Harvested this beautiful buck on my Birthday with my crossbow while hunting at my friends place,who I met 6 years ago on this forum talking about about turkey hunting. Have been blessed to hunt with a few friends I have made on this forum. This friend goes by Donion on the forum. He and his family have become my family. Greatest Birthday gift ever.

While hunting this past week on my Birthday at my friends place,who I met on this forum 6 years ago, I harvested the buck of my dreams. I have dreamed every year of being able to kill, even a doe, on my Birthday, but haven't until this season. I walked in the woods before daybreak, not knowing exactly where would be the best spot to set up,since this was my first time being in these woods. As I was looking for a good fallen tree to set up with my gobbler lounger, day was breaking. I was headed to a tree that I thought would be good cover and looked thru the woods and saw 3 bucks coming my way,one was a very young buck,followed by a 8 point and another 8 point that looked to be so wide his head was bobbing back and forth with each step. I eased back and stepped behind a tree and lay my bowbat pack down and tried to hurry and get my crossbow and cocking rope out and cock my crossbow without being seen. I set my lounger out and quickly sit down and eased around the tree to see if I had been seen. They were still coming rubbing on trees as they come. They stopped at at least 3 different trees. When they were about 30 yards they smallest buck spotted me,raising and lowering his head as if he knew I was out of place,but he wasn't alarmed and kept on walking.
The largest of the 3 stopped at about 20 yards and done the same,except he was facing me. I thought,I don't want to take a head on shot and take a chance of making a bad shot. He turned to keep walking and I fired. I heard the bolt hit him and he spun around and took off. I watched him go as far as I could see. I waited a bit and got up to see if my bolt was lying there. I couldn't find my bolt ,or any blood. I thought ,maybe I'm just excited and not seeing it. So I walked to see if there was any blood where I saw him run in the woods. As I was walking down to the last place I saw him,I looked over and there he lay. It was then I started shaking. What a buck!!! If I never have the opportunity to kill another buck this big, that's ok with me. The memory of this hunt with be me the rest of my life. Thank God for meeting a great friend on this forum, that you all my know as Donion. He and his family have become family to me.Best Birthday gift ever. My buck was 21 inches wide and weighed 177 lbs.

Its been hot as blazes in central NC,but we had another good day catching catfish on noodles. It's quickly becoming my favorite way to fish,right up there with crappie fishing in the spring.We kept 12 and are going to have a big fish fry for Gobblin toms Birthday, as some of you members know him, I call him Joey,lol. You don't forget about the heat when you're out there,but seeing those noodles go under makes it a lot more bearable,lol.

This past Friday Gobblin Tom and I decided to go to Tuckertown to do some catfishing with noodles. I've never really fished for catfish. I mostly fish for crappie,bass and trout. After spending the day fishing with noodles, I've decided to add catfishing to my resume,lol. I had a blast. We caught 64lbs of catfish, with 7 fish total. The largest blue weighed 23 lbs. WHAT A FUN DAY!!!!

After a good season deer hunting,I decided I would change things a bit and spent the first day of 2016 doing something I love...squirrel hunting. It was a good choice because I had a blast. it was the first time I have ever bagged my limit for the day. I also killed some of the biggest squirrels I have ever killed. I killed a total of 7 and went back this morning for an hour or so before I headed back to the mountains, and killed 1 more for the pot. Had a great time to start off the New Year.

Got to go hunt with a great friend once again this past week. Each time we went out was a great experience just to be in the woods witnessing nature first hand. I was blessed to take a nice doe with my crossbow,and am very thankful for the opportunity to have more meat in the freezer. I am also thankful to have such great friends that invite me to hunt and make me so welcome in their home.

Finally got my first buck. I've just been deer hunting for three year and have been blessed the past two seasons with does,but this season I finally got me a buck and I couldn't be happier.So thankful for good friends that let me hunt and teach me what they know.

Got the chance to take a little break from chasing gobblers and do a little fishing on Lake James. I've not been having great luck this turkey season so it was nice to have a good evening catching fish. We caught about 20 crappie and I caught a pretty nice bass. The crappie have been biting pretty good at night, but most are small. It was nice to spend some time on the water doing what I love.

Had the opportunity to crappie fish Lake James with a good fishing buddy,and of course I jumped at the chance since I've been wanting to go for a while. We caught 40 crappie. We could have probably caught a lot more but the minnows ran out. I kept enough of the larger ones for supper and we released the rest. It was a great night fishing. I can't wait to do it again soon.

Got to go with my fishing buddy to Fontana Lake today to do a little fishing before the next cold front comes in. We had a great day and caught a lot of nice bass. Getting ready to fry up some filets right now,mmm mmmm. Its gonna be nice to have a good memory of a great day fishing to think about when all this ice and snow comes in tonight. Already looking forward to the next fishing trip.

Took a break from deer hunting for the day and spent the day fishing on Lake Fontana with a friend. It was the best day I've had fishing in a while.

