12-25-2011 Sun
1:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Weather: NW 14, clear, 42˚, three to six inches of ice
Location: Mississippi River Pool 7
Caught: nothing
Partners: None
Comments
It was a quick ice fishing excursion close to home today. I specifically wanted to target an area (Fox Beach) where I had done rather well on perch and bluegills two years ago. Today it was a big zero; it seemed as if the flow was too fast to make it a pan fish wintering hole. My second spot was a rather shallow area that I had fished several years ago and had caught one fourteen inch perch. I have wanted to get back there for a couple of years and today I was scratching that itch. The area has awesome weed growth, but the depth is only about two to three feet. Again, I came up with a big zero.
The third and final spot was an area on the north end of the lake about one half of a mile directly west of the Prairie Cut. The area looked good; the depth was about four feet with a hard sand bottom and scattered weeds throughout the area. This final area I just fished with tip – ups and never had a flag.
Observations:
The ice thickness in the areas I fished varied anywhere from four to eight inches. The running conditions with the air boat were quite extreme; the ice was totally bare, there were lots of open water areas and there were many spots where the boat broke through.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
12-21-2011 Wed
12-21-2011 Wed
2:30 PM – 4:45 PM
Weather: Calm, clear, 41˚, four inches of ice
Location: Fort McCoy – North Flowage
Bagged/caught: Approx. 30 bluegills (kept 10 nice gills, two bass 14 and 12 inches
Partners: Scott
Comments
Scott and I made the trip to the North Flowage of McCoy today. I was hoping to get some decent size bass on tip-ups; however we only caught a fourteen incher on the tip-ups. The action on both the jig poles and the tip ups was very slow. But then around the last thirty minutes of light the fish became very active. I drilled many, many holes, but had very little action until the sun was far in the western sky. I never marked many fish on the locator nor did Scott see many on the Marcum camera.
However near the end of the day, it was hard to keep the fish off the hook. The locator was always filled with fish and the fish were very active. I feel the fish were always there; however they were not very active until the end of the day.
Observations:
The ice thickness was around four good inches of ice. The fish that I kept and cleaned were very heavily peppered with the black parasite spots.
2:30 PM – 4:45 PM
Weather: Calm, clear, 41˚, four inches of ice
Location: Fort McCoy – North Flowage
Bagged/caught: Approx. 30 bluegills (kept 10 nice gills, two bass 14 and 12 inches
Partners: Scott
Comments
Scott and I made the trip to the North Flowage of McCoy today. I was hoping to get some decent size bass on tip-ups; however we only caught a fourteen incher on the tip-ups. The action on both the jig poles and the tip ups was very slow. But then around the last thirty minutes of light the fish became very active. I drilled many, many holes, but had very little action until the sun was far in the western sky. I never marked many fish on the locator nor did Scott see many on the Marcum camera.
However near the end of the day, it was hard to keep the fish off the hook. The locator was always filled with fish and the fish were very active. I feel the fish were always there; however they were not very active until the end of the day.
Observations:
The ice thickness was around four good inches of ice. The fish that I kept and cleaned were very heavily peppered with the black parasite spots.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
12-18-2011 Sun
12-18-2011 Sun
2:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Weather: S16, clear, 44˚, 29.92 falling, three inches of ice
Location: Lake Onalaska in front of Schaffer’s
Bagged/caught: Approx. 20 bluegills with maybe one keeper, three bass 17, 14 and 12 inches
Partners: none
Comments
I had been itching to get out fishing in front of Schaffer’s ever since the ice became solid enough to walk on. Normally this spot is good for early ice gills and pike with a small sprinkling of bass thrown in.
Today the story line was pretty much bass. Oh, I did catch a few decent gills, but the vast majority of them were small chips. The biggest bass of the day came on my jig pole, and it turned out to be a battle of determination between myself and Mr. Largemouth and I won. I only had one flag all afternoon and that turned out to be a decent fifteen inch largemouth.
Observations:
Ice conditions are not ideally safe, but there is about three inches of good hard ice and I did feel fairly confident I would not be swimming today! I was definitely disappointed with the amount of fish I caught today. Normally first ice in front of Schaffer’s is good for pan fish along with some bonus pike and largemouth bass.
12-17-2011 Sat
12-17-2011 Sat
7:30 AM – 4:30 PM
Weather: S6, overcast, 27˚, (1153) one inches of snow cover, four inches of ice
Location: Sparta, WI area and F McCoy, WI
Bagged/caught: small buck (already had shed antlers/ Lots of small gills and some nice ones and 6-8 crappies from 8 – 10 inches
Partners: Tom W. and some of his friends (bow hunting) myself ice fishing
Comments
Today started out with about one half day of some late season bow hunting. The strategy for the hunt would be deer drives. I would finish off the day ice fishing on the North Flowage of Fort McCoy.
On the first drive of the day I was a stander and it just so happened that it was the only drive that we would see any deer on. The action was awesome; we had deer bouncing all over and they were somewhat stuck between the drivers and the standers. I had several shots and was able to connect with one of my shots. I must tell you these were no chip shots. These deer felt trapped between the standers and the drivers and when they can by me they were in the escape mode and they were making tracks! The deer I did connect on was shot too far back and we had to let it be for two hours before we came back to recover it. Even after two hours it was still alive, but in very bad shape. One more arrow was necessary to put it down. One of the other hunters also shot a deer, or shall I say somewhat of a deer. This deer was tiny and I would have to guesstimate it weight at around thirty pounds! My deer was no trophy either. It was a buck that had already shed its’ antlers, but it weighed in at a measly seventy pounds.
After we finished the deer drives and recovering the deer the group was done hunting, but for me it was time for a little first ice action on the North Flowage. I really did not have a clue on where to go, but I drilled around twenty holes and towards sundown I finally was on an area that started to produce fish. I did not have any flags, but I did get on some fairly nice bluegills and crappies.
Observations:
The weather today was just gorgeous and it was definitely ideal conditions for bow hunting. The fishing in the late afternoon was also good and we had about four inches of safe ice to venture onto.
7:30 AM – 4:30 PM
Weather: S6, overcast, 27˚, (1153) one inches of snow cover, four inches of ice
Location: Sparta, WI area and F McCoy, WI
Bagged/caught: small buck (already had shed antlers/ Lots of small gills and some nice ones and 6-8 crappies from 8 – 10 inches
Partners: Tom W. and some of his friends (bow hunting) myself ice fishing
Comments
Today started out with about one half day of some late season bow hunting. The strategy for the hunt would be deer drives. I would finish off the day ice fishing on the North Flowage of Fort McCoy.
On the first drive of the day I was a stander and it just so happened that it was the only drive that we would see any deer on. The action was awesome; we had deer bouncing all over and they were somewhat stuck between the drivers and the standers. I had several shots and was able to connect with one of my shots. I must tell you these were no chip shots. These deer felt trapped between the standers and the drivers and when they can by me they were in the escape mode and they were making tracks! The deer I did connect on was shot too far back and we had to let it be for two hours before we came back to recover it. Even after two hours it was still alive, but in very bad shape. One more arrow was necessary to put it down. One of the other hunters also shot a deer, or shall I say somewhat of a deer. This deer was tiny and I would have to guesstimate it weight at around thirty pounds! My deer was no trophy either. It was a buck that had already shed its’ antlers, but it weighed in at a measly seventy pounds.
After we finished the deer drives and recovering the deer the group was done hunting, but for me it was time for a little first ice action on the North Flowage. I really did not have a clue on where to go, but I drilled around twenty holes and towards sundown I finally was on an area that started to produce fish. I did not have any flags, but I did get on some fairly nice bluegills and crappies.
Observations:
The weather today was just gorgeous and it was definitely ideal conditions for bow hunting. The fishing in the late afternoon was also good and we had about four inches of safe ice to venture onto.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
12-11-2011
12-11-2011 Sun
1:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Weather: SW15, sunny, 40˚, two inches of snow cover, six inches of ice
Location: Trempealeau bike trail and Mississippi R. Round Lake
Bagged/caught: nothing/ Lots of small gills, kept 6
Partners: Roxy
Comments
I was taking Roxy out for her maiden hunt this year. I already decided that how she did hunting today would dictate how much rabbit hunting I would do this winter. The conditions were ideal: sunny, 40 degrees and two inches of snow. Everything was perfect except someone had beaten me to the spot. We hunted it anyway and we did run into three generations of hunters (grandpa, son and grandson). I was rather bummed, this is a very good spot and I had high hopes Roxy would start out strong.
Unfortunately she was pretty much a bust. She has some interest in rabbits, but the drive and search is just not there. I do not know how much more I will hunt her this year; I just do not think she will ever be a rabbit dog!
After the disappointing rabbit hunting session, it was time for a little first ice, fishing. My first stop was Mud Lake. I walked out without my gear, just to kind of scope the area out. There was one other fisherman and his son there. He told me they had caught a couple of perch and that was the extent of their success.
I by-passed Mud Lake and went to Round Lake. There was a fairly large group of fishermen here, so of course I assumed some fish were being caught. I set out two tip-ups and fished for pan fish with my other line. The ice thickness was more than I had anticipated and after chopping holes through six inches of ice I was tired.
The bite was not fast and furious, but I would have small schools of fish come through on a regular basis. I never did get a flag on any of the tip-ups.
Observations:
The water level on the Mississippi is very low this winter; I do not expect Mud Lake to be as good as last year on account of this low water. The rabbit population appears to be quite healthy.
1:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Weather: SW15, sunny, 40˚, two inches of snow cover, six inches of ice
Location: Trempealeau bike trail and Mississippi R. Round Lake
Bagged/caught: nothing/ Lots of small gills, kept 6
Partners: Roxy
Comments
I was taking Roxy out for her maiden hunt this year. I already decided that how she did hunting today would dictate how much rabbit hunting I would do this winter. The conditions were ideal: sunny, 40 degrees and two inches of snow. Everything was perfect except someone had beaten me to the spot. We hunted it anyway and we did run into three generations of hunters (grandpa, son and grandson). I was rather bummed, this is a very good spot and I had high hopes Roxy would start out strong.
Unfortunately she was pretty much a bust. She has some interest in rabbits, but the drive and search is just not there. I do not know how much more I will hunt her this year; I just do not think she will ever be a rabbit dog!
After the disappointing rabbit hunting session, it was time for a little first ice, fishing. My first stop was Mud Lake. I walked out without my gear, just to kind of scope the area out. There was one other fisherman and his son there. He told me they had caught a couple of perch and that was the extent of their success.
I by-passed Mud Lake and went to Round Lake. There was a fairly large group of fishermen here, so of course I assumed some fish were being caught. I set out two tip-ups and fished for pan fish with my other line. The ice thickness was more than I had anticipated and after chopping holes through six inches of ice I was tired.
The bite was not fast and furious, but I would have small schools of fish come through on a regular basis. I never did get a flag on any of the tip-ups.
Observations:
The water level on the Mississippi is very low this winter; I do not expect Mud Lake to be as good as last year on account of this low water. The rabbit population appears to be quite healthy.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
112-5-2011 Mon
12-5-2011 Mon
6:45 AM – 4:00 PM
Weather: NW10, fog/mist, 25˚, 30.39 rising, and one inch of snow cover (1153)
Location: Mississippi river bottom closed areas, Onalaska WI
Bagged: nothing
Partners: Dick
Comments
Duck season closed yesterday and the muzzleloader season was still open, so that meant we could hunt the refuge closed areas today. In past years we use to hunt the Tiffany Wildlife Area near Nelson, Wisconsin, but the Fish and Wildlife Service had changed the closed area boundaries and now that area is an open hunting area.
The start of the hunt did not go well. I was taking the airboat and we could not get the boat off the trailer in the wee hours of the morning. So, I positioned the trailer on a slope where we would have the help of gravity slide the boat off the trailer. The first little push from Dick and I did move the boat about an inch. Well from past experiences I knew the boat would now roll off easily since we had moved it ever so slightly. This is where the trouble started.
I went to remove the safety chain that prevents the boat from coming off the trailer in case the trailer winch fails. Well, I failed to tell Dick that he did not have to push anymore and as I was about to remove the chain he gave the boat another all you can give push. This last push spelled disaster for my right little finger. The boat now easily slid backwards, but unfortunately my little finger was now tangled up with the chain. I immediately felt this incredible pain and all I could see was the shredded finger from my glove, stuck in the chain.
I was very vocal in my expression of my pain and Dick asked what happened. I told him my finger got caught in the chain and that I seriously did not know if I still had my finger and that I did not want to look. Once the sting stopped and I calmed down, a quick glance down at my hand confirmed that yes indeed I still had all five fingers on my right hand. As Autumn said ” at least you will not be like grandpa Tolley” (missing fingers). I still had my finger, but it was not looking too healthy. I figured I needed to go visit a doctor, but it was the opening of muzzle loader season in the refuge areas and I did not want to miss it.
Dick asked how my finger was and I replied it hurt and it does not look good, but let’s patch it up as best as we can and go hunting. We managed to scrape together some gauze and duct tape, and bandaged the bleeding finger up. It is truly amazing what you can do with duct tape!
Muzzleloader hunting was not nearly as exciting as the finger episode, but it was a lot less painful. I ended up seeing three deer in the two hours I sat in the morning and Dick saw eight. Neither one of us fired a round; we were both waiting for a suitable shot and one never materialized for either one of us.
After about ten o’clock we made several drives and never moved a deer. All the drives we did do had already been pushed by other groups of hunters.
Observations:
This is the first time I had ever hunted this refuge area and I think I will do it again next year. I was very surprised by the amount of hunters that were out here. Unfortunately, ice up had not taken place yet and this allowed many more hunters to get out there than there would have been if we had ice instead of open water. There is no doubt deer were shot, but hopefully the hunters did not put too big of a hurt on the population.
6:45 AM – 4:00 PM
Weather: NW10, fog/mist, 25˚, 30.39 rising, and one inch of snow cover (1153)
Location: Mississippi river bottom closed areas, Onalaska WI
Bagged: nothing
Partners: Dick
Comments
Duck season closed yesterday and the muzzleloader season was still open, so that meant we could hunt the refuge closed areas today. In past years we use to hunt the Tiffany Wildlife Area near Nelson, Wisconsin, but the Fish and Wildlife Service had changed the closed area boundaries and now that area is an open hunting area.
The start of the hunt did not go well. I was taking the airboat and we could not get the boat off the trailer in the wee hours of the morning. So, I positioned the trailer on a slope where we would have the help of gravity slide the boat off the trailer. The first little push from Dick and I did move the boat about an inch. Well from past experiences I knew the boat would now roll off easily since we had moved it ever so slightly. This is where the trouble started.
I went to remove the safety chain that prevents the boat from coming off the trailer in case the trailer winch fails. Well, I failed to tell Dick that he did not have to push anymore and as I was about to remove the chain he gave the boat another all you can give push. This last push spelled disaster for my right little finger. The boat now easily slid backwards, but unfortunately my little finger was now tangled up with the chain. I immediately felt this incredible pain and all I could see was the shredded finger from my glove, stuck in the chain.
