Jim Kuhlmann and Andy Melton
Posted By
Chad Lathrop
at
9/21/2009 12:00:00 AM
Jim Kuhlmann is 30 years old and has been married to his wife, Melissa, for five years. They live in Harrisburg, Illinois and spend most of their time hunting here in southern Illinois. Jim delivers portable storage buildings full-time and is part owner and founder of three small businesses - Mitchellsville Country Store, JADE Rentals and Fast Fox Courier Service. He blames the businesses for his balding head. He was introduced to hunting at age 18 and the next year he killed his first whitetail with his bow.
This was the beginning of Jim's addiction to hunting and has since taken 8 bucks grossing over 130". The ground he typically hunts is bottomland or old strip ground. Normally, at this time of year, Andy and Jim are getting anxious. This year is no exception as they have seen some giant bucks - bigger than anything they have shot to date. Now they just need to figure out how to make the connection.
Andy Melton is a whitetail fanatic. He started hunting in Tennessee with his dad at a very young age. Andy killed his first whitetail at the age of six, and still loves the sport more than ever.
He is currently employed at UPS, which is where he met his wife, Heather. They have been married for 3 years now and they just had their first child. His name is Blake, and Andy hopes he has the same passion as he does for the outdoors. Although Andy lives in Tennessee, he is fortunate to hunt and own land in the big buck state of Illinois. Andy has hunted in Illinois for fifteen years and he has been able to take a lot nice bucks, his largest being a buck that gross scored in the 160s.
Jim and Andy's 2010 Hit List
Make sure that you keep checking back for updates on Jim and Andy's hit list. These guys will be working hard to bring you big buck action from Illinois.
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"3 FINGERS"
This is a new buck for 2010. We have several trail cam pictures of him but we have yet to get him on film. He is a 12 point with his name coming from the end of his left main beam. We believe this buck should gross in the 150s.
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"OCHO"
We cannot wait to see this deer in person. We believe we let this buck walk several times last year as a three and a half year old because he had no mass. If this is him all he has done is add mass. Ocho should also be a 140 inch plus buck.
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"HEAVY LEFTY"
Also new for 2010 is this nice 9 point. we are not sure if we would take this buck if given the opportunity because of his potential for next year. He has a kicker off his right G2 actually making him a 10 point but his heavy left side is where the inches are. Heavy lefty should gross in the low 140s thanks to his palmation.
"TURNIP 10"
2009 Hit List
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"LUCKY 13": He was around last year and has become quite famous among the locals. We believe this buck should gross in the 170s. Just like us, the neighboring landowners hunted him hard last year but nobody saw him from the stand. Shirley, one of the neighbors, found one of his sheds this year. We believe our best chance of tagging this buck will be to catch him chasing the females.
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"WIDELOAD": This is a new buck in our area or has grown a significant amount of antler since last year - to the point where we don't recognize him now. We have seen him several times using the same field with his group of bachelor bucks. We believe he is mature but we dont think he will score as well as some of the other bucks in this area. With all the character he has, we are hopeful to get a close up of him this season.
"TRASHY": This buck is a one hit wonder. We have never seen him before and have not seen him since this nice photo. We believe this buck is living in the cornfields to the west of our farm and we hope he returns to his landfill home when the corn is harvested. The land 200 yards behind this picture is a closed landfill and this is where he gets his name. This buck may be a good deer to let live a little longer and maybe he will return the favor and grow his drop tine a little longer.
This is a nice 3 1/2 year old eight point that is on one
of the leases that I have. He is my backup plan for killing a nice deer. He is hanging in a fairly accessible place - and should be easy to kill.
This is another deer that was photographed a lot in 2008. He was a nice eight point and looked to be about 4 1/2 years old. We passed on him many different times during the year. He is still hanging out right by my house and I have seen him several times. A friend has captured him on video - but I have yet to see this film. He is now approximately 5 1/2 years old and is sporting a 12" drop tine. He has increased in both mass and width. Tines look to be the same length - just a little more massive. We have four cameras in his bedding/travel area but can't get a picture of him.
This is a deer that may have been shot late season last year. A neighbor killed a twelve point in this area - but when we say him he was much smaller in body and his rack had deteriorated. I had estimated this deer to be 7 1/2 years old from this picture and other sightings - and the one that was shot last year was aged at 8 1/2.
