A new place to hang the stand.

A gracious coworker offered her families land for me to bow hunt on. They have a farm 8 miles south of Breckenridge.  It is a perfect location and I have it all to myself.   As you can see from the picture below, there is some corn standing adjacent to the grove that I chose to hang my stand in.  I learned today that I have about 11 days until this corn is harvested.  I am certain that a monster buck frequently cuts through the grove to visit this field.

I took Brody with me today as we scouted the area and hung the tree stand.  Brody had a great time, as you can see n the picture below.  He did get a little scared climbing up the latter to the tree stand, not bad for four years of age.  The picture above is of the grove that my stand is in.  I have plans to hunt tomorrow after work.  Wish me luck.

Bow hunting kick off.

 I had a great weekend, and got out to the woods for four hours to kick off bow hunter opener.  The weekend started by attending the MN Baptist Conference Men's retreat at Trout Lake Camp.  What a great weekend to worship God and get a spiritual makeover.  I had a great time with Robert Boyd and company.  We laughed, learned, joked around and rested.  God is good.  Trout Lake Camp is near my old hunting grounds, Pillsbury State Forest, in Brainerd.  It was here that I shot my first dear with a 12 gauge shot gun and earned the nickname, head shot.  Sunday was the last day of the Men's retreat and I decided to stop at Pillsbury State Forest on my way home.  My intentions: to study for my board exam, to see the land and enjoy a quick hunt.

Last year I hunted Pillsbury for four days with my friend Jim.  We did not see or hear a thing, and I was very discouraged.   My main objective was to find a quiet place to study for the board exam.  I was not expecting to see any deer, or signs of deer.  Last year, the loggers had come and destroyed a portion of the forest.  I was glad to see that the loggers are gone, and the forest is making it's come back.

 As I was walking through the woods, I happened upon some deer poop.  Seeing deer poop in the woods is always a nice sign that there are some critters out there.  I was pleased to see signs of pre-rut scrapes and rubs.  The picture on the left is a fresh scrape.  There is a branch hanging over this scrape, deer like to rub their heads on such branches.  I believe they also urinate on the scrapes as to mark their territory.   For those that are wondering: No, I did not rub my head on the branch or urinate on this scrape.  I have learned that it is wise not  to disturb scrapes so that the bucks are not alerted to the presence of deer hunters.  

The picture on the right is a fairly fresh rub.  The rub is towards the bottom of a small tree.  For this reason, I am not sure if it is really a rub.  Some porky pine, beaver or chipmunk may have been fond of this particular small tree.  Because it is early yet, some Bucks still have velvet on their antlers.  So perhaps this rub is from a buck that was attempting to remove some of that velvet.  Usually rubs extend up the trunk of the tree a little ways.  What do you all think, is this an official rub?

As I was walking out to my old stand, I kicked up a deer.  I could not tell the sex, however it was of nice size and it gave me the old White Flag.  Some refer to this as the Flag and Flee, where the deer whips it's white tail into the air as it runs away as the first line of defense.  The picture on the left shows a deer running with it's flag up.  Many hunters see this, it must be the deer version of the one finger salute.


I did not see deer while sitting in my stand.  I did hear some thrashing about, and it was very close to where I was posted.  I grunted and wheezed, however no deer presented itself.  All and all, it was a wonderful hunt, and a great way to kick off bow season.  DEER BE WARNED; a plan is in the works for another Pillsbury State Forest hunt with me and some of my friends, probably at the end of October.  Oops, I probably shouldn't announce that.


A shout out to my Nephew, DJ.  He shot his first deer with a bow on Sunday.  Good job!  It took me three seasons to shoot mine.

Thanks to my lovely wife Jennifer.  It was her birthday on Sunday and she graciously allowed me to hunt.  I love you babe.

Die Hard Bowhunter!

I went hunting Saturday with my buddy Jimmy and his nephew Andy on some public land in Pine City, Minnesota.  It was the third weekend of firearms season.  Jimmy and Andy were both sporting their rifles and I had my PSE compound bow.  This is my third season of bow hunting, I had yet to take a deer with a bow.  My expectations were high, yet I was feeling discouraged by the unsuccessful hunting trips that preceded this one.  I thought my chances of taking a deer would improve if I hunted during rifle season, because it usually coincides with the rut.  This was my year to take a deer with my bow, I could feel it.  

The three of us arrived at the campsite in Pine City the night before.  Andy arrived first and set up camp.  He had a roaring fire waiting for us.  Jimmy brought up some cold beers.  We stayed up until about 11am, chatting about hunting, guns, cars, and various other topics.   Camping is normally tough for me on the first night, and this night was no exception.  It was very cold, and Andy snored like a disgruntled bear.  A few guys from South Eastern Minnesota set up camp at about 2-3am.  It was one of the longest sleepless nights that I can remember.  

