vilas county snowmobile trip

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ihookem
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vilas county snowmobile trip

Unread postby ihookem » Mon Feb 23, 2015 2:19 pm

I went sledding from Woodruff to Sayner to Boulder Jct. We saw a grand total of 5 deer and one wolf in 90 miles. One fawn, just standing there. It didn't even look at us and was about 50' away. Face was all puffed up . Seems like it was dead already. It is much different land than Price co. I saw thousands of small white and Norway pines and even some small Hemlocks that were not even touched by the deer. I felt that very strange. Very few trails in the big public lands and the trils were very lightly traveled. As I Just a strange question, if you hunt way up north, do they eat up the pines and Hemlocks were you hunt up north? I don't know why deer will eat a pine tree down to nothing in Price and Sawyer co. but not so much as touch it in Vilas or Onieda co. I I thought 5 deer and one wolf ,,,,,,,,,, par for the course in Vilas huh? Then I also Remembered Dewey on the Beast here, he hunts Vilas. Just an observation.


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Dewey
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Re: vilas county snowmobile trip

Unread postby Dewey » Mon Feb 23, 2015 2:52 pm

Funny you mention that. I am up in Boulder Junction right now snowmobiling till Wednesday. :lol:

Lot's of deer here in town but not so much anywhere else. They puff up in really cold weather to increase the thickness of their hair layer to retain heat. The deer here in town look the same way when it gets this cold and they are very well fed. When I see deer looking like a humpback with their head down they are very stressed. Hanging out on roads and snowmobile trails is also a very bad sign.

Few pics I took this weekend. Deer look pretty healthy.

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We just got done doing the BJ, Star Lake, Sayner, Conover, Phelps, Land o' Lakes and back to BJ loop a little over 100 miles. Warming up right now and riding hard tomorrow.

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Re: vilas county snowmobile trip

Unread postby pitz0022 » Mon Feb 23, 2015 2:56 pm

How are the trails up there now? I haven't been there since early January when Eagle River had the derby.

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Re: vilas county snowmobile trip

Unread postby Dewey » Mon Feb 23, 2015 2:57 pm

Trails are good especially ones freshly groomed after the heavy weekend traffic. There is a good thick ice base that is a little slick in corners but that's to be expected with the frigid weather. A good wet snow would really set them up good now but that's not gonna happen. Low of -20 to -30 tonight.

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ihookem
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Re: vilas county snowmobile trip

Unread postby ihookem » Tue Feb 24, 2015 2:12 am

So that was you ripping by me 100 mph huh? When I'm trying to see some deer. I was there Saturday all day. Very nice looking land. Did you see any wolves? I have yet to see one but my friend saw one this yr and one last yr. Oh well, I'm glad to know they just puff up for warmth . The poor thing didn't even look at us driving by it. Hope it makes it though. Send us more pics if you can.
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Re: vilas county snowmobile trip

Unread postby Dewey » Tue Feb 24, 2015 2:30 am

Haven't seen any wolves yet but when I do it's usually around Escanaba Lake just south of Boulder Junction.

Wasn't me flying by at 100 mph! :lol:

Right at daybreak Land O' Lakes reached -35 this morning! :shock:

The old record was -14 (2006)

Gonna wait for it to warm up a little more before we hit the trails today.

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Re: vilas county snowmobile trip

Unread postby Dewey » Tue Feb 24, 2015 6:09 pm

Saw a wolf tonight very close to were I predicted near Escanaba Lake. It ran right in front of me across the trail trying to get away but the deep snow slowed it down. Spent most of the day up in the UP and surprisingly never saw a wolf up there in 175 miles of riding.

-30 here in BJ overnight. It actually got above 0 by 11:00 am! :o Much more comfortable riding today.


We did a loop today from Boulder Junction, Presque Isle, Marenisco, Wakefield, Bessemer, Ironwood, Hurley, Mercer, Manitowish Waters, Sayner and back to Boulder Junction. Lot's of miles and saw some great country but didn't see a whole lot of deer sign in Gogebic County.

Sorry to hijack your thread. I was gonna start one anyway so it worked out pretty good when you beat me to it. :lol:

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Re: vilas county snowmobile trip

Unread postby pitz0022 » Wed Feb 25, 2015 2:10 am

I like this thread guys!! Thanks for the updates. I need another trip this year. Until I found this site, it was snowmobiling I most looked forward to, now thanks to you guys I get to go scouting since I can't ride around here right now.

In January we rode through Boulder Junction and stopped at a bar north of town. He has a bunch of deer mounted and had one albino shoulder mount there. I can't think of the name of the place right now but the owner seems to enjoy talking deer hunting. Super nice guy. Gooch's bar maybe?

