Minnesota Whitetail, 10/03/12

The sticker on his truck window is RFD. “Real F’n Dumb”

Yes, He’s obviously past his prime. You can tell by the swayed back & big belly. He’s probably slightly senile too by the look on his face. “Why didn’t I take that nice buck back in October when it was nice & warm”.

1 & 2 Little Bucks
3 & 4 Bigger Bucks
5 & 6 Eagle with a Rabbit
7 & 8 Coyotes & Turkeys
Lots of other smaller Critters

This guy has some potential if he makes it another year.

v

I picked up a set of sheds several years ago that had the tip and broken shaft of a Razorback 5 broadhead stuck in the main beam of one of the antlers. I was fortunate enough to kill the buck the following year at 3 1/2 years old. He grew over 50 inches of antler from the previous year. He’s still one of my favorite bucks I’ve taken.

# 9 Easy Boone & Crockett class Buck …. Nice

They’re actually not Bighorn sheep, they’re Ibex. They are standing on the back side of a dam, licking the salt off from the road along the top. There’s a video out there someplace. Pretty amazing critters !

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Best of luck on your Moose hunt Super Do. Be prepared for a tough hunt. The days of 90% success rates on Minnesota Moose are long gone…….. Unless your a Wolf.

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Waa wa (wolf comment). We saw two moose this weekend in the Cotton, MN area. FYI, we have “0” pics of wolf on the trail cameras up in the Buyck, MN area. Seems unusual since the population is so vast.

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Are you trying to say that because you don’t have any wolf pic’s on your trail cam’s that they aren’t taking a significant portion of the Moose population ? That’s not a mosquito bite on this little guy’s hind quarter.

Best of luck on your Moose hunt Super Do. Be prepared for a tough hunt. The days of 90% success rates on Minnesota Moose are long gone…….. Unless your a Wolf.

Quiver’s full, I’ll play.>>>———>

Here’s a pic of the bird that my son Ryan took during the 4th season. We had a tough time locating any good struttng areas or any concentrations of birds, mostly due to the high winds and rain that tormented us through the spring this year.
We set up on a known roosting area and sure enough, a Gobbler was waiting for us not 50 yds from our blind in the morning. He flew down at sunrise, but ignored our calls & headed the oppisite direction following an unseen hen.
The next morning it was blowing and raining so hard, we decided to go to school/work instead, and get’em next time.
Day 3 and our gobbler was right back where he was on the first day and he repeated his route, ignoring our calls again.
We decided to move our blind down the hill to the roost tree and be there in the evening when he came back.
At sunset here he comes. Strutting at about 35 yds, but not comming any closer. A little long for a 20 ga. and suddenly he flys up in his roost tree. We waited till it was dark and snuck out quietly with plans to be back waiting early the next morning.
Right at sunrise he flys down and starts struttng at about 30yds and then begins moving away. We’ve seen this move before and I said to Ryan, it’s now or never. He lined up on the edge of the blind for support and made a great shot. The Tom weighed 22 1/2 lbs, 10 1/2 in. beard and 7/8 and 6/8 spurs. Score 59.75

I’ve never written anything up on it, other than what I put in my previous post above. As I said, the weather was terrible. Of the 2 weeks that I was there, I think there was only 2 days that it didn’t rain, and the wind never quit blowing, several days gusting to 30-40 mph. Not very good Moose hunting weather. My original plan was to pass on any smaller Bulls, hoping to find a really big one. After a week of hard hunting without even seeing a Bull, I realized that any Bull under these conditions was a good Bull. The second week I called in 2 different Bulls that circled down wind on me, staying in the timber without presenting a shot. One was about 50yds & the other about 30yds. I decided to set up in the heavier timber to try to prevent them from pin pointing my calling location so easily. That did the trick, on my second to last day, I called my Bull through the heavy timber, stopping for a shot at about 10 yds. I was very lucky in that he died only about 10 yds from a small stream, so I was able to get a small boat to him to pack him out. Although it was one of the tougher hunts I’ve ever been on, It was well worth it. I’d do it again in a minute.

