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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.