The 2009 season turned out being pretty good to me. I got to put more time in the stand then I had in quite a few years. In November 2009 I took 3 deer. A Doe, a Spike and a small 6 pointer. I continued to hunt through December, deciding if I took another deer it would have to be a good buck.

My last hunt of the year was down in Georgia on New Years day (the last evening of season in the Northern zone). I was carrying my Bushmaster M4A3 in .223 cal. and hunting out of an Ameristep ground blind on the edge of a food plot that borders public land. I got into the stand at about 2:30PM. I didn't see anything until about an hour before dark when 3 Doe came out into the field and started feeding about 200 yards to my left. Even though I had the wind in my favor the Doe were pretty jumpy and kept looking back up on the hill in front of me. They would feed for a minute or two, sprint for a few yards toward me, look back up on the hill and then go back to feeding. Since I had no intention of taking a Doe, I figured I'd do a little calling to see how they would react.

I pulled out the Buck Roar grunt call and started grunting in the opposite direction away from the Doe. I never once got a reaction from either of them, if anything, they moved closer to my blind. They continued to be alert to something on the hillside across the field from my location. After about 30 more minutes of this they decided that they'd had enough and exited the far end of the field to my left. I sat back figuring that my 2009 season had came to an end, reflecting on all the great times I'd had.

The light was dimming and I figured I'd seen my last deer before dark. I kept looking in the direction where I'd last seen the deer when I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye, another larger deer had stepped out into the field about 100 yards to my right. I glassed the deer with my binoculars and saw that it was a good Nice buck.

As quietly as possible, I repositioned myself in the blind, putting the M4 on the shooting stick I was carrying. The buck had his head down and was quartering away. I settled the cross hairs about a foot behind his shoulder and squeezed one off. The buck went straight down but after a couple of seconds got right back up. Fearing he might get back into the timber and I'd have a track job, I put the cross hairs back on him and squeezed off another shot putting him down for good.

I love the M4 and wanted to try to take a deer with it this season but I soon found out that a larger Whitetail can easily eat the .223 round and keep on trucking. I think from now on I'll stick to my larger caliber rifles, you never know when a BIGUN might step out.

I nicknamed this 9 point whitetail the "Last Chance" buck. It goes to show...don't give up...hunt till the last minute of the season. My persistence paid off this year!!

As the 2008 deer season rolled around I was determined not to get into a rut as I'd done in 2007 and I didn't. My rifle season in Kentucky ended about as soon as it started. I've never been what you'd call a "Trophy" hunter. I've taken some good bucks over the years but I'm really not that picky...if it's legal I'll usually take it. I have passed on a couple of smaller bucks in the past and it only lead to me wishing I had taken them by the time deer season ended. When you hunt on public land as much as I do you can't always pick and choose if you want meat for the freezer.

The first day of the Kentucky rifle season I was hunting on Cave Run Lake with my friend James Collier. We were hunting in a place we call "Sandbar" hollow. James was hunting in the head of the hollow and I was in a low gap which leads into the next hollow over. I was carrying my T/C Encore in 7MM Mag.

It was about 9:30AM and all I'd seen was one flock of about 20 turkey. I heard something to my left and when I looked around there was a small spike standing about 60 yards from me in the middle of the gap looking it the direction of the head of the hollow. I raised my gun and thru the scope I could see his spikes were about 7-8 inches long. I asked myself...shoot?...don't shoot?...but then memories from the past came back to haunt me.

I dropped the cross hairs down behind his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The spike went straight down in his tracks. After hearing my shot James yelled at me on the two way and asked "did you get him?". I said yep, but he ain't a biggun!! James came over after I field dressed the buck and helped me get him down the hill and into the boat.

It was a good thing that I took the spike because it was the only buck taken at Cave Run in 2008. I did take a couple of Doe with the bow after that in Georgia so I guess you could say 2008 was a fairly good year after all!!

2007 was a year of close calls and near misses. I didn't get to hunt as much as I'd liked but when I did seems like I'd always end up in the wrong place at the right time. Everyone around me was taking good Deer but I wasn't having any luck in seeing anything. After the regular season closed I made up my mind to come back and give it one last try during the late Muzzleloader season at Cave Run Lake in Kentucky in Dec.
 
  The first morning of the December hunt I was hunting with my buddy Justin Collier in a place we nicknamed "Pusser" Hollow. It's a small hollow just off the lake in the Pioneer Weapons area of the Daniel Boone National forest. For some reason in 2007 this little hollow produced a number of whitetail bucks compared to all the other bigger hollows that we hunt. The Pioneer Weapons area is restricted to only Bow hunting and traditional muzzleloading, no in-line muzzleloaders or scopes are allowed. I was carrying my 50 caliber T/C Black Mountain Magnum with open sights. We got on stand just before day break, I was hunting in the main hollow and Justin was hunting the next small hollow over. It drizzled rain all morning and nothing seemed to be moving at all. 

  At 8:30AM Justin yelled at me on the two-way radio to see if I was having any better luck then he was. He had only seen one Coyote but was unable to get a shot. At about 8:40AM I figured I'd try to do some calling. It was late in the year for calling but I figured what have I got to lose? I pulled out the Primos bleat-n-heat and gave 3 long bleats. Before I even had a chance to put the call back in my pocket I heard a deer trotting down the hill to my left. When the deer came into sight I saw that it was a good buck. It was about 120 yards away but heading down the hill toward me in a full trot with it's nose about a foot off the ground. I moved to the backside of the big Cedar tree that I'd been sitting against so I could use it as a rifle rest. The wind was not in my favor and I knew it was only a matter of time before the buck would catch my scent, I wanted to be ready to take the shot as soon as he did. The buck made it within 50 yards of me before he winded me and made a sharp right turn and headed back up the hill. As soon as he turned he gave me a good quartering shot and I took it. Before the smoke from my muzzleloader had cleared I could hear him rolling back down the hill toward me...what a great sound!! Justin yelled at me on the radio and when I told him I had one down he came over and helped me get it back to the boat. That 10 point buck was the only deer that any of us saw during the late season but I had finally been in the right place at the right time!! Like I always say...Deer hunting can go from REALLY bad to REALLY good in a matter of seconds!! With a little persistence, 2007 ended up being a GOOD year!!