Here’s a pic of my Minnesota Moose.

I was finally drawn a couple of years ago after over 20 years of trying. The zone that I Hunted is historically one of the harder zones to draw, although I talked to a couple of different guys that were drawn on there first try, so you never know. The BWCA is easier to draw, and there are some real nice Bulls in there, but as mentioned, the logistics of hunting in there can make it a very difficult hunt. I killed my Bull on the second to last day after spending the majority of my hunt fighting heavy wind, sideways rain and cold temps. He wasn’t the monster I was looking for, but I’m plenty happy with him, given the conditions and the decreasing number of Bulls available. Good luck on the draw, I wish I could go again.

I can’t help you much in Zone 24, never hunted there. Much of the advise you get is for Rifle hunting. I found that Bowhunting for Moose, is much different than Rifle hunting for Moose. I had several tree stands set up in good looking areas for different wind directions. I would call from these stands mornings & evenings and scout new areas during mid-days. Don’t call from open areas, but get in close to the heavy timbered areas. A Bull comming to a call will try to circle down wind & if your in the timber, they will tend to come closer when circling if they are in good cover. I also found that just like a buck comming to a grunt call or rattling, they know exactly where the call is comming from & will come right to your tree from great distances. I’ve never figured out how they do that but it amazes me every time. Most of all be patient. Some will come running right in, but most will take there time & be very cautious when approching. Hope these little tips help, You will have a blast chasing these big critters. I know I sure did.

What Zone are you hunting ? Are you going to Bowhunt ? I finally drew a couple of years ago, after 20+ years of applying. Wish I could go again, but I’ll just have to re-live it through other lucky hunters. I may be able to give you afew tips & Do’s and Dont’s. Things that I figured out the hard way.

Here are the 2 dead Bucks I found a couple weeks ago. First is about a 100″-110″ 8pt, & the second would be in the mid 160″s if he wasn’t all chewed up. Damn tree rats !!!

Here are afew more ATL Pic’s from a couple weeks ago.

Afew more

I have afew Pic’s from Saturday but they’re still in the camera. Here’s some Pic’s from earlier this year.

Got 5 yesterday, 3 fresh 2 1/2 yr old 4 pts & 2 old 5 pts chewed up. Also found 2 dead bucks, 1 would be in the 160″ class if the tree rats didn’t work him over, & the other about a 100″ 8 pt.

Got a nice 5pt today. That makes 8 for me. 2 matched sets & 4 singles.Plus a dead 8pt.

Walked about 8 hrs today, Dont know how many miles that is but it’s alot. Found 2 sheds today, the match off the single I found Wednesday & a small 4pt. I have some pic’s but it might be awhile before I can post them. I’m old school, my Bow doesn’t have Wheels & my camera uses Film.

Walked about 5 hrs on Wed. & found 3. 1 matched set off a 9pt & a single 3pt, with no brow tine. Walked about 2 hrs tonight & found a dead 8pt.

I have consecutive years off several bucks. It’s neat to compare horns from year to year. The main frame configuration usually doesn’t change much after 2 1/2. They just get bigger & heavier & maybe start throwing some junk.

ERONN, Sounds like the same buck that my buddy passed up several times this fall also. He’d seen it the previous year & it was a 6pt then too. He said it had a huge body compared to the other bucks he was seeing. It’ll probably always be a main frame 6pt, but might start to throw some Junk as he gets older. He tried to set up his kid for a crack at it but he never got a chance, & then it disappeared. Must of went over the hill to keep you company. He also saw the smaller 6 which I’d bet is the same blood line.

Nice pile of sheds. They have a huge advantage over those of us in the Midwest. A shed out West can lay for years without getting eaten by Tree Rats and though it’s getting worse, they still don’t have near the competition from other shed hunters that we have around here.

Most guys think there is some big secret or hot spot you need to find sheds. Although all of these tips & ideas are a good place to start. There’s only 2 things you need to know to be successful. Find Deer/Walk Many Many Many Miles.