Sunday, November 11, 2018 am

Sunday , November 11, 2018 pm Sunrise  6:47 am. Hunting opens 6:17 am Temperature 29 degrees. Partly cloudy. Wind: E- NE 5-7 mph. I decided to give DD a shot. Up the valley to the west. I brought both my silhouette decoys with me and put them uphill to the SW of me with some scent. I was ready to go by 6:10 am. At 9:00 am, I looked off to the NW and saw a small spike buck coming across the hill. He ended up heading up the hill to the west. That was it. Totals: 1 deer. 1 buck

Saturday, November 10, 2018 pm

Saturday, November 10, 2018 pm Sunset 4:44 pm. Hunting closes 5:14 pm. Temperature 26 degrees. Mostly cloudy. Snow on ground. Wind: S-SE 3-5 mph. I went to the new ladder stand on Bradford’s in the valley. I was ready to go by 1:50 pm. At 4:30 pm, I had a small bunch come down from across the valley to the west of me. He came to about 80 yards and then walked off to the south. At 5:00 pm, I saw some movement up the hill to the NE. A nice big doe came down the hill. She got to within 15 yards and was locked in on my decoys. There was another deer behind her, but it never came down and I am not sure what it was. She stayed around until dark. I had to bang my release the stand to get her to leave. Totals: 3 deer. 1 small buck. 

Saturday, November 9, 2018 am

Saturday, November 9, 2018 pm Sunrise  6:49am. Hunting opens 6:19 am Temperature 22 degrees. Partly cloudy. Wind: N-NW 5-7 mph. I decided to head u the QDM. I sprayed some foam and had both my decoys set u to the SW of me. It was dead until 10:15 am. I looked over my shoulder and there was a nice 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 year old 8 pointer walking north on the road. I did a series of soft grunts and he took off to the east. I had to get down at 10:30 am. Totals: 1 deer. 1 buck. 

Monday, November 5, 2018 am

Monday, November 5, 2018 pm Sunrise  6:44 am. Hunting opens 6:14 am Temperature 42 degrees. Mostly cloudy. Wind: S-SE 3-5 mph. I went to the new stand up the valley in Bradford’s. When I crossed the street, there were 3 does that were on the main road the heads up to the top of Bradford’s. They slowly headed off to the NW. I was ready to go by 6:00 am. I put both silhouette decoys out in front of me about 15 yards away.  At 8:15 am, I had a small 4-5 pointer come down the hill in the road. He came through the brush to 10 yards broadside. He was locked in on the decoys. I got a bunch of great video. He slowly headed down into the valley and off to the NW. That was it. I had to get down and head in at 10:30 am. Totals: 1 deer. 1 buck

Friday, November 2, 2018. All day sit.

Friday  November 2, 2018 pm Sunrise 7:35 am. Hunting opens 7:05 am. Sunset 5:54 pm. Hunting closes 6:24 pm. Temperature 36-54 degrees. Mostly sunny Wind: E-NE 3-5 mph. I decided to head back up to QDM. I was ready to go by 6:55 am. At 9:00 am, the neighbor drove his ATV in and parked about 200 yards away. He must have overslept. I had enough and at 9:30, I got down and moved to the ladder out on 2nd point. I didn’t like the set up out there, so I decided to get down and move over to Dan’s gun stand. On my way back to the ATV I kick up 3 does on the road I walked in on which were walking towards me. I get back to the ATV and the neighbor is sitting in a stand 30 yards from where I parked the ATV. Idiot!  So I drive back to the first point and park. I am walking in to a new stand and I kick up the massive 10 that was bedded within 30 yards of the waterhole ladder stand. He runs straight over to where that guy is sitting. I should have never gotten out of bed this morning.  I finally got settled in at 11:30 am. Finally at 12:00 pm, I got some action. I saw a nice little 1.5 year old 6 pointer down the hill below me to the SE. I grunted him straight up to me. He walked within 5 yards of the ladder stand I was in. Too small to shoot but fun to see. He went up the hill behind me and even got downwind, but he never spooked. At 12:35 pm, I looked to me right to the SE, and there was a small 1.5 year old 6 pointer walking   down the road. He walked right down the road and checked a few scrapes and licked some branches. He stopped and smelled the estrus moose and kept walking right past my stand at 3-4 yards. He had no idea that I was there. He kept walking down the road to the NW and around the corner. At 1:40 pm, I heard running deer below me in the valley. I was able to catch a glimpse of a nice mutate buck chasing a doe. I think it was the same 10 pointer I keep seeing. They were 150 yards down the hill from me to the north. I tried grunting hoping hay would come up the hill. At 4:20 pm, I had a big shooter buck come across the hill below me on the road going from NW to SE. I tried to grunt and rattle him up to me, but he just wouldn’t come up the hill. At 4:55 pm, there was crashing, chasing and hunting below me. I just couldn’t get him to come up.  Finally at 6:10 pm, I heard a bunch of chasing and grunting below me. I got out my grunt tube and the buck roar and kept calling hoping to bring them my way. At 6:20 pm, they finally came up the hill to 10 yards to the SE of me. The doe got to 10 yards to the south of me and took off to the south. The buck stopped on the road at 10 yards. It was too dark to see my pins and get off an ethical shot. The buck spun around and followed her to the south. Exciting. So close. Totals. 6 deer. 4 bucks. 