Well,I started not to even post this,but I guess it will show no one is perfect and the unexpected can happen at any time when your hunting.
I got to go hunt with my Dad this past week for 3 days.He lives on the coast and I live in the mountains,so any time I can get together and hunt with him is a blessing.
After hunting some with dad last year in blinds made of corn stalks and brush,Dad had spend the summer building three nice tree stands and 2 nice ground blinds.Dad is a carpenter,but hes 70 years old,and as much as he enjoys it,I know its harder for him now.
Well,on the last evening we went into the woods and settled in our blinds.I hadn't seen a deer in 3 days and,even though dad had several nice ones on cam, at this point I had little hope. I was relaxed back in my seat eating grapes and drinking my water,when I saw antlers coming towards me over the brush at 20 yards. My first though wasn't buck,I thought whats an elk doing in this part,lol.Then he stepped into sight,he was a beautiful 8 point staring straight into my eyes for what seemed like and hour and half,but was probably 30 seconds,lol. I sat stone still and stared back not blinking. He then took half a step and looked down,I clicked the safety off my crossbow and got him in sight,He raised his head back up and slightly moved,I made the shot. As soon as it hit he kicked up and spun around and took off. I called my Dad and told him I got one.He said wait til I get there,because light was fading fast and those thicket filled woods are like a maze. I started looking around and I saw blood on the ground and leaves where I shot,I knew I had made a good shot and was hopeful we would find him easily after seeing blood. My dad made it to my blind and we started tracking .We tracked blood about 15 yards and saw a massive puddle of blood,but no buck.We keep following blood for about 10 more yards and there was another big puddle of blood dripping off the leaves to the ground. We continued following blood and marking each spot,I thought we had tracked the deer for 1/2 mile,but thinking back,he didn't travel that far,we just did searching for his trail. We tracked the blood all the way to a dried up canal that he crossed and went up to the dirtroad. We looked til 12 am and couldn't find another drop of blood. We came back early the next morning and searched another few hours.We still couldn't find my deer. I really think with the loss of blood we found that he's dead.And I'm heartbroken that we couldn't find him. I had to return home,but my Dad is sill searching. He found the arrow yesterday lodged in a bush 3 -3 1/2 feet off the ground back behind where I shot the buck. I hate the thought of an animal suffering,and also hate the thought of losing all that meat if he's down. Its too late for the meat at this point,but I still hope Dad can find him.

The buck are still showing up on cam at my Dads. Mostly 8 pointers and a 10 point. I can't wait to go down and hunt with him this season.

Finally talked Gobblintom into coming up to my stomping grounds and walking the gameland where I hunt,hoping he could give me some insight on what I may be doing wrong or right. As we all know ,gameland is challenging to hunt. It is sort of like being in a hunting club,except you don't know the other hunters in most cases and their not your good'ole buddies who are pulling for you.Most cases you are trying to not only outsmart the turkey and deer, but also the other hunters.
It rained all day on us and the grass was at least waist high,but he hung in there and eagerly went anywhere I suggested walking and giving me his input,which was greatly appreciated. We scouted around til almost dark then headed back. I don't have any hunting buddies around my area and have been learning all this by trial and error. I have had some success on my own,but sometimes its nice to have someone who's been hunting a while to reassure you that your not doing it all wrong. Thanks GT for taking the time to spend the day with me. I had a great time.

My Dad sent me this pic of a 10 point he got on cam where he has one of our blinds set up. After the fall Dad had last season fixing a stand and all the surgerys and pain all winter,I would love to witness him taking this buck.He is super excited to get a nice one on cam. I feel so blessed to have a Dad that loves to hunt and will go to all the trouble he does so I can hunt with him.

My Aunt was cleaning out the attic and gave me an old rocker that was my great Grandmothers and said she saw a pic in a magazine of one that was used as a planter and thought I might use it.I'm sure she never thought I'd make a back for it with a hand painted turkey scene. I was looking at it today and thought what would my Great Grandmother think of me being a turkey hunter or of how I turned her old rocking chair into a planter. I can just imagine all the time she spent in this rocker rocking grandbabies. If it had been in restorable shape I probably would have restored it,but still has good memories as a planter.

Well I just finished another cape mount. Done this one for GT. I love doing these. I know its not as perfect as a taxidermist would do it,but hey, I work for free,lol. I done the head from I mold I made of an actual turkey head.So its exact in proportion. Anybody want me to do their next turkey I'd love to,lol.

One of the biggest influences in my life is my Dad. I had the opportunity to deer hunt with him this past season during bow season and during rifle season. We didn't harvest a deer together,but it will always be one of the most memorable hunts ever for me. I also got to introduce him to the addiction of turkey hunting,lol. He wasn't too interested to start ,but could see my excitement and my eyes light up everytime I talked about turkey hunting. So I convinced him to go the last week of the season and when he saw them coming in when I called them,I saw that same look in his eyes,and a huge smile on his face.We have plans to hunt together this bow season and next turkey season,good Lord willing. I love my Dad,as you can probably tell. I hope he, and all you Dads have a wonderful Fathers Day surrounded by those you love.

I saved the head from the double beard I killed this season and made a mold from it and then cast it and hand painted it . I used the mold to cast 4 heads to use on my future cape mounts and fan plaques.This is one I used on one of my fan plaques. I am going to use one with a cape mount I done with the wings. If it turns out good I'll post of pic of it too. Thought it was a pretty neat idea,and by using the original turkey head to make a mold it is an exact replica.

My Grandaughter Gracie's favorite song is 'Fish'. She has to hear it everytime she gets in my car. She said I sure would like some of those pink fishing bobbers.So,being the accommodating Nana that I am ,I finally found her some at Dicks sporting goods.
She was thrilled and wanted to try them out in the pond at her house yesterday evening. Well, all I can say is they must work because she had a blast reeling them in. I had a great time myself getting outfished by a 6 year old,lol. We always have the best time together,no matter what we do.