I was very vocal in my expression of my pain and Dick asked what happened. I told him my finger got caught in the chain and that I seriously did not know if I still had my finger and that I did not want to look. Once the sting stopped and I calmed down, a quick glance down at my hand confirmed that yes indeed I still had all five fingers on my right hand. As Autumn said ” at least you will not be like grandpa Tolley” (missing fingers). I still had my finger, but it was not looking too healthy. I figured I needed to go visit a doctor, but it was the opening of muzzle loader season in the refuge areas and I did not want to miss it.
Dick asked how my finger was and I replied it hurt and it does not look good, but let’s patch it up as best as we can and go hunting. We managed to scrape together some gauze and duct tape, and bandaged the bleeding finger up. It is truly amazing what you can do with duct tape!
Muzzleloader hunting was not nearly as exciting as the finger episode, but it was a lot less painful. I ended up seeing three deer in the two hours I sat in the morning and Dick saw eight. Neither one of us fired a round; we were both waiting for a suitable shot and one never materialized for either one of us.
After about ten o’clock we made several drives and never moved a deer. All the drives we did do had already been pushed by other groups of hunters.
Observations:
This is the first time I had ever hunted this refuge area and I think I will do it again next year. I was very surprised by the amount of hunters that were out here. Unfortunately, ice up had not taken place yet and this allowed many more hunters to get out there than there would have been if we had ice instead of open water. There is no doubt deer were shot, but hopefully the hunters did not put too big of a hurt on the population.
12-4-2011 Sun
12-4-2011 Sun
10:30 AM – 3:30 PM
Weather: NW8, overcast, 31˚, 30.09 rising, and a dusting of snow cover (1153)
Location: Dick’s landlords farm, Genoa, WI
Bagged: nothing
Partners: Dick
Comments
It was the seventh day of muzzleloader season, but only the first time I had been out for it. We were hunting Dick’s landlord’s farm just north of Genoa, WI. There was just Dick and I and the plan was to do about four drives. One on one drives can be productive if you know the area and there are some pinch points where the deer have to go, but today we had neither going for us.
I was still excited to go. I love to see new country and the thrill of making deer drives is what keeps bringing me back to this type of hunting. The thing is you can usually push something past one of the standers, and if you are a driver you also have a chance to see deer and you also get to scout other areas out.
Today we did not see a deer, I am sure we moved a couple from the looks of the tracks we found in the freshly fallen snow. This country is steep, rugged and quite isolated, so you would think it would be a top notch deer area, but it is not! There are deer here, but they are not overly abundant. In fact, trails are non-existent. If it was not for all the rubs I saw, I would say the deer are really scarce. Dick blames the lack of deer on two things: The Amish shoot anything they see, and his landlord pastures a lot of the woods.
I may have not seen any deer but I had a good time and I saw plenty of squirrels and turkeys.
Observations:
Rubs were quite abundant, and there appears to be a healthy population of squirrels.
10:30 AM – 3:30 PM
Weather: NW8, overcast, 31˚, 30.09 rising, and a dusting of snow cover (1153)
Location: Dick’s landlords farm, Genoa, WI
Bagged: nothing
Partners: Dick
Comments
It was the seventh day of muzzleloader season, but only the first time I had been out for it. We were hunting Dick’s landlord’s farm just north of Genoa, WI. There was just Dick and I and the plan was to do about four drives. One on one drives can be productive if you know the area and there are some pinch points where the deer have to go, but today we had neither going for us.
I was still excited to go. I love to see new country and the thrill of making deer drives is what keeps bringing me back to this type of hunting. The thing is you can usually push something past one of the standers, and if you are a driver you also have a chance to see deer and you also get to scout other areas out.
Today we did not see a deer, I am sure we moved a couple from the looks of the tracks we found in the freshly fallen snow. This country is steep, rugged and quite isolated, so you would think it would be a top notch deer area, but it is not! There are deer here, but they are not overly abundant. In fact, trails are non-existent. If it was not for all the rubs I saw, I would say the deer are really scarce. Dick blames the lack of deer on two things: The Amish shoot anything they see, and his landlord pastures a lot of the woods.
I may have not seen any deer but I had a good time and I saw plenty of squirrels and turkeys.
Observations:
Rubs were quite abundant, and there appears to be a healthy population of squirrels.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
11-27-2011 Sun
11-27-2011 Sun
8:30 AM – 5:00 PM
Weather: N21, overcast, 35˚ (1200)
Location: Sparta and Ettrick, WI
Bagged: three does
Partners: Tom W., Johnnie Kind, and the Brook’s family and their friends
Comments
It was the last day of deer season and I was hunting with a group on some private land south of Sparta, WI and private land near Ettrick. Since it was the last day of the season Tom wanted a doe. He had requests for deer and he wanted to fill the order.
The first two farms we hunted were owned by the father and uncle of one of Tom’s co-workers. We had a total of ten hunters in the group and I knew no one except Tom, and all the other hunters were much younger than Tom and I. We were under strict orders to shoot only large buck or coyotes, and honestly I would have rather shot a coyote than a large buck. I would have felt quite bad if I would have shot a large buck on someone’s land that I did not know and also with a bunch of strangers. I did see a total of nine deer (the most I had seen in total for the season). Out of the nine deer one was a fourteen inch two and a half year old buck that came within about twenty yards of me. Of course since I was not in the market for such a deer it did give my ample opportunities to shoot it. I was not very comfortable hunting these farms with a total group of strangers. The group as a whole bagged two does on the first farm. I still have not figured that one out; we were told at the beginning that no does were to be shot.
The next farm we hunted was Congressman Ron Kind’s land. We got there rather late and Ron was already out with his youngest son. Ron’s oldest son Johnnie was there, so Tom formulated a plan for Johnnie and me to sit and Tom would make a small push to us. The only wrinkle in the plan was that Tom wanted a deer and Ron and the boys had just decided not to shoot anymore does. Tom with his persuasive powers did talk Johnnie into shooting a doe if the opportunity presented itself.
I had not even gotten to my stand when I heard Johnnie shoot. About five minutes later I had him at the base of my tree saying he had shot a doe but it ran off and he did not know what to do. I sent him back to his stand and told him to wait for Tom to finish the drive then Tom and I would be over. After the drive we picked up on the blood trail and found the deer about one hundred yards from where he had shot it.
Tom now had his deer, but he and Johnnie had to come up with a story to appease Ron on account they had shot a doe. I stood the last half hour of the season between the public and private land and saw one fawn.
Observations:
I had a fairly good deer season this year, even though it was filled with bad luck the first day. After not getting that big buck on the first day I was pretty much in the bummed mood the rest of the season. The deer population seems to be much higher down here around home, however it could just appear that way on account everybody is baiting deer up north and that is possibly why I did not see that many deer up there.
8:30 AM – 5:00 PM
Weather: N21, overcast, 35˚ (1200)
Location: Sparta and Ettrick, WI
Bagged: three does
Partners: Tom W., Johnnie Kind, and the Brook’s family and their friends
Comments
It was the last day of deer season and I was hunting with a group on some private land south of Sparta, WI and private land near Ettrick. Since it was the last day of the season Tom wanted a doe. He had requests for deer and he wanted to fill the order.
The first two farms we hunted were owned by the father and uncle of one of Tom’s co-workers. We had a total of ten hunters in the group and I knew no one except Tom, and all the other hunters were much younger than Tom and I. We were under strict orders to shoot only large buck or coyotes, and honestly I would have rather shot a coyote than a large buck. I would have felt quite bad if I would have shot a large buck on someone’s land that I did not know and also with a bunch of strangers. I did see a total of nine deer (the most I had seen in total for the season). Out of the nine deer one was a fourteen inch two and a half year old buck that came within about twenty yards of me. Of course since I was not in the market for such a deer it did give my ample opportunities to shoot it. I was not very comfortable hunting these farms with a total group of strangers. The group as a whole bagged two does on the first farm. I still have not figured that one out; we were told at the beginning that no does were to be shot.
The next farm we hunted was Congressman Ron Kind’s land. We got there rather late and Ron was already out with his youngest son. Ron’s oldest son Johnnie was there, so Tom formulated a plan for Johnnie and me to sit and Tom would make a small push to us. The only wrinkle in the plan was that Tom wanted a deer and Ron and the boys had just decided not to shoot anymore does. Tom with his persuasive powers did talk Johnnie into shooting a doe if the opportunity presented itself.
I had not even gotten to my stand when I heard Johnnie shoot. About five minutes later I had him at the base of my tree saying he had shot a doe but it ran off and he did not know what to do. I sent him back to his stand and told him to wait for Tom to finish the drive then Tom and I would be over. After the drive we picked up on the blood trail and found the deer about one hundred yards from where he had shot it.
Tom now had his deer, but he and Johnnie had to come up with a story to appease Ron on account they had shot a doe. I stood the last half hour of the season between the public and private land and saw one fawn.
Observations:
I had a fairly good deer season this year, even though it was filled with bad luck the first day. After not getting that big buck on the first day I was pretty much in the bummed mood the rest of the season. The deer population seems to be much higher down here around home, however it could just appear that way on account everybody is baiting deer up north and that is possibly why I did not see that many deer up there.
11-26-2011 Sat
11-26-2011 Sat
7:30 AM – 3:00 PM
Weather: NW10, fog/mist, 45˚ (1200)
Location: Strum, WI
Bagged: Mark Jr. six pointer, Jake eight pointer
Partners: Jeremy and Denny Pank, Mark, Jake and Mark Jr. Tupper, Tom Weber
Comments
It was the eighth day of deer season and I was hunting with a group on Jeremy Pank’s land and some adjacent forest cropland. The plan was to drive the forest cropland first and then we would focus our attention on Jeremy’s eighty acres.
We started out driving the forest cropland woods first. We wanted to get an early start on this land in order to get to it before any other hunters decided to drive it as we were doing. We got in position and me and the other drivers started the push to our standers. Unknown to us drivers, hunters from another group started a drive on the adjacent hillside. These hunters walked right past our standers and set up on the edge of our drive and amongst our standers.
We were both on public land but it was quite unethical and downright dangerous for that other group to move into our drive. We were there first and they walked right past our standers in order to make their drive.
We did manage to get two bucks off that first drive, but it was pretty much mass confusion with the two groups competing for the woods. One interesting thing that did happen on the drive was that Tom basically herded a deer to Mark Jr. and he was able to make a good shot on it. This deer basically had no fear of Tom and like I said he basically herded it for a couple hundred yards to Mark. When Tom got to Mark Jr. he asked him if he had hit the buck, Mark said yes. Then Tom asked him how he knew and Mark replied “because after I shot he jumped straight up in the air and they always do that when you hit them with a 243”.
We also made a couple more drives on Jeremy’s land without bagging any deer. However we did manage to push a nice doe past Jeremy but he missed it.
Observations:
Jeremy’s land and the adjacent land have lots of deer sign, but I did not see much for large buck sign.
7:30 AM – 3:00 PM
Weather: NW10, fog/mist, 45˚ (1200)
Location: Strum, WI
Bagged: Mark Jr. six pointer, Jake eight pointer
Partners: Jeremy and Denny Pank, Mark, Jake and Mark Jr. Tupper, Tom Weber
Comments
It was the eighth day of deer season and I was hunting with a group on Jeremy Pank’s land and some adjacent forest cropland. The plan was to drive the forest cropland first and then we would focus our attention on Jeremy’s eighty acres.
We started out driving the forest cropland woods first. We wanted to get an early start on this land in order to get to it before any other hunters decided to drive it as we were doing. We got in position and me and the other drivers started the push to our standers. Unknown to us drivers, hunters from another group started a drive on the adjacent hillside. These hunters walked right past our standers and set up on the edge of our drive and amongst our standers.
We were both on public land but it was quite unethical and downright dangerous for that other group to move into our drive. We were there first and they walked right past our standers in order to make their drive.
We did manage to get two bucks off that first drive, but it was pretty much mass confusion with the two groups competing for the woods. One interesting thing that did happen on the drive was that Tom basically herded a deer to Mark Jr. and he was able to make a good shot on it. This deer basically had no fear of Tom and like I said he basically herded it for a couple hundred yards to Mark. When Tom got to Mark Jr. he asked him if he had hit the buck, Mark said yes. Then Tom asked him how he knew and Mark replied “because after I shot he jumped straight up in the air and they always do that when you hit them with a 243”.
We also made a couple more drives on Jeremy’s land without bagging any deer. However we did manage to push a nice doe past Jeremy but he missed it.
Observations:
Jeremy’s land and the adjacent land have lots of deer sign, but I did not see much for large buck sign.
11-25-2011 Fri
11-25-2011 Fri
9:30 AM – 5:00 PM
Weather: S20, cloudy, 45˚ (1200)
Location: De Soto, WI
Bagged: nothing
Partners: Tom Weber
Comments
It was the seventh day of deer season and I was hunting with Tom Weber just north of De Soto. It was more or less an exploratory trip than anything else. Tom’s brother’s mother in law lives down by Battle Hollow and she has forty acres that butts up to some public land. I had ridden past this area many times while riding the school bus back and forth to school for about five years, but I had never hunted it.
The terrain was very steep and rugged; it reminded me of some of the mountains I had hunted out in Colorado. One of the hillsides on the south side of the road was particularly nasty; it was steep, rocky and was very hard going on account of all the blow downs that littered the hillside. It was definitely apparent that a tornado or straight line winds had been through the area a couple years earlier.
We never did see any deer, but we did see a few turkeys and the area did look like it held some deer.
Observations:
The area is very steep and rugged and I may hunt it again in the future.
9:30 AM – 5:00 PM
Weather: S20, cloudy, 45˚ (1200)
Location: De Soto, WI
Bagged: nothing
Partners: Tom Weber
Comments
It was the seventh day of deer season and I was hunting with Tom Weber just north of De Soto. It was more or less an exploratory trip than anything else. Tom’s brother’s mother in law lives down by Battle Hollow and she has forty acres that butts up to some public land. I had ridden past this area many times while riding the school bus back and forth to school for about five years, but I had never hunted it.
The terrain was very steep and rugged; it reminded me of some of the mountains I had hunted out in Colorado. One of the hillsides on the south side of the road was particularly nasty; it was steep, rocky and was very hard going on account of all the blow downs that littered the hillside. It was definitely apparent that a tornado or straight line winds had been through the area a couple years earlier.
We never did see any deer, but we did see a few turkeys and the area did look like it held some deer.
Observations:
The area is very steep and rugged and I may hunt it again in the future.
11-22-2011 Tue
11-22-2011 Tue
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Weather: SW8, overcast, 23˚ (1200), 10” snow cover
Location: Moose Junction, WI
Bagged: nothing
Partners: myself, Mark, Jake, and Mark Jr. Tupper, and Donnie
Comments
It was the fourth day of deer season and Dick had already left. After He left I asked everyone if they would miss his dogs and no one would reply. I took that as a no we will not miss the dogs.
I had to go to Duluth this morning and pick up my TWIC card, so that took up about three hours. Then this afternoon I have to head to the cities and pick Autumn up around 5PM (what a treat driving in the city at rush hour). After I picked up my card and made it back to the cabin I had some time to kill. I did need to get my tree stand out of the woods, so I decided to make a little drive to Mark Jr. in the process.
