Early Season Bowhunts

Had some great time in the treestand already this year. It's been a beautiful fall and really a rewarding feeling to sit in a stand over a food plot that you put a lot of hours into with your own hands. I'll admit a sense of pride when I watched a couple deer feeding in the plot.

Had an amazing night on Sunday with dad and Dan Dummer. Setup on the edge of a CRP field between two beanfields. Had seven year and half old bucks file out and spend about an hour sparring out in front of me. All within bow range at some point. There was one tremendous buck that came to the edge of the woods, but didn't step out. All those young bucks scattered towards dusk leaving me to think that the big boy was coming out. But never showed. Dan sat in a ground blind in the middle of all this too. Dad had great action around him too with two 10-point shooters running around him.

Really a great night and gets me really jacked for the next month or so of being out.

Food Plot Photos

Boy, it's been a while since I have had the opportunity to blog what's happening in this part of my world. The food plot has been okay, but not great. The soil was really resistant to growth and weeds have been an issue. I think over the next couple years that I can get the soil more fertile and acceptant to my planting. I have a couple spots where the clover has done well enough to keep deer traffic coming and going. These are a few great photos of a couple bucks I have watched. Needless to say, I am anxious to get out in the stand now in a couple weeks.

Food Plot Creation 1

Got started with the initial field work on the food plot this weekend. I spent part of the day Friday prepping the 11 acres of CRP/switchgrass to be burned. I went in with a brushhog behind the tractor and mowed down two rows of grass and Phil came behind me with the chisel plow to create a firewall for the burn. The chisel

plowing is also a good start on getting some of the initial ground turned over for planting.

Then on Saturday AM we went over and burned. It was a quite a sight to see the power of fire and how quickly it gets its work done. We started on the downwind corner to create a back fire. This slowly burned into the wind and created a barrier for the upwind fire to burn and die into. Once the upwind fire was started the 11 acres was down in minutes. When the two fires met each other it was quite a powerful updraft. I'm sure they fed off each other in some fashion.

As quickly as it was started the show was over. I also realized that this was the easiest way to shed hunt! Flattened black earth that only minutes prior was 5-6 feet tall! It was amazing that under the torched grass there was already green shoots starting to pop up. Amazing how the spring does this to the earth. This left a nice patch to be disced, dug, rolled, planted and rolled again. Should be some fun.

Ecology Class Turkey Chasing 2.0

Had another great morning in the valley today. Last night I moved our blinds to a different spot more in "the bedroom" of where I thought the gobblers would be. In fact, watched a few toms head into there last night. Good choice. We were right in the thick of it this morning.

We met about 5:20AM again and headed out. Got the kids into blinds, got decoys set up, camera on the tripod and we were set.

Heard quite a bit of gobbling again across the top of the ridge to the north starting at about 5:45. So much chatter in fact, that I was a little bummed that we again weren't in the middle of the action. Just about then, at about 5:52 they started hammering right up the draw from us. And they went crazy for about 20 minutes. There were two or three of them on the roost there.

Rich and I called for most of that time. I did a mock flydown with my hat at about 6:15AM. Within minutes, those birds were also on the ground. We had one tom on his way. He came down the ridge and got to the barbwire fence and hung up at 97.5 yards (according to the rangefinder). Stayed there for a few minutes, strutted and started back up the ridge.

We hollered at him quite a bit, but he didn't like what he saw. I keep thinking about that fence...maybe he just didn't want to cross it. We also had that Pretty Boy tom decoy out there and maybe he was a little intimidated? Who knows. Either way, it was a fun morning and great to have the kids in the midst of all that action.

Ecology Class Turkey Chasing 1.0

I joined Rich Kincaid and his KWHS Ecology class for part of their turkey unit this spring. Rich and I have chased turkeys together for many years and this was a fun morning.

We met the kids in Sogn Valley about 5:15AM and headed out to some blinds that I had put out yesterday afternoon. We were setup on the top of a pasture between two stands of timber that typically hold roosting birds. We had a total of eight kids along today. Rich and I stuck out decoys including Rich's new Pretty Boy setup.

We were in the blinds by about 5:35 and heard our first gobble real early at 5:42. It was a couple ridges over, but it sparked the morning conversation! There were lots and lots of gobbles for the next 30-45 minutes before the birds hit the ground. None of them were in the timber close to us as we had hoped.

We called hard until about 7:30AM hoping to lure a few of those lonely gobblers over our way. No such luck.

