The Daily Limit » Me

Missouri Rifle Deer

dukkillr — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 23:45:19 +0000

What can I say, I’m a terrible blogger. A variety of things have sapped my will to post, but a lack of hunting is not one of them. Last week The Arkansas Boys and CA-Chucky went 3 for 3 on sticking Pope and Young caliber bucks. I also killed 6 pintails (3 shooters/2 birds per hunter) out of one bunch! Oh, and I’ve got Wyoming Elk and South Dakota Mule Deer stories to tell… And a return to South Dakota for pheasants. And the tremendous buck I’ve been chasing around home… Sheesh…

But for now I’ve got to get some sleep. Missouri Rifle opens in 8 hours or so.

Happy Fathers Day!

dukkillr — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 04:47:35 +0000

Last year I told you about growing up a duck hunter in a bird hunting family. I mentioned that as a teen my Grandfather exposed me to deer hunting and, indirectly, to big game hunting. I shot a few decent Ozarks bucks during college and brought some of what I had learned home with me when I returned to Kansas. The Old Man started chasing deer with me during the rifle season, and then during the bow season. That’s been more than a decade now, but one thing has remained constant through out… I kill better deer!

It’s really not a matter of bragging, in fact I think it’s mostly luck, but coming into the 2010 season he had one buck on the wall that was even in the same class as several of my better ones. Generally speaking he was short on patience and long on effort. That produced a lot of opportunities at 110-130 bucks which produced a lot of filled tags.

But coming into the 2010 season he was claiming it would be different. I was skeptical. Then one day I was driving to the cabin at dusk when I got a call. He was obviously excited about a buck he’d just shot but he needed help getting it loaded. My daughter and I changed course and met him at the scene:

With good mass, good length, and double split brows, he gross in the low 140′s.

So The Old Man had punched his Missouri archery tag, and now it was on to Kansas. A few days later I was chasing Missouri deer when I got a call, again. He didn’t tell me what he had, just that he would meet me at my house mid-day:

Decent mass, good length, and great width, this one also grossed in the low 140s.

So he’d gone 60 some years without killing a no-doubt P&Y buck, and now he’d killed 2 in a week! Both DIY, fair chase, with good clean kills and simple tracking jobs. Just like in the books. And while that suddenly left him with a shortage of whitetail tags, he wasn’t complaining.

Once again, congrats, happy Father’s Day, and thanks.

Snowmageddon!

dukkillr — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 01:06:53 +0000

I picked a bad year to move into a house with nearly a half mile of asphalt driveway…

I did see 6 deer while I was plowing…

Merry Christmas

dukkillr — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 15:29:10 +0000

Migrating South

dukkillr — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 22:19:53 +0000

Sorry for the lack of posts. Fall is here, and The Daily Limit is migrating south. Actually The Daily Limit isn’t going anywhere, but I am. Boxes, trucks, and trailers are haunting my dreams right now. I know I haven’t finished the antelope hunt. I also haven’t told you about the new place. I also think you should be reading The Outdoor Smorgasbord right now. He’s back from Kansas and giving us a daily semi-live hunt. I’m not privy to the ending (and I wouldn’t tell you if I was) but he’s already passed a high 130s buck. Take a look.

I’ll try to be back tomorrow.

Dove Hunters, Dove Huntress, and Dove Recipes

dukkillr — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 04:55:38 +0000

Well hmmm… I’ve spent a few days thinking about adding a link to my blog roll. No big deal right? Well it’s complicated… I’ve posted several dove related posts here recently, and I’ve been getting a ton of Google hits for, “dove recipe”. I’ve got a couple, but honestly, my cooking is something like level 1.

So I did a search for hunting blogs that also had some dove recipes and ended up with NorCal Cazadora. She’s a huntress, (Hunter? I’m not really sure huntress is a word?) writer, and professor, or so I gather. She also dates a guy who apparently is an accomplished cook. As I read through it is quickly apparent that Holly and I very different in the way we approach hunting and the outdoors, but I already knew that and it certainly is not a bad thing.

The bad thing? Well, she was part of the small group the Northern Californians who came rushing to the defense of high fence operator T. Michael Riddle a while back. Actually, even that isn’t a bad thing, she was standing up for her friend and I think she even knew someone who worked there or something… But then on a different blog she called me an, “Asshat”.

I’ll be honest, I get called a lot of things, some earned, some not. I’ve never heard that one before. I’m not even sure what it means. My offending behavior? Well I pointed out that shooting a tame buck wasn’t poaching, it was theft, or conversion. If you shoot a neighbors cow, you’re not poaching, why would shooting a fenced in deer be any different? Then she attacked me for hunting baited bears because, you know, we’ve all got to stick together… The exchange is at the link above, you can decide for yourself… I took leave of that conversation and I don’t think I’ve heard from, or thought about her since then (although it is interesting to note that Mr. Riddle posted polite comments on my blog in the months following the whole stir – more on that someday).

