Wednesday, September 30, 2009 p.m.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009 p.m., 56 degrees, mostly sunny, wind S-SE 10-20 mph, sunset 6:59 p.m. (Hunting closes 7:29 p.m). I decided to try something new and went to Right Field. I was settled in by 5:20 p.m. A little later then I had hoped, but grateful that I am able to get out on a Wednesday night. Taylor got here late too, so he decided to go to the Ridgeback stand. He was settled in by 5:50 p.m. At 6:15 p.m., I heard something to the SE in the corn. Then I saw a nice 8 pointer about 20 yards away. I could only see his head and rack. Unfortunately, he never came into the opening and he fed off to the SE. No video. I am so pissed. At 6:40 p.m., a deer snorted to the east of me (up wind) and then took off and ran over the ridge and down towards Pisa. It happened so fast that I am not sure what it was. That was it for me. At 6:55 p.m., Taylor had 2 does and 4 fawns feed up from the east and from the south of him. All of the deer fed within 30 yards of him. That was it. Bob - 2 deer, 1 Buck (decent one), and 1 ?, Taylor - 6 deer, 2 does and 4 fawns.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 pm

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 p.m., 56 degrees, partly cloudy, wind N 5-10 mph, sunset 7:00 p.m. (Hunting closes 7:30 p.m). My meeting finished up the the Twin Cities earlier this afternoon, so I decided to hustle home and get in an evening sit. I was settled in at the point by 5:15 p.m. Unfortunately, I kicked up a couple of deer that were bedded about 50 yards to the south of the point stand just as was about to climb in. At 6:30 p.m., I looked out to the food plot to the NE and there was a doe and fawn eating. At 6:40 p.m., I looked to the east and there were 2 more does in the food plot. At 6:40 p.m., a big doe walked from N to S about 30 yards east of the stump. One of the does that was in the field walked within 5 yards of the stump. At 7:05 p.m., a doe walked up the trail to the north of me about 10 yards away heading west. That was it. Totals: 5 deer, 5 does.

Sunday, September 27, 2009 a.m.

Sunday, September 26, 2009 a.m., 65 degrees, mostly clear, wind S 0-5 mph, sunrise 6:49 a.m. (Hunting opens 6:19 a.m). Heidi decided to sleep in, so I went back to Rock Out. The ground was pretty wet and the leaves were dripping water from a brief shower last night. I did kick up a deer on the way into the stand, but obviously it was to dark to see. Unfortunately, the morning was uneventful. Totals: 0 deer
I did clean out the Black Diamond stand. In addition, we got all of the cameras up and we hung a stand by the food plot in the creek bottom. I also, put up some cross beams for a new stand up on the Goat prairie. Should be a good location. In the afternoon, I did a little trout fishing. I caught an 18 1/4" brown on a Rainey Hopper and one other 13" brown. What a great way to end the fly fishing season.

Saturday, September 25, 2009 p.m.

Saturday, September 25, 2009 p.m., 70 degrees, partly cloudy, wind S-SE 0-5 mph, sunset 7:04 p.m. (Hunting closes 7:34 p.m). After a Badger win in Madison, Heidi and I hustled back to Copper for the evening hunt. I went to Rock Out and Heidi went to Lon's gun stand. We were all settled in by 5:15 p.m. I love my new permanent stand. A little high up, but a lot more room to move around. I also like that it faces to the S-SE. It allows me to see the entire bench a lot better. At 6:30 p.m., a doe and fawn came through from the SW. They both ended up walking through my shooting lane 20 yards to the west of me and then walked down the trail to the north of me. That was it. Totals: Bob - 2 deer, 2 does; Heidi - 0 deer.

Friday, September 24, 2009 p.m.

Friday, September 24, 2009 p.m., 70 degrees, mostly cloudy, rained most of the day, wind S-SE 0-5 mph, sunset 7:05 p.m. (Hunting closes 7:35 p.m). We made it down to Copper Creek in time to hunt. Lon went to his gun tower on the back field, Heidi went to the twin towers, and I went to Black Diamond. We were all settled in by 5:45 p.m. We did see a doe and a fawn in the creek bottom food plot on the way into the stands. At 6:45 p.m., I heard a deer blow a warning call. It was pretty close. I would guess 75 yards to the north of me. That was it. Totals: Bob - 0, Heidi - 0, Lon - 0.

Thursday, September 24, 2009 a.m.