Like it typically does, it got a little colder once the sun came up and the students got a little restless. We were on our way to the trucks by about 7:35.

Rich and I are taking another group of kids tomorrow (Thursday) and we are considering moving the blinds to a spot that will be more in the heart of the roost.

Here is a little video footage.

More MN Snow

More snow here last night. Probably about 6 inches. Enough that we didn't have school today!! yea!

I have been watching the east hillside above the river from my house the last few nights and really see the deer leaving the timber and heading south to the stripped standing corn a couple hundred yards to the south. I have seen one good shooter buck in a group of 10-15 consistently. So I finally got out tonight and hung a stand on the SW corner of the timber.

It was cold and still. About 14 degrees that you could really feel once the sun went down. A bald eagle flew in and circled just above me right at sunset which was very cool. And then they came.
That group of 10-15 came east of me through the timber. I was hoping that they would be upwind of me on the CRP field side. They got to the east of me and I think the lead doe caught my profile against the western sky. I had snow camo on, but still a probably dark solid object in that evening sky. She snorted and stomped for about 1o minutes while the others milled around just out of shooting range. Finally they all made their way east up the hillside and back into the woods.

It was a great night of sitting in a quiet stand though. I haven't had too many of those and really cherished this one tonight.

The Blizzard Deer

Gonna have to get the story of these guys told soon. I will be back to edit the post!!

West RIver SD Bowhunt

Well here we are actually blogging during the daylight in Meade County, South Dakota...I love the wireless network card about now otherwise Cory and I would just be sitting here looking at each other.

I left home yesterday morning about 4:45AM, got to Ideal Yardware in Sioux Falls about 8:30 and headed west with Cory. We coasted (literally) into the gas station in Mitchell as we had run out of gas about a half mile earlier on I90.

We got to the Weiss Ranch about 3PM in the rain, sleet and horrific winds. We trekked out and walked the south creek into the wind and got into quite a few mulies, one nice buck, but nothing close enough to shoot. Rain had now turned to snow and I dropped my quiver and arrows somewhere on the creek and went back and couldn't find it. Slowly drove over to Roger and Kendra's house and hunkered down.

And here we are...12 inches of snow, 46 mph winds (gusting to 60+) and blinding conditions. We tried two times today to get out and walk, but couldn't even get out of the driveway. Got stuck, pulled it out with the tractor and went to drive around but couldn't see the road.

I guess we could be camping...

Trail Camera Photos

I've realized that I have a lifetime to hunt and I won't be able to spend time again with my newborn kids. So my trailcams are my little getaway into the woods. It's kinda fun because Cameron can get in the backpack and come with me!! Here are some great bucks I have gotten recently.

ND Pheasant Hunt

We had a great time up in ND this year. Went with Kurt Weber, his brother Kent, Glen Perkins and Kevin Slowey. We stayed at the "Sugar Shack" in Linton, ND. A great house that served us very well.

We had great weather again and the birds were plentiful. I am again impressed with the quality of the PLOTS (Private Land Open To Sportsmen) Land and the number of birds it holds.

We had a great time visiting with our good friends Jim and Tim Volk again in the Hague area. We also spent an evening at the pheasant feed at the Blue Moon in Strasberg. This was where Lawrence Welk got his start.

ND Pheasant Hunt

Okay, not totally a work trip but I did have my cameras with me. Got some great shots.

Welcome Home Just After Dark

Another beautiful night in the treestand. I sat on that same field as the previous post, though I had moved the stand down about 75 yards to the west. My dad had sat in this stand last week and had 19 deer come out relatively early in the evening.

Tonight I had a slight breeze from the west which was perfect and it calmed down to a very quiet night near sunset. I patiently waited for some action, but for whatever reason, they started their movement really late. Almost "big buck" time for all the women and children to come out. There was a total of seven that hopped that west fence and came into the alfalfa, but about 75 yards away. One other deer came into the NW corner of the field where there is very little cover, but I couldn't see what it was.

In typical hunting story fashion, I pulled into the driveway on the four-wheeler just after dark only to be welcomed by seven deer standing within 10 yards of my front door.

A great night and a beautiful sunset.

Another trail cam photo from a couple weeks ago of a decent buck just off the river. I have had a few different looks at this deer. If he's 2 1/2 years, he's gonna be a good one in a year or two.

First Legit Sit

Finally got out for a legitimate "sit" Sunday night. I DID go almost ceremoniously on opening morning and sat in a blind for a couple hours. There is so much cover in the woods that I just wanted to be on a field edge where I could see a little bit.