In the process of the drive I crossed a good sized lone track that I figured was a buck. I decided I could not ignore this new found hot track and had to pursue it. I followed the track for a couple hundred yards until it turned into a bedded spike. It took me awhile to discern the antlers from the surrounding brush, but once I did I could definitely see it was a small antlered spike. I eased my way away from the buck and continued to go to my stand; remove it and then continue on to Mark.
Dick had told me how he had been through the area yesterday and how much sign there was. Well there was some sign, but it was really quite dismal. I am sure I will be re-thinking this spot as a stand location for next year.
Observations:
One deer was shot today by Mark Sr. and most everybody else except for Donnie saw a deer today.
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Weather: SW8, overcast, 23˚ (1200), 10” snow cover
Location: Moose Junction, WI
Bagged: nothing
Partners: myself, Mark, Jake, and Mark Jr. Tupper, and Donnie
Comments
It was the fourth day of deer season and Dick had already left. After He left I asked everyone if they would miss his dogs and no one would reply. I took that as a no we will not miss the dogs.
I had to go to Duluth this morning and pick up my TWIC card, so that took up about three hours. Then this afternoon I have to head to the cities and pick Autumn up around 5PM (what a treat driving in the city at rush hour). After I picked up my card and made it back to the cabin I had some time to kill. I did need to get my tree stand out of the woods, so I decided to make a little drive to Mark Jr. in the process.
In the process of the drive I crossed a good sized lone track that I figured was a buck. I decided I could not ignore this new found hot track and had to pursue it. I followed the track for a couple hundred yards until it turned into a bedded spike. It took me awhile to discern the antlers from the surrounding brush, but once I did I could definitely see it was a small antlered spike. I eased my way away from the buck and continued to go to my stand; remove it and then continue on to Mark.
Dick had told me how he had been through the area yesterday and how much sign there was. Well there was some sign, but it was really quite dismal. I am sure I will be re-thinking this spot as a stand location for next year.
Observations:
One deer was shot today by Mark Sr. and most everybody else except for Donnie saw a deer today.
11-21-2011 Mon
11-21-2011 Mon
6:45 AM – 5:00 PM
Weather: SW8, overcast, 23˚ (1200), 10” snow cover
Location: Moose Junction, WI
Bagged: nothing
Partners: myself, Mark, Jake, Mark Jr. Tupper, Dick and Donnie
Comments
It was the third day of the gun season and we still had snow on the ground. I hunted both morning and night in the location of the big buck, but I never saw him or any fresh sign of him.
We did make some drives today, but again no deer were seen or shot.
Observations:
The deer are not overly plentiful. I am certain the main reason we are not seeing any deer is because most of the other hunters are baiting. The deer are staying close to the bait piles and they do not have to move much to fill their bellies.
6:45 AM – 5:00 PM
Weather: SW8, overcast, 23˚ (1200), 10” snow cover
Location: Moose Junction, WI
Bagged: nothing
Partners: myself, Mark, Jake, Mark Jr. Tupper, Dick and Donnie
Comments
It was the third day of the gun season and we still had snow on the ground. I hunted both morning and night in the location of the big buck, but I never saw him or any fresh sign of him.
We did make some drives today, but again no deer were seen or shot.
Observations:
The deer are not overly plentiful. I am certain the main reason we are not seeing any deer is because most of the other hunters are baiting. The deer are staying close to the bait piles and they do not have to move much to fill their bellies.
11-20-2011 Sun
11-20-2011 Sun
6:45 AM – 5:00 PM
Weather: SW12, cloudy, 19˚ (1200)
Location: Moose Junction, WI
Bagged: nothing
Partners: myself, Mark, Jake, and Mark Jr. Tupper, Dick and Donnie
Comments
It was the second day of the gun season and we now had snow on the ground. Early in the morning I still hunted south of the cabin for two hours and never saw a deer. I did run across a few fresh tracks from early that morning or late that night.
At nine o’clock we got together to make a couple of drives where I had hit that buck. I was hopeful someone would stumble upon him or get a shot at him if he was still alive. We never did find him or see another deer, however we did find some blood that I think came from the buck I had hit the morning before.
We had found some rather large fresh tracks very close to where I had hit that deer. Along with the tracks we found some very small bits of blood in the snow. I think the blood was probably coming off the deer when he shook or moved erratically. Anyway, there was not enough blood to be concerned with. We also found a fresh scrape and rub from this same deer that was leaving just a trace of blood. I was very certain that it was the same deer that I had hit yesterday and he was not hurting too badly if he was rubbing a scraping.
We made a few more drives, but no one shot or even saw a deer today. I ended up finishing the day out in a deer stand in the same location where I had hit the big buck. I was being very hopeful that he was still in good physical shape and that he would be back to his old haunts.
Observations:
Today is a cold day with 10-12 inches of new snow on the ground. Hunting pressure is relatively light south of the cabin this year. The trail is very dry and open, which is making access to the end of the trail to easy.
6:45 AM – 5:00 PM
Weather: SW12, cloudy, 19˚ (1200)
Location: Moose Junction, WI
Bagged: nothing
Partners: myself, Mark, Jake, and Mark Jr. Tupper, Dick and Donnie
Comments
It was the second day of the gun season and we now had snow on the ground. Early in the morning I still hunted south of the cabin for two hours and never saw a deer. I did run across a few fresh tracks from early that morning or late that night.
At nine o’clock we got together to make a couple of drives where I had hit that buck. I was hopeful someone would stumble upon him or get a shot at him if he was still alive. We never did find him or see another deer, however we did find some blood that I think came from the buck I had hit the morning before.
We had found some rather large fresh tracks very close to where I had hit that deer. Along with the tracks we found some very small bits of blood in the snow. I think the blood was probably coming off the deer when he shook or moved erratically. Anyway, there was not enough blood to be concerned with. We also found a fresh scrape and rub from this same deer that was leaving just a trace of blood. I was very certain that it was the same deer that I had hit yesterday and he was not hurting too badly if he was rubbing a scraping.
We made a few more drives, but no one shot or even saw a deer today. I ended up finishing the day out in a deer stand in the same location where I had hit the big buck. I was being very hopeful that he was still in good physical shape and that he would be back to his old haunts.
Observations:
Today is a cold day with 10-12 inches of new snow on the ground. Hunting pressure is relatively light south of the cabin this year. The trail is very dry and open, which is making access to the end of the trail to easy.
Monday, November 28, 2011
11-19-2011 Sat
11-19-2011 Sat
6:45 AM – 5:00 PM
Weather: N15, snow, 24˚ (snow started falling 9 AM, 10” new snow by 5 PM)
Location: Cabin (Moose Junction, WI)
Bagged/Caught: smallish eight point buck
Partners: Jake, Mark, Mark Jr., Don and Dick
Comments
It was the opening day of the Wisconsin gun deer season and my plan was to sit all day. The morning started out calm with a dropping temperature, the weather man was calling for snow to start sometime in the morning. I was pumped! I love to hunt in the snow and I felt very confident in my stand location.
By 9 AM the snow had started to fall and I had yet to see a deer. I had heard a couple of shots come from the vicinity of Mark’s stand, so I was hopeful that this twelve year old would tag his first deer. I sat in the blizzard until 11:30 and could not take it anymore; I was getting snow covered and wet. But, the main reason I could not stay in the stand any longer was because I now had tracking snow on the ground and tracking in a fresh snow is my favorite and most productive method of deer hunting. I stopped back at the cabin got a quick bite to eat and changed into some lighter and drier clothes.
I took the wheeler two miles down a logging road to an area that had been logged recently and that bordered a large swamp. The ground was solidly covered with four inches of snow and it was still accumulating rapidly. It did not take long to find fresh deer sign, any tracks that were snow covered but still somewhat visible would be fresh. I passed on any smaller tracks and any sets of tracks that appeared to be made by a doe and her fawn(s).
I found one track that was mostly covered and it was a loner deer and it appeared to be good sized. After following the track for one hundred or so yards I lost it in the swamp. The swamp had a creek in the middle and I decided to cross it with the aid of a log that made a natural, but slippery bridge. I got to the other side fine. After not finding any tracks on this side I decided to return back to the log crossing and stay on the side of the creek I knew. Well the second crossing did not go so well; I slipped and one leg got completely immersed. I never hit bottom with that leg, and now my right leg was completely wet up to my waist. The temperature was in the mid -twenties and the snow was still rapidly accumulating. I was definitely not in a very good situation. I knew I had to get my boot and two pairs of socks off and get as much water out of my boot and socks as possible; otherwise my foot would be frozen in a very short time.
I got out of the swamp, found a small tree to sit against and commenced to remove my boot and wet socks, and at the same time I was videotaping myself wringing my socks out. That’s when I got the surprise of the day. As I was talking to the camera I thought I heard a deer grunt. I really did not believe what I had just heard, so I stood up to have a look around. And that is when I saw him (the thirty point buck) just kidding, but he was one of the largest bucks I had ever seen in the woods. The buck was moving at a rather quick pace, but he was within twenty yards of me. I grabbed my gun shouldered it and gave the buck a soft blah. He immediately stopped and looked right at me. Here I was looking at one of the biggest bucks I had ever seen and he was looking back at me. He apparently did not know what I was and just stared at me. I was very excited, here I had Mr. Big fifteen yards away, broadside and I had the crosshairs of my scope fixed just behind his shoulder. For just a split second I was already congratulating myself on bagging such a nice buck. I took a deep breath, concentrated on my shot placement and squeezed the trigger.
Then reality set in. My rifle just went click. My rifle had been snowed on all day with lots of snow landing on the bolt area. After I had arrived at this spot on the four wheeler I had one heck of a time chambering a round before I started out hunting. I had to basically ram the bolt forward in order to get the bolt latched and this took several attempts. Anyway, the buck had now turned and was making tracks fast and directly away from me. I did manage to get several frantic and poorly placed shots off before the buck disappeared.
By the time I got my socks and boot back on and went to the spot where I had shot at him, his tracks were mostly snow covered. I did find some hair at the location of the first shot, which just confirmed what I had already known, that I had hit him with the first shot. I followed what I thought were his tracks for about three hundred yards. I was not one hundred percent certain these were his tracks because there were several other fresh tracks in the area. During the time I was following the track I did not find a single drop of blood, but it was snowing very hard and it was possible that all the blood could have been covered by the new snowfall.
The buck left the sanctuary of the thick clear cut and made his way into the more open woods. I followed the track for another one hundred yards and never found any blood. I had lost all hope of getting this fella. Just as I was coming to this conclusion another smaller buck was making its way through the open woods and towards me. He got about seventy yards away and I decided I was not going to recover the big buck, so I might just as well try to get this small eight pointer. I also stopped him with a blah and took a seventy yard broadside shot. I shot and the deer bolted off. All I could think of was; oh no not again! I immediately picked up the bucks track and started following his escape trail. I tracked the buck one hundred yards to where I found him dead. In that distance I never did find a drop of blood.
The day was a most definite roller coaster day on my emotions. I am still beating up on myself for not harvesting that deer, but I did get a deer and in the conditions I like to hunt. In fact before I left the cabin after lunch I had told the rest of the party that I was almost certain I would be back with a deer.
Observations:
The snow blanketed the ground by around ten this morning. There did seem to be more shooting than usual and Mark T. got his first deer (a nice healthy four pointer). From what I saw and from what the other hunters in the group reported, the deer seem to still be in rut!
6:45 AM – 5:00 PM
Weather: N15, snow, 24˚ (snow started falling 9 AM, 10” new snow by 5 PM)
Location: Cabin (Moose Junction, WI)
Bagged/Caught: smallish eight point buck
Partners: Jake, Mark, Mark Jr., Don and Dick
Comments
It was the opening day of the Wisconsin gun deer season and my plan was to sit all day. The morning started out calm with a dropping temperature, the weather man was calling for snow to start sometime in the morning. I was pumped! I love to hunt in the snow and I felt very confident in my stand location.
By 9 AM the snow had started to fall and I had yet to see a deer. I had heard a couple of shots come from the vicinity of Mark’s stand, so I was hopeful that this twelve year old would tag his first deer. I sat in the blizzard until 11:30 and could not take it anymore; I was getting snow covered and wet. But, the main reason I could not stay in the stand any longer was because I now had tracking snow on the ground and tracking in a fresh snow is my favorite and most productive method of deer hunting. I stopped back at the cabin got a quick bite to eat and changed into some lighter and drier clothes.
I took the wheeler two miles down a logging road to an area that had been logged recently and that bordered a large swamp. The ground was solidly covered with four inches of snow and it was still accumulating rapidly. It did not take long to find fresh deer sign, any tracks that were snow covered but still somewhat visible would be fresh. I passed on any smaller tracks and any sets of tracks that appeared to be made by a doe and her fawn(s).
I found one track that was mostly covered and it was a loner deer and it appeared to be good sized. After following the track for one hundred or so yards I lost it in the swamp. The swamp had a creek in the middle and I decided to cross it with the aid of a log that made a natural, but slippery bridge. I got to the other side fine. After not finding any tracks on this side I decided to return back to the log crossing and stay on the side of the creek I knew. Well the second crossing did not go so well; I slipped and one leg got completely immersed. I never hit bottom with that leg, and now my right leg was completely wet up to my waist. The temperature was in the mid -twenties and the snow was still rapidly accumulating. I was definitely not in a very good situation. I knew I had to get my boot and two pairs of socks off and get as much water out of my boot and socks as possible; otherwise my foot would be frozen in a very short time.
I got out of the swamp, found a small tree to sit against and commenced to remove my boot and wet socks, and at the same time I was videotaping myself wringing my socks out. That’s when I got the surprise of the day. As I was talking to the camera I thought I heard a deer grunt. I really did not believe what I had just heard, so I stood up to have a look around. And that is when I saw him (the thirty point buck) just kidding, but he was one of the largest bucks I had ever seen in the woods. The buck was moving at a rather quick pace, but he was within twenty yards of me. I grabbed my gun shouldered it and gave the buck a soft blah. He immediately stopped and looked right at me. Here I was looking at one of the biggest bucks I had ever seen and he was looking back at me. He apparently did not know what I was and just stared at me. I was very excited, here I had Mr. Big fifteen yards away, broadside and I had the crosshairs of my scope fixed just behind his shoulder. For just a split second I was already congratulating myself on bagging such a nice buck. I took a deep breath, concentrated on my shot placement and squeezed the trigger.
Then reality set in. My rifle just went click. My rifle had been snowed on all day with lots of snow landing on the bolt area. After I had arrived at this spot on the four wheeler I had one heck of a time chambering a round before I started out hunting. I had to basically ram the bolt forward in order to get the bolt latched and this took several attempts. Anyway, the buck had now turned and was making tracks fast and directly away from me. I did manage to get several frantic and poorly placed shots off before the buck disappeared.
By the time I got my socks and boot back on and went to the spot where I had shot at him, his tracks were mostly snow covered. I did find some hair at the location of the first shot, which just confirmed what I had already known, that I had hit him with the first shot. I followed what I thought were his tracks for about three hundred yards. I was not one hundred percent certain these were his tracks because there were several other fresh tracks in the area. During the time I was following the track I did not find a single drop of blood, but it was snowing very hard and it was possible that all the blood could have been covered by the new snowfall.