Thursday, November 1, 2018. All day sit

Thursday November 1, 2018 pm Sunrise 7:37 am. Hunting opens 7:07 am. Sunset 5:55 pm. Hunting closes 6:25 pm. Temperature 36-54 degrees. Mostly sunny Wind: N-NW 3-5 mph. I went trick or treating in town with the family and the drive down to Copper Creek last night. Super excited for my annual hunt. I decided to head to the QDM stand. There was significant fresh scrape activity up on the ridge above the stand. I did bump a few deer on my way into the stand. I also saw a good shooter buck in the valley on my way in. I was all set and ready to go by 6:50 am. At 8:15 am, I heard something to the north of me. I looked and there was a beautiful 10-11 point buck coming across the hill coming from north to south. He got to within 25 yards of me, but he stopped behind some branches. I needed him to take 2 more steps and I would have taken the shot. He sensed something was up and turned and slowly trotted off to the NW. At 8:35 am, I heard something walking to the NW of me. I had a nice 2 1/2 year old 8 pointer come across the hill from north to south about 40 yards down the hill from me. He walked across and headed off up the hill to the south. At 12:00 pm, I had a small 1.5 year old 6 pointer come in from the NE behind the stand. He got to within 10 yards of me. He freshened a small scrape behind me. He ended up sniffing around and headed back up to the SE. Definitely not a shooter, but entertaining. At 4:00 pm, I heard something walking in the valley. I spotted him about 100 yards away to the west of me. It was a small 1 1/2 year old 6 pointer. He came through about where the big 3.5 year old shooter was this morning. He worked his way up to the NE. He stopped s made a scrape where the other little 6 pointer had come through. He then headed up to the east and down the main road. At 4:40 pm, I heard something crashing to the north of me. Then I saw them. It was a big doe with 2 mature bucks chasing her. The doe and the first buck came through so fast, I didn’t have time to determine how big he was and if he was a shooter.  I will have to look at the video. He was a big 10 pointer. Probably the same buck I saw in the am. The second buck was a mature 2.5 year old 8 pointer. I got some great video as he stopped in my shooting lane and sniffed my buck bomb an doe in estrus moose. I wish the first buck had given me a little more time to assess.   He stayed around for 10-15 minutes before he headed off to the south. I did have a deer come in after dark to the north of me, but it was too dark to see what it was. Totals: 7 deer, 6 bucks. 

Wednesday, October 31, 2018 am.

Wednesday, October 31, 2018 pm Sunrise 7:47 am. Hunting opens 7:17 am. Temperature 36 degrees. Mostly sunny Wind: N-NW 3-5 mph. This morning I decided to head back down to Spaghetti Junction. I was ready to go by 7:00 am. At 7:25 am, I had a doe and a fawn come out into Arlie’s food plot. They ate for a minute or two. I did a doe bleat and she came over my way from the NW to the SE. On her way over she picked up a small 4 point buck. He had 3 points on his right side and a spike on his left. All 3 animals came through my shooting lane at 10 yards to the east of me. The buck stopped and sniffed around where I had sprayed the doe in estrus Buck Bomb. At 8:05 am, I looked over to the NW and there was a small doe feeding in Arlie’s food plot. At 8:15 am, a small 3 point buck came down the main trail into Arlie’s food plot. He scent checked the doe and then headed off to the NE over on to Arlie’s. I sat until 10:15 am and then headed back into the office. Totals: Bob- 4 deer, 2 bucks and 2 does. 

