Saturday, November 10, 2007 AM

November 10, 2007 All Day, 23 degrees at sunrise, Wind from N/ NW at 5-10 MPH. Sunrise 7:03 am (Hunting opener 6:33 am) Due to the Badger football game (Badgers upset Michigan), I was only able to hunt until 8:00 am. Therefore, I decided to sneak into the twin towers for a brief AM hunt. Lon went to the ladder stand just north of the two barns on the north side of the road. I got into the stand at about 5:45 am. Just after I got in and was settled, I did some light calling with my grunt tube. Immediately, I received a response from the NW of me. Just at first light a small buck (six pointer) came around the corner and came in to the decoy. He stopped to smell it and put on quite a show. Unfortunately, it was still pretty dark so I was only able to capture some video that is attached but it is pretty dark. At 6:50 two toms flew down from the north across the road and landed about 100 yards to the east of me. They ended up feeding to the north and back across the road and joined up with 6 other toms and 1 hen (Total of 9). That was it. Lon didn’t see a deer. Totals for today: 1 deer, 1 buck.

Friday, November 9, 2007

November 9, 2007 All Day, 28 degrees at sunrise, High of 45 degrees, Wind from N/ NW most of the day at about 5-10 MPH. Sunrise 7:02 am (Hunting opener 6:32 am) Sunset 4:51 pm (Hunting close 5:21 pm) I went to the Rock outcrop bow stand and Lon went to his gun stand. I decided that I was going to sit all day, which was awesome, but I should have changed my location for the afternoon. Lon went to his gun stand for the morning hunting and stayed until 9:45 and didn’t see a deer. At first light at about 6:30 I heard something to the NE and I saw a nice buck coming through about 50 yards away. I was reaching for my grunt because I thought he was veering off and the buck ended up spooking off to the SE. I am not sure how big his rack was, but he appeared to be a mature deer. At 8:50 am, a basket racked 8 pointer appeared to the NW of me. He ended up spending the better part of 15 minutes trying to figure out way a plastic decoy doesn’t move and doesn’t smell like a deer. (See attached video) All I can say is that he was very entertaining. While he was looking at the decoy, two does (may have been 3) were down in the valley to the NE. I think these same deer circled up from the NW and ended up near the stand about 15 minutes later. They saw the decoy and split up quickly to the NE and NW. At 9:40 two does came off the switch back to the east of me and ended up coming down to the main trail and went south. At 10:00, two nubbin bucks came from the south on the trail and worked their way north until they were under my stand. I have never seen this before, but one of the nubbin’s actually mounted the other nubbin. (take a look at the video). I guess they are all about free love and experimenting. At 11:20, a different nubbin cam through from the north. It circled my stand for about 10 minutes and kept mewing and bleating. I was really cool. At 1:45 pm, I had another nubbin and a doe worked from the south to the north on the main trail right under my stand. That was the last deer that I saw. I can say that the afternoon was pretty disappointing. Lon ended up going back to his gun stand and got in at 2:30 p.m. He did see a decent buck that had 4 on the right and 1 on the left. He did say that it had a bow wound on his right side that was high up above the lungs. If it had given him a shot, he would have taken it, but it was out of range. Totals: 14 deer, 12 Does/Nubbins (4 nubbins) and 2 bucks. Lon 1 deer, 1 buck.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

November 8, 2007 PM; 43 degrees, Wind from N/NE 5-10. It was mostly sunny today. Sunset was at 4:53 pm (hunting close 5:23 pm) I got out of my meeting in the Twin Cities and high tailed it over to Wisconsin. Lon had already left and gone to his gun stand. He didn’t end up seeing anything tonight. Because I got here so late, I showered quickly and went to the twin towers. By the time I had gotten dressed and walked across the field it was about 3:55 pm. I hadn’t even gotten settled in and I heard something to the west of me. I looked over my shoulder and an 8 pointer had snuck I behind me. He never saw the decoy, but sensed something wasn’t right and he ran back to the SW. He stood back there and looked in my direction, but my grunts didn’t solicit a response. He ended up walking off to the SW. At about 5:00 pm, two does entered the field about 150 yards to the NE of me. They casually fed until dark. Totals for tonight; 3 deer, 1 buck