The buck left the sanctuary of the thick clear cut and made his way into the more open woods. I followed the track for another one hundred yards and never found any blood. I had lost all hope of getting this fella. Just as I was coming to this conclusion another smaller buck was making its way through the open woods and towards me. He got about seventy yards away and I decided I was not going to recover the big buck, so I might just as well try to get this small eight pointer. I also stopped him with a blah and took a seventy yard broadside shot. I shot and the deer bolted off. All I could think of was; oh no not again! I immediately picked up the bucks track and started following his escape trail. I tracked the buck one hundred yards to where I found him dead. In that distance I never did find a drop of blood.
The day was a most definite roller coaster day on my emotions. I am still beating up on myself for not harvesting that deer, but I did get a deer and in the conditions I like to hunt. In fact before I left the cabin after lunch I had told the rest of the party that I was almost certain I would be back with a deer.
Observations:
The snow blanketed the ground by around ten this morning. There did seem to be more shooting than usual and Mark T. got his first deer (a nice healthy four pointer). From what I saw and from what the other hunters in the group reported, the deer seem to still be in rut!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
11-13-2011 Sun
11-13-2011 Sun
6:00 AM – 6:30 PM
Weather: N8, partly cloudy, 46˚ (1503)
Location: Mississippi River Islands Pool 7
Bagged/Caught: one fox squirrel
Partners: myself
Comments
Today was going to be the last day for me to redeem myself for this year’s early archery season. I have hunted the hills of Fort McCoy, the coulees of Westby and now the Islands of the Mississippi River and I was hoping today was my day of luck. Since it was the last day of this season for me I had my mind made up that I would take almost any deer that came within range.
Last Tuesday I had made a drive to Larysa and her cameraman on Rosebud Island, and I was impressed by the amount of sign I had seen there. I had even mentally picked out a spot that day as to where I would set a stand if I was to hunt there again. Well today was the day and I was set up and waiting at that location just before daylight. When I launched the boat I was very surprised at all the trucks with empty trailers at the landing. Thankfully they were all duck hunters, but I would be surrounded by them all day.
My plan was to sit in this spot all day; how boring! I am really not a long haul sitter, but I was going to endure the torture today because I really wanted a deer. By 9:30AM the only critters I had seen were a few squirrels, in fact one of them was a coveted black squirrel. During my childhood squirrel hunting years bagging a black squirrel was akin to finding the Holy Grail! I never did get a chance at that black squirrel, but I did make a pretty good shot on a fox squirrel a little later in the afternoon.
Around 12:00PM I could not sit anymore, I had seen no deer and my legs were begging for any type of a workout. I did a little still hunting and scouting for about an hour. During this brief adventure I found a new spot that I talked myself into moving my deer stand camp to for the rest of the afternoon. Of course the whole time I was questioning my logic for the move, but I had thoroughly convinced myself that if I made the move I would surely get an opportunity at a deer. Well no deer came and all I saw were two squirrels.
After the woods became too dark to see my sight pins, it was time to try some walleye fishing. I had tried this spot with my new found hunting buddies earlier in the week with no luck, but I was hoping for a different outcome tonight. Unfortunately, the fishing was no better than the deer hunting.
Observations:
There are lots of duck hunters hunting the area around Rose Bud Island. Some shooting is taking place, but it was very sporadic.
6:00 AM – 6:30 PM
Weather: N8, partly cloudy, 46˚ (1503)
Location: Mississippi River Islands Pool 7
Bagged/Caught: one fox squirrel
Partners: myself
Comments
Today was going to be the last day for me to redeem myself for this year’s early archery season. I have hunted the hills of Fort McCoy, the coulees of Westby and now the Islands of the Mississippi River and I was hoping today was my day of luck. Since it was the last day of this season for me I had my mind made up that I would take almost any deer that came within range.
Last Tuesday I had made a drive to Larysa and her cameraman on Rosebud Island, and I was impressed by the amount of sign I had seen there. I had even mentally picked out a spot that day as to where I would set a stand if I was to hunt there again. Well today was the day and I was set up and waiting at that location just before daylight. When I launched the boat I was very surprised at all the trucks with empty trailers at the landing. Thankfully they were all duck hunters, but I would be surrounded by them all day.
My plan was to sit in this spot all day; how boring! I am really not a long haul sitter, but I was going to endure the torture today because I really wanted a deer. By 9:30AM the only critters I had seen were a few squirrels, in fact one of them was a coveted black squirrel. During my childhood squirrel hunting years bagging a black squirrel was akin to finding the Holy Grail! I never did get a chance at that black squirrel, but I did make a pretty good shot on a fox squirrel a little later in the afternoon.
Around 12:00PM I could not sit anymore, I had seen no deer and my legs were begging for any type of a workout. I did a little still hunting and scouting for about an hour. During this brief adventure I found a new spot that I talked myself into moving my deer stand camp to for the rest of the afternoon. Of course the whole time I was questioning my logic for the move, but I had thoroughly convinced myself that if I made the move I would surely get an opportunity at a deer. Well no deer came and all I saw were two squirrels.
After the woods became too dark to see my sight pins, it was time to try some walleye fishing. I had tried this spot with my new found hunting buddies earlier in the week with no luck, but I was hoping for a different outcome tonight. Unfortunately, the fishing was no better than the deer hunting.
Observations:
There are lots of duck hunters hunting the area around Rose Bud Island. Some shooting is taking place, but it was very sporadic.
11-8-2011 Tue
11-8-2011 Tue
10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Weather: N8, partly cloudy, 46˚, (1500)
Water: Clear, 42 ˚, 13.9 kcfs
Location: Mississippi River Islands Pool 7, Somners Chute
Bagged/Caught: Larysa - doe
Partners: Tom w, Larysa, Brad
Comments
After our hunt on Sunday night Tom called me and asked if I had any days off during the week. He said Brad and Larysa had a lot of fun hunting and wanted to do it another day if that was oaky with me; of course it was since I had a lot of fun hunting with them on Sunday. I really enjoy doing deer drives out on the islands and anytime anyone is interested in going I am in. I did have one condition though. I have wanted to get out to one of my favorite walleye spots all fall and have not made it out there yet. We were only a couple of days away from a full moon and moon rise was going to happen around 5:30PM. These two lunar occurrences were going to make for some fantastic fishing or so I thought. They all agreed, so we set a hunt date for Tuesday morning.
We started out on Rosebud Island. This island is a little bigger than what I would ordinarily drive with just two drivers and one stander, but this island has the potential to hold more deer and bigger bucks. There were no squeeze points to set Larysa on, but I did set her in an area where the deer will normally run through if pressured. The drive we did would be labeled as a suicide drive if it were gun season. You see, Tom and I were starting at opposite ends of the island and meeting at Larysa’s location. This first spot did not pay off, I did see two deer and scared up another lone deer, but we were unable to chase anything past our stander. There was plenty of deer sign, but the deer were just not cooperative. Larysa had assured us that today she was going to let arrows fly, so we definitely wanted to give her the opportunity. Tom supplied the shore lunch, and after eating our fill and doing a little duck watching it was time to head off to the next island for another deer drive.
We decided to hit the one island where we had seen deer on Sunday and the one which we figured would give Larysa the best chance of proving her marksmanship. The plan was slightly different today. I directed Brad and Larysa to move about one hundred yards up from where they had set up the previous day. Tom and I were going to make a small loop on the East side of the island and then head to the north end and swing the drive south and head back towards our shooter and cameraman.
Almost from the onset of the drive Tom and I both saw deer; things were looking good. Even though islands are small, deer can definitely slip past both drivers or pull a Houdini act. When I was approximately one hundred yards from larysa’s and brad’s position I spotted a doe headed directly towards me. I was thinking this is going to be my opportunity. As I watched the doe make her way toward my position something was amiss. She was oblivious to me and her surroundings. As she turned broadside the reason was obvious, she was bleeding profusely on her side. An arrow from my readied bow was not necessary. Larysa had done an absolute number on this doe and it was close to going down. Unfortunately for me I watched her fall to her side and saw her last breathe leave her now still body. I love to hunt but I do not like to see an animal, especially a big game animal die in such close proximity.
Tom and I had been in visual contact with one another while in the process of the drive and I texted him and said Larysa had gotten a deer. He texted back; “really” as his reply. If I would not have had confidence in her abilities I would not have been making all those drives to her. As I approached Larysa and Brad, her excitement was really spilling over. I congratulated her and we exchanged high fives. Tom soon showed up and we were giving a play by play on how it all went down. All I can say is she made a perfect lung shot and even caught part of the heart on a whitetail in flat out escape stride.
Blood trailing the doe to its final resting spot was very easy; the Muzzy broad head had done an excellent job on the doe. After more filming and reenacting it was time to field dress the deer. Tom was very insistent on Larysa doing it, she did not look overly enthusiastic, probably because she had never done it before, but she was willing. Tom was the teacher and she was the student. Tom started out with the knife and as he was cutting around what he thought was the anus Brad and I had to correct him and told him he had the wrong orifice. Tom took it in stride, put his glasses on and continued with the lesson. It was a very hilarious moment for all of us. Larysa finished the field dressing and the doe was soon in the boat and we were off to try a little walleye fishing.
We hit my favorite spot and I told the group we would know very quickly whether we were going to catch fish or not. Well we did not catch anything, although both Brad and Tom missed a couple of fish. Even though we had no walleye action it was a perfect evening for fishing and conversing. The bad part about deer hunting is there is not much time to talk and get to know one another; in fact it can be somewhat impersonal. However with fishing you might just as well gab and find out the other likes, dislikes and what make them tick.
Observations:
Rosebud Island had a fairly good amount of deer sign. I believe the walleye bite was off on account of the water temperature. Normally this spot is hot when the water temperature is in the lower fifties; tonight the water was in the lower forties, which was surprisingly lower than I figured it would be. The two days I hunted with Larysa and Brad were very enjoyable; I learned a lot, shared good moments, funny moments and met two very nice enthusiastic outdoor people.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
11-6-2011 Sun
11-6-2011 Sun
12:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Weather: SW 22 G 31, clear, 60˚, 29.79 rising (1453)
Location: Mississippi River Islands Pool 7
Bagged: Nothing
Partners: Tom w, Larysa, Brad
Comments
Tom had called me earlier in the week and asked if I was interested in taking his friend Brad and a girl that was doing a hunting film out on the islands for some deer drives. He explained that brad was the camera man and was a good friend of his and he had already had some places to hunt lined up, but he thought some exposure to the river and deer drives may be toward their liking. I was not quite sure about this and told him I would get back to him. He said take a look at her website which is www.larysaunleashed.com . Well I looked at it and she was a very pretty woman, I was even more intimidated!
We met up at the house at noon on Sunday, made our introductions and got ready for the hunt. I was quickly at ease with both her and Brad. All I remember is making some dumb comment about her shoes and if she was wearing them hunting, of course I knew she was not but I was just trying to loosen things up a bit. Since Brad was a friend of Tom’s I had an idea what he would be like, I figured he must be deep into hunting and probably had a sense of humor.
We headed off to one of my favorite islands for deer drives and we made our plans and I set Larysa and Brad up at a perfect squeeze point. I told Larysa that the deer would more than likely be coming fast and that they may not stop, so be ready. The drive worked out perfectly; I chased a smaller six to eight point buck past them. I reached them and asked what they had seen; they were both in somewhat of a fight mode. Larysa was unsure if she wanted to shoot a smaller buck and Brad thought she should have. Let me tell you, when deer are being driven to you there is not any time for hesitation. I graciously got between them and told them to break it up as there would be other opportunities.
We hit the next island to the north and ran a little fork or six pointer by them. Again, no arrows were unleashed, I am assuming because of the small size of the deer or perhaps a shot just did not present itself. The night ended with one more drive and no more seen deer. It was a long, quiet ride in with a beautiful sunset, and two new friends in my boat.
Observations:
The first island we drove (Skull Island) had ample deer sign and ample acorns. The next island north of Hammond Chute had very little deer sign.
11-5-2011 Sat
11-5-2011 Sat
7:10 AM – 8:30 PM
Weather: S 10 G 21, clear, 55˚, 29.95 falling (1335)
Location: Coulee country near Westby, WI
Bagged: Nothing
Partners: Jay S.
Comments:
My friend Jay invited me along for a full day of bow hunting on some fantastic whitetail grounds just outside of Westby, WI. The day was forecast to be mild, but the wind was going to be a factor in today’s hunt.
Jay had a stand all picked out for me and was going to walk me into it well before shooting light. Not wanting to impede his hunt, I asked him if he could give me directions and I would walk in on my own. He enthusiastically agreed and commenced giving me a mental map so I would be able to find the stand in the darkness. Well, from past experiences I knew that describing to someone about a location in the woods and having them get there in the dark was not a slam dunk. I did find it, but had difficultly and walked past it twice.
The stand was quite high according to my standards and I was glad that I had purchased a new Gorilla fall arrest harness at the urging of Jay. Jay also had a life line that I was able to attach to for the ascent up and the descent down the tree. The last step from the last step of the tree steps to the tree stand platform was a dozy; it felt as if I was stepping off the plank on a ship.
The morning was very windy but mild for this time of year. I had very little action in the morning, I saw one doe a small buck and a pit bull. Yes, I said a pit bull. I had to look several times at the partial white beast coming through the woods before I identified it. The lack of activity and Jay’s texting me with multiple reports of bucks was making me impatient.
I had never hunted in one stand all day, and around noon I climbed down for a quick stretch and shed some unneeded clothes. I was back on my vigilant watch for less than an hour when Jay texted me and broke the news that he had just shot a decent buck. I quickly tried to seize upon the opportunity to get out of my position of pain, but Jay would have none of it. He texted back and said he did not need help and that he had already found the now deceased monarch and the landowner was coming with the UTV. Shucks, I was going to stay chained to that tree.
I had no more deer activity until about 4:45PM. I had spotted two deer chasing out in the CRP field and I figured a little match making was going on. Well several minutes later a small buck appeared sixty yards downhill of my stand. I had no intentions of shooting him as these woods are managed for mature bucks, but I thought maybe I could coax him in with a few grunts. It did not work! He went the opposite way and disappeared.
However, an unseen bigger buck appeared close to where I had seen the small buck and he was looking to get in on some hot action. It is amazing how whitetails can zero in on a noise. That buck made a straight bee line to my location. As he approached I could tell he was not super- sized, but he was an adult whitetail buck and I was going to attempt to kill him. I stopped him at about fifteen yards with a soft blah. He was perfectly broadside and I was already at full draw and this job was looking pretty easy. Then, he turned his head my way and covered three quarters of his vitals with his head and antlers. I was getting to the point where I could no longer hold the bow steady and it was decision time. I quickly decided if I held the sight just at the tip of his nose I would get a fatal hit. The release and hit went just as planned and the deer stampeded off about forty yards before stopping. At this point I thought he was going down, he acted wobbly and confused, but then he trotted off.
I texted Jay and he came about a half hour later to my stand. Before I got down I wanted to confirm the blood trail with Jay, just in case I needed to send Jay in the direction I had last seen the buck. Jay quickly told me that was not necessary and that there was an ample blood trail to follow, in fact he said it was much better than the one his buck had left hours earlier.
