Tuesday, October 29, 2013 pm

Tuesday, October 29, 2013 pm. Sunset: 6:05 pm. Hunting closes: 6:35 pm. Temperature: 46 degrees. Mostly cloudy. Wind: E 10-15 mph. I walked over to replace the batteries on the VAT camera and to grab my buck decoy. I then crossed over the hillside and went to sit in the point ladder stand. I was ready to go by 3:05 pm. Nothing to report.  Totals: Bob - 0 deer.

Nice MN Buck

Not sure how many points, since the picture is blury, but he is mature.  Short tine length, and he really needs another year to become a giant.  He would be tempting.

Monday, October 28, 2013 pm

Tuesday, October 28, 2013 pm. Sunset: 6:06 pm. Hunting closes: 6:36 pm. Temperature 43 degrees. Mostly sunny. Wind: E-NE 10-15 mph. I decided that the bucks will be on their feet and moving, so decided to sneak out for a few hours this afternoon. I was walking down to the VAT and kicked up a bug die at the base of the hill on my way in. I grabbed the camera chip and set up my buck decoy about 25 yards to the north of me. I can only hunt until 3:30 pm or so and then I have to go pick up Charley from daycare. Heidi is then going to come down and sit here for the rest of the night. Nothing to report for either of us. Too bad bit was a nice evening. Totals: Bob and Heidi - 0 deer. 

Sunday, October 27, 2013 am

Sunday, October 27, 2013 am. Sunrise: 7:42 am. Hunting opens: 7:12 am. Temperature: 33 degrees. Mostly sunny. Wind: S-SE 10-15 mph. It was a slow start to the morning. Heidi said I could hunt this morning if I fed Charley before I left and I would let her take a nap this afternoon. It seemed like a fair trade, so I took her up on the offer. It did delay me getting into the stand when I wanted to, but it was worth it. I decided to go up to right field, and I brought along my buck decoy "Stumpy."  Dwayne was out and went to the Apple Tree. I was in and ready by 6:50 am. At 9:00 am, the farmer came by with is combine and trailer picking the corn. I was hoping that he would kick something out to me, but nothing. He was surprised to see me sitting in my stand on the field edge. I got down and talked to him briefly. His name was Joel Zimmerman. He seemed like a pretty good guy. That was it. Dwayne was skunked too. Totals: Bob - 0 deer. Dwayne - 0 deer. 

"Dirty Dozen" at Copper

Here is the only picture that I got at Copper.  We will call him "The Dirty Dozen."  He is not real wide, but thick and mature.

Nice 10? at Creek Bottom at Romance

Nice 9

Nice 9 pointer at Romance

Raji Jr. Romance

Here is a picture of Raji Jr.  He has to be related to the 12 pointer that Don took last gun season.  Great potential.  He would have been tough to pass up had I been sitting at Octopussy yesterday morning.

Big 8+ in Creek Bottom at Romance

Nice 2 1/2 year old by creek stand at Romance

Nice deer.  Great potential. Needs another year or two.

Saturday, October 26, 2013 am

Saturday, October 26, 2013 am. Sunrise: 7:41 am. Hunting opens: 7:11 am. Temperature: 43 degrees. Mostly sunny. Wind: N-NW 20-30 mph. I decided to switch it up and head to Romance. I hiked up to the top (total bitch) and I am sitting on the West Point portable stand. I was all set up by 6:45 am. At 10:00 am, I got down and decided to relocate. It was do windy up on the Ridgetop. I wish that I had done it earlier, since when I arrived at Sherpa, the wind was minimal. I imaging the bucks were running lower off the hillside this morning because of the strong wind. I will need to remember to hunt lower when the wind is so strong. At 11:30 am, I decided it was time for lunch. I had just finished eating my sandwich and some cookies and I heard a twig snap up behind me. I turned and saw a nice mature buck 8+ points, thick, bit not real wide crossing the hillside from west to east. He stayed above me and never came any closer then 40 yards. When he was 60 yards to the NE of me, he stopped to rake a tree. I looked across the hillside and below him was another buck. He was also an 8+ pointer. This buck was wider, but not as thick. I did not very good video of this buck.  You can see his body in the last clip of the video, but can't see his rack.  They had a stare down about 15 yards apart. Both bucks ended up heading to the east towards Everest. Damn. It was close. I tried calling them back with some grunting, a snort wheeze and some rattling, but they were not interested. I did get some amateur video as I was trying to see how big they were through my binoculars. I ended up getting down around 12:15 pm. Attached are four photos of the nice mature buck I saw this morning.  I think he is a nie pointer with a kicker off his right G2.

