shannerdrake
Well-known member
2023 for whatever reason played out to be potentially my most exciting and memorable hunting season. However, despite closing strong, it started out with a struggle.
Around February, I got bit with the turkey bug worse than ever. I drove my household nuts working calls and getting ready. My wife threatened to burn my calls, dogs were peeing on the rugs when I’d start yelping, you get the point. I set up a Tennessee, Indiana, and Michigan turkey hunt. I had decided that this year I would, for the first time ever, bag three turkeys in the spring. Without going into detail, I didn’t kill a single bird.
No biggie, I was turning 40 this year and a long-planned Alaska moose hunt was going to happen. Until it didn’t. Luckily we found out just in time to get in on the CO draw and I drew an elk and mule deer muzzleloader tags that I wasn’t sure I would. You can read about that hunt in my elk thread. But the punchline - I called in and shot a busted up 6x6 bull and three days later shot a 170in 4x4 velvet mulie. It was a trip of a lifetime (at least my lifetime).
After getting back from CO I had a great September and October and got in a great dove hunt, then a great pheasant hunt, and a great duck opener.
As November neared, I set my sights on Indiana whitetails. I joked with my friends that my plan was simple, shoot a big mature whitetail and closeout the 2023 Hat Trick.
Problem was, EHD smoked our hunting property and by estimation, we lost about 70% of our bucks. Our farm over the last 10 years has produced dozens of P&Y bucks and four legit Booners including one in the 190s. Despite 500+ acres of prime habitat, we had exactly two mature bucks on our property. One we called the Big 8 and one we called the Big 9.
Around February, I got bit with the turkey bug worse than ever. I drove my household nuts working calls and getting ready. My wife threatened to burn my calls, dogs were peeing on the rugs when I’d start yelping, you get the point. I set up a Tennessee, Indiana, and Michigan turkey hunt. I had decided that this year I would, for the first time ever, bag three turkeys in the spring. Without going into detail, I didn’t kill a single bird.
No biggie, I was turning 40 this year and a long-planned Alaska moose hunt was going to happen. Until it didn’t. Luckily we found out just in time to get in on the CO draw and I drew an elk and mule deer muzzleloader tags that I wasn’t sure I would. You can read about that hunt in my elk thread. But the punchline - I called in and shot a busted up 6x6 bull and three days later shot a 170in 4x4 velvet mulie. It was a trip of a lifetime (at least my lifetime).
After getting back from CO I had a great September and October and got in a great dove hunt, then a great pheasant hunt, and a great duck opener.
As November neared, I set my sights on Indiana whitetails. I joked with my friends that my plan was simple, shoot a big mature whitetail and closeout the 2023 Hat Trick.
Problem was, EHD smoked our hunting property and by estimation, we lost about 70% of our bucks. Our farm over the last 10 years has produced dozens of P&Y bucks and four legit Booners including one in the 190s. Despite 500+ acres of prime habitat, we had exactly two mature bucks on our property. One we called the Big 8 and one we called the Big 9.
