South Central WI

This past week was windy and rainy.  This allowed me on Tuesday to slip into the woods and move a couple stands that Neal and I will be hunting this next week.  I felt comfortable entering the woods because of the high winds and rain to help drown out any leftover scent.  I moved these stands due to recent camera pictures which were obtained over established scrape lines.  Then on Wednesday my son Colton and I went out hunting.  He was able to harvest a nice 8pointer.  It was a perfect shot thru the heart and buried in the opposing shoulder.  You can see the hunt on this Sundays show.  It was such a great feeling to see him take this buck.  He definitely earned it. 

This next week I believe many bucks will be susceptible to calling and rattling.  A lot of standing corn is now coming down by me which will help a lot. Neal and I plan on hitting it hard setting up deeper in the woods.  It should be an exciting week as the woods begin to come alive.   Hunt hard and Keep it safe.

-Cole Sandstrom & Neal Kroll

Southeast WI

Get out there!!  I've been calling all my hunting buddies and telling them to hit the woods-the bucks are moving.  Dad and I had an excellent day in the stand.  Now I realize that maybe we just got lucky, or were in the right place at the right time, but I don't believe that's the case.  It all started out this morning (Oct. 21) with a line of 8 doe filtering past shortly after daylight.  Then, at 8:15 I looked to the south and here came a brute of an 8pt.  He was obviously on a mission, covering ground at a steady pace with his mouth open.  He was a mid-140's deer and he came straight to our tree.  Unfortunately he was on the opposite side Dad was on and he spotted us.  I think he saw the whites of my huge unblinking eyes!  I couldn't believe it was happening, he was there and gone so fast.  We were bummed to be that close and to not be able to tag the beast.  When we got down we moved the stands 40 yards uphill to put us downwind of all the action but still within range.  So that's where we sat this evening.  We again saw doe and they were soon followed and chased be 3 year old and 2 year old 8 pointers. They would stop to scrape and spar and then go back to following the doe.  At one point they were within 5 yards!

      In the past I would have said it's a bit early for bucks to really be moving, but after today I'd say get out there.  These were mature deer and they were up and covering ground.  So focus on those doe groups, do some calling and enjoy the action.  Good luck, we'll show you on next week’s show if the big 8 returns.

-The Schlueter's

Finally, the time of year all of us have been dreaming about is here.  It’s time to start hunting our best stands and put our grunt calls and rattling antlers to use.  Just in this past week, a lot of rubs and scrapes were created.  There is a special feeling we all get when we come upon a fresh big rub because we know there is a big buck around.   This next week, Nick and I will be keying in on some rub and scrape lines trying to intercept a big buck on his way back to bed.  Our stands are placed closer to known bedding areas so we will have to be getting in early.  My past experiences have shown that morning hunting starts to become better than evening hunting this time of year.  We will be hunting hard and the forecast couldn’t be any better.  The weather man is calling for cool temperatures during the day and cold temperatures at night.  This should jump start the bucks and hopefully we will be in the right spot when the first doe comes into heat.   Good luck to everyone and enjoy this magical time of year.

-Paul Molitor & Nick Niemann

There is definitely a chill in the air and a feeling of anticipation here in Wisconsin.  Deer movement has picked up considerably this past week, with increased sightings while hunting and filming and on the trail cameras.  We have hunted almost every day since my last blog entry with deer sightings most every night except last night when a combine was running on the neighboring farm.  The crops are being harvested at a steady pace and the deer will soon have less cover in which to hide.  I plan to hunt every day in the upcoming week and will now start hunting some mornings as well.  I have reason to be confident as a former student of mine, Matt Oppriecht, Shot a great buck last Saturday evening the 16 ^th .  He named the Buck Mr. Ed and has a lot of history with him, including trail cam photos and sheds.  The buck’s gross green score was around 150 and he is estimated to be 5 ½ years old based on Matt and friend Bob Bird’s history with the Deer.  Matt was hunting the deer near a small woodlot on his family’s farm when Mr. Ed followed a doe into a lush food plot of tillage radishes.  Matt made a great shot and has an awesome trophy.  This week I will be hunting in Wisconsin and Iowa, so with a cool forecast hopefully there will be bigger buck stories to tell next time.  Best of Luck and Hunt Safe!

-Rick Sime

Northwest WI

We are getting into late October which means pre-rut around here. The temps are dropping so deer movement has increased. I have a few stands where the cameras are showing some good morning and afternoon activity but only one has a shooter near stand. I plan on sitting there on Saturday afternoon.

Scrape activity is picking up fast now, mock scrapes are active. Calling and rattling are also showing some results and I hope to get some good video doing that. Last weekend had very high winds. I tried to sit on Friday but within fifteen minutes I heard three trees blow over. I took a look around and saw several trees around me that could go over and hit me so after one hour I left the woods. I saw a lot of deer feeding as I drove around so they were active but too dangerous to sit in a tree.

 On Saturday I hoped to sit again even with the winds. I checked the camera at this stand and this buck was at the stand the previous night (high winds) at 5:50 P.M. I decided to sit in the winds but when I got in the stand I noticed that I forgot my video camera at home so I made the call to leave the stand. I really want them on video when I shoot. I checked the camera the next day and the buck did not show until after shooting hours. Whew!  

This week has shown him back in daylight. This photo was during shooting hours but a heavy overcast made it look like it was night. Good hunting.

 -Paul Ostrum