Just got back from a week in the north woods of Wisconsin chasing whitetails. Great hunting weather for once... temps in the single digits up to the low 30s with averages in the mid to low 20's. We had a dusting of snow early, but on Tuesday night we got 4 inches of fresh powder covering everything.
However, the full moon was working against us with a few clear nights allowing the deer to frolic with gay abandon in the moonlight, and not move much during the day. It took me five days, but on Wednesday, things finally went my way. I came across a fresh bed with tracks leading away in the fresh snow. I followed it no more than 30 yards and saw some movement in the thick woods ahead. A couple more steps and I had a better vantage point. The deer turned sideways and I could get a decent peek at it.
Having just sat in my favorite pine tree for nearly 3 hours, my plan was to walk/stalk to warm up as I headed to another blind nearby. Being mildly hypothermic and pretty jacked up on finally seeing a decent buck, it wasn't my best shooting, but let's just say my TC Encore .338 Federal got the job done. It was a 2 1/2 year 8-pointer... good eater and nice buck for day 5 of the season.
Unfortunately, I was almost 2-miles into state forest land so there would be no 4-wheelers involved in dragging the deer out until I got it back to our property line. Fortunately, the 4-inches of fresh snow made the drag about as good as it could be. 1.5 hours later I had the deer back to the property line.
I have to say, I felt great dragging that buck out of the woods. After not going back to hunt for a decade, this was the second year in a row I've been able to get back for deer season. It's the most time I get to spend with my Dad and Brother all year and as everyone can imagine, it is great therapy to leave everything behind and blend into the woods for a week. To top it off, the fresh snow covering everything was aboslutely gorgeous and the sun came out just as it was time to start dragging... I had to stop a few times just to soak it all in. It isn't the biggest buck I've shot by any stretch, but it will definitely be one of the most memorable.
Butchered it out on Thanksgiving and was able to fit 50 lbs of vacuum packed frozen venison into my carry-on bag... "buck in a bag" as I call it.
Score so far for our party of five (two of whom could only hunt the weekends) is two bucks (8-pt and 4-pt) and three does. They'll be out there this weekend to try to fill the remaining buck tags. Does and yearlings have been seen in great numbers, but bucks have been quite elusive this year.
Some pics...
My buck.
My buck and Dads Big Girl Doe
Goofy porcupine... found it curled up dead next to our hunting shack. Needed to share.