Totals: Bob 2 deer, 2 bucks.

Friday, October 24, 2013 All Day

Friday, October 24, 2013. All day. Sunrise: 7:40 am. Hunting opens: 7:10 am. Sunset: 6:05 pm. Hunting closes: 6:35 pm. Temperature: 30 degrees. Wind: S-SW 5-10 mph. Mostly sunny. I had to get Charley to bed before I could leave Cannon Falls and take off for Copper Creek. It was a short night as I did get here till 11:00 pm. I got up this morning at 5:35 am and got ready. I decided to give Dam's gun stand a try. I was all set and ready to roll at 6:45 am. At 8:15 am, I hopped down and trimmed a few branches that were obstructing some of my shooting lanes. I didn't have the opportunity to clean out any stands this summer. At 8:25 am, a doe came running across the hillside from west to east about 80 yards down the hill to the north of me. It passed me, then turned around and ran back where it had come from. That was it. At 2:00 pm, I decided to get down and relocate. I grabbed all the chips from the cameras and went back out. I decided to give the Twin Towers a shot. I was all set up by 3:50 pm. At 4:30, I heard something to the SE of me. It was a flock of about 10 turkeys. The closest they for was 45 yards away in the brush. At 6:10 pm, a doe and two fawns came out into the field from the SE corner. They were 100 yards away and feeding. The big doe and fawns came right up to me. The doe got to 10 yards broadside, but I didn't buy a bonus tag in Wisconsin. They were dead down wind and never spooked. Nose Jammer works. That wa it. Totals: Bob - 4 deer. All does and fawns. 

Minnesota "Crab Claw"

We have a new buck that moved through the area.  This is the first and only picture that we have of this mature buck.  He looks like he is a 10 pointer.  We will call him "Crab Claw," because of his right side.  He is definitely a target for me in Minnesota.

Decent New Minnesota Buck

Here is a new buck that we have on camera.  It looks like he may have 3 main beams.  Tough to tell.  We will call him "3 Beamer."

Tuesday, October 22, 2013 am

Tuesday, October, 22, 2013 am. Sunrise: 7:34 am. Hunting opens: 7:04 am. Temperature: 24 degrees. Mostly sunny. Wind: N-NW 2-5 mph. What an awesome morning. Clear and cold. With nearly a full moon, you could see well enough to shoot 10 minutes before the opener. I decided to take Stubby (my buck decoy) with me down to Spaghetti Junction. I was all set up by 6:40 am. Let the games begin!  Well, I sat until 10:00 am. Nothing to report. Totals: Bob - 0 deer. 

Monday, October 21, 2013 pm

Monday, October 21, 2013 pm. Sunset: 6:23 pm. Hunting closes: 6:53 pm. Temperature: 38 degrees. Wind: N-NW 10-15. Mostly sunny. I got out late because Heidi was working an in-service do I decided to sneak into the Ridgeback stand behind the Shack. I was all set up by 5:15 pm. It is going to be a short sit. At 6:25 pm, I heard some crashing to the north of me. A nice big doe ran in from the north. She stopped at 30-35 yards but was quartering towards me. A fawn was following, and I could hear something behind her. The doe and fawn  went down the hill towards the Apple Tree stand. Behind them was a small 3 point mutant buck. He had been following the doe and fawn. He came down to where the doe was and I got some video. He ended up coming towards me and walked on the trail to the west 8-10 yards away from me. He had no idea I was there. Fun to see. Totals:  Bob - 3 deer, 1 doe and 1 fawn, 1 small buck.

