11-7 thru 11-15-2015

11-7 thru 11-15-2015 Up to the cabin bow hunting and a little grouse hunting with Jake Tupper
Weather: Mostly way above average for this time of year. Had some significant rain one evening with a little snow mix. Temperatures were mostly above average.
Location: Moose Junction, WI
Bagged: two grouse

It was my usual one-week fall bow-hunting trip up to the north woods at my hunting shack. This trip was about two weeks later than usual. I was hoping to time it so more bucks were in their seeking phase. I actually think we should have been up about five days earlier. When we first got up there we saw bucks on the roads and cameras but after about Tuesday the buck sighting drop to almost nothing.
The deer are fairly sparse up north, but they are rebounding. If you were able to find oak stands with a heavy mast of acorns you would see deer.
I saw an ample amount of deer while hunting but I only saw one buck and he was a dandy! I had an opportunity at this buck on the fourth day. I was hunting what I figured to be a pretty good travel corridor in the morning. At about 8:45 AM a doe came from behind me and ran within feet of the tree I was in. This doe was moving at a good pace and I figured a buck was chasing her, sure enough one was. Within seconds of the doe being out of my sight I hear a buck grunting from the same direction the doe came from. He was in a bird dog style of travel following the doe’s scent.
This buck was air scenting her travel path and zigzagging the route she had taken. Well he was coming towards my stand on the opposite side that the doe had taken. I quickly but very carefully turned 180 degrees to get into position for a shot. I got ready to draw and tried to time it so his head would be behind a smallish oak tree about fifteen yards out that would shield my movement. I was a little early on the draw and the buck caught my movement of drawing the bow. He did not know what he had seen or where it had come from, but he stopped and was on high alert. He turned 90 degrees took about three steps and stopped quartering away, which gave me a good shot. I was at full draw and attempted to settle the twenty-yard pin behind his shoulder. But there was a problem. I had forgotten to take my glasses off when I started hunting this morning and I have a peep with a lens in it that does not mix well with my glasses. It was like trying to sight through a frosted coke bottle, everything was distorted and blurry. I aimed as best I could and smoothly released my arrow. My arrow smacked the center of the oak that I had previously used for cover about ten feet off the ground. What a disappointment! The buck scampered unharmed toward the direction from which he had come. It was a total let down, but I am thankful I will always have the memories of the action from that morning.
The rest of the week I did not see any more bucks, but I did see a respectable amount of does and fawns. Jake Tupper who was also hunting the week out of the cabin shot a smallish eight pointer on Friday night.
In retrospect I think next year I will hunt the first week of November instead of the second.