we went to the blind with three tags, a bunch of treats, and some good reading material. As we settled in the woods began to come alive. We had a red tail hawk swoop down into the plot and harvest a field mouse, turkeys clucking all around the blind, and some unknown sounds that got the stories flowing, Beka was convinced we had a wild pig coming in.

The first deer was a button buck that put on a show and walked right up to the blind at 3 steps. At one point I really though he was going to walk up and put his head in the window. Beka was on cloud nine at this point. Another 45 minutes passed and we finally had a doe in the plot. I grabbed my bow, but I knew if she didn't come in closer soon I was going to lose too much light shooting from the blind. After 10 minutes I put the bow away and picked up the muzzy. At this point she cleared the field for no apparent reason.

Beka was visibly disappointed, but the deer cooperated and came back into the plot. First a yearling doe and then a larger adult doe. At this point I made the decision to shoot the larger of the two does. As I pulled the gun up Beka said "Dad another deer just came into the field", now I must be honest, I had no intention of shooting a buck on this hunt. I was after a three legged doe that I had seen the week before, so I asumed it was my target. But Beka informs me "Its a buck, its a buck, shoot it Daddy, shoot it!" How can a Dad tell his princess no?

So as the buck settled in I placed the cross hairs directly behind his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. After the smoke cleared I saw the buck jump from the ground and run back to the timber. I waited for the crash, but never heard a sound. I was so shook up that I forgot to reload and then missed an opportunity to fill one of the doe tags 5 minutes later.

As much as I hated to back out we did. We marked the spot and left the field to return in the morning. At daybreak I was quietly walking into the woods. I took my time and met a skunk, she began to raise her tail and I high tailed it out of there as fast as I could. Not a good start in my book, but she went one way and never sprayed. I made my way to the spot and could not see anything. I made the decision to circle below the trees and look for blood where we saw him laying last night. As I stepped into the grassy draw a doe jumped up and I began to wonder if I had made a bad decision. I pushed on quietly and 10 steps later I saw him laying in the grass at the edge of the trees. He had died right where we left him.

The weekend came and the wind was good for the spot to be semi-aggressive so my cameraman, Matt, and I headed down the treeline in hopes of finding a tree. Now, I had been down that treeline several times and not been able to find a tree, but this day, we came to the scrape that Flyers had made on October 1 and we looked up and saw a perfect locust tree...I don't know how it escaped me before, but we quickly scaled the tree and immediately feel in love with the spot. Flyers never showed up, but a big 8 showed up that was conservatively 23" wide. He would have maybe scored 135" or more and I would have shot him, but it was too dark and he never did come out in front.

Now this prompted us to leave the stands in and come back the next morning...

The wind was good for the next morning (Oct. 5) and we set up and right at first shooting light I heard some fighting going on. It wasn't long and Flyers appeared along the treeline. Close behind was the big 8. I was completely shocked that 2 big bucks were showing theirselves this early and letting each other have it like they were. I grabbed the rattle bag and let it fly for about a good 40 seconds. Flyers stared from about 250 yards out and soon put his nose down and headed my way. What seemed like an eternity took about 10 minutes for him to close the gap. He walked across the dam with the big 8 behind and came straight at the tree. I drew my bow while he was in the switchgrass as it was taller than he was and as he turned broadside at 10 yards I bleated and let the ol' 2 blade Rage fly. It hit right behind the shoulder and stuck out the other side. He bolted off as did the big 8 and I was left with a fist pump and an "Oh my Gosh!"

Well, our season has begun here in Iowa...to say that I'm excited would be an understatement...

I woke up on October 1st, at 1:25am, got ready, ate some breakfast, and went over to Strayer before making the three hour drive to SE Iowa to hunt opening morning...We were in the stands by a little after six, and right at first light we had deer all around us...They were milling around about sixty yards away...

It started to get more light and finally the deer scattered and a big doe ran in our direction, stopping about 30 yards away...She eventually worked her way over and gave me a 22 yard broadside shot, and the rage did its job with the doe only going 40 yards before crashing on film...

It was opening morning, and we already had a doe kill on video before 7am...Great start to the season...

The wind was finally right for Strayer's new property...the mighty 27 as he calls it (27 acres, but loaded with deer)...We got set up in an oak tree hoping to intercept them going to feed in the afternoon, and there were trails everywhere...

