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November 1-7
Day 2
For my first morning hunt I went back to the same farm, but we hunted a funnel in the woods. It looked fantastic! Deer started moving early and as the sun was coming up I saw a buck walking down the pasture side of the fenceline. I glassed him and he was a wide, mature eight point. I sized him up and put him as a 4.5 or 5.5 year old. His rack was very nice but nothing exceptional. I decided to pass him if he gave me a shot.
At 2 PM I was back to the same stand. I really liked the funnel and all it takes is one nice cruiser to use it. The weather was cold today and the action should be heating up. At 3:30 I heard a deer approaching from the southwest - it was the same buck from this morning but this time he came right by my stand at 22 yards. I could have shot him easily but again, I passed him up. He fed around my stand then the worst thing happened. He bedded 30 yards in plain sight. I didn't want to bust him out so I stood for a while watching him until he got up and eased out of sight.
Before the end of the hunt I saw 3 more bucks, they were all 2.5 year olds and all 8 points. I saw 4 bucks this morning and 4 bucks this afternoon. It was a fun day!
We are hunting with Straight Arrow Outfitters owned by Steve Hanson. You need to draw a Zone 5 tag to hunt with Steve so start building those points! Southeast Iowa is considered by many as the top trophy deer destination in the country.
Our hunt takes place in Southeast Iowa. The habitat is a mix of food plots, river bottoms, and large agricultural fields. Prime Iowa Whitetail habitat. No baiting, we are focused on crops and rutting areas.
