Snow tracking during gun seasons

[Dewey]

Your knee must be hanging in there putting on 8 miles

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I won't lie I'm hurting after today. A little ice along with some ibuprofen and I will be good to go tomorrow.

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[338winny]

Bumped a few deer again while tracking late this afternoon but didn't get to see what they were. Two times I pushed one from the bed as it was still warm when I reached it. In the thicker terrain the deer have the upper hand and I struggle getting a shot. Problem is this is the only place I am finding deer and sign in the hills and ridges is very minimal. Every bed I found was in the lowest nasty thick areas.



[url=http://s479.photobucket.com/user/DUANEWINTER/media/1530A1C5-3F95-4A97-AF55-
I walked 8 miles today and gotta say the lack of deer sign in the fresh snow is very concerning. Nicolet has a lot of old growth forest that hasn't been logged since the early 1900's. I focussed more on the areas that had regrowth from forest fires years ago. It's a tough place to hunt for sure but you cannot beat the solitude and wilderness experience.

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I know what you mean. I hunt in the UP and the area we hunt is almost void of any deer. I figured it was going to be a bad season when I found an Oak tree that had acorns on the ground and there was no evidence of deer feeding there. We had some snow later in our season, and I had to do a lot of walking to find any tracks at all.

[PUBLICbowhunter]

Thanks for all the pics and updates Dewey! This thread is really fun to follow

[Dewey]

I started out the morning heading south into Oneida County but had a hard time finding a track big enough to be worth following. Deer sign in general is pretty light all over and as a result mature buck tracks are extremely hard to come by.

Only pic I took today. Nothing to do with tracking just thought it was a cool view on the freshly frozen lake.



Since I wasn't having much luck I decided to head much further south and scout with rifle in hand some public way off the beaten path I've been wanting to check out in Waupaca County. There was still snow on the ground in the woods and deer sign was plentiful. What an eye opener that was!!

I went from the least amount of deer sign I have seen in awhile to the most I have ever seen in a short 2 hr drive. Gotta love the extremes in WI. Gives me another option when I travel back and forth. Sometimes nice to have a closer spot to home for a last evening hunt.

When I got home these were waiting for me. I ordered them last week. Looks like I have more studying to do.



I might get one more chance with the muzzleloader next weekend if I don't have to work. After that my main focus until the end of the late bow season will be filling my archery buck tag. This has been a challenging season for sure and nothing is coming easy. I put myself in tough situations where success is usually very low because I truly enjoy the journey more than the kill.

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[headgear]

I feel your pain Dewey, I walked 5 miles rifle season half scouting half tracking if I found a good one, only cut 6 sets of tracks the entire hike. I think I have even been fooling myself about the numbers of deer in the areas I hunt. One track was big but by the time I got to it and with the amount of snow in the tracks he had a 7+ hour head start on me and I had less that 3 hours of daylight left so I just went and hit some new ground in hopes of finding some deer.

[stash59]

I started out the morning heading south into Oneida County but had a hard time finding a track big enough to be worth following. Deer sign in general is pretty light all over and as a result mature buck tracks are extremely hard to come by.

Only pic I took today. Nothing to do with tracking just thought it was a cool view on the freshly frozen lake.



Since I wasn't having much luck I decided to head much further south and scout with rifle in hand some public way off the beaten path I've been wanting to check out in Waupaca County. There was still snow on the ground in the woods and deer sign was plentiful. What an eye opener that was!!

I went from the least amount of deer sign I have seen in awhile to the most I have ever seen in a short 2 hr drive. Gotta love the extremes in WI. Gives me another option when I travel back and forth. Sometimes nice to have a closer spot to home for a last evening hunt.

When I got home these were waiting for me. I ordered them last week. Looks like I have more studying to do.



I might get one more chance with the muzzleloader next weekend if I don't have to work. After that my main focus until the end of the late bow season will be filling my archery buck tag. This has been a challenging season for sure and nothing is coming easy. I put myself in tough situations where success is usually very low because I truly enjoy the journey more than the kill.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

You'll definatly enjoy those books and dvd!!

[Dewey]

Just scanned over both books and they are awesome. An incredible amount of Benoit pics explaining everything they have done over the years. Way more detailed than How To Bag The Biggest Buck Of Your Life and I highly recommend both books. Can't wait to watch the DVD when I get some free time.

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[olivertractor]

Man this weather outlook isn't good, can't hunt until Friday hopefully there's some snow left, pretty mild long term outlook

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[Dewey]

Bumping this thread and hoping for some snow next week while doing a snow dance.

Big cool down so there is some hope.

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[justin84]

Dewey you headed to the northwoods?

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[Dewey]

Dewey you headed to the northwoods?

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Maybe after opening weekend if there is snow. I will be watching the weather forecasts closely. A few days ago I was seriously considering musky fishing instead and skipping gun season altogether. It was looking pretty bleak lately with warm temps but looking better every day for measurable snow. We shall see.

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