This weekend

[HuntingGuy]

Good luck, be safe, stay warm, and have fun 

[HuntingGuy]

Well, how did everyone do opening weekend? I shot a nice 8-pointer on Sunday night with only a couple minutes of shooting light left. Looking forward to cooking up some back straps! 

[jk3006]

Saturday was rather slow.  I saw one decent buck (either a six or eight), but I passed on it.  Sunday & Monday I saw tons of does.  Tuesday was dead.  The bucks just haven't showed up at all yet, other than that one I let go and a couple of ridiculous spikes.  

[Empty Quiver]

Still snakebit on Mn. deer. Since moving here I have not dropped a single deer. I have been a bit more choosey about what I will pull the trigger on, but not that much. My experience has been farmland deer not the woods and swamps I find up here.

I'm still having fun in the woods so it's all good. Bear and elk season have been good to me, the freezer is at about 2/3rds capacity so meat isn't the problem.

My daughter on the other hand, is turning into a machine. She is around deer most of the day in a stand. I have witnessed it, from my own stand a couple hundred yds away. I like to say I'm giving her the prefered stand, though not always true.

Friday is another day, and I'll be back at it.

[RB98SS]

No luck for me either up near Ely.  Only saw two does.

[carbineman]

Congrats on Hunting Guy on your 8 point. Any Pics you can post?

Just returned from 10 days near Orr Minnesota and am tired out. Spent 6 - 11 hour days in a pop up blind and am kinda crippled up. It's a good type of disability though. Paul a friend of Dan'l and mine accompanied me on the trip. I arrived on Weds.the 5th,  and set the camper up. (I leave it in Mn. now). Thursday was scout day for me and I set up the areas I intended on hunting. Paul arrived late Thursday afternoon and we walked a bit, scouting and then talked over old times. Friday final preps were made and we awaited Saturday morning.
 
The anticipation was high and the weather unseasonably warm. I saw a single doe for the day and Paul saw nothing. We retired to a hot bowl of homemade chicken soup and more conversation. Sunday came early and we were off and hunting again. I ended up seeing a small buck and a doe that day and Paul also saw a doe. Paul had to leave on Wednesday morning and I was off to another spot I used to hunt that is called State Rock or Blair Witch by the group from Hudson Wi. that hunts one ridge over from us. There was good sign and I set up my pop up 70 yards down an old skidder trail from a opening that had lots of BIG deer sign in the marshy area adjacent to it. I sat till dark and seeing how this is about 2-3 miles from camp I used the four wheeler to go back and forth. The whole hunting area is abandoned now except for me. Been up here a week and I've seen 3 deer. Wow but that is kinda hard to take as the deer sign is there and yet the deer are locked down (despite the fact there aren't a lot to begin with) tighter than a bears ass in a snowstorm.
 
Thursday morning brings a snow squall with changing winds and colder temperatures. I am wondering if I can sit a whole nother day?? I took some beefsticks to graze on and a can of sterno to light in the pop up in case the winds pick up more. It gets to be noon and I've been sitting drinking coffee, then whole reason for deer hunting in the first place appears to my left in the marshy opening. A 125-140 class buck with some serious base diameter is looking right at me. I slowly raised my rifle and cocked the hammer at the same time, he was partially obscured but came a couple steps more and stopped. I lit off my rifle and he takes off. I sure felt good about my shot. I sat and calmed down a little as the biggest deer I have seen in the 11 years of hunting there was just right in front of me. I made my way from the pop up to the scene of the shooting and found no hair or blood. I looked for an hour where I thought I had last seen him. Still no sign or blood. Dejected I returned to the blind determined that I had missed after having to shoot thru the tall grass and some minor dogwood.
 
I sat till 4:00PM  and just had to give it one more look. I made my swings bigger and sure enough found a blood trail. I hadn't missed, there was hope. The buck just happened to go east till I couldn't see him and then headed straight north. I followed the blood till dark and used TP to mark the trail. I figured I'd give him til morning and then resume. I didn't get much sleep that night needless to say. Jon from Hudson called me on the cell and indicated he and Nick would be up early Friday morning and after I told him of the days events volunteered to help track. Sad to say fellas this story does not end like it does in the outdoor magazines. After looking most of Friday the blood trail stopped and significant swings in the area proved fruitless. I was pretty dejected but while very important, it is not the end all be all. I sitting here typing to my buddies again at home ready to hit a comfortable bed tonight with the family all doing ok. I'm living my dream fellas.................

[jk3006]

carbineman,

Keep at it.  Perseverance pays off (usually, at least). 



As for me, I still keep seeing does and fawns.  The bucks don't seem to be moving.  Saw about 25 deer on Friday morning.  Two of them were bucks, and spikes at that.