camp ripley

[ETH310]

I'm a Ripley virgin. I'll be hunting the second weekend. I was wondering if any of the guys who have been up there and had some success could share some tips with a newbie? I've been doing a lot of "scouting" with google earth and found some funnels. Is this a good tactic or should I be looking for something else? Would it be better to hunt in some of the larger tracts of timber or some of the smaller tracts along the river? I don't mind a long hike if it means i'll see more deer by getting away from the roads. How wet are the swamps, could a guy walk through them with knee boots and have dry feet? My prliminary plan is to get in early and set up on a funnel and hope other guys walking in push deer by me, unless someone has a better idea. Any info is greatly appreciated. If you would prefer to email me, my address is [email protected]

Thanks,

Ed

[DHost21]

I'm a Ripley virgin. I'll be hunting the second weekend. I was wondering if any of the guys who have been up there and had some success could share some tips with a newbie? I've been doing a lot of "scouting" with google earth and found some funnels. Is this a good tactic or should I be looking for something else? Would it be better to hunt in some of the larger tracts of timber or some of the smaller tracts along the river? I don't mind a long hike if it means i'll see more deer by getting away from the roads. How wet are the swamps, could a guy walk through them with knee boots and have dry feet? My prliminary plan is to get in early and set up on a funnel and hope other guys walking in push deer by me, unless someone has a better idea. Any info is greatly appreciated.

X2 I am in the same boat. Have bing maps and google earth of ripley up on my computer all day long trying to find areas to hunt. Any info would be great. Like ETH310 asked, big woods? fields? swamps? close to camp or as far back as you can get? anything would be a great help.

Thanks! Dustin

[Cheetah]

There are some long threads where guys have posted advice the past few years for Ripley, you new guys should search back for those. In general Ripley is a roll of the dice. Maybe you picked a good spot this year, maybe not. Expect to do some driving to check different areas out. Have a few options in mind in case you find there are too many hunters for your liking in the spot you started with. My dad and I have a few areas we tend to go to on the first morning, but after that it is all up in the air and we go where the deer sign is.

[Meat-Run]

Last week was my first time and heres a few suggestions.

1. bring a hand gps with road names on it becuase the roads are not marked.

2. bring a vehicle with a topper or something to cover your gear or deer if you get one the dust was horrible.

3. we hunted flat land oaks and seemed easier to find a spot first thing in the morning by just looking for approaches with no vehicles parked there and pulled off the road and jumped into the woods.

4. Keep in mind that other hunters will come in from the other side of the woods you entered.

5. find a scrape line and set up in the middle of the woods. We were in a rectangle shaped woods and the funnel was right in the middle.

6. a very good headlamp.

7. PATIENCE!!! not everyone started out in the front of the line and are just getting to the woods at 7:30 or 8:00 and are desperatly looking for a spot.

8. most deer are seen or pushed between 10-2.

9. prep a different tree for the next morning if you think you have a good chance to getting back there the next morning.

10. assume someone else will be in "your" woods the next day and have a plan B, C, D just incase.

11. take some time to drive around and look for new potential areas for next year.

12. I think setting close to any swamp or water is key.

13. hunting near a dead zone initially a good idea but all the deer run there soon as theres pressure and don't come back out.

14. major ridges or funnels up north hold more deer.

15. have fun and bring a comfortable climber and sit all day if you can.

Good luck,

meat-run

[tritonman]

A rule of thumb at Ripley is if you walk more than 300 yards in any one direction, there's a shorter way to that spot. There is so many roads through there that it is very hard to get away from traffic.

[Bear55]

Here is my best advice for ripley. To start hunting ripley is kind of like playing the lotto. There is no scouting and guys are running around everywhere so you kind of hope to be the guy who setups near some deer or have a deer pushed to you.

Now with that said there are certain areas you could setup to catch some deer trying to avoid that hunting pressure. Funnels are an obvious start but there are probably 100 other guys eyeing up the same funnel you are so if you aren't the first one there you are out of luck.

The first thing you can do is slow down and take your time trying to find a spot that maybe hasn't been hit yet. It won't be easy but if you keep driving you should be able to find a chunk to yourself.

Next I like to look for escape routes. It is common knowledge that the deer will flock to the no hunting zones within the camp, they know it is safe from experience. If you can cut them off before they get there you should do well. I would also look for points or other features or funnels that would lead the deer into some nasty swamp/cover. Finding and setting up inside the thickest nastyest stuff can also lead to deer when they head your way after ducking some arrows.