November 4, 2007

November 4, 2007, AM Temp 43 degrees, Wind N/NE 10-15 mph, mostly sunny, Sunrise 6:46 am (hunting open 6:16 am). Finally, Daylight savings ended. Now we can get up earlier and hunt a little later. I decided to go to the Rock outcrop bow stand. I got in about 5:50 and at about 6:20 two does came running down the trail behind me (about 10 feet away) to the north. They ran right by the buck decoy that was about 15 yards to the NW (upwind) side of me. I was hoping there would be something chasing them, but no such luck. At 6:30 am, a doe and two fawns appeared on the trail about 50 yards to the south. Instead of walking up the trail towards me, they ended up going west up the hill and fed back to the south on the logging road. At 6:50, I looked over my shoulder, and this small eight pointer was walking towards me down the trail. He got directly behind me at about 5 yards, when he spotted the decoy. He immediately circled to the west and tried to get downwind of this intruder. He walked directly under my stand and was absolutely mesmerized by the decoy. Got some of the video attached. I watched him for 5 minutes as he tried to figure out why this deer was not moving except for the tail (I have a piece of plastic grocery bag tied on as a tail). After a few enjoyable minutes he decided to take off to the NW. As he turned to leave, I gave him a soft grunt, and he came right back into the shooting lane. Too funny. I stayed until 9:15, but that was it. Totals: 6 deer, 5 does/fawns, 1 Buck.

November 3, 2007 AM-PM

November 3, 2007, Rest of the day; High 58 degrees, low 40 degrees, Wind shifted throughout the day but mostly from the N/NE. It was mostly sunny today. Sunset was at 6:00 pm (hunting close 6:30 pm) Lon had to leave to go back to Romance at 10:00, so after a quick breakfast I went out for the rest of the day. I went to my bow stand on the rock outcrop. At 11:20 am, a big doe came from the east and was south of me about 50 yards down the main trail. I grunted at her and she took off to the south. What I didn’t realize was there was a small buck (6 pointer) that was on her tail. He took off and followed her to the south. At 11:30, I looked to my right and there was another doe about 30 yards to the north. She didn’t like the stationary decoy and she ended up circling me and left on the trail to the south. At 12:45 pm, a decent 9 pointer appeared directly underneath my stand about 5 yards to the SE of me. He snuck in without me noticing him until he was under my stand. I did manage to get my bow cam up and capture the video attached. He took off on the trail to the south as well. I stayed in this stand until 3:15 PM, and then decided to get down, move and stretch my legs. I went south to the bow stand that I harvested my buck from last year with my bow. I call this stand “sand trap.” I got into the stand about 3:30 pm. I didn’t see anything tonight until dark. At 6:15 pm, there was a small buck that was sneaking through the field to the south of me. He ended up walking on the trail about 15 yards away from me, but there was not enough light to shoot any video. Totals for tonight: 4 deer: 2 does, and 2 bucks.

November 3, 3007 AM

November 3, 2007, AM Temp 32 degrees, Wind N/NE 3-5 mph, mostly sunny, Sunrise 7:46 am (hunting open 7:16 am). They started to cut the corn so I decided to go to the Twin Towers and Lon went up to the Rock Outcrop ladder stand. We got to the stands about 6:40 and stayed until 9:30 am. At 8:10 am, Lon saw one small buck (6 pointer) come over the hill from the east about 50 yards away. Not a shooter, but to far to shoot anyways. I didn’t see a deer which was surprising as he started to cut the corn at 8:30 am and had gotten half way across the field, but nothing came out. Totals; Bob 0 deer, Lon 1 deer, 1 buck

November 2, 2007 PM

November 2, 2007, PM Temp 60 degrees, Wind S/SW10-12mph, mostly sunny, Sunset 6:01 pm (hunting close 6:31 pm). I went to Acorn Alley and Lon went to his tower stand south of Copper. At 5:25, I had a small 7 point buck sneak across to the north of me about 50 yards away. He did see my decoy, but he got down wind of me and spooked up the hill to the north. I did get some video (see attached). At 6:05 pm, I had a small 6-8 point buck come off the hill to the SE of me about 75 yards away. He stopped on the trail and stared at the decoy for a couple of minutes. Unfortunately, the wind had stopped blowing and he didn’t like a stationary buck with no movement. He snorted and ran back to the east and brought 2 other deer (not sure what they were) with him. Lon didn’t see a deer. Totals for tonight: 4 deer, 2 deer (?) and 2 Bucks, Lon 0 deer.

November 2, 2007 AM

November 2, 2007, AM Temp 32 degrees, Wind S/SW 5-10mph, mostly sunny, Sunrise 7:45 am (hunting open 7:15 am). I decided to go down to Copper creek. I went to Acorn Alley and Lon went to his tower south of the creek. We got into our stands about 6:45 am. I heard one deer run across going south about 50 yards away but it was to dark to see. At 7:45 am I had a tom turkey come off the hill to the south and run up to the north about 75 yards away. Lon saw 2 bucks a small 4 pointer and a little bit nicer (but still a year and half old) 6 pointer about 50 yards away. They came from the south west and walked around his stand and ended up going up to the north. Totals for this morning: Bob- 1 deer?, Lon – 2 Bucks.