We easily followed the trail for two- hundred yards until darkness overcame us and the untrackablility of the CRP field on the ridge top stopped our progress. We could find no more blood, so we called in my brother Dick with two of his dogs that have been trained to blood track. Unfortunately, it was a lost cause. Neither dog could figure out where the buck had gone; one dog led us up over the hill and to the road and the other led us across the CRP and over the other side. We were never able to pick up any blood more than half way through the CRP, so we were not able to establish which way the buck had really gone.
Jay and I looked for a while in the morning, but no more blood was found. Two days after all was said and done Jay called me and said a neighbor lady had found a significant blood trail in the woods and that her husband was going to follow it. We never did hear back from them, so I am assuming the buck was not found. It is really too bad, that shot was definitely a killer shot, but I must have only gotten one lung. Jay said there is always next year. I told him I felt so bad that I do not know if I can come back.
Observations:
The whitetails appear to be in full rut!
7:10 AM – 8:30 PM
Weather: S 10 G 21, clear, 55˚, 29.95 falling (1335)
Location: Coulee country near Westby, WI
Bagged: Nothing
Partners: Jay S.
Comments:
My friend Jay invited me along for a full day of bow hunting on some fantastic whitetail grounds just outside of Westby, WI. The day was forecast to be mild, but the wind was going to be a factor in today’s hunt.
Jay had a stand all picked out for me and was going to walk me into it well before shooting light. Not wanting to impede his hunt, I asked him if he could give me directions and I would walk in on my own. He enthusiastically agreed and commenced giving me a mental map so I would be able to find the stand in the darkness. Well, from past experiences I knew that describing to someone about a location in the woods and having them get there in the dark was not a slam dunk. I did find it, but had difficultly and walked past it twice.
The stand was quite high according to my standards and I was glad that I had purchased a new Gorilla fall arrest harness at the urging of Jay. Jay also had a life line that I was able to attach to for the ascent up and the descent down the tree. The last step from the last step of the tree steps to the tree stand platform was a dozy; it felt as if I was stepping off the plank on a ship.
The morning was very windy but mild for this time of year. I had very little action in the morning, I saw one doe a small buck and a pit bull. Yes, I said a pit bull. I had to look several times at the partial white beast coming through the woods before I identified it. The lack of activity and Jay’s texting me with multiple reports of bucks was making me impatient.
I had never hunted in one stand all day, and around noon I climbed down for a quick stretch and shed some unneeded clothes. I was back on my vigilant watch for less than an hour when Jay texted me and broke the news that he had just shot a decent buck. I quickly tried to seize upon the opportunity to get out of my position of pain, but Jay would have none of it. He texted back and said he did not need help and that he had already found the now deceased monarch and the landowner was coming with the UTV. Shucks, I was going to stay chained to that tree.
I had no more deer activity until about 4:45PM. I had spotted two deer chasing out in the CRP field and I figured a little match making was going on. Well several minutes later a small buck appeared sixty yards downhill of my stand. I had no intentions of shooting him as these woods are managed for mature bucks, but I thought maybe I could coax him in with a few grunts. It did not work! He went the opposite way and disappeared.
However, an unseen bigger buck appeared close to where I had seen the small buck and he was looking to get in on some hot action. It is amazing how whitetails can zero in on a noise. That buck made a straight bee line to my location. As he approached I could tell he was not super- sized, but he was an adult whitetail buck and I was going to attempt to kill him. I stopped him at about fifteen yards with a soft blah. He was perfectly broadside and I was already at full draw and this job was looking pretty easy. Then, he turned his head my way and covered three quarters of his vitals with his head and antlers. I was getting to the point where I could no longer hold the bow steady and it was decision time. I quickly decided if I held the sight just at the tip of his nose I would get a fatal hit. The release and hit went just as planned and the deer stampeded off about forty yards before stopping. At this point I thought he was going down, he acted wobbly and confused, but then he trotted off.
I texted Jay and he came about a half hour later to my stand. Before I got down I wanted to confirm the blood trail with Jay, just in case I needed to send Jay in the direction I had last seen the buck. Jay quickly told me that was not necessary and that there was an ample blood trail to follow, in fact he said it was much better than the one his buck had left hours earlier.
We easily followed the trail for two- hundred yards until darkness overcame us and the untrackablility of the CRP field on the ridge top stopped our progress. We could find no more blood, so we called in my brother Dick with two of his dogs that have been trained to blood track. Unfortunately, it was a lost cause. Neither dog could figure out where the buck had gone; one dog led us up over the hill and to the road and the other led us across the CRP and over the other side. We were never able to pick up any blood more than half way through the CRP, so we were not able to establish which way the buck had really gone.
Jay and I looked for a while in the morning, but no more blood was found. Two days after all was said and done Jay called me and said a neighbor lady had found a significant blood trail in the woods and that her husband was going to follow it. We never did hear back from them, so I am assuming the buck was not found. It is really too bad, that shot was definitely a killer shot, but I must have only gotten one lung. Jay said there is always next year. I told him I felt so bad that I do not know if I can come back.
Observations:
The whitetails appear to be in full rut!
Friday, November 11, 2011
11-2-2011 Wed
11-2-2011 Wed
7:10 AM – 11:30 AM
Weather: N 20, cloudy, 43˚
Location: Mississippi R., Pool 7 (Big Marsh)
Bagged: one ring necked duck
Partners: Dick (Arrow – Dick’s dog)
Comments
I was hoping that Dick and I would get into some diver action in the big water up near Trempealeau. With the lack of birds in this area also, our action was almost non-existent. We bagged one ring necked duck and missed one drake mallard. The birds were definitely scarce!
Observations:
The water levels in the upper end of this pool are extremely low, which made navigation with the mud motor even difficult.
7:10 AM – 11:30 AM
Weather: N 20, cloudy, 43˚
Location: Mississippi R., Pool 7 (Big Marsh)
Bagged: one ring necked duck
Partners: Dick (Arrow – Dick’s dog)
Comments
I was hoping that Dick and I would get into some diver action in the big water up near Trempealeau. With the lack of birds in this area also, our action was almost non-existent. We bagged one ring necked duck and missed one drake mallard. The birds were definitely scarce!
Observations:
The water levels in the upper end of this pool are extremely low, which made navigation with the mud motor even difficult.
11-1-2011 Tue
11-1-2011 Tue
7:10 AM – 9:00 AM
Weather: S10, cloudy, 46˚
Location: Mississippi R., Pool 7
Bagged: Nothing
Partners: none
Comments
I have hardly gotten out duck hunting this season on account of other commitments; I was determined to get a few hours in this morning. Even though the local reports of low duck numbers were numerous, I still had to get out and experience the marsh once again.
Well, the reports were true; the ducks were either very scarce or very educated. I did see a few mallards and some pintails, but not many of either. A couple of marginal shots did present themselves, but common sense on my part prevailed today.
Observations:
The duck numbers look relatively low. There are birds out in the refuge portion of the river, but there are not huge numbers.
7:10 AM – 9:00 AM
Weather: S10, cloudy, 46˚
Location: Mississippi R., Pool 7
Bagged: Nothing
Partners: none
Comments
I have hardly gotten out duck hunting this season on account of other commitments; I was determined to get a few hours in this morning. Even though the local reports of low duck numbers were numerous, I still had to get out and experience the marsh once again.
Well, the reports were true; the ducks were either very scarce or very educated. I did see a few mallards and some pintails, but not many of either. A couple of marginal shots did present themselves, but common sense on my part prevailed today.
Observations:
The duck numbers look relatively low. There are birds out in the refuge portion of the river, but there are not huge numbers.
Monday, November 7, 2011
10-25 thru 10-31-2011
10-25 thru 10-31-2011
Weather: The weather was very seasonable the entire week. We did have a little precipitation almost daily.
Location: The cabin at Moose Junction
Bagged: Grouse 1, woodcock 7, and two deer (Tupper got the deer and grouse and three of the woodcock).
Partners: Jake Tupper
Comments
It was my yearly late October hunts up to the cabin, and this time I had company along. We hunted birds and deer. I did not have very good luck myself, but Jake did do okay. Fritz did a pretty good job of finding woodcock for us one day, but after that he was wore out.
Fritz will be twelve in another month and I decided that it is time to retire him from the field. He is still worn out and it has been almost a week since he last hunted. Besides the birds he pointed, he also helped us track the two deer that Jake shot. It is really sad that Fritz will not be accompanying me on any more hunts. I have harvested many birds with his assistance over the years and we have shared countless days in the field and marsh.
Jake shot two antlerless deer on Sunday morning. He shot both deer around 9 am and by the time we ate breakfast and tracked them, the larger of the two was three quarters eaten by wolves, and this was in the time span of about two hours. Jake also almost made a drastic mistake on the other deer we tracked. Fritz tracked the deer for about one hundred yards and found it still alive. Fritz basically held back and Jake asked me to hold his bow. I was thinking he was getting his release on, well instead he thought he would play Neanderthal man and cut the very much alive, deer’s throat. He quickly found out that was a mistake, as the deer was not quite ready to throw in the towel and be neck sliced. The deer effortlessly bounded off and Jake was left dumbfounded and holding a clean knife. Luckily when we came back about one half hour later it was dead and still intact.
One morning on bow stand I had a rather interesting encounter. This stand is located where I had shot several deer and seen many others over the years. I did notice this year there was a very nice trail going right past my stand location and up into the oak woods. I figured it was some hunters either bear or rifle deer hunting that had cleared a path to make the oak woods on the hill more accessible. Well I was not even close in my assumptions!
Sitting on this stand at daybreak on Friday morning I heard a convoy of cars and trucks traverse down the road and then stop about where Jake had dropped me off just a half hour earlier. I soon heard voices, laughter, dogs barking and dog bells jingling. I had heard rumors of a field trial for English Setters, but I did not expect to be involved with it. Next I heard the dogs being unloaded and the laughter turned to serious conversation with the sound of dog bells crisscrossing the thickets and tangles between myself and the road. As the bells and voices got closer and closer it became apparent to me that I was parked right smack in the middle of a trail that was carved out by this group of field trialers. After about ten minutes I got my first glimpse of a bird searching machine of a pointer. The dog was covering ground at a frantic pace and leaving no bush un-sniffed. About twenty yards from my location I saw a grouse run in front of the dog and take sanctuary in a downfall. The dog immediately became rock solid and looked as steady as a statue on point. Several minutes later the second dog of the brace came upon the other dog on point and also came to a rock solid point. It took the handlers and judges several minutes to get to the brace and grouse. As they approached I was definitely looking to see if they were armed with shotguns and bent on killing that grouse. Seeing them unarmed and not bent on killing a bird and possibly spraying me with pellets, I became less concerned. I relaxed and watched the show, with the idea of startling the group of twenty or so trialers with my presence once the bird flushed. The handlers came in and flushed the bird and its escape path took it within feet of my undetected location.
As the spectators and handlers were re-grouping I now had the opportunity to surprise them. As they neared to within ten yards of my unseen location, I hollered out and said you could have at least pushed a deer past me. There were definite looks of surprise and disbelief. One female handler came up to me and graciously apologizes and informed me that they would be running the same course the next couple of days. I told her that the county forests are for all to enjoy and I was not upset and that I had the best view in the world of two fine working dogs doing what they so love to do.
Observations:
There are plenty of deer around this year: which is very apparent by the amount of sign in the woods and the deer along the roads at night. The grouse numbers are very much down, and I would rate the numbers at about a three out of ten. If Fritz was younger we would have done great damage to the woodcock this year. I saw no ducks and only one flock of about twenty geese. The rut does not seem to be in progress yet, there are plenty of rubs and scrapes but we did not see any buck chasing does.
Weather: The weather was very seasonable the entire week. We did have a little precipitation almost daily.
Location: The cabin at Moose Junction
Bagged: Grouse 1, woodcock 7, and two deer (Tupper got the deer and grouse and three of the woodcock).
Partners: Jake Tupper
Comments
It was my yearly late October hunts up to the cabin, and this time I had company along. We hunted birds and deer. I did not have very good luck myself, but Jake did do okay. Fritz did a pretty good job of finding woodcock for us one day, but after that he was wore out.
Fritz will be twelve in another month and I decided that it is time to retire him from the field. He is still worn out and it has been almost a week since he last hunted. Besides the birds he pointed, he also helped us track the two deer that Jake shot. It is really sad that Fritz will not be accompanying me on any more hunts. I have harvested many birds with his assistance over the years and we have shared countless days in the field and marsh.
Jake shot two antlerless deer on Sunday morning. He shot both deer around 9 am and by the time we ate breakfast and tracked them, the larger of the two was three quarters eaten by wolves, and this was in the time span of about two hours. Jake also almost made a drastic mistake on the other deer we tracked. Fritz tracked the deer for about one hundred yards and found it still alive. Fritz basically held back and Jake asked me to hold his bow. I was thinking he was getting his release on, well instead he thought he would play Neanderthal man and cut the very much alive, deer’s throat. He quickly found out that was a mistake, as the deer was not quite ready to throw in the towel and be neck sliced. The deer effortlessly bounded off and Jake was left dumbfounded and holding a clean knife. Luckily when we came back about one half hour later it was dead and still intact.
One morning on bow stand I had a rather interesting encounter. This stand is located where I had shot several deer and seen many others over the years. I did notice this year there was a very nice trail going right past my stand location and up into the oak woods. I figured it was some hunters either bear or rifle deer hunting that had cleared a path to make the oak woods on the hill more accessible. Well I was not even close in my assumptions!
Sitting on this stand at daybreak on Friday morning I heard a convoy of cars and trucks traverse down the road and then stop about where Jake had dropped me off just a half hour earlier. I soon heard voices, laughter, dogs barking and dog bells jingling. I had heard rumors of a field trial for English Setters, but I did not expect to be involved with it. Next I heard the dogs being unloaded and the laughter turned to serious conversation with the sound of dog bells crisscrossing the thickets and tangles between myself and the road. As the bells and voices got closer and closer it became apparent to me that I was parked right smack in the middle of a trail that was carved out by this group of field trialers. After about ten minutes I got my first glimpse of a bird searching machine of a pointer. The dog was covering ground at a frantic pace and leaving no bush un-sniffed. About twenty yards from my location I saw a grouse run in front of the dog and take sanctuary in a downfall. The dog immediately became rock solid and looked as steady as a statue on point. Several minutes later the second dog of the brace came upon the other dog on point and also came to a rock solid point. It took the handlers and judges several minutes to get to the brace and grouse. As they approached I was definitely looking to see if they were armed with shotguns and bent on killing that grouse. Seeing them unarmed and not bent on killing a bird and possibly spraying me with pellets, I became less concerned. I relaxed and watched the show, with the idea of startling the group of twenty or so trialers with my presence once the bird flushed. The handlers came in and flushed the bird and its escape path took it within feet of my undetected location.
As the spectators and handlers were re-grouping I now had the opportunity to surprise them. As they neared to within ten yards of my unseen location, I hollered out and said you could have at least pushed a deer past me. There were definite looks of surprise and disbelief. One female handler came up to me and graciously apologizes and informed me that they would be running the same course the next couple of days. I told her that the county forests are for all to enjoy and I was not upset and that I had the best view in the world of two fine working dogs doing what they so love to do.
