The boys from the Highbanks Hunting Club once again entered a team in Uncle Pablo's annual golf tournament. This event is always a ton of fun and usually ends with a little "all in good fun" controversy over teams not knowing exactly what their score is when they come off the course. As a result, the "winning" team is usually somewhat suspect which leads to great banter throughout the hunting season. This years HHC team consisted of Lefty, Monkey, Axman and Pedro. The HHC team finished in second place for the third consecutive year...and every player knew exactly what the teams score was as they walked off the final green. All in good fun!!
The opening hunt of every bow season is always an exciting time. Each season with the boys from Mudbrook starts with great hope and expectations. This year's opening hunt included from L to R: Paco, Clover, Barnacle, Bee Sting, Blake, & Monkey.
Opening Weekend - Golf & Tree Stand Work
As they have done for the past 25 years the Mudbrook Boys gathered for the annual Mudbrook Open golf tournament. This event is so much fun and brings out some great competition between the boys. The game is a two man best ball over 18 holes and this winners were Paco & Pedro...bragging rights for a whole year are huge at the HHC!
The 2023 Opening Weekend golf crew. Back row L to R: Axman, Pablo, Pedro, Paco, Lefty, Barnacle. Front row L to R: Bee Sting, Monkey, Chapper. A great time was had by all...as usual!
Here are the HHC boys who made up this years "Team Integrity". They finished in second place for the third year in a row. From L to R: Lefty, Monkey, Pedro, Axman.
Triangle Stand...brand new 20' ladder stand.
Highway 10 Stand...22 years old and still standing!
Pictures From The 2023 Off Season
2023 BOW HUNTING SEASON
The hunt is on!! The weekend of October 21 & 22 was a great one in Mudbrook. Odie was back from his home in California and Chakka came back from his new "school home" in Madison. As he did last year, Odie came equipped with his homemade longbow and was hoping to connect with a doe. Chakka was just happy to get a break from Pharmacy School and be in Mudbrook for a couple of hunts while knowing he will get to hunt the gun season and late bow season. There was also an appearance from the young Jayhawk who took a break from college to join the boys for an overnight stay. Barnacle, Paco, Bee Sting & Pedro were all in camp for the weekend as well. What a great time with great friends!
New 20' Ladder Stand at the Triangle
Barnacle with a very nice doe he took down at the Triangle Stand on 10/21/23. Welcome back to the hunt buddy!
For the second year in a row Odie came back for one weekend and took down a doe with his homemade longbow. This one at the Honey Hole. Excellent work young man!
Pictures From 10/21 & 10/22: Chakka walking back after a morning hunt. / Barnacle & Odie walking together towards Lucky's Pine. / Trail Cam setup on a busy trail near Paco's Point
Barnacle knocked down the first buck of the year on Sunday evening, October 29th at the Funnel Stand. The 8 Pointer came walking right down the edge of the cornfield and provided a great shot opportunity. The legend of Barnacle!!
The 2023 Rut Hunt kicked off with the Mudbrook Crew hanging out at the Church on Saturday evening November 4th. What a great time of sharing stories, laughs, and memories before heading to the woods to create more. What a wonderful group!
Lefty hammered down this awesome 9 pointer with his crossbow on Sunday morning November 5th from Lucky's Pine. It had been quite a few years since Lefty downed a buck with an arrow so this was extra sweet.
On Saturday November 11th Pedro dropped this 8 point buck from the Salt Log Hill stand during a sloppy snow/rain mix.
Monkey being abducted by aliens in the back field on 11/10.
A November sunrise from the EAD stand during the 2023 rut.
A Pedro selfie at the Seven Pools after 5 days of rut hunting.
A new day dawning at Lucky's Pine during the 2023 rut hunt...what a beautiful sight!
2023 GUN HUNTING SEASON
The Mudbrook gun season ran from November 18th to November 26th. The boys hunted hard for six of the nine days but buck sightings were very tough to come by. Regardless of deer harvest numbers the season was a huge success because everyone was safe and life at deer camp was fun and hilarious.
The "Barn Boss" got the gun season started with a bang when he downed this great nine pointer on opening morning from his Eagles Nest stand. What a dandy!
Pedro selfie from Octopus stand
Front view from the Octopus stand
This was the scene on the night before Gun Season. Everyone sitting around the table telling stories and laughing. What a great time! Starting at left and going around the table: Jayhawk, Axman, Chakka, Pedro, Poison, & Bee Sting. Picture taken by Lefty.
2023 LATE SEASON
After the fun of early season, the thrill of the rut, and the grind of gun season...late season bow hunting arrived. In a very strange and different twist there was no snow on the ground for this year's late season which made it easy to use all tree stands but also kept the deer spread out because all food sources were uncovered. The December to Remember Hunt took place on the weekend of December 15th, 16th & 17th, and as usual, was a crazy fun time. The following weekend had Chakka back in Mudbrook on a break from school to reek havoc on some does. Following are some pictures from late season.
This is Pedro's view from the Chute stand on Friday, December 15th...no snow!
Chakka was home from school on Christmas break and took some time to bowhunt. He downed this antlerless deer from the Dead End stand on 12/23.
Chakka fired up for a late season bow hunt...what a great time to be in the woods!
Chakka continued to make up for lost time during the regular season by taking down this massive doe from the Bank stand on 1/2/23. The NBK was in prime hunt mode!