Ultimately if I couldn’t survive differing opinions I wouldn’t have a career, and I respect the work Holly does. The rest… well… I’ve shown before with Mr. Rasch that I can have a productive relationship with those who can disagree respectfully (even if the respect is mostly one sided). So, Asshat or not, NorCal Cazadora has been added to the roll under “Outdoor Blogs I Read”, and I do suggest you read it. You can decide for yourself on the baited bears, high fences, tame pheasants, and rabbits that aren’t scared.

Oh, the link that prompted all of this? Here’s a recent post of hers on dove hunting, that features several very interesting recipe links.

Which is good, because here is what I did after work today:

It’s been a fantastic dove season so far but it may be coming to an end. Sunday’s hunt showed that our Kansas hot spot had slowed down dramatically. Today’s hunt showed that the Missouri spot has also slowed down. I had a good shoot, but with all of the corn fields being cut, the doves had other places to go, and they went there. If today is the last dove hunt of the season it’s still been a fantastic year, and these guys certainly enjoyed the warm-up for the serious hunts to come, maybe as soon as 6:30 tomorrow morning…

Getting to be That Time of Year

dukkillr — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 04:43:17 +0000

I hate the summer. After Canada in early June there is little going on around here besides work and sweat. But my Google hits have been climbing up with searches like, “Kansas Deer Hunting” and “Pheasant numbers” so obviously I’m not the only one looking for September 1st to get here.

Last Tuesday I shot in a fund raising deal for Ducks Unlimited. A guy named Jake Lahm was there selling his custom duck calls. He had about 5 wood calls and about the same number of acrylic. I blew about all of them. In general his calls were easy blowing with good low end and average scratch. He seemed like a good guy and a great caller. If you live in the KC area and are interested I’d encourage you to visit him in person and pick out a call that fits you. There are other call makers in the KC area, even some that I have a personal history with and would recommend, but they have nothing on Jake’s calls. You can see more at JLcalls.com

Friday I spent most of the day studying the requirements for the upcoming season on the large WRP property I hunt and pseudo-manage. It was hot and humid and generally not much fun. Some day when I’m in a bad mood I’ll write a post about the joys of partnering with the federal government on habitat management. Rest assured it is not a positive experience. I have the exact same Biology degree these people do, I’m from the Midwest, and I’ve spent my entire life around wetlands (they have neither of the last two). Yet what I think is worth exactly nothing. Anyway… I checked the Pawpaw trees and some tree stands before it got dark and the bugs were about to carry me off.

I also talked to a gunsmith last week who claims he can put a new stock on my 6.5×55.

And finally, I’ve run twice in the last few days and hit the stupid machine another time. I hate running. I hate the stationary machine even more. But I like killing elk, and it’s time to start getting ready for the October mountains…

Happy Father’s Day

dukkillr — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 02:53:09 +0000

Growing up my father was a duck hunter who occasionally returned to his bird hunting roots. I was in a duck blind at a young age. I’m sure he put up with a lot of annoying crap in order to drag me along.

Obviously that exposure eventually became a big part of who I am, and what I do. For that, and many other things, I’m eternally grateful.

As I got older my grandfather exposed me to deer hunting. A few years later I started teaching myself to bowhunt with considerable help from friend and loyal reader CA-Chucky. Around that time The Old Man started going rifle deer hunting with me. I gutted his first deer or two, and we worked together on a few fantastic deer and elk hunts. Then he bought a bow… We were going to bowhunt in Montana for big elk. He practiced a great deal and at the moment of truth he made a lethal shot at 40 yards:

His first arrow ever was a bull pushing 340! I hope it’s not the best animal he ever kills, but right now it’s the one he has on the refrigerator! Congrats, happy Father’s Day, and thanks.

Sorry for the Delay

dukkillr — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 02:43:20 +0000

The Daily Limit has recently been in Boston trying to become more educated. I saw a game at Fenway, ate lobster, and traveled the Freedom Trail, among other things. I also attended class from 8:00 to 5:30 each day! Thursday morning I leave for Canada and my docket is packed between now and then… I’ll try and find time to write a bit, but no guarantee.

Turkey Hunting or Wedding?

dukkillr — Sun, 09 May 2010 03:58:42 +0000

Today was the type of day a Kansas turkey hunter dreams of. 45 degrees at sunrise, partly cloudy, slight breeze, perfect. It’s the type of day where you can be sure to find a mid-season tom strutting across a bright green pasture and gobbling every minute or so.

But, alas, I’ve got a wedding this weekend. Last night was the rehersal dinner. This morning I got up planted our garden. Tonight was the wedding. Tomorrow is Mother’s Day brunch. I’ve got trial a week from Monday.

The good news is that I have a turkey story to tell, complete with good pictures. The bad news is that it’s looking bad for filling all 4 of my tags… Check back for details when I find time…