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GRANT: The GrowingDeer.tv Teams have been blessed with another great week. We were able to capitalize on Missouri’s firearms season, put a lot of venison in the freezer.

RAE: (Whispering) It’s nice. It’s big.

GRANT: My youngest daughter, Rae, took a great buck during the opening day of Missouri’s firearms season.

RALEIGH: I think I got Drifter.

GRANT: Drifter? That’s huge, Raleigh.

GRANT: We watched another hunt unfold, as my daughter, Raleigh, took her largest buck to date.

ADAM: Got him, Raleigh. Whew!

GRANT: As we were taking pictures of both the girls and their bucks, the day got even better, as Adam got a text from Seth, one of our Pro Staffers, saying he had also had a great opening day.

SETH: (Whispering) Well, it is opening morning of Missouri rifle season. It has been a long time since I’ve been in a tree. Well, September 15th, to be exact. Good Lord blessed me with an opening day buck for bow season. I put it to him. The Prime put it to him. Where’s Waldo? There he is, right there. But, wow. That is cool. I’m hoping the same thing happens this morning. There was a great buck using this farm early, a buck we call Rambler. If he hasn’t done what he’s done in the past and moved on us, I’m hoping the white oaks kept him here. I’m hoping they kept the does here; and I’m hoping we see him this morning, or one of our other shooters meandering through here so, should be a great morning. Cold, perfect wind. I’m excited to be in the tree.

ANNOUNCER: GrowingDeer.tv is brought to you by Bass Pro Shops. Also by Reconyx, Trophy Rock, Muddy Outdoors, Non-Typical Wildlife Solutions, Eagle Seed, Nikon, Winchester, ScentMaster, Dead Down Wind, Antler Dirt, LaCrosse Footwear, Redneck Hunting Blinds, BloodSport Arrows, Prime Bows by G5, Outdoor Edge Knives and Flatwood Natives.

GRANT: Based on his familiarity with the property, and recent scouting, Seth opted to hunt the same stand that Aaron Kicklighter tagged a nice buck last year during the opening day.

SETH: (Whispering) Hold it. Anytime you’re ready.

AARON: (Whispering) Boom baby! Yes. Boom. Just smoked one. (Fades Out)

SETH: (Inaudible) (Chuckling)

GRANT: Seth and Chase were enjoying watching the morning unfold when, suddenly, they heard footsteps in the leaves.

SETH: (Whispering) She’s running.

CHASE: (Whispering) Yeah, I see.

CHASE: (Whispering) They keep looking behind ‘em brother.

SETH: (Whispering) Do they?

CHASE: (Whispering) Yeah. (Inaudible)

SETH: (Whispering) Here comes more. Another one.

SETH: (Whispering) They keep looking behind ‘em.

SETH: (Whispering) They’re gonna bed down.

CHASE: (Whispering) (Inaudible)

SETH: (Whispering) Yeah.

SETH: (Whispering) We’ll have a buck come check these does.

CHASE: (Whispering) You…

SETH: (Whispering) What’s this back here?

CHASE: (Whispering) (Inaudible)

SETH: (Whispering) Are they behind us?

CHASE: (Whispering) (Inaudible)

SETH: (Whispering) Here comes another one behind it.

CHASE: (Whispering) There are two yearlings, also.

SETH: (Whispering) What’s it behind it? That’s a buck.

CHASE: (Whispering) That’s a good buck, too, right there.

SETH: (Whispering) Is it?

CHASE: (Whispering) Yeah. That’s a good buck.

SETH: (Whispering) Yeah. That is a good buck.

SETH: (Whispering) You just tell me if you’re on him.

CHASE: (Whispering) I’m on him.

SETH: (Whispering) Are you on him?

CHASE: (Whispering) Yeah. It’s a real good buck.

SETH: (Whispering) Yeah. It’s Rambler. Hey, they’re gonna come up this way. You see him? Are you on him? Are you on him?

CHASE: (Whispering) Yeah.

SETH: (Whispering) Are you on him?

CHASE: (Whispering) Yes.

SETH: (Whispering) That is a big buck, boys. Opening morning, again. I don’t know even what…holy smoke. If that doesn’t deserve a, “Thank you, Lord.” I don’t know. That’s opening morning bow. Opening morning gun. My buddy, Chase White, filming me. Can’t thank him more. Holy smokes. Dude, that was a good deer.

CHASE: That’s a good looker.

SETH: Oh, he did sink, didn’t he?

CHASE: I think. I never saw him run.

SETH: Well, surely I dumped him. Oh, gosh..whew, surely I dumped him. Dude, I was dead on him. That’s Rambler.

