Ripley-1st Week

[rbs]

Well, we didn't get anything...but now we have experience! It was kind of nerve wracking to start with but after all the answers to the questions that I got it made it a whole lot easier. Note to you first timers....all you need when they let you in the railroad gate is your letter saying that you can hunt and your pic ID....the morning of the hunt all you need it the tan piece of paper that you fill out with your vehicle licsense number and your names and signatures. Some how on the first morning I forgot that...had my permit, ID, and tag but forgot to fill out the sheet so off to the side I went. Oh well it didn't take long...you only make that mistake once!

We all saw deer and I have to say I saw the most. I saw 14 on Thursday before 3:30. I was really hoping that my son would have gotten a chance. He did end up seeing 5 but nothing within range. I had 3 deer come at me late morning Thursday a doe and 2 bucks but the bigger of the 2 was only about 12-13" wide...nice little 10 pointer tho. Was drawn on the doe when I saw his horns...by the time I figured out he was too small I couldn't get a shot at the doe.

Special thanks to Bret for helping us out on Wed. It was nice to meet you!

[Spearing Machine]

Looks the the first weekend results are in and it turned out pretty gosh darn well. Third highest two day harvest in history and a lot of bucks over 200 lbs and I am sure there was more that weren't weighed. 13% success rate pretty good for a two day hunt. Lets hope all you hunters this up coming weekend do just as well if not better. Weather looks great and the rut is coming on strong!!

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/recreation/hunting/deer/cr1huntresults.pdf

[MUSKY18]

HEY RBS: Good to meet you as well. Hope that I was able to be of a little help to you, your son and dad. Glad that you at least got to see deer!

I am trying to get the pics from the hunt from the DNR guys here at Ripley. If I can, I will post em up ASAP!

[rbs]

would be great if they had a spot that they posted the pic's. I know there was a guy there from the paper taking pictures.

[Dabignorski]

Just curious what everyone brought in the woods with them... just wondering because it always seems like i am always carrying in way to many things and i feel weighted down and bulky....i'll be heading up there Friday bright and early!!! pretty pumped

[MUSKY18]

Here is an article in the STC Times with some pics. Still working on some more pics from the head shed here at Ripley.

RIPLEY ARTICLE AND PICS

[LOTWSvirgin]

Them there are some DANDYS!!!

[sticknstring]

19 registered over 200lbs 1st hunt, pretty remarkable. Thanks for posting Musky.

[DonBo]

OMG, as if I needed another reason to be excited about getting up there this weekend.

[mrklean]

i gotta get in on that hunt, maybe next year i will finally apply

[sticknstring]

Just saw this one from another site... it's hard for me to get too excited being I've only got a doe tag to punch but I'll try to get you guys fired up!

Another Ripley bruiser

[mrklean]

man what a great lookin deer

[DonBo]

it's hard for me to get too excited being I've only got a doe tag to punch

Yeah, jeez Stick. I'm sorry you had to settle that that little buck of yours and can't take one of these Ripley bucks. We all feel sorry for you.

[sticknstring]

Ya never know, my buddy's still green around the hunting woods - he might need a hand in getting his tag filled.

It's going to be a great hunt though regardless. I think the deer will be on the move. Records will be broken.

[Wanderer]

From what I saw in the article, several of the guys have a reason to show up early and wait in line for first dibs.

[tdb]

I'm heading to Ripley this weekend for the first time. Where can I get a decent map to look at before hand? Any advice on what area to head to? I would like to try and avoid the heaviest concentration of hunters. Any advice would be appreciated....

[rbs]

As far as the map goes the best one for contours is the MSAA map. You can get that for $10 at the concession stand near the start of the line. As far as where to go....that is a question that I can't answer. We saw people parked everywhere.

otherwise Google Earth and Terraserver are good bets

[Kyle]

I want to know if these guys were hunting away from the crowd or what the stories on them were...Were the bucks chasing does or were they just passing through because they got kicked around by other hunters?

[rbs]

That is the big question. I guarantee that they won't tell you. If they do...it probably won't be even close to the spot that they actually hunted. I would bet 75% of the deer I saw were kicked up by another hunter.

[maros91]

I want to know if these guys were hunting away from the crowd

No matter how far you walk or how far you drive there will always be someone that will stroll by. There have been many times were I thought i was far enough back not to see someone only to look up in a tree and see a guy waving at me or i climb a tree and 30 minutes later here comes someone else follwed by another guy 10 minutes later. Good luck!

[sticknstring]

Not all spots are created equal, it's a fact.

[fire29]

The 182 was just walking through the woods on a trail. Stopped and checked out a scrape walked to 20 yards, WACK!!! That is the story from the gentleman that shot it.

[ERdeerhunter]

To anyone who is interested. Check out the St. Cloud Times and look in the outdoors section after going into the sports section. You'll find some pictures of the big boys taken at Ripley last weekend.

[birdswacker]

Where does a guy find all the rules for Ripley hunts? I might try it next year. How many people are hunting? Where can I find more information about these hunts?

[BLACKJACK]

To anyone who is interested. Check out the St. Cloud Times and look in the outdoors section after going into the sports section. You'll find some pictures of the big boys taken at Ripley last weekend.

Good tip ERdeerhunter!!! Those are some dandy bucks!!!