Observations:
There are plenty of deer around this year: which is very apparent by the amount of sign in the woods and the deer along the roads at night. The grouse numbers are very much down, and I would rate the numbers at about a three out of ten. If Fritz was younger we would have done great damage to the woodcock this year. I saw no ducks and only one flock of about twenty geese. The rut does not seem to be in progress yet, there are plenty of rubs and scrapes but we did not see any buck chasing does.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
10-24-2011 Mon
10-24-2011 Mon
7:00 AM – 8:30 AM
Weather: N/A
Location: Mississippi R. out from house
Bagged: nothing
Partners: none
Comments:
It has been a long time since I have been out duck hunting. Even though I still had lots of packing to do for my upcoming yearly to the cabin hunt I still wanted to see if any ducks were around.
I was very disappointed with the outcome, I never fired a shot. I did have a couple opportunities at some far ducks, but I am very conservative when it comes to shooting ducks past about thirty yards.
Observations:
There are not many ducks around and the ones that are here are very wary. The rice is pretty thick out from the house this year, and it seems to be having a definite effect on keeping the divers out in the main lake basin.
7:00 AM – 8:30 AM
Weather: N/A
Location: Mississippi R. out from house
Bagged: nothing
Partners: none
Comments:
It has been a long time since I have been out duck hunting. Even though I still had lots of packing to do for my upcoming yearly to the cabin hunt I still wanted to see if any ducks were around.
I was very disappointed with the outcome, I never fired a shot. I did have a couple opportunities at some far ducks, but I am very conservative when it comes to shooting ducks past about thirty yards.
Observations:
There are not many ducks around and the ones that are here are very wary. The rice is pretty thick out from the house this year, and it seems to be having a definite effect on keeping the divers out in the main lake basin.
10-23-2011 Sun
10-23-2011 Sun
6:00 – 6:30 PM
H2O: 49 ˚, 4.96’ rising, 18.9 kcfs, clear
Weather: SW 12, 68 ˚, cloudy with rain in area, 29.74 falling
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7 south end of channel
Caught: 1 – 22” pike
Partners: none
Comments:
I had finished my Coast Guard Six Pack class today and I wanted to get the duck boat into the water so I could slip out early in the a.m. and possibly get a duck or two. I thought I may pick up or bass or two at the end of the channel, but the only fish to come boat side was a lonely pike.
Observations:
The water temperature has gone down considerable since the last time I was out fishing.
6:00 – 6:30 PM
H2O: 49 ˚, 4.96’ rising, 18.9 kcfs, clear
Weather: SW 12, 68 ˚, cloudy with rain in area, 29.74 falling
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7 south end of channel
Caught: 1 – 22” pike
Partners: none
Comments:
I had finished my Coast Guard Six Pack class today and I wanted to get the duck boat into the water so I could slip out early in the a.m. and possibly get a duck or two. I thought I may pick up or bass or two at the end of the channel, but the only fish to come boat side was a lonely pike.
Observations:
The water temperature has gone down considerable since the last time I was out fishing.
10-16-2011 Sun
10-16-2011 Sun
5:00 – 6:30 PM
Weather: W 29 G 38, clear 56˚
Location: Fort McCoy
Bagged: 2 squirrels
Partners: none
Comments:
It was a quick night of squirrel hunting on the fort after my Coast Guard Six Pack class. The wind was very bad, but I did manage to bag a couple of the gray critters on the lee side of a large valley. I was hunting the south side of the fort adjacent to the quarry.
Observations:
There was not an overabundance of squirrels, but with the wind blowing as hard as it was I thought I did pretty well. Most of the leaves are now off the trees and the underbrush is barren of leaves.
5:00 – 6:30 PM
Weather: W 29 G 38, clear 56˚
Location: Fort McCoy
Bagged: 2 squirrels
Partners: none
Comments:
It was a quick night of squirrel hunting on the fort after my Coast Guard Six Pack class. The wind was very bad, but I did manage to bag a couple of the gray critters on the lee side of a large valley. I was hunting the south side of the fort adjacent to the quarry.
Observations:
There was not an overabundance of squirrels, but with the wind blowing as hard as it was I thought I did pretty well. Most of the leaves are now off the trees and the underbrush is barren of leaves.
10-13-2011 Thr
10-13-2011 Thr
5:30 – 6:30 PM
H2O: 63 ˚, 5.03 rising, 21.7 kcfs, clear
Weather: NW15, 63 ˚, cloudy
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7 South end of Channel behind house
Caught: 2 LMB 12 & 13”
Partners: none
Comments:
I was going to try flat head fishing again tonight, but I could not catch any bait in the channel. I guess to catch bait this time of year a person has to go to the dredge holes on the lake.
Observations:
None
5:30 – 6:30 PM
H2O: 63 ˚, 5.03 rising, 21.7 kcfs, clear
Weather: NW15, 63 ˚, cloudy
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7 South end of Channel behind house
Caught: 2 LMB 12 & 13”
Partners: none
Comments:
I was going to try flat head fishing again tonight, but I could not catch any bait in the channel. I guess to catch bait this time of year a person has to go to the dredge holes on the lake.
Observations:
None
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
10-10-11 Mon
10-10-2011 Mon
5:30 – 10:00 PM
H2O: 63 ˚, 4.83’ steady, 13.6 kcfs, clear
Weather: S 7, 68 ˚, clear, 29.96 falling (2153)
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7, Lake Onalaska and deep water adjacent to main channel
Caught: Bait (bluegills 6 and 4 perch), 1 – 10lb flat head & 1 – 8lb channel cat
Partners: none
Comments
It was another unusual warm October day. I have really been wanting to flat head fish and tonight I was committed to catch bait and fish them. I have seen lots of fisherman targeting the dredge holes on the lake, so that is where I started. Unfortunately the first hour was a bust. I did figure out that most of the fisherman were fishing the deep water for crappies.
On one of my last moves I happened to spy a couple fisherman catching gills along a weed line that extended out into about five feet of water and dropped into ten feet of water. Well, it was a good thing I hit the jackpot, because darkness was trying to be the spoiler to my flat head fishing plans. In short order I had an ample supply of small gills and perch and I was off to put the smack down on some flat heads.
The first spot I fished was a very deep hole that bottomed out in forty to forty-five feet of water. I really did not want to fish that deep, but from where I was anchored it dropped very quickly and I did not want to be fishing on a very steep drop. I fished this spot about thirty minutes and had two hits. The first one was one quick bite and my bait was gone, and the other one was a very subtle bite, with the fish coming unglued almost immediately.
The next spot I fished was in about thirty feet of water in an area that had quite a few submerged trees close by. This is where I caught the flat and the channel cat. The channel cat hit with such ferocity that it almost took my pole and the rod holder board in the drink with it.
I fished one other close by spot in about twenty feet of water, but had no action here.
Observations:
It felt like a summer night: light wind and light shirt weather. The river flow is very low and if there is any wind at all it makes fishing in one spot very hard while anchored. In fact the current is not strong enough to hold the boat in position if even a light breeze is blowing against or perpendicular to the boat.
The trees are losing their leaves very fast and the woods have really opened up in the past few days. We are also at or very close to a full moon. I have also noticed more ducks around the last couple days, nothing fantastic but at least I have seen some.
10-9-11 Sun
10-9-2011 Sun
4:30 – 6:30 PM
H2O: 65 ˚, 4.85’ falling, 14.9 kcfs, clear
Weather: S 7, 76 ˚, clear, 30.18 falling
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7
Caught: LMB 1 – 12”, Pike (4) 22 – 25”
Partners: none
Comments
It was such a beautiful night tonight and I had been stuck in my Coast Guard Captains Class all weekend so I was ready to fish. My initial thoughts were to catch some bait and go flat head fishing for one last time. Well, I could not catch bait, so I went to plan B.
Plan B was bass and pike fishing. The bass or the pike were not overly cooperative either, but I did find one small concentration of pike near Cole’s Corner. I did run into a little bad luck with a spinner bait I had used on the previous 100 bass and pike; it broke! The Terminator Titanium spinner baits are as tough as they come, but they do have their limits.
Observations:
None
4:30 – 6:30 PM
H2O: 65 ˚, 4.85’ falling, 14.9 kcfs, clear
Weather: S 7, 76 ˚, clear, 30.18 falling
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7
Caught: LMB 1 – 12”, Pike (4) 22 – 25”
Partners: none
Comments
It was such a beautiful night tonight and I had been stuck in my Coast Guard Captains Class all weekend so I was ready to fish. My initial thoughts were to catch some bait and go flat head fishing for one last time. Well, I could not catch bait, so I went to plan B.
Plan B was bass and pike fishing. The bass or the pike were not overly cooperative either, but I did find one small concentration of pike near Cole’s Corner. I did run into a little bad luck with a spinner bait I had used on the previous 100 bass and pike; it broke! The Terminator Titanium spinner baits are as tough as they come, but they do have their limits.
Observations:
None
10-6-11 Thr
10-6-2011 Thr
5:30 – 7:00 PM
H2O: 63 ˚, 4.97’ falling, 18.9 kcfs, clear
Weather: 73 ˚, SE 8, clear, 30.09 falling
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7 (Lake Onalaska)
Caught: LMB (10) 10 – 13”
Partners: none
Comments
The wind was fairly light tonight and I wanted to get back on the largemouth I had found the other night. I started out in the channel cut just north of the house. I had caught fish at the end of the channel yesterday, so I figured they would also be at the upper entrance to the channel. They were, but the size was quite small. Most fish came on a silver Senko with a few also being taken on a spinner bait.
Observations:
None
5:30 – 7:00 PM
H2O: 63 ˚, 4.97’ falling, 18.9 kcfs, clear
Weather: 73 ˚, SE 8, clear, 30.09 falling
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7 (Lake Onalaska)
Caught: LMB (10) 10 – 13”
Partners: none
Comments
The wind was fairly light tonight and I wanted to get back on the largemouth I had found the other night. I started out in the channel cut just north of the house. I had caught fish at the end of the channel yesterday, so I figured they would also be at the upper entrance to the channel. They were, but the size was quite small. Most fish came on a silver Senko with a few also being taken on a spinner bait.
Observations:
None
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
10-5-11
10-5-2011 Wed
5:00 – 7:00 PM
H2O: 63 ˚, 5.03’ falling, 21.7 kcfs, clear
Weather: 77 ˚, S 7, clear, 30.09 falling
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7 (Lake Onalaska)
Caught: LMB (17) 10 – 18 with eight of them being legal, Pike (2) 27 & 22”
Partners: none
Comments
It was such a beautiful evening I had to get out for some fishing. The first spot I hit was the community hole at the end of the dike, and the fish were there and active. The water had warmed up to a very nice sixty three degrees and the bass were responding with aggression.
I caught bass almost everywhere I fished. The main weed edges out on the lake were good, but the floating celery grass was causing my spinner bait to foul. I caught fish along the East side of Red Oak, but they were small. I did do pretty good farther south along the rocks next to the railroad tracks, and then I caught some quality fish on the weeds on the West side of Red Oak.
The main bait was the good old Terminator spinner bait. I did catch some bass on a silver Senko but I only used this when they no longer responded to the spinner bait. I cannot say enough good things about that spinner bait. It is tough, has good flash and most importantly it catches fish.
Observations:
The fall colors are progressing very rapidly and leaves are starting to collect on the lakes surface. Fishing the main lake is fairly difficult on account of all the celery grass that is loose and floating on and just below the lakes surface.
10-4-11
10-4-2011 Tue
5:15 – 6:45 PM
Weather: 67 ˚, SE 5, clear, 30.13 rising
Location: Ft McCoy south camp north east corner unit 5
Bagged: 1 gray squirrel
Partners: none
Comments
I have wanted to get out hunting so tonight was the night. I enjoy squirrel hunting, plus I wanted to do some deer scouting at the same time. My usual area I squirrel hunt was closed due to training, so I had to find a new spot.
The area I picked was not ideal squirrel woods; it had been logged several years back and it was now quite grown up with black berry brambles along with some mature oaks. These brambles were constantly gripping my legs and by the end of the evening my legs felt as if they had been rubbing against a potato grater. There was no shortage of acorns, but there was a shortage of squirrels. I saw two of the nut chewing tree dwellers and heard one other barking at me.
Observations:
The trees are changing color rapidly now, but not too many leaves have left the trees.
5:15 – 6:45 PM
Weather: 67 ˚, SE 5, clear, 30.13 rising
Location: Ft McCoy south camp north east corner unit 5
Bagged: 1 gray squirrel
Partners: none
Comments
I have wanted to get out hunting so tonight was the night. I enjoy squirrel hunting, plus I wanted to do some deer scouting at the same time. My usual area I squirrel hunt was closed due to training, so I had to find a new spot.
The area I picked was not ideal squirrel woods; it had been logged several years back and it was now quite grown up with black berry brambles along with some mature oaks. These brambles were constantly gripping my legs and by the end of the evening my legs felt as if they had been rubbing against a potato grater. There was no shortage of acorns, but there was a shortage of squirrels. I saw two of the nut chewing tree dwellers and heard one other barking at me.
Observations:
The trees are changing color rapidly now, but not too many leaves have left the trees.
Monday, October 3, 2011
10-2-2011 Sun
4:15 – 7:45 PM
H2O: 58 ˚, 5.04’ steady, 21.7 kcfs, clear
Weather: 60 ˚, calm, clear, 30.16 rising
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 8 (Dresbach Dam)
Caught: LMB (7) 10 – 13”, SMB 20” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Partners: none
Comments
This afternoon I was going to give it my all on figuring out the elusive walleyes. That did not last too long at least at the very beginning. I tried but I came to the conclusion that it would probably be a lost cause and that I might just as well go catch something.
I found the bass, at least the small ones relating to rocks once again. The gigantic smallmouth I did catch came off the face of a wing dam in about five feet of water.
I did go up to the dam the last hour of the outing and fished exclusively for walleyes. I jigged and casted crank baits, but did not catch any eyes. I did see one gentleman doing okay while fishing with minnows. I ended the evening below the interstate bridge casting cranks up to the rock edges, but I had no takers here either.
Observations:
None
4:15 – 7:45 PM
H2O: 58 ˚, 5.04’ steady, 21.7 kcfs, clear
Weather: 60 ˚, calm, clear, 30.16 rising
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 8 (Dresbach Dam)
Caught: LMB (7) 10 – 13”, SMB 20” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Partners: none
Comments
This afternoon I was going to give it my all on figuring out the elusive walleyes. That did not last too long at least at the very beginning. I tried but I came to the conclusion that it would probably be a lost cause and that I might just as well go catch something.
I found the bass, at least the small ones relating to rocks once again. The gigantic smallmouth I did catch came off the face of a wing dam in about five feet of water.
I did go up to the dam the last hour of the outing and fished exclusively for walleyes. I jigged and casted crank baits, but did not catch any eyes. I did see one gentleman doing okay while fishing with minnows. I ended the evening below the interstate bridge casting cranks up to the rock edges, but I had no takers here either.
