Post by: luvtohnt on December 25, 2009, 07:48:54 PM
Saturday morning(day 2) again brought some much needed sleep as my buddies wife's 30th birthday was the night before and we stayed out kind of late. I have now learned that if you want to hunt on a trip leave the wives at home!! Saturday afternoon I was back in a different stand and ready to try my hand at successfully hunting whitetails. That evening proved to be disappointing as we saw nothing, and I was starting to get worried that the deer would not show.
Sunday (day 3) I had high hopes as this would be the first morning hunt. I saw my first whitetails from a tree stand it was an exciting experience even though they heard some deer blowing by my buddies stand and took a different trail around my stand to their bedding area. That evening we were at it again, and a last minute decision put me in a stand that had a freeway of a deer trail, and my buddy took the stand with less activity. STUPID MISTAKE! My buddy shot a doe at 4:00 pm and it was in the stand he originally wanted me in. I still consider this day a success as this is the first time this particular buddy and I got to drag any animal out of the woods together. Great memories were made that evening. That evening we got to have a good sit down discussion with my buddy's dad who is an expert at hunting his own property and we discussed some possibilities. The corn was still standing because of a sudden snow storm and an article in the Green Bay paper said the rifle deer season harvest numbers were down by 30% and the wildlife committee was getting concerned with the DNR's practice of deer management.
Monday morning (day 4) we got up earlier than normal, because the stands we wanted to sit in today were more of a hike than normal and we wanted to make sure we were there before daylight. At 7:30 as I was sitting in the stand I saw movement to my right, and slowly turned and looked. They have arrived and were right on schedule. This was the stand that I watched the deer walk by Sunday morning as they were avoiding the stand I was sitting in. I watched them closely as they approached, and all of the sudden the lead doe quickly looks at me and gives me the stare down. I was sky lined will sitting in a cedar tree with full camouflage on; man they must have these stand memorized! So I watch as the deer make their way around me again and just sit there in disappointment. Well as I am sitting there watching the shooting lanes a doe just appears out of nowhere right in front of me. I had to sit and wait till she put her head down so I can draw the bow. As I get the bow drawn she looks up and starts to stare. After seeing the damage done to the doe the night before I am confident that at 15 yards a full frontal shot is acceptable. I get settled in on her chest and get ready to shoot when the slightest breeze knocks some snow off the branch next to me, and as fast as she appeared she was gone. I now know that white tails deer are in fact the spookiest deer I have ever seen. Mid day on Monday my buddy's dad told us he would do some deer drives through his property, and he guaranteed it would produce a deer. After driving 3 separate sections of property I was extremely worried about the coming morning especially after the guarantee. Monday evening was a disappointing evening at a minimum. We saw nothing, and I was tired of always changing stands, I wanted to be in the stand were we seen all of the deer. Tomorrow morning was going to be my last hunt and I needed to get something. The pressure is on!
Tuesday morning (day 5) I convinced my buddy to allow me to return to the same stand as Monday morning and I had high hopes as the amount of deer tracks on the way in was unreal compared to previous days. I get to my stand and get settled in. I get my breathing slowed from the long hike in and I close my eyes to adjust to the changing light. I had my eyes closed for no more than 1 minute and when I open them there is a 130 class buck. It was like he just appeared magically and he was already on me. I wore my snow camouflage top to avoid being sky lined from the side like I was the day before but he appeared from the front! Standing broadside at about 18 yards he is just watching to see what I am. He stood and watched as I slowly drew my bow (I also learned I need to practice a slow draw along with some other shot scenarios to be better prepared next time). As my cam broke to the sweet spot for the let off my limbs were so cold they made a popping sound and that was all it took for my first opportunity at a buck ran off.
That was the end of the hunt and it was now time to go home. All in all it was a great trip and I would do it again. This is my first out of state hunt and I have learned a few things about traveling out of state to go hunting. I will be going to Wisconsin again in 2012 possibly and I will go in October during the pre-rut when the deer are not as jumpy from the rifle season, I would go sooner but I have a Wyoming elk hunt in the works for 2011, and there is too much conflict with school schedules for me to return in 2010.
The following pictures are how you hang a deer in Wisconsin, the farm we stayed at, boarding the train in Columbus, WI., and coming into Wenatchee, WA 43 hours later.
Brandon
Post by: mossback91 on December 26, 2009, 10:17:26 PM