Monday, October 29, 2018 pm

Monday, October 29, 2018 pm Sunset 6:04 pm. Hunting closes 6:34 pm. Temperature 52 degrees. Mostly sunny Wind: S-SE 5-7 mph. After this mornings action, I had to find a way to get back out in a the stand. I decided to give SJ another try since it was so hot this morning. Work got in my way, so I wasn’t able to get to the tree until 4:00 pm. I did kick up a doe that was at the base of the hill behind the house on my way in. I sat until dark and nothing to report. Totals: Bob - 0 deer. 

Monday, October 29, 2018 am.

Monday, October 29, 2018 pm Sunrise 7:44 am. Hunting opens 7:14 am. Temperature 34 degrees. Mostly cloudy Wind: N-NW 15-20 mph. This morning I decided to head back down to Spaghetti Junction. I was ready to go by 6:50 am. It didn’t take long. At 7:20 am, I had a doe and an 2 1/2 year old 8 point buck come down the road I walked in on about 50 yards to the south east of me. The buck checked the scape and sniffed around the doe pee I had put down. The doe didn’t seem interested and she walked/trotted up the hill to the NE. The 8 pointer followed her. Two minutes later, behind them and a little bit further the the east was a nice mature 3 1/2 year old shooter 10 pointer. He too followed the doe up to the NE and gave me no shot opportunity. At 7:35 am, I heard some thrashing up towards the Apple tree stand. I couldn’t see what it was. At 7:40 am, I heard some thrashing to the NW and could see a nice 2 1/2 year old 8 pointer making a scrape up by Arlie’s food plot stand on the main trail. He ended up walking right past the stand and into the food plot. I tried grunting at him to pull him in, but he just walked/ trotted off to the north. At 8:35 am, I looked over to the NE and there was a big doe slowing walking to the south along the base of the hill back in the brush. At 9:25 am, I had 4 does (1 was a nubbin buck) and a small spike buck come in from the SE. One of the does was running all around my stand. The spike chased her around a bit. He came through both my shooting lanes at less than 10 yards. The nubbin actually stood at the base of my ladder stand. They all hung around for a while until they finally wandered off to the E/NE. At 10:00 am, a small doe came running through from the north. She ran past my stand at 10 yards to the east of me. She circled back up to the NE and then ran back to the N/NW. I was planning on sitting until 10:15 am, and  then head inside for work. As I was packing up, I had a small 5 pointer come through to the NE of me. He went up the hill to the SE and he ran into another small buck. They were 40 yards up this hill and they started fighting. It only lasted about 20-30 seconds and it was over. They were going at it really hard. A bunch of pushing and shoving and cracking of skulls (literally). Five minutes later the loser of the fight came down the hill to the north of me and walked the trail 10 yards to the east of me heading south. The crazy think was he was now missing his antler on his right side. He slowly walked off to the SE. At 10:20, I had two small spikes walk the trail to the east of me 10 yards away. They ended up walking over towards the stump food plot where there was a doe out there feeding. Both bucks chased her around for a while until she grew tired and headed off to the south. The bucks slowly headed that way too. I was finally able to get out around 10:30 am. Before, I headed in, I decided to head up and see if I could find the antler. Sure enough, it took me about 2 minutes and I found the small fork. He broke off the antler and even took a small part of his skull. What an incredible hunt this morning. I only wish I could have stayed all day. Totals: Bob - 15 deer. 8 does and 7 bucks. 

Sunday, October 28, 2018 pm

Sunday, October 28, 2018 pm Sunset 6:06 pm. Hunting closes 6:36 pm. Temperature 52 degrees. Mostly cloudy Wind: N-NW 15-20 mph.  This evening I decided to give right field a shot. There was a huge oak tree that fell across the road to the west of me. Also the original oak tree stand to the NW of RF fell down. We will need to get s chain saw up here next Spring. Nothing to report. Totals: Bob - 0 deer. 