I setup on the south side of an alfalfa field that, though only 150 yards off a gravel county road, is very secluded. You have a climb a hill and get 15 feet off the ground to even get a look at it. This is the field right in the center of the aerial photo below. The field to the west is corn and the field south of the gravel is beans. They travel from the river to the south and up into this field to feed in the evenings. Looking at the photo, there is not much cover, but the elevation change is significant enough that the deer can travel in relative seclusion. I knew that it was more of a scouting trip than anything as I just wanted to watch that field and see where the deer were coming into it. I have seen a couple good bucks in this area through the late summer. Both of those buck I thought were in the 145-150" range and I have seen them in the last couple weeks after shedding velvet.

I was facing north 30 yards off the alfalfa with a ladder stand in a big oak tree. Had a southwest breeze which was not ideal going in, but worked out in the end. 13 does and fawns came into the field from the west and slowly meandered down the field and were only about 40 yards away by dark. There was one more deer that came out really late, but the edge of the field where they were entering was about 125 yards to my west. Likely a decent buck, but we'll have to keep watching again.

Though there are not lots of trees, there are some good oaks and I am going to move that stand more into the southwest corner of that field where the deer are entering. There is a large cornfield off the west end where they are coming in from. I had a big owl come and land on a branch close to me which was very cool. You could clearly see the yellow in it's eyes. That alone made the night a winner. It was a great night at the end of an 80 degree day.

Here are a couple trail cam photos from preseason.
One on the edge of a small CRP field and another from a
river crossing on the Little Cannon River(post later).

First Legit Sit

Finally got out for a legitimate "sit" Sunday night. I DID go almost ceremoniously on opening morning and sat in a blind for a couple hours. There is so much cover in the woods that I just wanted to be on a field edge where I could see a little bit.

I setup on the south side of an alfalfa field that, though only 150 yards off a gravel county road, is very secluded. You have a climb a hill and get 15 feet off the ground to even get a look at it. This is the field right in the center of the aerial photo below. The field to the west is corn and the field south of the gravel is beans. They travel from the river to the south and up into this field to feed in the evenings. Looking at the photo, there is not much cover, but the elevation change is significant enough that the deer can travel in relative seclusion. I knew that it was more of a scouting trip than anything as I just wanted to watch that field and see where the deer were coming into it. I have seen a couple good bucks in this area through the late summer. Both of those buck I thought were in the 145-150" range and I have seen them in the last couple weeks after shedding velvet.

I was facing north 30 yards off the alfalfa with a ladder stand in a big oak tree. Had a southwest breeze which was not ideal going in, but worked out in the end. 13 does and fawns came into the field from the west and slowly meandered down the field and were only about 40 yards away by dark. There was one more deer that came out really late, but the edge of the field where they were entering was about 125 yards to my west. Likely a decent buck, but we'll have to keep watching again.

Though there are not lots of trees, there are some good oaks and I am going to move that stand more into the southwest corner of that field where the deer are entering. There is a large cornfield off the west end where they are coming in from. I had a big owl come and land on a branch close to me which was very cool. You could clearly see the yellow in it's eyes. That alone made the night a winner. It was a great night at the end of an 80 degree day.

Here are a couple trail cam photos from preseason.
One on the edge of a small CRP field and another from a
river crossing on the Little Cannon River(post later).

10.27.07 NORTH DAKOTA PHEASANT HUNT

Okay, I promise this will be the last photo with dead animals in it.

I traveled this weekend to Hague, ND (pop 67) for some great pheasant action with my good friend Kurt Weber, his son Aaron and Minnesota Twins pitchers, Glen Perkins and Kevin Slowey.

It was a great time with lots of laughs, lots of birds and lots and lots of empty shotgun shells!! My lab Sogn is dead tired and still recovering!

10.21.07 SOUTH DAKOTA BOWHUNTING

Okay, so I don't take photos every single day of the year!! I do usually have my cameras along with me on my travels though...

As is our usual custom late in October, my great college friend Cory Hansen and I are lucky enough to spend time bowhunting whitetail and mule deer on the Weiss Ranch in northwest South Dakota. All of the Weiss' have made us feel a part of the family and we love this trip each fall.

I was fortunate enough to take this terrific deer this year. I did my best to make the photo a high quality one so I could put in on the website. More photos of the hunt and The Ranch are in the Friends & Family area.