An entire Saturday off has been a rarity these days in the guide biz. This morning I’ve taken some time to review sponsors new products for winter, and uploaded some recent fishing pics. I started to stack this falls firewood close to our home. I have to admit the decision my wife and I made to live for the outdoors is possibly the best decision we’ve ever made besides getting married.
There is something about the end of July that since a boy leaves my cluttered mind wandering to those crisp mornings of fall. Hot coffee and 4wd trucks with orange on nearly every man in the north country. Hunting dogs with tongues hanging out and arguments over the terminology of “Partridge” as a ruffed grouse at coffee shops. Oh don’t get me wrong I love spring fishing, and mid-summer smackdowns on big walleyes, but the north wind escorting fall to the canadian border always holds a special little spot in my heart. Maybe it is because the weather demands an attitude to conquer. Possibly it is the challenge of capturing an image of the biggest and baddest. What I do know is as a fisherman I always look forward to the days of sweatshirts and bibs knowing full well the true elite fish become much more vulnerable to hook and line. Amazingly enough this 220,000 acres of paradise named Rainy lake becomes shockingly void of the summer traffic. Kids are back in school and sportsmen are scattered between the woods and the water. Still on the otherhand as a very dedicated Deer hunter I start to get anxious here in…….JULY!! I can’t help but recall last years scouting missions where picking up the odd shed antler gets mixed into the days grouse hunting adventure. Maybe it’s just a simplistic day in an otherwise increasingly complicated world that peeks my interest. Whether in the woods or on the water it doesn’t seem to matter that world leaders can’t balance a budget. A ruffed grouse meal on the “Barbie” seems to make you feel at one with our rich heritage instead of forgeting about it. The order of the day in the woods is a simple pair of dry boots, shotgun shells and a compass. The entertainment on the water means a bag of fat Rainbow chubs, a pocket full of jigs and a good “Whipping stick”. The big bucks of Minnesota’s northwoods become increasingly territorial in early October and small saplings become visual evidence of the angry nature of big deer that haunt your hunting grounds. Each year I think this will be the year that “Ghost” buck responds to my aggressive rattling in that back saddle. These areas of travel are heavily scrutizined for precise placement of this year’s climbing stand and the attempt to locate that perfect “Lodge Pole Pine” is the only homework for the shortened day. As a deer hunter I literally can’t control myself when I see those ripped up trees with big tracks in the mud. That ripped up tree with licking branches always gets a nod to my buddies with nothing needed to be said…….we KNOW…..WE KNOW!! As grown men possibly it is the outlook from the eyes of boy that we seek to harness.
Yesterday I received confirmation from an old friend Mark Johnson (President of the MDHA) that my article submitted for the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association will be published in there next run. I sincerely hope many of the IDO followers get a chance to read a my little story of Hunting big bucks in the isolated “Northwoods” of Minnesota.
The “Boys of fall” seemingly make the September-November timeframe fly by as fast as that screaming Bluebill on a late November hunt for us all.
I hope we all take the time here in 2011 to get into the woods or out on the lake THIS fall. Introduce a youngster to the passion we’ve found in our chosen sport. I assure you in the years to come you’ll never remember those extra days of work, but will seldom forget the time spent in the outdoors. Lace up that PB Walleye, Stick that monster Buck, Flush some roughed grouse, Call in that flock of Honkers, Cup the wings on that greenhead, and steady the point of your gun dog on that tightly holding Rooster. LIVE IT!! The “Boys of Fall” are just around the corner, and frankly it isn’t just about football!!
Lace them up Men!! 