The last and maybe best tip I can give is to go where no one else is willing to go. Most of the time you can't get back far enough on high ground to get away from other hunters so this will involve getting a little wet. Find the stuff no else want to cross and go there, on the other side could be a pile of deer. Or another hunter coming in form a different direction.

[ETH310]

Thanks for all the info everyone.

Ed

[NELS-BELLS]

I noticed that 2 guys have mentioned the deer going to the "no-hunting" zones when pressured, which may be true, but remember, if you shoot a deer near a "restricted area", and it goes into that restricted area, you cannot go in and get it. They used to say that if you got a DNR officer, he could accompany you into the restricted area to retrieve the animal. Thats not true anymore and I think they mention that in the rules. My buddy lost a nice buck 4 years ago because it went into a restricted area.

Just something to think about.

Nels

[tritonman]

I noticed that 2 guys have mentioned the deer going to the "no-hunting" zones when pressured, which may be true, but remember, if you shoot a deer near a "restricted area", and it goes into that restricted area, you cannot go in and get it. They used to say that if you got a DNR officer, he could accompany you into the restricted area to retrieve the animal. Thats not true anymore and I think they mention that in the rules. My buddy lost a nice buck 4 years ago because it went into a restricted area.

Just something to think about.

Nels

This is very true! My brother shot A giant 12 last year(which ended up running past me at full throttle and right into the dud zone. Tried getting the DNR to go in but it did not happen. He is still sick about that one.

[Bear55]

Good point Nels & triton, I guess the key is to setup far enough away so the deer don't make it there, and of course take a quality shot.

[Boonie5]

I'll be in there this weekend and I am very excited! For those of you that have never been, you will either love it or hate it. I've been applying for the last 9 years and it is my favorite weekend of hunting. For someone who dosen't own their own land it is your best bet at bagging a true booner. My advice is to just get in the woods, take a little chunk and just figure it out... don't try and do too much... you will see big bucks from your truck but you will not shoot them from your truck! Be patient and use all the hunters moving around to your advantage, and be ready because when you see deer a lot of times they are moving. Good Luck Lads!

[Boonie5]

To anyone that was in camp for the first weekend:

I heard the acorns were the place to be, is this true?

I also heard the North end is really wolf infested, is this true?

Was there much for rut sign / activity? everywhere else seems to be rather slow, I'm thinking we may be hitting it square on the nose this weekend and into rifle!

Any info is greatly appreciated!

Cheers!

[Meat-Run]

Oaks had deer first morning but like I wrote in my post earlier they basically clear out of there and don't return unless you have swamp or cover very close to the oaks and they can come back.

Wolves to the north should only help you since they too will help move deer. I heard more deer were seen north and west of casino rd.

Good luck,

mr

[mrklean]

We heard howling Friday morning for the first few hours of the day not sure if it was yotes or wolves

[Boonie5]

Thanks MR, thats the plan oaks first am and then off to the swamp. How are the roads this year other then dusty? 2 years ago it was washboard city and you could only do about 15mph or your truck would vibrate like crazy.

Anybody use a decoy in camp?

[Meat-Run]

The roads were in good shape and now with this rain we've had the past two days they should be even better.

mr

[crestliner16]

i did see alot of scrapes on the ground, And did see 13 does in the 2 days and none of them had bucks following!

[Chuby Minnow]

I found this article. Looks like 287 deer taken. 3rd largest harvest for hunt A.

http://independentreview.net/pages/full_...ance=forums_new

[Cheetah]

Save some for us second-week hunters whydoncha.

[BKB]

I think that article was from last years hunt

[Hoyt4]

That article was from this year. It's in todays paper.

[BKB]

Guess they have the dates wrong then the first hunt was the 20th and 21st and the second is the 29th and 30th, my bad

[BKB]

Checked the DNR HSOforum, those are the totals for 2010 first hunt in that article

[mrklean]

Ha the date is right on the article Oct 2010

[roodie]

Here is the address to DNR HSOforum.

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/recreation/hunting/deer/2011_cr_harvestsum1.pdf

287 deer were killed.

M-adult: 58 (20.2%) F-adult: 96 (33.5%)

M-yrlg: 37 (12.9%) F-yrlg: 36 (12.5%)

M-fawn: 35 (12.2%) F-fawn: 25 (8.7%)