Big plans for big bucks!
Posted By
Mike Versland
at
10/25/2011 12:00:00 AM
Chris Seidl and Jason Christianson - Central Minnesota
This will be the longest week of work ever. I am like a little kid counting down the days till Christmas. Let’s hope I get what I asked for, a nice P&Y buck. I’ll be leaving right from work on Friday and heading straight up to Chris’s place in Little Falls. From there it is off to ND.
Chris was actually up at the ND property this past weekend hanging a few sets, putting up ground blinds and hanging/checking trail cams. We have a couple of good bucks on the one trail cam we had left out since opener. One looks to be a nice 8 or 9 point and the other is a pretty nice 10. The most encouraging thing is that we have a bunch of doe pics. Chris actually sat the property both mornings while he was up there and viewed it from a distance. He saw, collectively, 15 different does between both sits. That is huge. Especially since the rut is right around the corner. Where the does are the bucks should follow. The section we are hunting also is the only one within 4 miles that has some standing corn still on it.
From what Chris was seeing it looked as if the deer are bedding in a large tract of swamp and CRP and then moving to the corn to feed. Our plan is to set up on a tree line overlooking both the CRP and corn fields, try and pinpoint a travel route that is getting used the most frequent, then wait for the right wind and move in for the kill. As of right now our plan is to hunt ND until 11/3. We then have to come back to MN as Chris has to work on 11/4. Then on 11/5 and 11/6 we will be hitting a property near Chris’s place that only has one gun hunter. Our hope is that with all the action going on around us we will get a good buck to move into our woodlot and maybe get a crack at him. Chris has still been checking cams on all of the properties by his place and not getting much of anything. He did get a picture of a pretty good 10 point last week but that was about it.
I will most likely not be writing for next week’s blog as I will be busy hunting instead. (Finally!!) So, until next time, Good luck to all!!! Get out there and take advantage of the two best weeks of the season. Sit all day if you can. It can be tough but it works. I have seen more mature bucks between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. than any other time of the day. I have been doing all day hunts during the rut for the past 5 years now and I absolutely swear by it. I made Chris a believer 4 years ago when he smacked a nice 11 point chasing a doe at 11:30 a.m. the first week of November. Now if I could just do the same. I see them but never get shots.
Good Luck,
Jason Christianson and Chris Seidl
Wade Christopherson - Northwest/Southeast MN
Hello everyone, my blog will be short as this week was very slow in the deer woods for me. I spent many hours sitting in my stands with very little movement. Hard to believe with it being this time of year, but I still haven't seen any big bucks during shooting hours. Jill and I spent a couple of days together in one of our hot spots and saw a few does and that's it.
I decided to make a few mock scrapes along with a drip bag attached to the licking branch and I will monitor that this week to see if any bucks are interested. I will be hitting my horns this week and trying to rattle an aggressive buck into one of my shooting lanes. I will also be bringing my buck decoy "Snagglepuss" with me to see if he can stir up a good fight! I have been seeing more scrapes and rubs appearing on the farms so it's a matter of time before the big bucks are chasing the does. There have been several different does on the farms, and were there's does the bucks will follow.
The weather will be cooler and hopefully we get more north winds for most of my stand sets to be productive. I will be after it hard now for the next few weeks and probably won’t have time for a blog for next week. I hope all of you have a safe and successful next few weeks hunting and can get some meat on your table and a good buck to put in your trophy den. Until next time.....
Stay Safe, Shoot Straight and GOD Bless all of you
Wade Christopherson
Mike Versland - Metro
Although I did not get out hunting this past weekend I did spend a fair amount of time in the woods. One of my students will be participating in a youth gun hunt in a local state park in early November. We did some scouting together and found some great rub lines and scrapes. I also set out a trail camera for him and got pictures of a nice ten point. It was easy to find good deer sign within the park, but the real struggle was finding a spot open enough to hunt. The woods are so thick with buckthorn that it is hard to see more than 50 yards in most places.
This coming weekend I will be joining thousands of other archery hunters in the 2nd weekend of the Camp Ripley hunt. It will be my first trip to this remarkable 53,000 acre military training center. Several great bucks were taken during the first hunt in Camp Ripley this past weekend. Every time I see a picture of another huge buck from Ripley it just gets me more fired up for the hunt. No matter the outcome this weekend it should be a great experience.
I have been reading a lot of magazines and online articles lately and two topics that seem to be popping up more than any other pertain to using rattling antlers and making mock scrapes. I made a mock scrape under one of my cameras this weekend and for the next month I will be using my Knight and Hale Pack Rack every time I’m in the tree. There is nothing more thrilling than calling in a mature buck!
I hope everyone is having a safe and successful season so far!
Good luck and hunt safe,
Mike Versland
