well I guess I'm not entered but here's my story anyway. Disqualified due to no picture with bow and deer.
My season took place in northern Wisc. during the crossbow season 2017 but started in Arizona months before.
Buying tree stands and getting them shipped. Buying new spitfire broadheads and getting them shipped, you get the idea , lots of preparations going into the hunt months before the hunting can start. Watching weather reports and trying to make sure I'm prepared for all kinds of weather conditions. Typical stuff for anyone hunting out of state.
Ok, I actually make it to my inlaws , where I'll be staying and basically hunting 2 different pieces of private property, in the great northern woods of wisc. I'm here to tell you it's a bit different from hunting farm land, fields of food plots or baiting. It's not easy to pattern deer movements. Luckily the area holds good hardwoods mixed with pine groves , creeks and even swamps with plenty of acorns and other natural food to hold deer.
There was quite a mix of weather over the course of my 10 days of hunting. there were some warm sunny days, if you call 43 degrees warm. There were plenty of cold windy snowy days , where the temperatures dropped to single digits.
For anyone living in the northern U.S. or Canada , typical November weather. Where I live the weathers normally sunshine everyday and about 85*. Honestly I don't mind the cold.
[url=https://postimg.org/image/t736j71ef/]
[url=https://postimg.org/image/do5qlonuf/]
[url=https://postimg.org/image/7ly3vf4lz/]
We had 3 double ladder stands set up in open areas, along old trails and crossings , one in a stand of pines. The land was approx. 90 acres. I'm guessing we were approx. 300 yrds apart. We added a couple ground blinds just in case. I had my favorite ladder stand , just because I picked the site and helped put it up the first day in the woods.
[url=https://postimg.org/image/u4enoxbfr/]
Hunts mostly consisted of getting up before daylight 5:30 and trying to be on stand predawn 6:30 and sit till 10. By then I was getting cold enough to want a warm cup of hot chocolate and a get in front of the stove. I wasn't able to hunt every morning , we had a couple mornings where it was freezing cold and still snowing. even on the warmer days , it was hard to walk quietly in the woods, by this time all the leaves had fallen. As most of you know even fresh snow can be very loud and crunchy. So it was often just a challenge to sneak into the stand quietly. There are 2 great things to say about deer hunting in the snow, fresh tracks are easy to see and following a blood trail!
[url=https://postimg.org/image/rs6788s9z/]
[url=https://postimg.org/image/sx09df4ef/]
I do want to say kudo's to anyone sitting for hrs. on end either in a ground blind or tree stand. My time on stand -like anyones was looking and listening for deer movement. I think there was only one day when not even a doe was seen . I also hunting afternoons a few times from 10-3 , with the same results seeing does coming and going but not a lot of bucks or even sign. Evening hunts 1- till dark were basically the same , lots of does with a spike or 2 but not much else except an occcasional turkeys.
[url=https://postimg.org/image/qm7963s5z/]
[url=https://postimg.org/image/co68yf1lz/]
Don't get me wrong I enjoyed my trip! This was suppose to be prime time rut, the first 2 weeks of Nov. We had pictures of bucks on the trail cameras. A nice 10 pt. a big 8 point and several smaller bucks. Sure I'd like to tag a big 10 ptr. , but up till the last day all I saw and could identify as a buck was 1 spike , who didn't present a shot anyway. Now my inlaws were seeing bucks- then 10 and the 8 twice but nothing coming close enough for a shot.
i'd go sit the stand with the buck action and see nothing. As far as rutting - there was one day where I actually saw rutting . Meaning a buck chasing a doe. It lasted all of about 5 seconds the first time. Hear a lot of noise , which sounded like deer running/crashing thru the woods. Get bow ready ! Yep its a doe being chased by a buck. Now I mean flat out at a dead run ! Look over shoulder see doe- see buck - their gone ! ok 3 seconds. Same thing about an hr latter . that was the rut for me.! I had does at 20 yrds 30 yrds nearly everyday , I had one at 10 yrds standing on a little ridge ,directly in front of stand about 8 ft below me. I even had one go under me twice. One would figure will all the does around , Bucks should be following them! This continue thru out my hunting season. No real signs of rutting action. No scrapes-No rubs like what the hell's going on!
[url=https://postimg.org/image/jso27j8w7/]
Last day , I'm leaving the next morning. I get up early, get to stand and sit from 6:30 till 11. Nothing new same thing played out as every other day. does but no bucks. I'm getting cold so i decide to go in and warm up. while standing in front of the stove , drinking a hot chocolate (with a shot of rum). One of the spikes casually walks across the yard 15 yrds away. oK, THEY ARE MOVING ALREADY ! Finish my drink and grab bow - no pack no knife nothing but the crossbow. I take my time and slowly still hunt my way to my stand . I'm trying to be quiet. Look up there's a doe staring at me at about 30 yrds. She's not spooked and she doesn't snort an alarm but runs around me. Ok they are moving . I glance at watch, its like 1:00 and I got 4 hrs to get this done if a buck will cooperate.