Observations:
None
9-30-11
9-30-2011 Fri
6:45 AM – 9:30 AM (duck hunting) / 10:30 AM – 4:30 PM (fishing)
H2O: 58 ˚, 5.04’ falling, 22.3 kcfs, clear
Weather: 63 ˚, NW 20 – 25, clear
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 8
Bagged: 3 pintails, 2 drake mallards, 1 wood duck, 1 green wing teal (myself and Josh)
Caught: 10 pike 22 - 25”, 6 LMB 12 – 15”, 1 walleye 14”, 1 SMB 14”
Partners: Josh (hunting only)
Comments
This morning was the first time this season where I was going on a serious duck hunt. It was rather convenient too; I was going with Josh and he was supplying all the equipment and the boat. He was set up for some serious water fowling. He had a nice spread of decoys, two robo ducks, two quivering butt decoys and three dekes attached to a jerk cord.
We were set up several minutes before shooting hours and while we were waiting for legal shooting time, the ducks were landing in the spread. This time on the marsh just before sunup is one of my favorite times to be there, the birds and other critters are starting to wake up and come alive for the day.
We had good action for the first hour and one half, and then the last hour was totally dead. It was a very good hunt and Josh definitely out shot me.
The fishing was pretty challenging today. I was fishing an area (Goose Island) where I have limited experience, and the wind was brutal. I had hoped to fish main channel points and rock piles, but the wind made the channel pretty much unfishable. I did do pretty well on the pike; however the large ones have been pretty elusive this fall. I also caught a few large mouths here and there. The most consistent spots for the pike were rocks with deeper water close by.
I did have one monster small mouth bass on but it shook my crank bait. The strong winds all but eliminated any chance at finesse fishing.
The last fish of the day put a pretty good hurting on me. It was about a twenty five inch pike and in its stuggle to break my grip I got cut by its gill plate. It was a good thing I had just went through first aid, because it took quit alot of gauze and bandaging to stop the bleeding
Observations:
I am still seeing turtles basking in the sunshine while resting on logs. They are really quite comical as the scramble to get to the safety of the water. Sometimes they may be several feet up a log and when they make the dive they do not match the finesse of the cliff diving daredevils of Acapulco.
6:45 AM – 9:30 AM (duck hunting) / 10:30 AM – 4:30 PM (fishing)
H2O: 58 ˚, 5.04’ falling, 22.3 kcfs, clear
Weather: 63 ˚, NW 20 – 25, clear
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 8
Bagged: 3 pintails, 2 drake mallards, 1 wood duck, 1 green wing teal (myself and Josh)
Caught: 10 pike 22 - 25”, 6 LMB 12 – 15”, 1 walleye 14”, 1 SMB 14”
Partners: Josh (hunting only)
Comments
This morning was the first time this season where I was going on a serious duck hunt. It was rather convenient too; I was going with Josh and he was supplying all the equipment and the boat. He was set up for some serious water fowling. He had a nice spread of decoys, two robo ducks, two quivering butt decoys and three dekes attached to a jerk cord.
We were set up several minutes before shooting hours and while we were waiting for legal shooting time, the ducks were landing in the spread. This time on the marsh just before sunup is one of my favorite times to be there, the birds and other critters are starting to wake up and come alive for the day.
We had good action for the first hour and one half, and then the last hour was totally dead. It was a very good hunt and Josh definitely out shot me.
The fishing was pretty challenging today. I was fishing an area (Goose Island) where I have limited experience, and the wind was brutal. I had hoped to fish main channel points and rock piles, but the wind made the channel pretty much unfishable. I did do pretty well on the pike; however the large ones have been pretty elusive this fall. I also caught a few large mouths here and there. The most consistent spots for the pike were rocks with deeper water close by.
I did have one monster small mouth bass on but it shook my crank bait. The strong winds all but eliminated any chance at finesse fishing.
The last fish of the day put a pretty good hurting on me. It was about a twenty five inch pike and in its stuggle to break my grip I got cut by its gill plate. It was a good thing I had just went through first aid, because it took quit alot of gauze and bandaging to stop the bleeding
Observations:
I am still seeing turtles basking in the sunshine while resting on logs. They are really quite comical as the scramble to get to the safety of the water. Sometimes they may be several feet up a log and when they make the dive they do not match the finesse of the cliff diving daredevils of Acapulco.
9-28-11
9-28-2011 Wed
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
H2O: 60 ˚, 5.15’ steady, 28.8 kcfs, clear
Weather: SE5, overcast, 60 ˚, 29.82 falling
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 8
Caught: Approx. 6 LMB and two pike and all were small
Partners: Ben
Comments
Our Thursday night fishing turned into Wednesday night fishing. I was somewhat planning to walleye fish tonight, but I quickly abandon that idea. We fished for bass and pike again tonight. Once again fishing mostly rock areas, but also hitting weed edges down in Target Lake.
The fishing was fairly good, we did not light them up by any means but we did catch fish. The large mouth bite is definitely dying out, but the pike are quite active. I have not done much fall fishing in the past, so this is a learning experience for me.
The best baits tonight were spinner baits, chatter baits and suspending jerk baits. Ben had quite a few light bites and follows by pike while using his chatter bait.
Observations:
None
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
H2O: 60 ˚, 5.15’ steady, 28.8 kcfs, clear
Weather: SE5, overcast, 60 ˚, 29.82 falling
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 8
Caught: Approx. 6 LMB and two pike and all were small
Partners: Ben
Comments
Our Thursday night fishing turned into Wednesday night fishing. I was somewhat planning to walleye fish tonight, but I quickly abandon that idea. We fished for bass and pike again tonight. Once again fishing mostly rock areas, but also hitting weed edges down in Target Lake.
The fishing was fairly good, we did not light them up by any means but we did catch fish. The large mouth bite is definitely dying out, but the pike are quite active. I have not done much fall fishing in the past, so this is a learning experience for me.
The best baits tonight were spinner baits, chatter baits and suspending jerk baits. Ben had quite a few light bites and follows by pike while using his chatter bait.
Observations:
None
9-27-11
9-27-2011 Tue
5:30 PM – 6:45 PM
H2O: 58 ˚, 5.15’ steady, 28.8 kcfs, clear
Weather: SE6, rain, 57 ˚, 29.82 rising
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7
Caught: 10” crappie
Partners: none
Comments
Tonight was going to be my last night of flat head fishing. Unfortunately I did not get to fish the deep dwelling nocturnal predators. In order to fish flatheads you need bait; lively pan fish to be exact. I was only able to catch one crappie, so my night of flat head fishing was down the tubes.
In actuality the reason I did not catch bait was strictly my fault. I was targeting areas where I had caught bluegills two and three weeks ago. Well fish move with the changes of the conditions and I had not taken that into account. When I started out I thought about catching bait right behind the house, but then I blew that idea off, because I was sure I could catch them out by the main channel. One thing is always certain in fishing, a person always needs to change and adapt!
Observations:
None
5:30 PM – 6:45 PM
H2O: 58 ˚, 5.15’ steady, 28.8 kcfs, clear
Weather: SE6, rain, 57 ˚, 29.82 rising
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7
Caught: 10” crappie
Partners: none
Comments
Tonight was going to be my last night of flat head fishing. Unfortunately I did not get to fish the deep dwelling nocturnal predators. In order to fish flatheads you need bait; lively pan fish to be exact. I was only able to catch one crappie, so my night of flat head fishing was down the tubes.
In actuality the reason I did not catch bait was strictly my fault. I was targeting areas where I had caught bluegills two and three weeks ago. Well fish move with the changes of the conditions and I had not taken that into account. When I started out I thought about catching bait right behind the house, but then I blew that idea off, because I was sure I could catch them out by the main channel. One thing is always certain in fishing, a person always needs to change and adapt!
Observations:
None
Monday, September 26, 2011
9-25-2011 Sun
5:30 PM – 6:45 PM
H2O: 60 ˚, 5.15’ rising, 28.8 kcfs, clear
Weather: N8, overcast, 60 ˚, 29.87 falling
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7
Bagged: Nothing
Partners: none
Comments
I worked again today on the second day of duck season, so I went out after work for a quick hunt. I had about as much luck tonight as I had last night. At least tonight I got a spot and did have a few ducks burn me. Once again tonight the shooting was very sporadic, and I assume the majority of the shooting was the result of shots being fired at wood ducks.
Observations:
The water in the ponds that are connected to the main river is very low.
5:30 PM – 6:45 PM
H2O: 60 ˚, 5.15’ rising, 28.8 kcfs, clear
Weather: N8, overcast, 60 ˚, 29.87 falling
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7
Bagged: Nothing
Partners: none
Comments
I worked again today on the second day of duck season, so I went out after work for a quick hunt. I had about as much luck tonight as I had last night. At least tonight I got a spot and did have a few ducks burn me. Once again tonight the shooting was very sporadic, and I assume the majority of the shooting was the result of shots being fired at wood ducks.
Observations:
The water in the ponds that are connected to the main river is very low.
9-20-2011 Tue
9-20-2011 Mon
8:30 AM – 2:30 PM
H2O: 68 ˚, 5’ rising, 20 kcfs, clear
Weather: (1253) S 14 G 23, clear, 68 ˚, 29.78 falling
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 8 upper end and Black River, North La Crosse
Caught: LMB approx. 8, 10-15”, Pike approx. 6, 20-29”
Partners: unnamed
Comments
My hopes for a good fishing day were high, but the fish did not help me out. The weather went from calm and overcast to rain and then to sunny and very windy. The water temperature has increased a few degrees since Sunday.
The most effective baits of the day were spinner baits and tubes, with some fish caught on crank baits. Again today the fish were relating mostly to rock with a few fish coming off weed edges.
Observations:
The water is very low right now, with plenty of shoreline being exposed. The leaves on the trees are starting to turn with lots of yellow or pale green color being visible. I would expect by the end of next week we should be at peak fall foliage color.
8:30 AM – 2:30 PM
H2O: 68 ˚, 5’ rising, 20 kcfs, clear
Weather: (1253) S 14 G 23, clear, 68 ˚, 29.78 falling
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 8 upper end and Black River, North La Crosse
Caught: LMB approx. 8, 10-15”, Pike approx. 6, 20-29”
Partners: unnamed
Comments
My hopes for a good fishing day were high, but the fish did not help me out. The weather went from calm and overcast to rain and then to sunny and very windy. The water temperature has increased a few degrees since Sunday.
The most effective baits of the day were spinner baits and tubes, with some fish caught on crank baits. Again today the fish were relating mostly to rock with a few fish coming off weed edges.
Observations:
The water is very low right now, with plenty of shoreline being exposed. The leaves on the trees are starting to turn with lots of yellow or pale green color being visible. I would expect by the end of next week we should be at peak fall foliage color.
Monday, September 19, 2011
9-18-11 Sun
9-18-2011 Sun
10:40 AM – 5:15 PM
H2O: 60 ˚, 4.95’ rising, 18.3 kcfs, clear
Weather: (1053) SE 6, overcast, 58 ˚, 30.08 falling / (16:53) SE 7, light rain, 59’, 29.98 Falling
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 8 upper end
Caught: LMB (23) 9 – 17”, SMB (2) 9”, Pike (7) 20-31”, Dogfish 20”, sauger 11”
Partners: none
Comments
Today I ventured down to pool eight and fished from the Dresbach Dam to Target Lake. I decided I needed to start fishing this pool again, mainly because I think it is a much more productive pool than pool seven.
I had a pretty good day. The weather was nasty, the fish were mostly small, but I was again impressed with the numbers of fish. Almost all fish were relating to rock structure along the main channel or side channels directly off the main channel. I caught fish on crank baits, spinner baits and senko’s, but the best bait was a medium deep running white crank bait.
The pike that I caught seemed particularly aggressive. The ones I caught on the crank bait engulfed the whole bait, no portion of the bait was exposed which made hook or shall I say bait removal quite challenging. I am rather puzzled as to where the small mouth bass are residing. With the amount of water I covered and the structure I fished you would have thought I would have even been able to snag one!
Observations:
I did not see any fish chasing bait fish today. The water level on pool eight is surprisingly low; it is really good time to scout for spring time fishing spots with so many interesting areas of structure now visible.
10:40 AM – 5:15 PM
H2O: 60 ˚, 4.95’ rising, 18.3 kcfs, clear
Weather: (1053) SE 6, overcast, 58 ˚, 30.08 falling / (16:53) SE 7, light rain, 59’, 29.98 Falling
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 8 upper end
Caught: LMB (23) 9 – 17”, SMB (2) 9”, Pike (7) 20-31”, Dogfish 20”, sauger 11”
Partners: none
Comments
Today I ventured down to pool eight and fished from the Dresbach Dam to Target Lake. I decided I needed to start fishing this pool again, mainly because I think it is a much more productive pool than pool seven.
I had a pretty good day. The weather was nasty, the fish were mostly small, but I was again impressed with the numbers of fish. Almost all fish were relating to rock structure along the main channel or side channels directly off the main channel. I caught fish on crank baits, spinner baits and senko’s, but the best bait was a medium deep running white crank bait.
The pike that I caught seemed particularly aggressive. The ones I caught on the crank bait engulfed the whole bait, no portion of the bait was exposed which made hook or shall I say bait removal quite challenging. I am rather puzzled as to where the small mouth bass are residing. With the amount of water I covered and the structure I fished you would have thought I would have even been able to snag one!
Observations:
I did not see any fish chasing bait fish today. The water level on pool eight is surprisingly low; it is really good time to scout for spring time fishing spots with so many interesting areas of structure now visible.
9-17-11 Sat
9-17-2011 Sat
6:00 AM – 8:30 AM / 6:00 PM – 7:15 PM
H2O: 58 ˚, 4.93’ steady, 17.6 kcfs, turbid
Weather: (0653) E 7, overcast, 47 ˚, 30.29 steady / (17:53) SE 12, partly cloudy, 65’, 30.16 Falling
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7
Caught / bagged: Mark – three wood ducks, 6 LMB 12 – 15”, 2 pike 23 & 25”
Partners: Hunting – Jake and Mark Tupper
Comments
I took Mark out for today’s youth duck hunt. The ducks were not plentiful, but he did manage to get his limit of wood ducks. He swatted his first one on the water and I gave him heck for it and told him no more of that. In reality the wood ducks were about the only species of ducks we did see. I also had Fritz along and he was able to retrieve two ducks. I do not know how many more retrieves he has left in him, but he still gets excited over ducks.
The fishing this afternoon was not too bad. I did not get any fish out on the lake, but caught all the fish at the end of the channel. It was quite windy and the water out on the main lake was fairly dirty.
Observations:
There are very few ducks around. This morning during the hunt we only saw wood ducks and very few mallards. While fishing out on the lake this afternoon I did see a couple flocks of blue wing teal with one of those flocks having at least one hundred birds in it.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
9-16-11 Fri.
9-16-2011 Fri
6:00 PM – 9:30 PM
H2O: 63 ˚, 4.91’ steady, 17 kcfs, clear
Weather: S 9, overcast, 55 ˚, 30.29 steady (17:53PM)
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7
Caught: bluegills and crappies (bait), flat heads 6 & 10 lbs.
Partners: none
Comments
I had an itch to try for flatheads tonight, so I had to scratch it! The river is definitely looking like it is starting to turn to its fall mode. The weeds are dying and thank goodness the flow is where it should be this time of year, low!
