Late Season Bow Hunting in ND

Well the last hurrah ended in a flurry like I expected. This past weekend Stacie and I went up to spend the weekend with our good friends Paul and Miranda in ND to celebrate the last few days of the hunting season. The first morning’s sit was in the Pines as we know this is a great wintering grounds for the deer and they really herd up in this piece of property and always seems to hold good bucks all year around. Not our #1 choice farm to hunt, but the South winds forced our hands to sit here. With an eventful walk to the tree stand that morning as I took a digger climbing down into the ravine that we crossed that has us both chuckling. We were set up on stands that were located between the food sources and multiple bedding areas. Paul had picked the right stand as he said he had deer around his stand all morning, but was just skirting his kill zone. He said the deer were a little spooky that morning for some reason. I saw some minimal activity and had one close encounter with a doe, but due to the snow on my tree I was standing in, I could not get turned for a shot without spooking her from the sound. Later that morning as I was soaking in the warm sun rising as it was getting close to call it a morning. I saw 2 deer running out in front of me and knew they were heading right to Paul. I stood up knowing that more could be spooked and coming my way. Well that doe and fawn were closing in on Paul’s area and before I knew it I heard the “Twang and Whack” routine as Paul had the doe stop 30 yards to the East of him and he dropped da on her as she scrambled for 50 yards before piling up. Later that morning we met a group of guys back at Paul’s house as we usually do on the last weekend of the year to do some good ol’ fashion deer drives. Like usual we saw a ton of deer as the Girls (Stacie & Miranda) joined us this year again as the designated “Walkers”. We hit a few pieces of property and I just had a bad day as I only had one fawn that came close enough to shoot at. I had some bad luck as I had cars, tractors, snowmobiles, etc. messing up my places where I sat. Oh well that is the way the cookie crumbles. There was some nice bucks seen Saturday, but only 2 “true shooter” that evaded our game plans. For Lunch we head back to Paul & Miranda’s for some awesome bbq pork sandwiches where the stories of the morning and early afternoons drives were replayed and shared. Now this is what this particular weekend is all about, for me. A sport that 99% of the time is a quiet by yourself time is now shared with friends& wives that share your passion of whitetail hunting in all out loud, sharing, team fun time. The day ended with the girls (Stacie, Miranda and Rhonda) celebrating their annual end of the hunting season. After the boys (Paul, Steve & I) came home after dark Saturday it was off to a local establishment for some great food, many , and some good times with great friends. The Girls were excited to get their lives back as close to normal as possible. They will also get to see more of their hubby’s until it all starts up again next September.

The second morning found Paul and myself back at the Pines with still a Southerly SW wind in search of filling a couple more tags. Our expectations were not as high as we had pushed this property a few times the day before and watched a group of at least 20 run off this piece to the North. Paul and I switched stands this morning as the action was heavier by him the day before. Well it did not take long because right at first light I had a doe and her fawn coming into my location. I kept glancing at my pins and making sure I had enough light to see my pins. There was weak glow coming from my sights, but this doe continued to skirt the edge of my effective shooting range. She first came through at 41 then another lane @ 43 yards, then the last one 37 yards, but she did not stop. I thought it was over with, then suddenly she spun on a dime and went to the right which was bringing her closer to me and I had one shooting lane left on that side where she was heading. She kept coming closer and closer and what I thought might be a little longer shot now was way inside my comfort range. As she was approaching my shooting lane, I drew back and came to full draw just as she was entering my lane. I lined her up for 25 yards and just on cue she stops broadside from my soft mouth bleat. I found my spot and touched my trigger off as I sent my Carbon Express arrow screaming towards her. I heard the impact as I watched her spin and race back the way she came. I knew I had hit her good and it did not take long as she went full bore into a tree and crashed less then 30 yards from the spot of the shot. I quickly turned around and automatically knocked another arrow. Then I let go a few fist pumps and thank you’s as a bit of relief and gratitude took over. I took my binocs and looked at her and could see she was out. I then looked back at the site of impact and could see my arrow and that told me I got a pass thru. I just sat back and waited the rest of the morning. I had another doe and fawn coming in later that morning, but locked up and started to stomp as they came into the scent window of my doe laying on the ground. I got down and took a look at my doe and figured it was a nice 2.5 year old doe. We did a few more drives with no luck on Sunday but the weather was incredible @ 41 degrees and sunny. I remember doing this many times and it being below zero wind chills etc. so this was a nice change.

Sunday afternoon I was late and scrambled to find a spot to sit, but with a SW wind we did not really have a good set up for an evening hunt at Pauls farm as we do not push his piece anymore. So I made my way down the river to a known river crossing, but not before mother natures warm weekend had made a weak spot in the ice and sent me in for a little swim. I quickly made my way out of the water and accessed the situation. I had 2 hours until the season was over and my socks were still dry somehow. My bibs soaked from the butt down. It was fairly warm yet, so I continued my way down the river. I got settled in on a river bank where 3 trails came across it, but not before bumping 2 deer that were just about to cross when I got there. Things were not going my way at all, but it was the last day so I just sat back on the river bank and thought about all the cool encounters from this and past years. I thought about some of the good and bad things that have happened in my life this year. How lucky I was to have some awesome friends and a place like this to hunt. Being able to share some deer camp and stand time with my Dad this year and watch him harvest his 2nd ND deer. How lucky I am to have such a great family, a new wife that is beyond of what I ever dreamed about and to have my lil’ boy Rufus. So falling in the river or bumping deer at my make shift stand was pretty miniscule considering of all the things I was blessed with this past year.

Well….. That’s about it. What a year it was, but it is all over I did not down my big whitetail like I had planned and that makes it 2 years in a row of not harvesting a mature whitetail. I probably had fewer encounters this year with big bucks then the past few years but on the bright side. I had some great encounters and harvested my first Mule Deer with the help of my 2 new brothers and family. My buddy Paul and I finally harvested a deer on the same weekend together after 11 years of hunting together. My dad recovered from a major September surgery in time to join me on our ND rifle adventure. I absolutely enjoyed my 8th Fall with Rufus as we hit as many sloughs and CRP fields as we could and it is not over with yet as we will be hitting a few game farms here in the next month or so. Lastly, this past Fall I got married to my unbelievable bride Stacie and I still hunted as much if not more then I used to. Have a great off season boys. I will hopefully be posting a few articles and product review here over the next few months. Now we can just sit back take a short break, before we start planning for next fall. I’m pumped as I know Paul has some great prospects for next fall in particular, a main frame 4×4 that could be pushing a gross Booner next year. Not to mention the other pieces I have permission on, the family "Ranch" and a public piece where I saw my largest buck in MN during the season. The season may be over but after a short break the work is just beginning for next year as plots, scouting, etc. is right around the corner for me. Hunting season is a long ways away or is it????

Look at it this way……..Only 249 days until MN Archery Opener!

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