[url=https://postimg.org/image/rqro143nb/]
[url=https://postimg.org/image/8chn9opmv/]
[url=https://postimg.org/image/k2vkqzxtz/]
I see 7 deer in the next 3 1/2 hrs. All but 3 identified as does. Nothing coming my way, they all seem to be headed to my inlaws stand - funny - it's his ole reliable and he's in the other stand where the 10 ptr seems to showup. Getting down to the wire it's 4:15 with a few minutes of legal shooting hrs approaching fast. I'm thinking get down now and still hunt the last few minutes , and maybe get lucky on way out.
Here comes a doe - she stops in the little clearing 30 yrds away. She's browsing around. I'm thinking great niow I got to sit here till dark so I don't spook her. She jerks up her head and looks behind her. I can make adeer out, it stops at edge of clearing. I'm thinking buck . I get my bow ready - turn on my tru-dot scope. HE steps out. the doe turns and prances off. I'm like noway ! COME ON ! Really. To my surprise the buck , which I can identify as a forky. Not big but the first legal shooter I've seen and he walks up to where I know its 30 yrds. He's standing looking straight at me. Front shot, all I got to do is lift bow and shoot,. Hearts pounding , I'm trying not to breath to loud- LOL. He's just staring at me. He does the raise one leg and put it down solidly. Now we all know this means, he's second s from snorting and bounding off. we've all experienced that over the yrs. Happens everytime !
The buck takes a 1/4 turn away . I'm no expert marksmen but I know the crossbow is sighted in 20-30-40-50. I can make this shot ! IT"S NOW OR NEVER . bow up , dots line up the front leg see the 30 yrd dot on chest -PULL TRIGGER!
Tunk from the bow -CAWACK bolt hits buck. He's off at a dead run. I'm watching , he's flat out hauling and I watch as he disappears behind me. I sit and wait and I think I hear crashing. I wait another few minutes knowing theres not gonna be much time to check out the shot and try find bolt before dark. Remember no pack no knife . That means no flashlight either. lol
I get on phone - send text I just shot a forky and i'm heading in for flashlight knife sled etc. I fully expect to be hauling a deer out. I get down and go to where deer was standing , I can't really see much now- no bolt , so I check for blood and his tracks in snow . I'm disappointed as I don't really see anything. I know I heard a hit, and they way he acted. It's almost 1/2 mile to the road . easy path to follow. Get back to house/cabin. We go back out to get buck. Drive in as close as we can, get to the spot - no bolt- look at tracks where he started his run after I shot. Tiny drops of blood almost like a mist, this continued for about 50 yrds. no real drops just misting on the left side of tracks. Now starting to see more blood but sprayed out on the left side. We find where in crossed the deer trail and headed into the thicker woods. Seeing more blood now but he's turned and headed into a little meadow. We've gone over a 100 yrds and finally find him piled up. time from shot to recovery about 1 hr. He's starting to get stiff already. The reason I didn't find my bolt , flip him over and it's still sticking in him , right to the fleching. broadhead took some damage but did its job. It was a high hit and barely had tip thru otherside. That's why not much blood till he filled up. Using the new doublecross crossbow spitfire, it did the job -took a beating even cut a 2.5 gash on other side but didn't drain a drop from it. you can see in the entrance hole the slip blade cut thru the top of the rib bone.
[url=https://postimg.org/image/vtnadun4n/]
[url=https://postimg.org/image/gpwivt8qv/]
[url=https://postimg.org/image/i18vi2r6f/]
[url=https://postimg.org/image/qxjnlua13/]
[url=https://postimg.org/image/kaseexief/]
Here's where I was suppose to take picture of bow and myself with deer. OOPS ! no bow it's back at truck. oh well. To be honest I wasn't even thinking about the contest . LOL
I was immensely happy to be tagging a deer ,that was takin at the final day and final shooting hrs of my trip! We tagged him ,gutted him and hauled him out. I WAS ONE HAPPY HUNTER!
[url=https://postimg.org/image/x0ng0igpz/]
[url=https://postimg.org/image/w3q7jgzif/]
[url=https://postimg.org/image/fexyex7d3/]
[url=https://postimg.org/image/9gklo67xz/]
[url=https://postimg.org/image/nzmos17hj/]
[url=https://postimg.org/image/oj1fca4x3/]
[url=https://postimg.org/image/7pwip41yf/]
I had a great time-lots of cool stuff happening turkeys in the yard just about everyday. seen a lake freeze over-overnight -sunny and windy n waves in the afternoon , thin iced over with snow the next morning - way cool.
I didn't get my musky trip , so I just spent that time hunting. Rifle starts for those guys tomorrow in wisc.
I did get the meat pole photo and a photo of my Barnett no exomax in Wisc. its in Ariz.
the morning after -- fitting end to my story- I hope to have many more !
[url=https://postimg.org/image/azb170a07/]
I was lucky it fell straight down and the stirrup stuck in the mud keeping it upright . I climbed down and checked it out , no damage just like in the Excalibur video's ! Note to self ----- take a shot with the 380 before the next hunt to make sure the scope is still zeroed ...A quick drive around the area to scout a few other property's and I see a number of deer , and a couple people picking corn . I drive the opposite side of the farm I hunted get my bino's out and spot another buck under the same stand I could not hunt . Give me a break !! This one was bigger yet ! I have to fix that stand ....Home I go 
