North Dakota Archery Hunt October 8th-10th

Well last weekend I took my first trip to ND, but not my last this year. Well as luck would have it I set up my trip on the hottest weekend of the entire Fall. Opening morning here in MN I had 37 degree temps and in almost mid October I experience a forecast of mid 80’s for highs in ND! Well Rufus and I headed West Thursday night and arrived at the stroke of midnight at my buddy Paul and Miranda’s House just South of Fargo. With a lil small talk with Paul and strategy on what stand I would sit in I was off to bed as 4:45 am was fast approaching.

Friday morning with a South wind I sat at “The Pines” not expecting much but knew that this place always has the potential to have a shooter walk by. I got settled in and the camera gear set up in plenty of time before light. As the morning progressed I saw a handful of does and fawns pass by with one small buck. The temp was decent in the morning but quickly warmed up. One the walk out from the stand I walked by the new trees planted on the farm and was surprised that they were not fenced. Most of the fence was up but the ends were still open. It appears a decently sized buck too advantage of the new trees and decided to mark up the area pretty good (see 2nd pic).

That first afternoon hunt with the temps in the mid 80’s I knew two things. One I had to get as close to water as I could and two, with talking with Paul I knew I had to remember my Thermacell as they mosquitoes were really bad, and with this latest blast of heat it would make them even worse. With the SW wind I got set up on the East side of the food plot and the stand happened to be 70 yards from a water hole also. As soon as I got all the camera gear all set up and got settled in two things happened. I immediately heard deer splashing in the water behind me and the wind shifted to the SE, which is very bad for the stand I was in. So as quietly as I could I tore down all the camera gear, etc. and moved across the plot to the double ladder stand which is perfect for that wind. While I was moving I noticed about 9 deer colling down in the water hole, including a decent buck that I could not figure out which one it was. Well as the evening progressed the deer came to the water and then poured into the smorgasbord food plot Paul has planted that includes but not limited to Corn, Beans, Winter Rye, Sugar Beets, Barrasicas, & Turnips. A 2.5 year old 4×4 sat at the SE corner observing the field until the sun went down before moving out and feeding. It was a gorgeous night and thank God for my Thermacell.

The next morning at the pines held nothing but does and fawns but the Mosquitoes must have quadrupled from the morning before as I was getting ready That evening I got the perfect wind to go sit on the water hole stand that was set up two years ago for a buck known as Splitter. With the temps in the mid 80’s again I wore Gamehide’s Cleverlite pants and Base Tech moisture wicking long sleeve shirt with Silver Ion technology and this set up kept me cool, kept me from sweating and not allowing bacteria to form as this evening my scent control would be tested through out the entire sit. It took a lil while for the deer to move but when they did they did not stop coming to the water hole drinking and eating on the aquatic vegetation in the old oxbow river bottom that had filled up from the past years flood that was below me. I had deer work past me and feed and water directly downwind from me for most of the evening. Just after the sun set I caught movement behind me as I watched a very big bodied deer come through the woods at a pretty brisk walk. This was a very old deer that we call Horse for his body size. He is a 4×5 that is on the decline we believe and we have never saw him before or do not know what deer this is. Horse came by me @ 50, by passed the waterhole and food plot as he made his way across the oxbow and out the other side, not really stopping once the entire time. Just as dark was coming I had a doe and her two fawns working my way and get awfully close and finally that doe detected something that she did not like and got nervous, she took her fawns and made her way back to the South West when she got about 70 yards out she stopped and let out a snort to warn the other deer and my night was pretty much over. However, it was ok, cause she cleared out the area without too much damage allowing me to exit my stand. With only getting busted once with that many deer downwind on me, for that long, the down thermals and being that warm I was pretty satisfied with my scent control that evening in those conditions.

The next morning was pretty uneventful and my hunt was cut one sit short as I had to get home to a sick lil boy and a sick wife to let her get some rest in order to take on the week. Considering the weather I thought I had a pretty good hunt, learned a few things which is always good and got me in the mood to get back up there towards the end of the month or the beginning of the next for the Rut. It is always good visiting with Paul and Miranda. Paul was the one that introduced me to this AWESOME ADDICTION of bow hunting whitetails and mentored me for quite awhile and continues to give me great opportunities to hunt these elusive animals.

Just like every year lately it seems that come mid October (12th-18th) a few shooters seem to show up in Paul’s food plot, moves in and calls his farm home. Well two night after I left ND, I got that call keeping that streak alive as Paul observed a 150” 6×6 feeding in his plot and he has now seen him numerous times during day light back by our stands. So “36” as we now call him has been put on the hit list for now. If he makes it through gun season we have talked about removing him the hit list as we believe he is only 3.5 years old. We believe”36″ has now taken the place of plitter as top dog on the Farm. Hopefully he will go by some of the cameras and we get some close up pics of him. As if I needed anymore enticement to want to get my :moon back up there. The keys to my hunt up there last week in the tropic heat were; hunting the waterholes and having my Thermacell. It would have been impossible to sit without one. Well that is my report from ND and I can’t wait to get back up there! For now Lip is Outie!

**CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE**