November Struggles
Posted By
Mike Versland
at
11/22/2011 12:00:00 AM
Wade Christopherson - Northwest/Southeast MN
Hello everyone and Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I haven't written a blog in three weeks because of the time I've spent in my treestands and on hunts. I am at a complete loss of where the mature bucks have been throughout the rut. Wait...... what rut? I have never in my hunting career seen a rut like 2011. I have hunted countless hours and all day sits in some really good whitetail country and all I'm seeing is smaller bucks and had one good encounter with a solid 140 buck.
Oct 31-Nov 4th I had several small bucks chasing the does and even had a couple of them challenge "Snagglepuss" my buck decoy. The decoy dwarfed them but they didn't care they wanted to show him who is boss. I can't tell you how many of them I watch from my treestands and walk around like they are the king of the woods. All the bucks that have been on my cameras are all moving at night. It’s unbelievable! In years past the mature bucks were running does until they couldn't run anymore. The bucks would run the does out of the woods and get them all alone out in the middle of farm fields and this year I have seen none of that!
November 5th was a complete wash. The wind was blowing 30 miles an hour and normally with those winds I would pass on that sit as the deer do not really like to move because they can't hear very well. We sat all day thinking the pressure from the other hunters on opening day of the gun season would eventually kick up some deer and maybe run right past Jill and I but nothing. Not even a single deer! Again... Unbelievable. November 6th I did not hunt.
The week of the 7th through the 12th I saw more rubs and scrape activity. As I mentioned earlier I did have a great encounter with a solid 140 inch deer on November 9th that I would have tagged here in MN but the buck was 50 yards out and all I had to shoot at was the upper 1/3 of his body and I will not take that shot without any vitals showing. A fallen tree had covered up his vitals and I have way to much respect for an animal that size to risk wounding him. I did tag a good doe on Nov 10th after a 30 yard shot.
November 13th -18th I hunted in some big timber in extreme SE MN and had an encounter with a 120 inch 8 pointer but just not the deer I'm looking for. He was with a doe and will be a good buck next year. The rest of the week I saw several huge rubs but again the mature bucks are nowhere to be seen during legal hunting time.
So here we are... the week of Nov 21. I do believe the bigger bucks will be on their feet this week and looking for the remaining does that have not been bred and will be out chasing. I will again be in my stands waiting to let the air out of a mature buck with my Hoyt.
As soon as we get some snow and the weather gets really cold I will be sitting in my stands overlooking my food plots and waiting for the deer to fatten up for the winter as these food plots are the only food that is available within a 2 square mile radius!!Maybe... just maybe then will a big mature buck show himself!
Stay Safe, Shoot Straight and GOD Bless all of you
Wade Christopherson
Mike Versland - Metro
The Wisconsin gun season opened on Saturday, November 19th. My cousin Travis and I headed into the woods at 4 am, over two and a half hours before daylight. After a two mile walk through some rugged land we were both set and ready to hunt just minutes before the season opened. The day started off perfect as I could hear a grunting buck moving in my direction before 7 am. We grunted back and forth for nearly half an hour before he finally went his own way. Although he was only 80 yards away I never did see him as I was sitting in very thick cover. Unfortunately that was the highlight of my weekend, as I never did see any mature bucks for the next two days.
It rained most of the day on Saturday, and just before dark the rain turned to snow. I had a doe come in and stand under my tree for over and hour as the snow came down. I was very surprised at her behavior. She came in alert and browsing. Then she stood with her back to the wind and did not even twitch a muscle for 75 minutes as she waited out the storm. I swear she was sleeping standing up! She was totally checked out and did not even notice when three more deer walk past her at 30 yards.
The highlight of my weekend was trying to get out of the woods on Saturday evening. I have some reflective trail markers to help me find my way home, but with a north wind and wet snow all the trees were solid white on the north side. This was not a good thing considering I was heading south. I could not see a single trail marker. To make matters worse the snow was still coming down and I could only see about 20 feet in front of me. It took at least an extra hour to get out of the woods.
I will continue to hunt the Wisconsin gun season this coming weekend. I think I was very close to where some big bucks are hanging out. I am going to move to another tree 100 yards from where I sat this past weekend. Hopefully I can get a glimpse of the buck that came through last Saturday.
Good luck and hunt safe!
Mike Versland