Thursday, September 22, 2009 a.m., 60 degrees, mostly cloudy, wind E 0-5 mph, sunrise 6:49 a.m. (Hunting opens 6:19 a.m). After staying the night at Heidi's, I got up at 4:45 a.m. to drive back to Cannon Falls and hunt. I decided to try my luck in the Apple Tree stand. At 7:20 a.m., I looked out over the east food plot and there were two does feeding out there. They hung around for a few minutes, then walked off to the south past the Boarder Patrol stand. That was it. I got down at 8:30 a.m., and decided to check the cameras. There were a couple of small bucks, but the best news is the doe that Heidi hit is alive!! I got about 25 pictures of her from various angles and she appears to be doing great. (See attached) All of the pictures were taken about 10 yards from where she was shot. Kind of wild. I guess Heidi has one that she has her eye on for later this season. Totals: Bob 2 deer, 2 does.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 p.m.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 p.m., 70 degrees, mostly cloudy, wind N-NE 0-5 mph, sunset 7:09 p.m. (Hunting closes 7:39 p.m). Because of work (computer problem), I was not able to get into the new "point" ladder stand until 5:25 p.m. At 5:45 p.m., I had a group of about 15 hens and their offspring come through about 50 yards to the west of me going from south to north. At 5:55 p.m., I looked over my left shoulder to the SW and there was a small do sneaking to the east. She didn't like it when the turkeys started flying up to their evening roost to the SW of me, so she trotted off to the north about 50 yards to the west of me. At 6:30 p.m., there was a bunch of commotion and I saw 6-7 does and fawns running around and playing in the food plot. A doe and two fawns worked their way up the hill and came through my shooting lanes at 15 yards. I need a big boy to make the same kind of mistake. At 6:45 p.m., two more does (probably the same ones from the creek bottom) came through about 10 yards to the east of me going from north to south. At 6:55 p.m., I saw two small bucks to the NE of me down in the food plot. They were tough to see through all of the leaves. I guess I should have gone to the "stump" instead. It looked like they fed to the north towards the Apple Tree. I sure wish Heidi could have gotten out tonight. She would have for sure seen them, but who know if she would have been able to take the shot. At 7:15 p.m., a doe came running in from the north. She stopped at about 15 yards and turned around and took off back to the north. Weird. It reminded of me of how you might see a doe being chased by a buck during the rut. A little too early for that though. That was it. Totals: 10 deer, 2 bucks (small)

Sunday, September 20, 2009 p.m.

Sunday, September 20, 2009 p.m., 74 degrees, mostly sunny, wind S-SE 10-15 mph, sunset 7:11 p.m. (Hunting closes 7:41 p.m). Tonight Heidi decided to go back to the Apple Tree stand and I went to the new Creek Stand. I turned the stand so it is a bit higher and now faces to the west. Taylor went to Right Field. We were all settled in by 5:30 pm. At 5:40 pm, Heidi spotted 2 does in the food plot. I saw them too. They were about 20 yards to the east of the Stump. At 5:55 p.m., Taylor saw a doe. At 6:15 p.m., Taylor had a doe and fawn walk underneath him. At 6:35 p.m., I had two does and a fawn come from the south and into the food plot between me and the BP stand. One of the does walked right under my stand and the fed off to the NE. It would have been a real easy shot for Heidi. Too bad she wasn't sitting here. Oh well. A long season ahead. At 7:10 p.m., two does and 2 fawns came from the south into the food plot. As I was watching these deer, Heidi took a shot at a doe. She it is a bit high. After she shot, it ran over by me. I was able to get some video. I told her to sit tight. She ended up seeing 5 more does and fawns. At 7:30 p.m. I had 2 more does and two fawns come into the food plot to the south of me. Taylor scared the out of the food plot for me. Taylor had one small 4 pointer to the south east of him at 30 yards. No shot or video. After dark, we took looked at the video of Heidi's doe. She hit it in the neck. We were able to follow blood up the hill to the east, but lost it after 200+ yards. Oh well. Totals; Bob: 17 does and fawns (some repeats I am sure), Heidi: 13 does and fawns, Taylor: 6 does and fawn and 1 buck (4 pointer).

Saturday, September 19, 2009 am "Opening Morning"

Saturday, September 19, 2009 p.m., 61 degrees, mostly sunny, wind 0-5 mph, sunrise 6:52 a.m. (Hunting opens 6:22 a.m). Well it is opening morning. I decided to go to the point and I got Heidi set up in the Apple Tree. At 6:20, I had a small doe walk through 20 yards to the east of me heading north. By 6:30 Heidi had seen 8 deer. Her quote was "Oh my God, this is going to be easier then I thought." Unfortunately, all of them were too far away or it was still too dark. One was a decent buck. For some reason, at 6:30 the deer all took off across the food plot. They must have smelled us. At 6:35, I had a small buck 20 yards to the east head to the south. Probably a small 4-6 point. At 6:40, a nice buck trotted down the hill from the west going east about 15 yards away. Tough to get any video as it was still pretty dark in the woods. He ended up by Heidi to the west of her but she got tangled up in her safety harness. Oh well. You don't want your season to be over on the first day do you? Easy huh? By 7:00, the turkeys started to fly down behind me to the south. At 7:05, two does and two fawn came from the SW but stayed up the hill 25 yards away. At 7:20, the does came back down the hill from the west and went behind me to the south. At 7:35 I saw another doe in the same area to the SW. Totals: Bob 13 deer, 2 bucks; Heidi 15 deer, 2 bucks.

September 17, 2009

Well, The opener is less then 40 hours away. I can hardly wait. It looks like Heidi and I will be the only ones out on opening morning. I am hoping that a big one makes a mistake and cooperates. Last week, Taylor and I got all of the shooting lanes cleared out and the food plots are coming along nicely. Attached are a few pictures, that I thought you allmight enjoy. Nothing huge, but it is fun to see some of the bucks progress as they shead their velvet. With the opener being as late as it is, I am not anticipating the opportunity to shoot a "velvateen" this year.

Good luck to all. Follow our season in 2009.

Buck Slayer OUT!