Ron's 2009 bow season

[Ron]

I made my first trip up North for the 2009 Archery season. Left work a bit early and drove through the rain hoping it would stop by the time I reached my destination. No such luck. I dropped off some gear at my Parent's house and then headed to the woods to check the stands. I figured the rain would be good for scouting around. When I got to the farm I found the field road was flooded in many spots but I have a 4x4 Dodge ram that can go anywhere. ;D I didn't plan to hunt that evening because of the rains but by the time I finished checking the stands it had let up a bit and was now just a mist. I went back to my Parent's and changed into my hunting gear and headed back to the woods. Just as I pulled up my bow, the rain started again but I stayed out anyway. After two hours of seeing nothing, it got too dark to see so I headed back to the truck. As I drove along the field road, I reached the muddiest part and decided to hug the grassy edge which was a big mistake.



The Ram was buried and it was raining harder. Thank God for cell phones!! I placed a call to friend with a Super Duty truck with Duals and he came to laugh at me before attaching his chain. After several attempts, we were getting nowhere so another call was made to my friends Father who had the same truck as my friend. With the two trucks hooked together and a mighty jerk (that would be me for thinking I could drive though that mess) We began to move. They towed me out to the road and took turns laughing at me as we stood in the rain. I learned that Dodge Rams have towing hooks on their front just so that Chevys can pull them out when needed. I didn't know that but I'm glad they explained it to me over and over and over.

The next morning it was raining harder than ever so I returned to my warm bed wondering what would have happened if my friends owned Fords and if my hooks would have still worked. At 10:00 A.M. I had an appointment with members of the Stevens Point Isaac Walton League to discuss Earn-A-Buck alternatives and the long process that got us to the point we are now at. They were a great bunch with lots of questions and even more Bratwurst and Kraut. They feed me lunch and we solved all the worlds' ills. I even told them about the Chevy hooks that Dodge puts on all its trucks. After the meeting I headed back to my Parents place to get ready for another night of sitting in the rain but as soon as I reached their house my phone rang. It was my brother telling me to make ready the knives and to get prepared to butcher a black bear he had just shot up in the Clam Lake area.

When he arrived with my Father (they were hunting together) we unloaded his 3 legged sow. This was an old bear. Her teeth were worn flat and the missing left front leg didn't seem to prevent her from sending 3 hounds to the vet with some pretty serious injuries. One well placed shot ended the chase. The wound was something that must have taken place a long time ago because the hide was completely healed over and the meat around the missing leg was not the normal yellow and fibrous tissue that normally covers recent injuries. She must have been missing that leg for years.







After taking care of the bear I cleaned up but I'm sure I went to the woods smelling like an old wet sow (even more than I normally do) When I got back to where I was stuck the night before I stopped to take a picture and to reflect on the how lucky I was to have those Chevy hooks.



The evening was more of the same, light rain and wind. I took a few pictures of the cedar swamp from my stand.







While I was sitting on stand I could hear what sounded like engines revving up and a voice on a loud speaker. In 33 years of hunting these woods I have never heard such a thing and it went on all afternoon. The sounds were far enough not to cause me any grief. I sat through the afternoon and saw only one raccoon. When I finished hunting I headed back to my Parents and changed out of my gear and drove into town to see what all the noise and ruckus was about. It turns out that the Village was running a tractor and truck pull down main street. I hung out long enough to see a few guys pull in the misty drizzle and then head back to get some sleep.



Sunday morning found me in my tree at daybreak. I sat until 9:30 am and then packed up my gear and head back home. I was disappointed in the lack of deer sighting but even more so in the lack of tracks. It's clear that the deer are on the next property filling up on acorns and soybeans and the cedar swamp and river bottom I was hunting was of no interest to them at this time. None of the property I hunt has any oak trees so it will be tough sailing this fall. I'm not sure when I will head back to hunt again because next weekend is the statewide Youth gun hunt and the following is the T-zone Gun hunt. I may skip it until November. It was good to be back in the deer stand even if I didn't see any deer.

[Ron]

Oct 5, 2009 15:31:22 GMT -6 @hntswbow said:

You might say that you "Rammed" it in there didn't ya! ;D

I'm still digging dirt and mud out of places I didn't think were even close to the ground.

[Ron]

Oct. 16 2009. I left work around 10:00 am and headed North for a weekend of bowhunting. On the drive up I saw one dead buck along the side of the road in my 200 mile trip. I got into my stand around 3:30 pm. On the way in I noticed a lot of coyote tracks. More than I have seen in years. But I think this one is a wolf track.