Saturday morning came, eventually!  Jimmy and I immediately started our vehicles so that we can have some heat.  We quickly got our hunting gear ready and had some Blueberry Pop Tarts for breakfast.  We decided to hunt close to the camp site and hit the trails about 1/2 hour before sunrise.  Jimmy and Andy were able to find places to hang their stands.  I had a difficult time choosing a spot, and ended up posting in various places.  Neither of us saw a deer.  It was a cold, bitter morning.  I think all three of us eventually scouted around just to keep warm.  

We met up for a good brunch at 10-10:30am.  There was some interesting and fun pre-brunch activities.  Neighbor hunters had a big doe hanging on a tree in their camp site.  They hit it with their truck as they were driving up.  As they were sharing the story with us, one of them spotted a "big buck" swimming across the river.  Those guys all scrambled to grab their rifles and went chasing after it.  I'm assuming it was a fantom buck, because Jimmy, Andy and I didn't see a thing.   This prompted us to quickly cook our brunch so that we can get back to hunting.  The three of us had hash browns, eggs, and bacon for breakfast.  It was delicious.  

After lunch, I was itching to get back out there and hunt.  I still had not found a place to hang my stand.  Jimmy and Andy found a nice place to park, and took naps (slackers).  I spent a couple of hours lugging my portable tree stand around hoping to find the perfect spot.  I could not find many signs of deer activity and there were many hunters scattered throughout the woods.  I finally settled on a spot and hung my stand.  The picture above is the view I shot from my stand.  If you look closely, you can see a heavily trotted deer path just right of the tree in the center of the picture.  This path was one of the only signs I could find of recent deer activity, and I looked for hours.  Below is another view from the stand I hunted from, you can see the hiking bath that followed the stream.  My hope was that I could either see deer on this hiking path, or on the deer path that crossed the stream.

The afternoon hunt was tough.  I was so tired from the sleepless night before.  My eyes were very heavy and I kept getting down to walk so that I didn't doze off and fall out of my stand.  When I was walking, I bumped into two other deer hunters wandering around.  This with bothersome for me, but what can I do as we are on public land.  I felt pressure on all sides.  Andy was on one side, and two other hunters on the other.  As it got later, I returned to my stand to wait out the evening with feelings of pessimism and defeat.  As I was watching for deer, another hunter walk by me (smoking a cigarette I might add).  the wise words of the buck slayer (Jimmy) came to mind: "Don, you can't give up.  That deer can come at any moment!"  Jim had already bagged a 9 point buck this year, and a much larger buck two years ago.

About a half of an hour later, I saw this doe bouncing along towards me.  My heart began to race.  The deer walked down the deer trotted path, stopped for some water, and walked up the hill towards me.  As I began to draw my bow, my mittens (archery precision shooting mittens, that is) bumped my trigger release and I pre-maturely shot.  In disbelief I scrambled to re-nock another arrow.  Luckily the deer wasn't spooked.  The misfire caused her to pause long enough for me to reset, draw and shoot.  Perfect shot right in the cage.  She ran about ten yards and fell.  I had taken my first deer with a bow.  

Now I know a lot of you are laughing about the size of my deer.  It is about the size of a large dog.  Sure it doesn't have a huge rack.  I am still grateful for the yummy venison that I will have in my freezer.  When bow hunting this late in the season, you take what you can get.  And, don't tell my wife, I still have one more tag that I can fill by the end of December.   Anybody up for some late season buck hunting?

No deer in the old stand.

I went on a three day hunt with my buddy Jim last weekend.  We decided to hunt at my old stomping grounds near Brainerd, MN.  It is the place where I shot my first deer many years ago (a four point buck).  I have not hunted this spot in at least 12 years.  I knew it would be crawling with critters of all sorts.  I also knew that the weather was going to be nice, perfect for tenting.   So Thursday night, with our Resident Archery Deer licenses, Jim and I traveled up North to begin our hunting adventure.

We found the perfect camping spot.  It was a State Forest, so camping was free.  The tent went up quickly and we soon found ourselves crawling into our sleeping bags.  Both of us could hear critters moving around in the woods.   My imagination filled with visions of monster bucks as I drifted to sleep.

The first day (Friday) proved uneventful.  I did come across a fresh scrape and rub. This was exciting for me because I have been looking for signs of deer all morning and could not find any because the leaves were falling off of the trees.  The fallen leaves were covering the deer droppings and hoof prints.  They were also very crunchy, no doubt the deer could hear me coming from miles away.  I also found some permanent stands near the scrape and rub.  These stands were very useful for Jim and me, as we posted in them for the evening and morning hunts.  

