Sept 17th - Oct 1st hunting reports

[Wrinkleneck]

GOOD LUCK to ALL!!! Have fun and most of all be SAFE!!!

[Edcyclopedia]

Yes - good luck to all...

Mine started yesterday and watched a Doe w/ spotted fawn in tow @ 22 yards broadside, with 2-hours of daylight left - very exciting with their Cute little fuzzy head...!!!

Waited for the buck I have on camera and @ sunset I could notice him feeding along the edge of a clearing about 70 yards away.
Unfortunately I RAN out of Daylight :x

Maybe tonight?!!!
...I will take a walk closer to the clearing to see if there is a closer Ambush Tree --> Stand By...

[headgear]

Pretty slow this evening, fresh big tracks going into my set so I had high hopes but the buck was a no show. Just happy to be out there again! Anyone else have anything to report.

[Dewey]

What a nice day for the opener!! I went was on stand from 12:30 p.m.- closing. Figured since it was so nice out I wanted to get out plenty early. Only saw one deer at about 4:45 p.m. but couldn't tell if it was a buck or doe. Glad the wind died down some just before dark but I was surprised the only deer I saw was when the wind was the strongest.

Hopefully the rain doesn't screw things up too bad tommorow.

[RaisedByWolves]

Have to work all weekend but how are the skeeters doin' in the swamps?? Any killed off yet?

[Dewey]

Have to work all weekend but how are the skeeters doin' in the swamps?? Any killed off yet?

They got pretty bad just before dark when the wind died down but still much more tolerable than past openers. Good thing it's been relatively dry for the past month and a half. They were unbelievable in July, probably the worst I have ever seen.

[bowhunter15]

Realized I should have posted here instead of as a separate thread.

Public Marsh buck #1 Down

This deer was dead about 5 minutes into the season. Shot him in the morning just after first light. He came from behind me, which was what I expected. The maple I was sitting in was completely barren of cover for about another 10 feet over my head. I stood up and turned my feet to lign up for a shot. He had me pinned and stared me down for a good 45 seconds. Finally he started walking again in the sand (must be a flooded area at some points of the year) and I was able to draw and stop him. The arrow from 22 yards center punched both lungs and the back of the heart. Though the blood was barely there, only a drop here and there, I was able to follow his tracks in the sand to where he had piled up after 80 yards. I was hunting with another friend close by. He happens to be more of a meat hunter, and since party hunting is legal in our area of minnesota under certain guidelines and we had talked about possible situations beforehand, I felt fine taking this buck, even though I'm still after a bigger one. The friend was more than happy to put his tag on it.

What made this hunt satisfying for me was that I'd never scouted this particular piece of public on foot before. I spend a few hours looking at aerial photos and picked a spot based on hunches, current weather conditions, and experience. Then I made a custom map for my GPS including a high def aerial image and path to the location I wanted to hunt. After arriving at the parking lot, I followed my pre-made route on the GPS right to the tree I wanted to hunt and set up. It was really nice to know that I'm finally getting to the point where my hunches are correct every so often. The whole purpose of this particular set up was to get a deer on the ground. I didn't expecet a mature buck to show anyways. I'm saving those hunts for afternoon sets. It sure is great to get back in the stand again and feel that adrenaline rush!

Edit: An interesting note. The position that the deer is in was the way I found him, with his antlers caught in branches. I did not even have to prop him up for the picture!

[Mountain Man]

My plan for Sat. afternoon/evening was to shoot a doe. I saw 2 does and shot 1 of them. She was quartering to and the shot was good right through the heart from about 20-25 yards. She only went about 25-30 yards. She's a little bloated in the pic. I'm embarrassed to even say this but I made a rookie mistake while gutting and I've gutted about 50 deer - my knife accidentally punctured the stomach and it was like in Ghostbusters where I got "slimed" by stomach contents. There was so much pressure it shot straight out through a little hole and all over my face. It's a good thing I wear glasses. Man that stuff stinks! If that were on video I probably could have won something on America's Funniest Videos. I have her packed with ice now on some boards that are at an incline in an old chest freezer that doesn't work - which is a great way to keep early season deer cold. I've been doing it that way for years with good results. I got the chest freezer free from a friend with the sole intention of using it for keeping early season deer cool. I guess I’ll be butchering tomorrow while listening to the Packer game.

[Dewey]

Good job Mountain Man! Now that's some good shootin'!!!

[Liberty-Hunt]

Good job Mountain Man! Now that's some good shootin'!!!

X2

And good luck to all the member for them hunts!!!!!

[Beauford]

Went out and sat in a Beast style tree, I found this buck bed in spring. I had to go buy chest waders my hip boots didn't cut it how wet was this spring? This spot is some high ground with water and cattails and marsh grass on all sides. I found hair in the bed and the big foot prints and about 3-4 rubs within 10yds all waist high or higher.

Went out yesterday afternoon SE wind what's up with that- the east part din't help my setup. At 4:13 saw a young buck in marsh grass about 60yds out. At 5:45 heard something to the left of me and 3 minutes later a big lone doe walk out and stopped at 14yds started to pull back and a branch is in the way. Watch her the next 5 minutes eating and walking behind me. I don't like cutting to many branches in a tree before I hunt it to see how it pans out. At 5:50-6:10 that young buck (4pt) came back out in front of me got to about 45 yds I would have let him go tonight if he would of walked under my stand. The bucks bed that I was hunting is 80-110 yds south of my stand the other deer came from different directions. It was a win for me to have planned this hunt and almost shot a deer the first night out.

[Bucky]

Sat AM = 1 doe

Sat PM = 4 doe and one took a dirt nap

[Indianahunter]

Sat AM = 1 doe

Sat PM = 4 doe and one took a dirt nap

Congrats....I have never shot 2 deer in on day!

[Haus86]

Made it out last night with less than ideal conditions. The Amish had been cutting wood by my stand, and the wind was swirling like crazy. However, at last light I had two decent bucks come in. I sent out a soft grunt with my mouth, and they stopped and looked in my direction. A minute later they turned and headed towards me. They walked through my shooting lane, but at that time it was just to dark to make out the exact size of their racks.

[ Post made via Android ]

[wibowhntr]

Sat on a oak bench on a finger that headed out to an alfalfa field. Had a doe and fawn come right by but decided to let the doe walk hoping a buck would come through closer to close.