This is Tom Goodwin who was hunting with Steve Hartley’s Guide Service on opening morning. Seems that lots of hunters shared in the good luck this weekend. Reports of many good bucks being taken just keep rolling in. The rut is heating up and deer are on the move. Hopefully this warm weather will pass through quickly and mid to late week we will cool back down and have good cool weather that will show increased deer activity.

I took my son Drew out on Saturday evening—click more for the story and photos of Drew’s deer…

We headed out to another of Steve Hartley’s properties in Woodford county. I had a Double Bull set up in a fencerow at the corner of a field. The wind was just right, and after an hour or so, we had a doe come out and feed for about 5 minutes. She was at a mere 20 yards. About 5:30PM, a buck came out on the far end of the field. He made a scrape looked the fielded over and began a slow walk down the far treeline. He was 150+ yards, and that was too far for Drew. I grunted at him a few times, and he would look, but he kept moving away. As the sun started down, a doe popped out at about 60 yards. After what seemed forever, the buck turned and started toward the doe. Then another doe came out. The young buck began running the first doe in circles, and when he stopped at about 60 yards, Drew was ready and hammered him with the T/C Encore. Drew was hoping for an 8-pointer or better this year, but said he didn’t want to shoot a 1.5 year old. This one was definitely 2.5 years old as it had a much bigger body than the little guys, but obviously one antler was deformed. He would have been an 8 otherwise. Drew was super excited and pleased, and at 7 years old, I will let him shoot whatever he wants to keep him pumped about hunting. It was a great evening, and want to I thank Steve Hartley for providing us a nice place to hunt and have a special time.