It was a quiet night with no wind. Around 5:00 I saw a fisher running along the edge of the creek. It was big (about as big as a house cat) and dark brown. He did not hang around long enough to get his picture taken. That was all I saw for the night.

Sat. Morn. Oct. 17th. I am so glad there is no T-zone hnting in my unit this year. What a treat to bowhunt this Oct. weekend and not wear blaze orange or be forced to only shoot does. This is what Oct. weekends should be.

It was cold (30) and calm with a few clouds. I got into my stand at 6:45 and didn't see of hear anything until 9:00. I saw the legs of a deer about 100 yards up stream. It was headed for the creek and into the cedar swamp. It was calm so I knew the sound would carry so I made a Mwaaaaaaa sound with my voice and the deer stopped. I did it again and it started heading for me. When it go to about 50 yards away I could see it was a buck but a small one so I put the bow back on the hanger and got out the camera to shoot some video. He came within 15 yards of my stand and I played it out just as if I were going to shoot, I stopped him in the clearing with another Mwaaaaaa. I gave him a pass so he can grow up a bit. Here is the video.




After that, he walked of along the creek out of sight. I sat until 10:00 and did a little scouting along the creek. I found a good crossing and a hemlock that would be a great place for a stand so I ran into Stevens Point to buy a ladder stand. I brought it back to my parents place and assembled it.



After hunting tomorrow morning, I will put the stand up and then head home and let the area cool down for a week before coming back.

Sat. Afternoon Oct. 17th. I got into my stand at 3:00. Very calm. Almost zero wind. Saw Lots of red squirels and Jays but not much else. At 5:30 I heard a lot of yelp barks from some yotes. I hate those things.

[Ron]

Sunday Oct. 18. Arrived at my stand at 6:45 a.m. Sat until 9:30 without seeing or hearing any deer. Got down and set about erecting the new ladder stand. Completed the project by 1:30. I packed up and headed back home. On the drive home I expected to see a few does strapped to vehicles that were taken from the T-zone hunt. I saw none. I saw one car killed buck and 1 car killed coyote and a few dead cats (I thought that was odd) I hope to head back up next weekend and use the new ladder stand near the river pond.

[Ron]

kept track of the last 6 days for my usual hunt journal. Below are the notes I took.

Drove up North on Thursday Night Nov. 5th to start my 6 day bowhunting vacation. Our company is closed on Veterans day so didn't have to burn much vacation time. I was sicker than a dog on Wednesday and Thursday (figures that when I wanted to hunt I would get sick) I would be once again hunting the old family farm that I started bowhunting some 33 years ago. This year, it was corn in the center with Beans to the West and alfalfa to the East. I will once again be hunting the river bottom funnel that joins all three. North of the river (small creek 20 feet wide) is a cedar swamp. Its 140 acres of food, water and heavy cover . This area has produced many deer and deer sighting in the last 3 decades. With the rut on, this will be a good week to be in the woods.

I still felt like crap on Friday Morning and slept in. Instead of hunting, I drove into Stevens Point for the Conservation Congress deer 2000 ad hoc committee meeting to hear Keith Warnke deliver the data from the EAB hearings and to hear the congress votes on their EAB alternative plan. I stayed until 12:30 and then headed back to my parents place to get ready to go hunting on Friday night.

Friday Night Nov. 6th. My 75 year old father had been seeing a big buck in the alfalfa field near his house but was hunting from a gun stand (ground blind) and the bucks have always been across the field and won't come in his direction. I told him that I will set up my pop-up blind in the woods where the bucks come out and skip hunting so I can rattle and grunt to see if I could coax out the big 10 point (I was still feeling poorly and sitting on the ground sounded like a better idea to me)

We got him set up by 2:30 and went home to get changed into our hunting gear and were back to the blind by 3:30. I set up 80 yards away. I would rattle and grunt every half hour and right before dark I saw my Father outside the blind zipping the door shut. I approached him and as soon as I got to the stand I could hear a deer crashing through the brush towards us. I watched as a medium sized 8 point came to a screeching halt 25 yards from where we were standing. He gave us a good look and then turned tail and was gone.

Saturday Morning Nov. 7th. Hunted from pre-dawn to 10:00 am. Zero deer seen.

Mid-day, Drove over to my Brothers place and made sure all the deer rifles were sighted in. We didn't fire a shot last year and most likely won't again this year but just to make sure, I sent a few down the range.

Saturday Evening Nov. 7th. Got into a diff. stand location at 2:00 pm. Sat till dark. Zero deer seen.

Sunday Morning Nov. 8th (this was the day I got my buck last year.) I headed back to the stand I used the first morning. Arrived in the pre-dawn and sat till 10:30. Zero deer seen.