I love that 8A trail between Hurley and Manitowish. Tight turns and the clubs do a great job of maintaining their trails up there. Have a buffalo chicken sandwich at the Pea Patch in Manitowish Waters for me.
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Re: vilas county snowmobile trip

Unread postby Dewey » Wed Feb 25, 2015 9:35 am

pitz0022 wrote:I like this thread guys!! Thanks for the updates. I need another trip this year. Until I found this site, it was snowmobiling I most looked forward to, now thanks to you guys I get to go scouting since I can't ride around here right now.

In January we rode through Boulder Junction and stopped at a bar north of town. He has a bunch of deer mounted and had one albino shoulder mount there. I can't think of the name of the place right now but the owner seems to enjoy talking deer hunting. Super nice guy. Gooch's bar maybe?

I love that 8A trail between Hurley and Manitowish. Tight turns and the clubs do a great job of maintaining their trails up there. Have a buffalo chicken sandwich at the Pea Patch in Manitowish Waters for me.

Yeah that sounds like Gooch's. Good food at Boulder Beer Bar as well. Never ate at the Pea Patch, will have to check it out sometime. When we left Hurley yesterday we met the groomer. SMOOTH trail from there all the way to Manitowish Waters. We covered a lot of miles very fast! 8-)

If you haven't ridden up in the UP I highly recommend it, well worth the price of a trail pass. I love the change of terrain and riding at some higher elevations climbing steep hills to see some great scenery. If I had more days I would like to ride up to the Porcupine Mountains up along Lake Superior. Been there many times in the summer and it's a really awesome.

Looks like some cold weather for quite some time yet. The trail base is excellent everywhere and not going away anytime soon. Lake Effect snow has pretty much shut off since Lake Superior is almost completely froze over again. Been getting an inch here and there to freshen the trails up and it snowed again today adding another few inches.
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Re: vilas county snowmobile trip

Unread postby pitz0022 » Wed Feb 25, 2015 10:05 am

Dewey wrote: If you haven't ridden up in the UP I highly recommend it, well worth the price of a trail pass. I love the change of terrain and riding at some higher elevations climbing steep hills to see some great scenery. If I had more days I would like to ride up to the Porcupine Mountains up along Lake Superior. Been there many times in the summer and it's a really awesome.


We have talked about it, but we like the tight turns and narrow trails and have been told that the UP is Long Straight Wide trails.... Is that Not true?


Dewey wrote:Looks like some cold weather for quite some time yet. The trail base is excellent everywhere and not going away anytime soon. Lake Effect snow has pretty much shut off since Lake Superior is almost completely froze over again. Been getting an inch here and there to freshen the trails up and it snowed again today adding another few inches.


The other place we like is Joany's Sidekicks over in Pence (I think). She is a crazy old lady. She is definitely entertaining to listen to while you warm up. She has something like 125 different shots she made up and probably 3 times that many stories waiting for anybody that will listen. I'm not much for shots, but I do like stories.

I've been watching Johndee and saw that the LES Snow guns have been shut down. We were hoping for some decent system snow to freshen up the trails and maybe a bit of warmer weather. As a matter of fact, this thread prompted me to send an email to my buddies this morning to see if they wants to go ride 3/5 - 3/8. It looks like Voyagers National Park has some snow too. Since I'm from the Twin Cities the drive is about the same to either place.
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Re: vilas county snowmobile trip

Unread postby Dewey » Wed Feb 25, 2015 10:15 am

Yeah if you like speed the UP is the place to go. The miles add up fast there for sure on the straights but there is also a good mixture of twisty's in Ottawa National Forest.

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Re: vilas county snowmobile trip

Unread postby ihookem » Wed Feb 25, 2015 12:25 pm

Even less deer seen in the U.P. huh? I have a bit of interest near Wakefield since I see a 40 for sale up there for a lot less than Wis.
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Re: vilas county snowmobile trip

Unread postby Dewey » Wed Feb 25, 2015 12:59 pm

ihookem wrote:Even less deer seen in the U.P. huh? I have a bit of interest near Wakefield since I see a 40 for sale up there for a lot less than Wis.

I'm sure it's like anywhere else in the north where there are pockets of deer and other areas have none. A friend of mine lives up in Ramsay just west of Wakefield and he said the deer population is very low so he barely hunts them up there anymore. Wolves and tough winters have done a number on the herd.

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Re: vilas county snowmobile trip

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Wed Feb 25, 2015 1:29 pm

Dewey wrote:
ihookem wrote:Even less deer seen in the U.P. huh? I have a bit of interest near Wakefield since I see a 40 for sale up there for a lot less than Wis.

I'm sure it's like anywhere else in the north where there are pockets of deer and other areas have none. A friend of mine lives up in Ramsay just west of Wakefield and he said the deer population is very low so he barely hunts them up there anymore. Wolves and tough winters have done a number on the herd.

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Agreed. You can buy 300-400 acres in the UP for the price of 40 acres in SW WI, but you'll probably see more deer on the 40 acre piece in SW WI...even in CWD zone.


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