CHASE: Is it?

SETH: Oh yeah. Big old son.

CHASE: All I know I – I thought it was about 160 inch deer.

SETH: To say that I’m excited, and Chase is even pretty excited, would be an understatement. We’re gonna crawl down. We can’t let it go anymore. It’s been about 30 minutes. We’ve reviewed the footage. It look like he buckled. Boy, if he didn’t, I’ll be devastated. But, uh, we’re gonna get down, look for blood. We’re gonna see what we can find at the end of this trail.

SETH: Blood. Oh, look. There’s lungs in it. Blood.

SETH: Here he is, boys. Whew! He’s down. Who do we have? Who do we have?

SETH: Oh my gosh. It’s Rambler. I don’t know what to say. It’s the Rambler. Oh what a truck of a buck. Whew. Golly.

SETH: Holy smokes. The Lord has been good to me. These old brush runners. Here’s what’s unique about this, too. This is a 160 acre property with pressure beyond pressure, on both north, south, east, and west. And we have taken two this year, off of a small property. You can do it on a small property. What do you think he’s gonna go?

CHASE: Right around 150.

SETH: You think?

CHASE: Right at it.

SETH: Yeah.

GRANT: Seth has been on a roll this year, with two amazing opening days, and knowing Seth as I do, it won’t be long ‘til he’ll be patterning another mature buck during the late season in Missouri, as December is Seth’s favorite time to hunt.

GRANT: After Raleigh and Rae had tagged nice bucks, Adam and I split our time between going hunting and taking my 84 year old father hunting.

GRANT: We hunted hard and saw a lot of deer. We even saw some great three year old bucks.

GRANT: (Whispering) Guess is a three year old.

ADAM: (Whispering) Well, it is November the 25th, last morning of Missouri gun season here. Already seen six. Now that the sun’s come up, we’ll start to see a few more deer. It’s gonna happen fast.

ADAM: (Whispering) This whole self-filming thing’s a little bit complicated when the deer come out in the weirdest places.

ADAM: (Whispering) I’m shoot – are you done yet?

ADAM: (Whispering) Coming up on the, uh, record Grant and I have for most deer we’ve ever seen on the property. I’m still confident buck’s gonna show up at some point.

ADAM: (Whispering) Oh man, that was a good looking buck. He’s three, though. Call him Handy. Wow, that was a good buck.

GRANT: As the season closed, neither Adam or I tagged a buck. Some people ask, “Why didn’t you tag one of the three year olds you saw?” But we have lots of days of archery season left, neighbors that are cooperating, and there simply wasn’t a need to tag a three year old buck.

GRANT: I certainly understand and have hunted in plenty of areas where a three old buck would be a true trophy. I kind of define a trophy when you’re in the top 25 percent of deer harvested in that area. And some areas very few bucks survive to three years of age, and if I’m in that area where most the bucks are yearlings and two year olds, you can bet my sites are gonna be set on a three year old buck, if that’s the landowners objectives.

GRANT: We’re starting a deer management cooperative, here at The Proving Grounds. Several neighbors have already came to us and asked to be part of the cooperative. As we get together and discuss the latest research, habitat management techniques, and deer harvest objectives, we’ll keep you posted, and hopefully, you can use this information to start a deer management cooperative where you hunt.

GRANT: I did let the Winchester bark, during Missouri’s rifle season, but it wasn’t at a big buck.

GRANT: One morning, Adam and I had selected a stand overlooking a major power line through our property, when we heard something coming through the leaves behind us. Then, I heard Adam whisper, “Coyote.” As the coyote was headed off through the brush, Adam had the presence of mind to squeak a few times. Lucky for us, the coyote heard the squeaking and came around for a better look.

ADAM: (Whispering) Yeah.

GRANT: (Whispering) Pretty doggone cold this morning. I was just thinking I needed something to warm me up. Adam whispered, “Coyote.” We got it coordinated, and I’m feeling a lot better right now.

GRANT: Coyotes can make a big impact on fawn populations and got a beautiful pelt. This one’s going to the skinning shed.

GRANT: Even though there’s a lot of coyotes at The Proving Grounds, we don’t see that many while we’re hunting. Trapping’s clearly a better technique for reducing the predator population on the property. Like Seth, I really like hunting during the late season. This is when food plots can pay huge dividends. Stay tuned and we’ll share our techniques for hunting food sources during the late season. I hope you have a chance to enjoy some late season hunting, but even if you’re already tagged out, take a walk outside and enjoy Creation, but most importantly, find a place to be still and listen to what the Creator is saying to you. Thanks for watching GrowingDeer.tv.