Saturday, October 27, 2018 pm

Saturday, October 27, 2018 pm Sunset 6:07 pm. Hunting closes 6:37 pm. Temperature 52 degrees. Mostly cloudy Wind: S-SE 3-5 mph.  We went to the Mavs game in Mankato last night, so I didn’t get in any hunting last night or this morning. But, I was able to get out for a good sit tonight. I decided to give the border patrol ladder stand a shot tonight. When I was walking back in on Thursday night, there was a big bodied buck in the BP food plot, so I figured I would give it a try. I brought the small back and doe decoy and set them out in the beans to the SW of me. I also sprayed some of the Buck Bomb doe pee around them. I was all set and ready to go by 3:00 pm. At 6:15 pm, I could see 2 does to the west of me in the stump food plot. There could have been more but it was tough to see through all the brush. Totals: Bob - 2 deer. 2 does. 

Thursday, October 25, 2018 pm

Thursday, October 25, 2018 pm Sunset 6:11 pm. Hunting closes 6:41 pm. Temperature 52 degrees. Mostly cloudy Wind: S-SW 5-10 mph. After having such a great hunt on Tuesday, I just had to get out again. I decided to head back yo Spaghetti Junction. On my way down the hill from the house, there was a small doe fawn running around at the base of the hill. Nothing was chasing her though. Before I climbed in the stand, I sprayed some Buck Bomb doe pee to the east and the west of my stand in my shooting lanes. I figured if something comes down the trail and stops to smell it, it will give me the perfect shot opportunity. I was all settled in and ready to go by 3:45 pm. At 5:10 pm, I heard some chasing and some grunting to the SE of me. Shortly thereafter, I had a mature doe with 2 fawns (one was a nubbin Buck) and a nice 2 1/2 year old 8 pointer come off the hill and into the valley. They all hung around for almost 40 minutes. I had the nubbin under my stand and the mature doe in the shooting lane to the east of me, but I was holding out to see how big the buck was. He stayed back in the cover, and by the time he came down and discovered he wasn’t a shooter they all wandered off to the west and the buck went towards the NW. At 5:55 pm, I could hear two bucks fighting about 60 yards to the north of me. I could not see them through the brush. At 6:15 pm, I had a mutant spike come off the hill to the east of me.  He came down to the base of the hill and the circled around to the north of me. At 6:20 pm, I could see 3 bucks over in Arlie’s food plot. I am pretty sure two of them were the bucks that were fighting to the north of me. One of them appeared to be a shooter. At 6:30 pm, I had another 6-7 pointer circle in from the north walked about 8 yards from the base of my tree and then walked through my shooting lane to the east of me about 12 yards away. He then slowly worked his way off to the SE. Totals: Bob - 7 deer. 5 bucks. 

Tuesday, October 23, 2018 pm

Tuesday, October 23, 2018 pm Sunset 6:14 pm. Hunting closes 6:44 pm. Temperature 49 degrees. Mostly sunny. Wind: N - NW 5 mph. I was able to catch an earlier flight back from Fargo and Heidi said it was ok for me to go hunting. I decided to give Spaghetti Junction a try. I was down to the stand by 3:45 pm, but I needed to take a few branches down in order to open up the shooting lane to the east.  I was all ready to go by 4:00 pm. At 4:25 pm, I looked over to the NW and there was a doe and a fawn feeding in Arlie’s food plot. It was tough to see them, but they never came over my direction. They were right in front of the camera and would have been an easy shot from that stand. They slowly fed up towards the AT stand on the road. At 5:25 pm, I had a beautiful 3 1/2 year old 7 pointer come in from the north of me. He made a scrape about 20 yards to the north of me. He walked right down the trail heading south about 12 yards to the west of me. I might be regretting not taking him. He came around to the south of me and headed back ip towards the SE. At 5:45 pm, I looked to the NW and there was a doe feeding in Arlie’s food plot. At 5:50 pm, chaos broke out from all directions. I had at least 4 different 2 1/2 year old bucks chasing at least 2 and as many as 4 does. The chasing of these does all around my stand lasted for about 15 minutes. It was tough to keep track of which was a potential target. None of them would slow down enough to shoot anyways. Fun night. Totals: 9 deer. 5 bucks. 