Sunday, October 20, 2013 pm

Sunday, October 20, 2013 pm. Sunset: 6:25 pm. Hunting closes 6:55 pm. Temperature: 43 degrees. Mostly cloudy. Light rain. I decided to give the VAT another try. Adam went to Right Field and Dwayne went to the pop up blind by the old border patrol stand. The boys were in by 4:30 pm, I didn't get in until 4:40 pm. At 5:55 pm, Adam texted me that he saw a doe and fawn about 50 yards to the east of him. It went down the hill to the north. At the same time, Dwayne had a doe step out to the east of him on the far side of the food plot. It never presented a shot opportunity. That was it. Totals: Bob - 0 deer, Adam - 2 deer, doe and fawn. Dwayne - 1 deer, 1 doe. 

Sunday, October 20, 2013 am

Sunday, October 20, 2013 am. Sunrise: 7:34 am. Hunting opens: 7:04 am. Temperature 34 degrees. Mostly cloudy. Light rain. Wind S-SE 5-10 mph. I decided to head back to Right Field. Adam went to the Apple Tree stand. We were both all set up by 6:40 am. Beside hearing some turkeys to the SE of me, that was it. I got down at 9:35 am. Totals: Bob - 0 deer. Adam - 0 deer. 

Saturday, October 19, 2013 pm

Saturday, October 19, 2013 pm. Sunset: 6:26 pm. Hunting closes 6:56 pm. Temperature 43 degrees. Mostly cloudy. Light rain. Wind: N-NW 5-10 mph. After the morning action, I decided to give the VAT a try. I was in and set up by 4:35 pm. I tried to convince Heidi to go, but with the rain she decided to stay home with Charley. Adam went to the creek stand. At 5:25 pm, I was just starting to rattle and a saw a decent buck chasing a doe about 80 yards to the SW of me. At the same time, Adam said he heard a buck grunting to the east of him. Adam saw 3 more deer in the food plot as he was about to get down. Totals: Bob: 2 deer. 1 buck. Adam: 4 deer. 1 buck. 

Saturday, October 19, 2013 am

Saturday, October 19, 2013 am. Sunrise: 7:32 am. Hunting opens: 7:02 am. Temperature: 42 degrees. Partly cloudy. Wind: S-SE 10-15 mph. I decided to give Right field a try, Adam went to the Point. I kicked up a deer on the way in, and Adam must have kicked one up to me because I heard it run by about 30 yards from me. We were both set up by 6:40 am. At 9:15 am, I saw a small buck (I think a 5 pointer) about 80 yards to the SW of me. He was heading down toward the dump stand. I rattled and called to him. About 15 minutes later he came up the hill on a string right towards me. It was awesome. I got some great video of him tearing up a small tree at 10 yards. He ended up walking through my shooting lane at 5 yards to the south of me. He then walked off to the east and then to the south. Never new I was there.  What a great morning. Totals: Bob - 1 deer, 1 buck. Adam- 0 deer.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013 pm

Wednesday, October 16, 2013 pm. Sunset: 6:27. Hunting closes: 6:57 pm. Temperature: 52 degrees. Partly cloudy. Wind: N-NW 5-10 mph. I have been waiting patiently all season until the time was right to hunt the VAT. Tonight was the night. The wind was perfect and the farmer just cut the corn to the south of our driveway. My hope is that the deer will work there way up there for an easy meal after dark. I think they might just stop here first for an appetizer, before heading up there for dinner. I guess we will see. Dwayne is here tonight, and he decided to give the Stump blind a try. At 6:40 pm, I had a fawn come out of the quarry to the SW of me. She came right down the clover trail and ended up underneath the stand. At 6:50, her mom came out to the food plot too. She stayed about 40 yards to the west of me. It was too dark and too far to consider a shot. They both took off up the hill to the north when I tried to sneak down. That was it. Totals: Bob - 2 deer, a doe and a fawn. 

Ginseng

I have been reading a lot about ginseng recently. I only wish that I had gone out and looked for it sooner. I have seen it before on our property and thought that it was ginseng, but I was not sure. I did some research in the Internet and confirmed what I had seen before and it in fact is ginseng. I was not planning in harvesting any of the roots this year, but was planning in marking where it was for future years. I wish that I had looked for it earlier in the season, because I had a tough time finding any. It appears as though most of the berries have already fallen

off of the plants, but I was able to find a few plants. I snapped these pictures and then planted the seeds next to where I had found them. I will definitely be looking for some next year as some of it is selling for $160 a lb. 