Shortly after 5pm, a doe and fawn came in and Strayer made a perfect shot on her from 15 yards...the deer went 40 yards and died in sight...

About a half hour later, another group of deer come along and tie us in knots...Eventually they come right under the tree and Strayer lets them walk about 10 more yards and puts another great shot on his second doe of the night, and she dies 20 yards from the first one...

Now, Strayer has no more doe tags and I don't have my bow with me...There was still plenty of light left and I knew our chances of more deer coming were very good...After thinking about it for a minute, I asked Matt if another doe came out, could I use your bow (now Matt's draw length is much shorter than mine...but I had set up his bow earlier this summer, made string set for it, etc-so I had actually shot it a few times...I just had to bend my arm and cock my head a little)...

Sure enough, not much longer a doe comes out (Strayer gives me his bow, I give him the camera) and eventually walks right at us, under the tree, offering no shot...She then smells where we walked in and circles back to where she came from, and turns broadside, giving me a 20 yard shot...I shot her but did not get a pass through...the shot looked a little far forward but the deer was having a hard time running away...

She ran out of sight and we were pretty confident in the hit (we later found the shot broke her front leg and took out the heart/lungs and she only went 70 yards from the stand)...we had 3 does down and we still had plenty of light left...

September 20, 2008 the day I, Jake Bushlack shot my first deer. On our way in we saw a couple pairs of eyes reflecting the light of our headlamps and then we saw the body of a good buck, but it was about 5:30 and still too early to shoot. It was dark and foggy at 6:00 when my dad Jeremy Bushlack, Matt Thede, and I set up on the edge of a bean field hoping to get an early shot, but all we saw was a coyote.

Our next spot was a little more active. Here we saw a doe, a raccoon, and a nice 8-pointer but weren't ready and we had a tough angle. We waited another half hour before we moved again at roughly 10:00. My dad and I were going to wait in a ravine while Matt went on a one-man drive. Ten minutes later we hear three does crashing through the trees. Two were younger probably 1 1/2 years and an older deer about 4 1/2. The two younger does never slowed down but the eldest was a little more curious. She stopped behind a tree at 30 yards just peeking out so all you could see was her head. She cautiously took a few more steps perfectly broadside - I mean a dream shot so...BAM!!! Riiight? Uh-uh. I was wondering what's up until I figured out my safety is on. I clicked my safety off! Haha! Whatchya gonna do now huh? As if in reply, she turned and started walking away. Uggh! She stopped at 40 yards 75 degrees (considering straight ahead is 90 degrees). Now that my safety is off...BAM!!! I take the shot. Dad asked me "What were you thinking?" "I dunno."

Matt heard the shot and came back while Dad looked for blood. About ten minutes later Matt came back and Dad found blood. "WHAT?!" I replied. So of course I wanted to keep looking. So we looked for about half an hour before we headed back for lunch. We stayed at Matt's parents' house for a good three hours and watched the Hawks game against Pitt (which didn't turn out too good). But anyway when we resumed our search, we found more blood but it had been baked an almost black color. So now we had to look for pattern instead of shape. That didn't go so great. After a good hour, we saw some predatory birds circling overhead so I went to look there. Nothing. Dad calls me back up because the deer went into some timber. It took us another half hour to find a dead doe ten yards away. (Boy was that frustrating). So when she entered she jumped a log, ran in a complete circle, tried to jump the same log, but tripped and crashed and leaving us with the dead deer at our feet.

We are back from hunting the opener finally. What a great trip down to the farm. We chose not to hunt saturday morning as it was pouring down rain.That evening hunt finally arrived with much anticipation. My wife Diane and I went to a food plot were I sat last opener. We only saw 1 doe and 6 longbeards. The weather was still tough with rain and falling barometer. When we met My Dad and brother back at the truck my brother said he missed a doe at 20 yards. When I asked Dad what he saw he calmly said he shot Forks. I thought he was joking. He said he stepped out in the food plot at 20 yards and he double lunged him. He found his arrow and it was soaked in blood but he was waiting for us to go track him. We headed back to the spot and after a fifty yard tracking job we had him. Wow what a cool buck we were so excited for Dad. He has been deer hunting for 45 years and this buck was his first wall hanger from Minnesota. It was awesome to see our management working as I passed that deer last opener. The next morning my Dad and Brother both harvested does to help with our management and fill the freezer. What a great trip spent with family doing what we love to do.