Heading to Ripley to hunt tomorrow............

[MUSKY18]

Heading to Ripley for a 3 day muzzy hunt starting tomorrow. The deer have had a month since the last hunt was held out there, so I am hoping that they are pretty relaxed and somewhat easy to locate. Don't know if they will still be running around in rut, but I sure hope the tail end of it still has the big boys up and moving around.

[walleyehunter80]

did not see this hunt on the list of hunts I could apply for?

[MUSKY18]

its a deployed soldier hunt that they run for veterans who have served in Iraq/Afghanistgan

[BIGRED07]

it is a deployed soldier hunt. Musky i was drawn as well, but now am not able to make it, very bummed out. good luck!!

[WalleyeChamp]

Make sure you let us know how it went.. Good luck!

[MJ1657]

its a deployed soldier hunt that they run for veterans who have served in Iraq/Afghanistgan

That's a great thank you to our vets.

[eyeguy 54]

Go Get Em! Good luck. HOOAH :>)

[slimngrizzly]

Good Luck Musky! Everything should be perfect! Get a big one!

[sticknstring]

Good luck Bret!

[Rather_B_Fishing]

Just curious, is this hunt just for post 9/11 vets? The reason I ask is that I was in Iraq/Kuwait/Saudi Arabia during Desert Shield/Desert Storm during 1990-1991. If I am eligable, I may apply next year. Thanks.

[MUSKY18]

Well the hunt was very successful overall. I didn't bring home any venison (missed two does, but hit one tree). I saw 17 does and fawns and 1 small buck during the hunt. I don't now the exact number of deer that were harvested, but last time I counted on the board it was getting near the 40 number. Majority of the deer taken were does, some fawns and bucks. The rut really does a number on them bucks. Skinny, skinny, skinny! The largest buck was a nice 10 point that weighed in at 166 pounds. Largest doe was 132 pounds unless someone brought some in after I left. The harvest was bigger than what the biology managers at Ripley thought it would be. Sure was awesome to be able to walk all over camp with the snow on the ground and see how heavily some of the trails were used. Found plenty of fresh scrapes in the snow and rubs around. Each person got their own training area to hunt so there was plenty of land for everyone with there only being just under 60 hunters. Excellent hunt for sure and will be hoping to do it again in the next couple of years. With the number of people who apply compared to the number of hunters they accept, we kinda figure that we will get drawn every other year and if not that, every third year for certain. As you can see from the picture, the tree took the bullet instead of the deer. Oh well.....back to the bowstand!

R_B-Fishing.......I'm not entirely certain on the criteria about the vets. I know that there were some guys hunting this year that were definately Nam era. If you like the Camp Ripley Facebook page, they post all the information for the hunts on that. The next hunt will be the deployed soldiers turkey hunt in the spring.

[sticknstring]

Sounds like a great time. Those 3 days of scouting for future hunts is worth it by itself!