Sunday afternoon, My Father and I filled his basement with firewood and installed a new post on one end of the deer pole. The tree that was holding up that end had died and made the whole thing a bit dangerous.

Sunday Evening Nov. 8th. Went into the ladder stand I took my buck from last year. Got to my stand at 2:15 and sat till dark. Zero deer seen.

Monday Morning Nov. 9th. Sat in my new ladder stand near the river. Arrived in the pre-dawn darkness. At 8:30 a big lone doe ran past me at 25 yards. I waited for what I assumed was a buck chasing her. After 2 more hours I quit waiting. That is the first doe I have seen this season. I sat until 10:30 then went back to the farm to do chores.

Spent the mid day washing every window in my parent's house and doing general cleaning, fixing and measuring for upcoming work to be done.

Monday evening Nov. 9th. Arrived at a different ladder stand a few hundred yards down river at about 2:00 pm. Sat until dark. Zero deer.

After hunting Monday night, I helped my Dad and Brother shred 50 pounds of cabbage, salted and pack it for Sauerkraut.

Tuesday Morning Nov. 10th. hunted from "old faithful" which is a ladder stand leaning against a big pine that I had built a permanent wood stand it many years ago. I have taken many deer from this stand. I needed the right wind to hunt this stand. In fact there was almost no wind. The whole day was dead calm, warm and many crunchy leaves to alert me to approaching deer. I got on stand a half hour before dawn and sat until 10:00. Zero deer.

Tuesday mid day. Worked on my Son's new ladder stand location for the gun season on the far East end of the property about 2 forties from where I am bowhunting. I saw one rub on a tree nearby.

Tuesday Evening Nov. 10th. Hunted 150 yards up river from old faithful. Dead calm and crunchy leaves. Got on stand at 2:00 and sat till dark. Zero deer.

Wednesday Morning Nov. 11. Back at old faithful a half hour before dawn. At 8:30 a doe and 2 fawns could be seen approaching my stand and were in a big hurry. I watched them come in from 100 yards out. I kept looking behind to see if they were being followed but they were not. When they got 20 yards past my stand they stopped and milled around for a bit. I could see that both fawns were female. I was tempted to take one of them but based on what I have seen so far, I would rather these deer go on to reproduce. I sat until 10:30 and then called it a morning.

The last few days have been picture perfect hunting conditions with little to no wind and excellent "Hearing" conditions. So far I had done a little rattling and some grunting and using the can call. I observed my normal scent habits, showered daily and played the wind, all the habits that have served me well for many years. I was even more cautious than prior years since I started using a pee bottle rather than just going from the stand but the lack of sign and sighting told me that the reason for not seeing deer was not due to how I was hunting. I made a few criss-cross searches through the standing corn looking for tracks thinking that the deer were living in the corn. No luck. I peeled back the husks on ears from all ends of the field to find the huge cobs were covered in a yellow green powdery mold and is very wet.

Including the two other trips I have made back to the farm this fall I have a total of 58 hours on stand. In Oct. I passed on a small 6 point and during this trip I saw 2 adult does and 2 doe fawns for a total of 5 deer. In other years, 5 deer a night was not uncommon. I passed on the few deer I saw waiting for a buck that met my standards. As I drove back to the farm I thought about the upcoming gun season and that I would tell my Boys the same thing I told them last year. Were not shooting any does and only my youngest can shoot any buck he wants since he has yet to take a buck. My oldest and I will only take a buck if it is bigger than anything we have taken in the past. Last year, the 3 of us never fired a shot. I harvested one deer with the bow (8 pointer)of of this property last year. We have not harvested an antlerless deer from this property in many many years.

Having passed on a buck and a doe I can call the season a success. My Father hunted more than I have ever seen him before. He even went out in the morning on 3 days and he almost never hunts the morning. That 10 pointer must have really impressed him. He saw no antlerless deer at all on any of his hunts. The local deer population is the lowest I can ever recall based on many years of comparison. I don't consider the local population to be one that should be harvested from. It needs to be rebuilt before we should remove any deer yet the farmer that borders my parents property to the North got 16 crop damage tags for this year and has filled them all. Perhaps I should have spent more time on the stand during mid-day but I had promised my parents help around the house. I have never hunted mid-day in the past and did pretty well on this land hunting just mornings and afternoons. I guess this population will require far more hours on stand to produce the same number of sightings and harvest. The Dept. says we are still 20% over goal. I have the option to drive back up this weekend but I'm not inclined to make a 5 hour round trip for more of what I just experienced.