My First Public Land Buck - MN
- nater
- Posts: 134
- Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2013 12:18 pm
- Location: SW Minnesota
- Status: Offline
My First Public Land Buck - MN
This was my first year hunting Minnesota after moving from Indiana last year. I may summarize my season sometime this winter, but here are the brief details regarding my first MN and first public land deer.
Last Tuesday I hunted a new WMA that is in the process of being converted to prairie. It's a large property split by a small river valley where I'm told 100-200 deer will herd up during hard winters. We're not yet having a hard winter but I thought I might get lucky and catch some deer that either moved in early or never get pushed out during slug season. My first sit was from the ground in the northwest area of the aerial (the spot I sat Tuesday is not marked). I saw a doe and a fawn in the cut beans walking out that night but no other deer. However, I did follow a four-finger buck track that made me think there was a solid deer in the area. Hunter pressure appeared light based on bootprints in the snow--I saw dog prints with every human print, suggesting that only bird hunters had been there since Muzzleloader season.
Thursday I returned with the goal of sitting downwind of the largest/nastiest bedding area on the north side of the river. The area inside the river bend has been cut over by beavers and has the normal floodplain detritus of logs/sticks/etc. everywhere. I picked the straightest cottonwood I could find and quietly climbed about 15 ft up in my climber for an evening hunt.
Around 4:50 a small buck walked SE from his bed right along the river. I saw him at 30 yards and shot him at 20 with my muzzleloader. No real drama, just a straightforward setup and a long,3-hour trek going back and forth to my car to get my cart and haul the deer out over firebreaks, lightly drifted snow, and the crop field that will be filled with grass next year. I was just lucky that the cart held together despite having 3 cotter pins pop off during the haul out.
Success! It was late that night by the time I got back home and I wanted to skin the deer while it was still warm, so we completely spaced the hero shot.
This is the 11th deer I've killed in 5 years of hunting but I'm probably proudest of this one. The others were all on prime private land with friends to help and driveable lanes for retrieving deer. I worked a lot harder for this one and did it all on my own. I honestly couldn't care less that he's a tiny little 1.5 year old!
Last Tuesday I hunted a new WMA that is in the process of being converted to prairie. It's a large property split by a small river valley where I'm told 100-200 deer will herd up during hard winters. We're not yet having a hard winter but I thought I might get lucky and catch some deer that either moved in early or never get pushed out during slug season. My first sit was from the ground in the northwest area of the aerial (the spot I sat Tuesday is not marked). I saw a doe and a fawn in the cut beans walking out that night but no other deer. However, I did follow a four-finger buck track that made me think there was a solid deer in the area. Hunter pressure appeared light based on bootprints in the snow--I saw dog prints with every human print, suggesting that only bird hunters had been there since Muzzleloader season.
Thursday I returned with the goal of sitting downwind of the largest/nastiest bedding area on the north side of the river. The area inside the river bend has been cut over by beavers and has the normal floodplain detritus of logs/sticks/etc. everywhere. I picked the straightest cottonwood I could find and quietly climbed about 15 ft up in my climber for an evening hunt.
Around 4:50 a small buck walked SE from his bed right along the river. I saw him at 30 yards and shot him at 20 with my muzzleloader. No real drama, just a straightforward setup and a long,3-hour trek going back and forth to my car to get my cart and haul the deer out over firebreaks, lightly drifted snow, and the crop field that will be filled with grass next year. I was just lucky that the cart held together despite having 3 cotter pins pop off during the haul out.
Success! It was late that night by the time I got back home and I wanted to skin the deer while it was still warm, so we completely spaced the hero shot.
This is the 11th deer I've killed in 5 years of hunting but I'm probably proudest of this one. The others were all on prime private land with friends to help and driveable lanes for retrieving deer. I worked a lot harder for this one and did it all on my own. I honestly couldn't care less that he's a tiny little 1.5 year old!
Last edited by nater on Thu Dec 18, 2014 4:19 pm, edited 3 times in total.
- Milk Weed Seed
- 500 Club
- Posts: 1822
- Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:17 pm
- Location: Northern NJ
- Status: Offline
Re: My First Public Land Buck - MN
[glow=red]Happiness is only a gut pile away[/glow]
- john1984
- Posts: 4708
- Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 8:08 am
- Location: Wisconsin
- Status: Offline
Re: My First Public Land Buck - MN
Sweet
[ Post made via iPhone ]
[ Post made via iPhone ]
-
- Posts: 229
- Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2014 12:59 pm
- Status: Offline
Re: My First Public Land Buck - MN
Nice job!
[ Post made via iPhone ]
[ Post made via iPhone ]
- PK_
- 500 Club
- Posts: 6894
- Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:10 am
- Location: Just Off
- Status: Offline
Re: My First Public Land Buck - MN
Awesome man, congrats.
2 things about the cart, 1)Bring it most of the way into the woods with you 2)Wrap some electrical tape around the ends of those cotter pins!
2 things about the cart, 1)Bring it most of the way into the woods with you 2)Wrap some electrical tape around the ends of those cotter pins!
No Shortcuts. No Excuses. No Regrets.
Everybody's selling dreams. I'm too cheap to buy one.
Everybody's selling dreams. I'm too cheap to buy one.
Rich M wrote:Typically, hunting FL has been like getting a root canal
- AttackMode
- Posts: 212
- Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 3:15 pm
- Location: PA
- Status: Offline
-
- Site Owner
- Posts: 41588
- Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2010 6:11 am
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HuntingBeast/?ref=bookmarks
- Location: S.E. Wisconsin
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
- U.P. bownut
- 500 Club
- Posts: 538
- Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 5:11 pm
- Location: South West U.P.
- Status: Offline
-
- 500 Club
- Posts: 1830
- Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:36 am
- Location: Wi.
- Status: Offline
-
- 500 Club
- Posts: 2077
- Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 12:17 am
- Status: Offline
- Jackson Marsh
- Moderator
- Posts: 19544
- Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:11 am
- Location: SE WI
- Status: Offline
Re: My First Public Land Buck - MN
Nice!!
[ Post made via Android ]
[ Post made via Android ]
- JROD157
- Posts: 99
- Joined: Thu Oct 16, 2014 1:59 am
- Status: Offline
Re: My First Public Land Buck - MN
Hard work is rewarding! Nice job!
- headgear
- 500 Club
- Posts: 11625
- Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2010 7:21 am
- Location: Northern Minnesota
- Status: Offline
Re: My First Public Land Buck - MN
Congrats!
- Motivated
- 500 Club
- Posts: 1882
- Joined: Tue Sep 16, 2014 9:41 am
- Location: All over Indiana
- Status: Offline
Re: My First Public Land Buck - MN
Congratulations! Great work!
[ Post made via Android ]
[ Post made via Android ]
Work hard, stay humble, be kind.
- bigwoodsmn
- Posts: 1751
- Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2012 1:15 pm
- Status: Offline
Re: My First Public Land Buck - MN
Nice job Nater!
[ Post made via Android ]
[ Post made via Android ]
-
- Advertisement
Return to “Public Land Hunting”
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 32 guests