Wednesday, October 16, 2013 am

Wednesday, October 16, 2013 am. Sunrise: 7:28 am. Hunting opens: 6:58 am. Mostly cloudy. Temperature 44 degrees. Wind: N-NW 5-10 mph. This morning I decided to give Pisa a try. I was in the stand by 6:40 am. It was super wet out, so it was tough to hear anything moving. At 8:15 am, I saw 4 turkey on the trail 40 yards to the east of me by hey must have seen me , because they would not gone any closer. That was it. I headed in a little after 9:00 am. Totals: Bob - 0 deer. 

Monday, October 14, 2013 pm

Monday, October 14, 2013 pm. Sunset 6:28 pm. Hunting closes at 6:58 pm. Temperature 53 degrees. Mostly cloudy. Wind: E-NE 10-15 mph. It has been cooler and dark most of the day. Raining is coming after 10:00 pm tonight and supposed to last until Wednesday morning. With the colder weather and rain expected overnight, Heidi encouraged me to go out and hunt. I was not going to pass up the first cold evening and barometric pressure change, so I generously accepted her offer to watch Charley. I wasn't able to get out until 5:00 pm, so I decided to stay closer to the house and sneak down to the point stand. Well, the weather man was wrong. It started raining at 6:35 pm. I decided to call it a night at 6:50 pm. I was tired of getting wet. Totals: Bob - 0 deer. 

Target at Romance

Here is a beautiful mature buck at Romance.  A fine target for 2013.  I checked the cameras at Romance and this was the only decent buck that we had on camera.  Several of the cameras were not working properly and Lon put up the "Octopussy" camera, but had forgotten to put a chip in it.  They are all rolling now.  I will be getting back down there in the next 2 weeks.  At that time, I will post more photos from both Copper and Romance.  OUT!

Sunday, October 13, 2013 am

Sunday, October 13, 2013 am. Sunrise: 7:17. Hunting opens: 6:47 am. Temperature 40 degrees. Mostly sunny. Wind: E-SE 2-5 mph. This morning I decided to give Everest a try. There was very little to no wind this morning. On my approach to the summit, I was sweating and steaming up so much it was difficult to even see my reflective markers as I was walking up the hill. I was still able to reach the stand 20 minutes before shooting light. At 7:40 am, I had a doe with two fawns cross on the trail above me about 50 yards away. They were moving from west to east. At 8:25 am, I had two deer run up the hill towards the NE about 100 yards to the NW of me. One was a doe for sure, but I could not tell what the other deer was. It looked like a may have been a small buck chasing. I think it is a bit early, but it was a nice cold morning. I ended up sitting until a little after 9:00 am. That was it. It was a beautiful morning with some steady action. Totals: Bob- 5 deer. 4 does and fawns and 1?  

Saturday, October 12, 2013 am

Saturday, October, 2013 am. Sunrise: 7:22 am. Hunting opens: 6:52 am. Temperature 63 degrees. Wind: N-NW 10-15 mph. Mostly sunny. This morning involved the long, tough, and arduous climb to the summit at Romance. I was hunting the portable point stand. I kick up a big deer when I for to within 30 yards of my stand. I had to strip down and change shirts since I had worked up such a lather. I was all set up by 6:40 am. In the future, I really need to give myself more time to get here and cool down. I am only going to sit until 9:00 am, since Heidi and I are going to the Badger game this afternoon. That was it. Totals: Bob - 0 deer. 

Friday, October 11, 2013 pm

Friday, October 11, 2013 pm. Sunset 6:29 pm. Hunting closes 6:59 pm. Temperature 70 degrees. Mostly sunny. Wind: W-NW 10-20 degrees. It is nice to finally get out and hunt Wisconsin. Heidi, Charley and I arrived at Romance around 4:00 pm. After getting unpacked, getting Charley settled in, and my hunting stuff organized, I was finally able to get out. I decided to give the Sherpa stand a try. I was up and settled in by 5:05 pm. I love these stands, but they are sure a pain in the butt to get up to. At 6:15 pm, I had 2 hen turkeys cross below me going from east to west. That was it. Totals:  Bob - 0 deer. 