Saturday Morning was beautiful.  It was 55 degrees and the wind was 5-10 MPH.  Perfect for the morning hunt.  Jim and I got to a late start (I set the alarm wrong), but we were able to get out to the stands and give the morning our best.  Unfortunately, neither of us saw anything.  We met for some good chow (we ate like kings) and decided to hunt a section of the forest that had recent logging activity.

A couple of weeks earlier, I tried locating my old stand but could not because the forest path leading to the stand was destroyed by fallen trees (left behind by the loggers).  I had assumed that my stand no longer existed.  After helping Jim find a great spot to set up his portable stand.  I decided to look further.  I was able to locate where the trail that led to my old stand started again and I was pleasantly surprised to find it still standing.  In the image below, I took a picture of the tree where I had carved my name in 1997 and 1998.

Finding my old stand gave me an euphoric feeling and brought back some good memories.  My friend Matt carved HEAD SHOT into this stand because of how I shot my first deer.  Head Shot was no longer visible, so I re-carved it for old times sake.  Hunting from this stand enriched my experience of the weekend.  As I hunted, I was able to recall all the deer I had seen in the past.  I soon realized I was not alone in this stand.  A porcupine took residence in the tree above.  The euphoric feelings switched to slight nervousness.  I wondered, as the little guy studied me, do porcupines jump?   Later, Jim told me that they can shoot their quills when threatened.    As Saturday evening settled in, two owls landed in the tree 10 yards from me.  Their calls echoed the forest.   Another day gone, neither Jim or I have seen deer.

Sunday Morning was uneventful.   The deer were not active at all.  It's possible that it was simply to warm.  Perhaps the falling leaves kept them from moving around.  Maybe the deer were in some corn field.  Even though Jim and I were skunked, we had a wonderful time camping, eating, and enjoying the beautiful scenery.  

 

Encounters of the Furry Kind!

Last Friday I posted on a fallen tree facing the cornfield and a very steep hill leading to the river at my back.  As I sat there on that log with my bow in hand, I began grunting and bleating for deer.  I could hear various noises in the corn which sounded like turkeys or pheasants; neither of which presented themselves.  When up in the tree a squirrel came rushing at me making all kinds of racket that only a squirrel can make.  As I stared down the little critter, I couldn't help but think: "that little bugger is going to jump on me."  The squirrel didn't.  It knows that I would have unleashed a fiery of defensive moves resulting in major bodily injuries, or ruptured ear drums.  The critter backed off..... or called in for reinforcements.

I could also see numerous raccoons coming out of the woods running into the corn just down the path 10 yards or so away from me.  As I watched the coons, I wondered why they were up so early.  It was only about 6pm and the sun was still high.  Usually coons are nocturnal, no doubt they were aware of the upcoming harvest and wanted to get their fill of the corn while they still had a chance.  As I was thinking these things, I heard some noises behind me.  As I turned to look, two coons were working they way up the log towards me.  In an attempt to send a warning, I took my bow and began threatening to shoot them.  Fearing for their lives, the coons backed off.  However they thought it was wise to sit there peering at me from the distance.  I had no doubt that those darn coons were plotting a way to get me.  After some time of waving my arrows at them, making faces, grunting noises, and whipping tree bark at them; they disappeared.

I continued to post on that log, grunting and bleating when I heard another noise from behind me.  I thought; "thats it, I am going to shoot one of those darn coons."  As I turned to look, two small deer (does) came out of the woods and stood five feet from me.  The does must have responded to the bleating and the grunting that I was doing.  I sat very still as the deer walked passed me and onto the path.  Both deer knew that there was something odd, or out of place.  I don't know why, but they kept looking at me.  They stared at me, pawed at the ground.  I just sat there and soaked in their beauty.

I did not attempt to shoot the deer simply because they were to small.  Even if I wanted to shoot them, any attempt to lift my bow would have spooked them into the corn.  Both deer were similar in size, my best guess 40-50 pounds.  They had brown and shiny coats, big black noses, and alert beady eyes.  There were no signs of nubbins or buttons (antlers).  Both deer were very skinny, so much so that I could see the individual ribs on their rib cages.  I sat still as the deer gracefully moved on into the corn.  No doubt they had their fill also.

Thats one of the things I love about deer hunting.  I don't always have to shoot that monster buck to have a great time deer hunting.  Deer hunting gives me the opportunity to witness God's creation which I often overlook in the hustle and bustle of every day living.  Many times I have enjoyed an amazing sunrise where the forest floor is completely silent, and then watch it come to life with birds, squirrels, deer, and sometimes coyotes, beavers and fishers (marten, not men); and also witness the wilderness retire as the sunsets.  It truly is amazing.