To catch bait I went back to a spot where I did not have any trouble last week catching gills and crappies, but it was a different story this week. I was able to get bait alright but the size and quantity was on the downhill slide.
For flatheads I set up in two different spots in Somners. In both spots I was fishing in about twenty to twenty five feet of water, with much deeper water very close. I was able to catch one fish at each spot.
Observations:
None
6:00 PM – 9:30 PM
H2O: 63 ˚, 4.91’ steady, 17 kcfs, clear
Weather: S 9, overcast, 55 ˚, 30.29 steady (17:53PM)
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7
Caught: bluegills and crappies (bait), flat heads 6 & 10 lbs.
Partners: none
Comments
I had an itch to try for flatheads tonight, so I had to scratch it! The river is definitely looking like it is starting to turn to its fall mode. The weeds are dying and thank goodness the flow is where it should be this time of year, low!
To catch bait I went back to a spot where I did not have any trouble last week catching gills and crappies, but it was a different story this week. I was able to get bait alright but the size and quantity was on the downhill slide.
For flatheads I set up in two different spots in Somners. In both spots I was fishing in about twenty to twenty five feet of water, with much deeper water very close. I was able to catch one fish at each spot.
Observations:
None
Thursday, September 15, 2011
9-15-11 Thr
9-15-2011 Thr
5:00 PM – 7:45 PM
H2O: 67 ˚, 4.87’ steady, 15.6 kcfs, clear
Weather: calm, clear, 53 ˚, 30.35 steady (18:55PM)
Location: Mississippi R. Black river, North La Crosse
Caught: LMB (lots – somewhere between 10 and 20)
Partners: Ben and Mike (Holmen Techs.)
Comments
We did very well on the bass tonight thanks to the guiding of Ben. All the fish that were caught were LMB, except for Mike who caught a SMB and Ben who caught one pike. Unfortunately we had to give big fish honors to Mike.
Just about all types of baits produced fish, with crank baits being the best. We caught the best and most fish on rocks or very close to rocks, however some fish did come from the weed edges. I had fished this area once a very long time ago, but after our success tonight I will be back
Observations:
We caught a good number of fish tonight, but the average size seems to be smaller than what I catch on pool 7. However we did catch some nice fish, so maybe it is just the time of year and the type of bite.
5:00 PM – 7:45 PM
H2O: 67 ˚, 4.87’ steady, 15.6 kcfs, clear
Weather: calm, clear, 53 ˚, 30.35 steady (18:55PM)
Location: Mississippi R. Black river, North La Crosse
Caught: LMB (lots – somewhere between 10 and 20)
Partners: Ben and Mike (Holmen Techs.)
Comments
We did very well on the bass tonight thanks to the guiding of Ben. All the fish that were caught were LMB, except for Mike who caught a SMB and Ben who caught one pike. Unfortunately we had to give big fish honors to Mike.
Just about all types of baits produced fish, with crank baits being the best. We caught the best and most fish on rocks or very close to rocks, however some fish did come from the weed edges. I had fished this area once a very long time ago, but after our success tonight I will be back
Observations:
We caught a good number of fish tonight, but the average size seems to be smaller than what I catch on pool 7. However we did catch some nice fish, so maybe it is just the time of year and the type of bite.
9-13-11 Tue
9-13-2011 Tue
6:00 PM – 7:20 PM
H2O: 69 ˚, 4.98’ falling, 10.08kcfs, turbid
Weather: NW 10, clear, 64 ˚, 30.00 steady (18:55PM)
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7, Lake Onalaska
Caught: LMB (6) 12, 14, 15, 2-18, 19”
Partners: None
Comments
It was a quick trip tonight. The main agenda was to see how the fish would respond to the cold front that just blew in. I went back to the spot on the lake where I had done well last week. Well the fish were still there, but they were more buried in the weeds. It was the same as it has been all year on the lake; all the fish were located in one spot and one spot only. The fish I did find were very active; in fact my first three casts resulted in three fish in the boat.
Observations:
The emergent weeds on the lake are definitely starting to die off.
6:00 PM – 7:20 PM
H2O: 69 ˚, 4.98’ falling, 10.08kcfs, turbid
Weather: NW 10, clear, 64 ˚, 30.00 steady (18:55PM)
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7, Lake Onalaska
Caught: LMB (6) 12, 14, 15, 2-18, 19”
Partners: None
Comments
It was a quick trip tonight. The main agenda was to see how the fish would respond to the cold front that just blew in. I went back to the spot on the lake where I had done well last week. Well the fish were still there, but they were more buried in the weeds. It was the same as it has been all year on the lake; all the fish were located in one spot and one spot only. The fish I did find were very active; in fact my first three casts resulted in three fish in the boat.
Observations:
The emergent weeds on the lake are definitely starting to die off.
9-8-11 Thr
9-8-2011 Thr
5:30 PM – 9:30 PM
H2O: 5.29’ falling, 26.5 kcfs, 65 ˚, clear
Weather: calm, clear, 68 ˚, 30.19 steady (6:53PM)
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7
Caught: Bluegills for bait, LMB 14”, SMB – tiny ones
Partners: Ben
Comments
This post is out of order, but at least I did not forget about it entirely. I got out with Ben tonight for some after work fishing. We started out fishing for flat head bait, which went very well. After we had caught enough bait for the night we fished main channel rock areas for bass. We each caught a largemouth bass and a few very small small mouth bass. Ben even caught a bonus rock bass which we hoped would meet its demise at the mouth of a large flat head.
The flat heads were not active tonight. We had one hit which was mediocre at best, and that was it for the night.
Observations:
This is probably the latest in the season where I have fished for flat heads and it is possible they are either schooling up or becoming inactive. I will give it a couple more tries and then put the cat rods away for the season.
5:30 PM – 9:30 PM
H2O: 5.29’ falling, 26.5 kcfs, 65 ˚, clear
Weather: calm, clear, 68 ˚, 30.19 steady (6:53PM)
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7
Caught: Bluegills for bait, LMB 14”, SMB – tiny ones
Partners: Ben
Comments
This post is out of order, but at least I did not forget about it entirely. I got out with Ben tonight for some after work fishing. We started out fishing for flat head bait, which went very well. After we had caught enough bait for the night we fished main channel rock areas for bass. We each caught a largemouth bass and a few very small small mouth bass. Ben even caught a bonus rock bass which we hoped would meet its demise at the mouth of a large flat head.
The flat heads were not active tonight. We had one hit which was mediocre at best, and that was it for the night.
Observations:
This is probably the latest in the season where I have fished for flat heads and it is possible they are either schooling up or becoming inactive. I will give it a couple more tries and then put the cat rods away for the season.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
9-11-11 Sun
9-11-2011 Sun
10:00 AM – 3:30 PM
H2O: Bear Lake – clear 73 ˚, Dowling Lake – algae bloom, 75 ˚
Weather: W 12, clear, 81 ˚, 29.92 steady (12:55PM)
Location: Bear Lake & Dowling Lake, Moose Junction, WI
Caught: musky 37”, 4 pike 14-25”, LMB 10”
Partners: Scott
Comments:
Today was September the eleventh, exactly ten years to the date when the US was attacked by terrorists. I still remember it as the day that no planes traveled the sky after the attack. The skies were quite ghostly with no jetliners neither breaking the silence nor leaving any telltale vapor trails in the clear sky.
It was the second day of our weekend trip and we were not in such a hurry to get out on the water. We were both pretty sore from our marathon fishing episode of the previous day.
The game plan was to hit a couple of small lakes that were fairly close to the cabin and that supposedly had a population of muskies. Bear Lake was supposed to have a population of muskies but not enough to make it a serious fishery. Dowling Lake on the other hand was heavily stocked and had a sizeable population. Both lakes had unimproved landings with very limited parking.
Our fishing was very good today, I caught a thirty-seven inch musky and Scott caught a thirty-four incher. We were the only fishermen on both the lakes.
Observations:
Neither lake had much for structure, except for some emergent vegetation around the edges.
9-10-11 Sat
9-10-2011 Sat
8:30 AM – 8:00 PM
H2O: clear, 73 ˚
Weather: calm, clear, 79 ˚, 30.08 falling (12:55PM)
Location: St. Louis R. Duluth, MN
Caught: tiger musky 27”, 3 pike 22-26”
Partners: Scott
Comments
This weekend was a trip up north to the cabin to do some serious musky fishing. We had hoped to get some fishing in on Friday afternoon, but I was unable to get off of work at noon. That was just the start of our bad luck. When we got to the cabin I could not read the lock combination on the sign and Scott was getting nervous because his boat was blocking one side of the road. He attempted to move it and jack knifed his trailer and broke a taillight on his truck in the process. Once we did get the gate open we had more work in store for us. A past storm had knocked several trees down over the trail to the cabin and it took us about two hours to get the path cleared.
Saturday morning came and it was time to do what we had come to do: catch muskies! The weather was gorgeous! It was clear, calm, and very warm. It turned out to be a good day for fishing, but not such a good day for catching. We fished very hard for twelve hours; probably the most and hardest fishing I have ever done. I caught a few pike and the one small tiger musky, I did not even have any follows. Scott got very excited about the tiger musky; even though it was small he said they are very rare and seldom caught.
Scott did not catch any fish at all. He did have one very exciting moment about an hour before dark. He had one forty plus inch fish completely come out of the water after his top water bait not once but twice and it completely missed the bait on both attempts.
Observations:
The water was quite clear, but there was lots of floating weeds in the form of celery grass everywhere. This made the fishing very difficult, because it was constantly fouling our baits.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
9-6-11 Tue
9-6-2011 Tue
5:45 PM – 7:45 PM
H2O: 5.29’ falling, 26.5 kcfs, 65 ˚, clear
Weather: calm, clear, 68 ˚, 30.19 steady (6:53PM)
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7 lake Onalaska
Caught: LMB (11) 12-18”
Partners: None
Comments
I got back out on the lake tonight to catch some more bass where I had left off last night. I also wanted to do a little exploring for new areas on the lake. The spot where I caught bass last night still produced bass tonight, although I did not see any chasing activity going on.
My exploring of other potential spots was not quite as successful. I did find one weed line that did hold some bass, but it was nothing fantastic.
Observations:
None
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
9-5-11 Mon
9-5-2011 Mon
5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
H2O: 5.69’ falling, 31.7 kcfs, 68 ˚, clear
Weather: N 5, partly cloudy, 67 ˚, 30.15 falling (5:53PM)
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7 lake Onalaska and Somners Chute
Caught: LMB (8) 12-18”, pike (2) 25 & 30”, SMB (6) 4 – 12”, walleyes (3) 14”.
Partners: None
Comments
Fishing was pretty dam good tonight! The other day on the way home from work I had seen a fisherman fishing a particular weed line on the lake and it gave me the idea to try it. When I pulled up to the area it was a like a scene from the movie The Birds; There were sea gulls everywhere waiting for a nice minnow dinner. You see gulls will clue you in on where the fish are feeding. The fish chase the minnows and as they are fleeing and skipping across the top of the water the gulls will see this and swarm to get a fish dinner of their own.
I caught all of my LMB and the larger of the two pike at this spot. The bait of the fish’s choice was a spinner bait that had my favorite red and white skirt with a double tailed grub used as a trailer.
I tried two other similar spots on the lake with no fish to show for the effort. My final spot of the night was Somners Chute in search of SMB and walleyes. Well I found both, but neither species that were caught had any size to them. I used a Rapala Shad Rap for the spots here. The Shad Rap is a great bait, but the hooks suck: they are too small and not very strong. I usually change mine out to something bigger and stronger.
Observations:
The little cut through the trees behind the house is so shallow right now that it is almost impassable with the old goat boat!
5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
H2O: 5.69’ falling, 31.7 kcfs, 68 ˚, clear
Weather: N 5, partly cloudy, 67 ˚, 30.15 falling (5:53PM)
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7 lake Onalaska and Somners Chute
Caught: LMB (8) 12-18”, pike (2) 25 & 30”, SMB (6) 4 – 12”, walleyes (3) 14”.
Partners: None
Comments
Fishing was pretty dam good tonight! The other day on the way home from work I had seen a fisherman fishing a particular weed line on the lake and it gave me the idea to try it. When I pulled up to the area it was a like a scene from the movie The Birds; There were sea gulls everywhere waiting for a nice minnow dinner. You see gulls will clue you in on where the fish are feeding. The fish chase the minnows and as they are fleeing and skipping across the top of the water the gulls will see this and swarm to get a fish dinner of their own.
I caught all of my LMB and the larger of the two pike at this spot. The bait of the fish’s choice was a spinner bait that had my favorite red and white skirt with a double tailed grub used as a trailer.
I tried two other similar spots on the lake with no fish to show for the effort. My final spot of the night was Somners Chute in search of SMB and walleyes. Well I found both, but neither species that were caught had any size to them. I used a Rapala Shad Rap for the spots here. The Shad Rap is a great bait, but the hooks suck: they are too small and not very strong. I usually change mine out to something bigger and stronger.
Observations:
The little cut through the trees behind the house is so shallow right now that it is almost impassable with the old goat boat!
9-4-11 Sun
9-4-2011 Sun
7:00 PM – 10:30 PM
H2O: 5.97’ falling, 34.1 kcfs, 68 ˚, clear
Weather: N 7, partly cloudy, 59 ˚, 30.11 rising (7:53PM)
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7 main channel areas
Caught: Bait (bluegills), flat heads 42 & 24 lb. channel cat 8.5 lb.
Partners: None
Comments
Today is the first day of a major cold front that came through at the end of the summer season. The water temperature went from 75 ˚ to 68 ˚ overnight. I went out flat head fishing tonight more out of curiosity than really wanting to go. I wanted to see if the fish would still bite with such a major change in the weather.
Past experience tells me the opposite of what others would have me believe. Almost all fishermen will say the fishing just is not very good after a cold front. But from my past experiences of fishing every day for a year I lean towards the opposite theory. I have had some very spectacular days on the water after a cold front came through.
The first set up spot was next to the main channel with a depth of around twenty feet. There was no visible timber but there was a massive tree that was completely under water and stretched from the surface to the bottom. I gave this spot about an hour and had no action at all.
The next spot had lots of visible wood and a depth of around ten feet. This is the spot that produced the two lunkers. After a wait of only ten minutes the first of two fish was on, and it was back -pedaling as I tried to crank it to the boat. Just as it got to the boat my second pole went hell bent for the drink. Still holding the first pole with the first fish still on, I picked up the second pole and began battling two fish at once. The second fish was no slouch and I knew I had a very good one on.
Now the question is how to land two fish at once. Well the first fish was boat side and fairly exhausted, so I put the pole in one of the holders and let it play with itself, ha, ha! Once I got a glimpse of the second fish I knew I had a giant. After a pretty extended battle and lots of effort to keep the two fish from tangling I had both fish boat side. The next act of the circus atmosphere was getting out my camera and scale, weighing and taking pictures of both and releasing the fish unharmed. It was challenge, but I accomplished a feat that most people would envy to have had the opportunity to do.
The final spot I tried was Somners Chute, fishing at a depth of around twenty feet. I fished this spot for about twenty minutes and boated one nice channel cat that had a fighting attitude. One thing about cannel cats, they are fighters!
Observations:
None
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