Thursday, October 10, 2013 pm

Thursday, October 10, 2013 pm. Sunset: 6:36 pm. Hunting closes: 7:06 pm. Temperature 65 degrees. Mostly sunny. Wind: S-SE. 10-15 mph. Heidi offered to watch Charley tonight, so I jumped at the chance to go hunting. I decided to give the creek stand a try. I was up and in position by 4:35 pm. At 6:40 pm, I had a doe with 2 fawns jump the creek to the south of me. I could hear them all as they crossed. The fawns got to within 25 yards, but the big doe didn't get any closer than 35-40 yards. They all ate in the food plot till it was past shooting light. I was able to get down a sneak our without spooking them after dark. Totals:  Bob- 1 doe and 2 fawns. 

More MN bucks with potential (really need another year or two)

Some 2 1/2 year old bucks with potential

Monday, October 7, 2013 pm

Monday, October 7, 2013 pm. Sunset 6:39 pm. Hunting closes at 7:09 pm. Temperature 58 degrees. Mostly sunny. Wind: N 3-5 mph. Some people would call this a streak, but I am getting to hunt two afternoons in a row. I am pretty excited. I offered to watch Charley, but Heidi was going to have to feed her so she said that I could go. I decided to give the "Dump Ladder stand" a try. I was all set up by 4:50 pm. It is going to be a shorter sit then I would normally do, but I am not going to complain. Dwayne was hunting and he brought his two sons with him, so he went to the Stump blind. At 5:50 pm, he texted me that he had a tall 3 point buck with a nubbin buck within 5 yards of his stand. Pretty cool for him and the kids. Check them out.  They look like some future deer slayers to me.  Totals:  Bob - 0 deer.  Dwayne and the boys - 2 deer.  1 buck (3 pointer) and 1 nubbin.

Sunday, October 6, 2013 pm

OKSunday, October 6, 2013 pm. Sunset: 6:42 pm. Hunting closes: 7:12 pm. Temperature 57 degrees. Wind: N 5-10 mph. Mostly cloudy. Heidi had some early morning for work this past week and has not gotten a chance to spend a lot of time with Charley. When she offered to watch her, I jumped at the opportunity to go hunting. I decided to try my luck at the Apple Tree stand. On my way down the sledding hill, I noticed a doe and fawn at the base of the hill eating clover. They both ended up walking off to the south towards the sugar shack food plot. I was all set by 4:25 for my evening hunt. At 5:00 pm, I had 5 turkeys come out into the food plot by the stump. They fed for about 30 minutes and went up into the woods to the west. At 5:30 pm, it started to rain. It is not fun getting wet. At 5:50, I had a big doe with two fawns come out into the food plot from the west. They were down near the stump. They didn't stay around long as they headed off towards the SW. That was it. Totals: Bob- 3 deer. 1 doe and 2 fawns. 

Sunday, October 6, 2013 am

USunday, October 6, 2013 am. Sunrise 7:14 am. Hunting opens: 6:44 am. Temperature 46 degrees. Wind: S-SE 2-5 mph. Partly cloudy. It is nice to get out in the woods again. Jerry was working his skid loader fixing the trails and the food plots and finally finished on Wednesday. The rains hit on Wednesday night and everything has been a sloppy mess. This morning, the skies are clearing, so I just had to get out. Dwayne is here, so he decided to go to the NWTerritory  and I went to Pisa. I was in the stand by 6:25. Right after I got settled in, I heard a deer snorting to the NE of me, but it was too dark to see what it was. At 6:45 am, I had a big far doe come down the trail from the east. She was 15 yards to the NE of me, but it was still too dark to shoot in the woods. She sensed something was not right, and she went back to the east. That was it. Totals: Bob - 1 deer, 1 doe. Dwayne - 0 deer. 

Sugar shack food plot

Here is a before and after of the sugar shack food plot. It is going to be great next year. Took out the old willow tree that was at the NE corner. Much bigger now. Going to be awesome in 2014. 

Wednesday, October 2, 2013 am

Wednesday, October 2, 2013 am. Sunrise: 7:21. Hunting opens: 6:51 am. Temperature: 60 degrees. Wind: S-SW 5-10 mph. Mostly sunny. With the in laws here and taking care of Charley, I was able to get out and hunt. Jerry is here and has been doing some work in the creek bottom, so I decided to give the ladder stand a try. I was all set up by 6:35 am. Jerry got here at 7:45. I decided to get down at 8:30. No deer sighting this am. Totals: Bob - 0 deer.