Friday, October 19, 2018 pm

Friday, October 19, 2018 pm Sunset 6:14 pm. Hunting closes 6:44 pm. Temperature 58 degrees. Mostly sunny. Wind: N - NW 5 mph. It is MEA week and the youth gun hunt in MN, so it was time to get out of Minnesota. I decided to head on down to Copper Creek and get some hunting in. I decided to go to the finger  stand up the main valley to the south and then up the finger 125 yards up the hill to the west. I was up and ready to go by 4:15 pm. It was a little later than I wanted to get out, but it sure felt good to be back in the woods. Nothing to report. Totals: Bob - 0 deer. 

Friday, October 12, 2018 pm

Friday, October 12, 2018 pm Sunset 6:31 pm. Hunting closes 7:01 pm. Temperature 41 degrees. Mostly sunny. Wind: N - NE 5 mph. It has been almost 3 weeks since I last hunted. Heidi had knee surgery 2 weeks ago and things with work and Charley have been crazy. I decided to sneak out early from work to hunt. I thought I would give Arlie’s food plot a try. I was heading in around 4:30 pm. I stopped at the AT and picked up a chip from the camera there and came over the little hill. On my way down, I saw a small buck about 75 yards to the east of me. He spooked and took 2 other bucks with him. One of the bucks was a big shooter. Probably the 10 or 11 pointer. They kind of walked off to the SE. Damn. I was too late getting into the stand. At 5:00 pm, I saw a big doe a. Smaller doe about 60 yards to the east of me. They walked south right past the SJ stand. At 5:15 pm, I looked to the NE and there was a small 6 pointer standing in the creek drinking. He was about 40 yards away but through the brush. He ended up coming into the food plot. He fed into 10 yards away. He stopped and sniffed for about 5 minutes the camera that I had just changed the chip on. He had no idea that I was there. He ended up heading off to the SE and also walked by the SJ stand. At 6:00 pm, I heard a mew to the NE of me. I saw a nice doe come down fro the NE and ended up walking down the Same trail past SJ to the SE of me. At 6:05 pm, I had a nice 1 1/2 year old 8 pointer come down the hill from the west of me. He got to within 10 yards of me and stopped. He slowly turned and headed up the hill towards the AT stand. He was too close and I couldn’t get any video. At 6:25 pm, I saw a nice 2 1/2 year old 8 pointer making a scape about 75 yards to the NE of me. It was through the brush, so I didn’t get any video. I thought he would come into the food plot, but he headed off to the north. At 6:55 pm, I had another doe come through from north to south about 59 yards to the east of me. That was it. Solid night. Totals: 6 deer. 3 bucks and 3 does. 

Sunday, September 16, 2018 am

Sunday, September 16, 2018 am. Sunrise: 6:49 am. Hunting opens: 6:19 am. Temperature 70 degrees. Mostly sunny. Wind: S 5 mph. I went to the Ladder stand this morning. The top half of the tree that the stand was attached to had broke off. The stand was still safe, so I hunted it, but it does need to be rebuilt. Dwayne went to the Sugar Shack food plot stand. I was in by 6:05 am. At 6:25 am, I had a decent doe come in behind me from the west to the north of me. She was 15 yards away, but she was facing me and really never offered a decent shot. I sat until 8:30, but that was the only deer I saw. Dwayne saw the split G2 11 pointer. He was over in the VAT food plot and was too far away. Totals: Bob - 1 deer, 1 doe. Dwayne 1 deer, 1 buck. 

Saturday, September 15, 2018 am

Saturday, September 15, 2018 am. Sunrise: 6:50 am. Hunting opens: 6:20 am. Temperature 70 degrees. Mostly sunny. Wind: S 5 mph. Opening morning!  It was a late night last night. Heidi and me celebrated my birthday by going to dinner at Cafe Ena and then 2nd row tickets to Hamilton. I was tired this morning, but excited to be back out in the woods. Heidi slept in, so I went to the Apple Tree stand. I did hear a deer blowing to the NE when I was on my way in. I was up and ready to go by 6:00 am. It was so hot this morning that I just unhooked my safety harness from my coat, put it on, but left my coat attached to my pack. That was it. Totals: 0 deer.