Jason Christianson and Chris Seidl  - Central Minnesota

One more week and it is off to North Dakota. The last time Chris and I made it out to the woods was on 10/8. We spent a few hours in the tree on our property in the SE Metro. It was disappointing to say the least. The weather was extremely warm and it was very windy. Needless to say, we did not see any deer that evening. I know I had said in an earlier blog that we lost this property and for the most part we did but the landowner happened to be out of town that weekend and he said it would be alright if we hunted. So we gladly took him up on the offer. He also said that he will be out of town gun hunting the weekend of 11/12 and 11/13 so we just might do some hunting there again that weekend.

As far as our Central MN properties go we are still not seeing any mature bucks.  Not even at night. This has pretty much got Chris and I 100% sold on spending the majority of our 9 day vacation in North Dakota. At the very least we will hunt 11/5 and 11/6 here in MN though as we have a pretty good property that does not get gun hunted. Even though we are not getting good pics it can all change once you have a bunch of guys in the woods on surrounding properties. Not to mention, the rut should be going pretty strong then as well.

So for now Chris and I are just waiting patiently for 10/28 when we will be heading to ND. Crops are coming down in full force in Central MN and most of the crops surrounding our ND properties are already down. The landowner out there just dropped an SD card in the mail from one of our cameras out there and we are anxiously waiting to see what is on there. This particular camera has not been checked since opening weekend.   

Until next time, Good luck to all!!! 

Jason Christianson and Chris Seidl

Wade Christopherson - Northwest/Southeast MN

The cooler weather is finally coming. This past week has been beautiful here in MN and the temps are great. The fall colors here are past peak and the leaves have pretty much fallen to the ground. With that said, the woods are becoming bare and the scrapes and rubs are starting to show. I have had several encounters with smaller bucks chasing the does around and thinking they are the king of the woods.
 

Well when the big boys start ramping up and getting their love on, these little bucks will be heading for the hills. It's a matter of a week or so and these mature bucks will be doing just that. I am expecting the deer woods to change very quickly here as I just checked the weather forecast and its going to very cool in the evenings and mornings. The lows will be right around 30 degrees for the next week and this should get them a bit more active. I have seen a great deal of does throughout the last week and have spent many hours trying to catch some movement from the bigger bucks on some of the farms.
 
I'm confident I will be able to wrap one of my MN tags on a deer this week and I will be putting Jill in a spot where she can let the air out of a deer also. She will give a lot of you guys a run for your money when it comes to accuracy with a bow!  She works hard and spends a lot of time in the treestands with her better half :)
 
Don't forget that this week is the youth deer hunt (Oct. 20-23) so get a youth out in the woods and let them enjoy the outdoors and the peacefulness of waiting for a deer to come by them. It will be one of the more rewarding things you can do for a child. I still remember the day my father took me out on my first deer hunt. I will never forget the excitement sitting next to my father all day in the woods. I have hunting big game in my blood and wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks Dad for taking me hunting and who I am today.
 
Until next week.....     Stay Safe, Shoot Straight and GOD Bless all of you
 
Wade Christopherson

Mike Versland - Metro

In last week’s blog I pretty much promised I would shoot a deer over the weekend.  Knowing that I was going into a metro park for a special permit antlerless hunt I figured it would be a piece of cake to cull some does.  Over the course of the weekend I found out that even hunting an overpopulated park does not guarantee meat in the freezer.  When the hunt concluded on Sunday evening I still had all three of my bonus permits in my pocket.  The only deer I saw was a small 6 point.  I never even saw an antlerless deer!  Although it was the middle of the October lull I figured the deer would still be up and moving since the cooler temps had finally arrived.  That just wasn’t the case where I was hunting.  Hopefully you had better luck where you were.

Although I was not able to tag a deer this past weekend, I actually considered the hunt to be a major success.  In addition to tagging an antlerless deer my main goal of the weekend was to get set up in a spot where I figured my chances are greatest of taking a mature November buck.  Unfortunately that meant sitting through an eventless October hunt, but it is all part of the master plan.  I am now established in an awesome spot, a pinch point between two ridges and a housing development.  The second half of the park hunt, the either sex hunt, will take place during the first weekend of November.  Now that I have my spot of choice I will in a great position to take a cruising buck.  The anticipation of this hunt only grows stronger each day.

It won’t be long and the first does of the season will begin to come into estrus.  However, that’s not going to happen yet this weekend.  So I am going to take full advantage of the four day weekend and spend the time with my family.  I need to bank some more hours at home before the real hunt begins.  The only hunting activity I have planned for this weekend is to do some pre-rut scouting and check some trail cameras.  I have not checked most of my cameras in over a month.  I really hope I have some giants moving into the areas I will be hunting in during the last half of the season.

Good luck and hunt safe!

Mike Versland

Last Week’s Blog....   CLICK HERE