Opening weekend reports

[leech~~]

I'm sure Dad would have wanted you to take over his stand and gun. It's just hard to do so soon after he is gone. Lots of his thoughts and memories rubbed into the wood grain of that old gun!

[B-man715]

Todd that is simply awesome. Your old man was grinning ear to ear sitting next to you

[Fowlmouth]

Great story and deer Todd

[ANYFISH2]

Congratulations Todd, a deer like that can't get much more memorable. Great story.

[Coach]

Zone 157, my group of 4 for the weekend got one large body 10 inch spike buck and we passed on 3 does, that is all we saw.

[eyeguy 54]

Nice story Todd.

Here is my story.

Decided to go south this year with son in law since I did not fill the arch tag yet. He has not hunted much and asked me to join hi. His dad also. Got there at dark so looked at a couple aerial pics and found a nice easy spot to walk to about 300 yards from the house to sit on my chair and wait. Sat down at 6. He came by at 7. (lucky me!) tougher these days for me to see open sights so double lunged him but on the very bottom. He jogged off and then walked. Jumped him up after about 200 yards and finished him off. after lunch I put down a scent trail for Mark and then an hour later did a slow walk down a creek bed to try and spook something towards him. Nice 8 ran right to him and stopped at 25 yards and stared at him straight on. Mark was ready and had the sights on him but didn't think he could shoot straight on so he thought the buck would go to the right but it bolted left. Panic shot and missed. He was really excited he said. Being a rookie he didnt know that his 12 gauge would have probably dropped it right there with a straight on neck shot that close. So he was pretty bummed that he hesitated and cuz a couple years ago he hit a tree that was in front of a nice buck, but got him cheered up having him stand by the tree that his bullet zapped 20 yards on the far side of where the buck was. Repeated the slow walk Sunday and a fork did the same thing, stopped right by him but to small. Gotta have 4 on one side in area 3 this year. Then it went to the other side of the pond and walked 30 feet from where I positioned Marks dad. Fun! Sure wish it would have been a shooter ! No nice does came close enough for the guys to shoot. They will be back at it this weekend. I'll be cheering for them.

[BSLNORTH]

8 guys..2 eight pointers.....Northern Aitkin county.

[chevyracin8k]

178.. Had a symphony of wolves by me and my dad for 2 nights now. They will die soon enough from lead poisoning. I've heard 2 shots since Sunday morning.. Yep, it's crappy out here but were still at the shack havin fun.

Wolves can kiss my one-just-like-silly-me

[CaptainMusky]

Todd that is simply awesome. Your old man was grinning ear to ear sitting next to you

Exactly!!

[leechlake]

eyeguy, I zippered a Popple tree 4 years ago. Nice buck and instead of shooting in neck I tried to sneak it past the tree behind the shoulder. I saw the zipper mark on Sunday when I walked by the tree. It's like a tattoo that you want to get removed but it still brings back some memories of past hunts.

[certified jumbo]

183. Actually saw a lot of deer. Foodplots helped us big time. We shot three 8 pointers. 2 of those were 4 year olds and dressed 200 pounds. Passed on many spikes and forks. Lots of does too.

Not sure what all this snow is going to do?

At my house in Cambridge we have 18 inches. Hunting land got about 8 inches.

[NoWiser]

My dad, uncle, and I hunted our usual spot in NE MN. It was worse than I imagined it could be. My motto is "it only takes one" to make my season. Well, we left early because I don't think that one was out there. I walked over 3 miles in the fresh snow Saturday before I cut my first track. None of us found a single rub, scrape, or pile of droppings. Not a shot was heard opening day and only heard 3 on Sunday. Two were from a guy shooting at a wolf that we later talked to. The camp where we parked our truck had 14 guys hunting and in 2 1/2 days they saw 1 deer.

I never thought I'd see the day that I'd skip MN deer season, but I think my dad and I will either do mule deer or rifle elk next year instead with our time off and, in the meantime, pray for some mild winters!!

[leechlake]

No Wiser,

I've had the same attitude for years knowing it only takes time on the stand and one deer to make the season a success. I started going to South Dakota about 7 years ago and after that experience of seeing 20-100 deer a day I've only hunted Minnesota in order to get all of the other things I get out of hunting here; tradition, the guys, the food etc.

I didn't draw a buck tag in SD but I'm still going to bring my bow and try to shoot a doe. Frankly, I think my chances are as good down there trying to take a doe vs taking even a small buck in MN. Don't get me wrong I still enjoy the hunt but when the deer sightings are as limited as you experienced it's pretty defeating.

[CFD200]

Area 197. Our group was quite lucky considering the lack of tracks I saw after the snow. I was done 2 minutes into the season with a 10 point. We also got a 8 point at 8:30 Saturday. We had a picture of this buck near a scrape at midnight 8 hours before. We also harvested a 7 point at 3 in the afternoon. Not much shooting heard outside of our group. We were 3 for 4. All healthy looking 2.5 year old deer.

[jerkin'm]

We had a good weekend in 240- saw a lot of deer and shot 6 for 7- my 6 and 9 year old spent every minute in the woods I did and got to see a couple bucks hit the dirt- very exciting for them and me-

[BartmanMN]

Great pics Jerk'n

[walleye29us]

We hunted area 157.I hunt with my old man. He never saw a deer. I shot a spike at 715 sat morning. Never saw another deer the rest of the weekend. I talked to two other groups that also hunt my area and all of them never saw a deer. We dropped my deer at the butcher also in the same area, and there was four bucks laying there. A 10,8,and two 6 pointers. I heard a fair amount of shooting when i was out there.

[Wanderer]

Holy happiness Jerkin'm!

1 fer 7 in zone 172. A nice 8 pointer by one of the Landowners. The other shot at a 4 point three times and missed clean. He's VERY frustrated.

I'm not party hunting with them, just getting my daughter out there. She finally saw 3 on Sunday evening but nothing with antlers. No doe tags in camp this year.

Scouted a new area Friday for her to hunt and she really liked it. Kinda off the grid for her - so much so that when I let her walk in on her own Sunday morning she got turned around and "lost". Some tearful cell phone communication got her back on the trail with me and I let her lead me the rest of the way to the right place. She sat till Noon after that hoping the early leavers would kick something to her.

I've been really proud of her hunting effort this year. She wants to look at new places and wants to shoot her own buck. She's willing to put in some work and went from a tearful "I just wanna go home!" to I'll sit it out here till everyone's gone, then go sit till dark closer to camp. She was the only one out for the night sit. She even pulled the Lone Wolf and climbing sticks by herself. Never "taught" her how to, she just watched me set it up and reversed what I did. She packs em up and carry's it out on her back like a pro.

She's starting to pay more attention now to what I'm telling her about topography, transitions, wind, reasons for picking spots and how to hunt around others on public property. This is success for the 2014 season in my eyes.

BTW, more sign, more deer seen and more shots fired in the area than 2013. Not crazy good but better than expected. We actually have a hunt this year.

Wolf reports in the area seem to down from last year too. Hmm...

[NoWiser]

Wanderer, the group I used to hunt with is in 172 and they had a great opening weekend with lots of deer seen. The lack of doe tags limited their harvest but they had fun and saw a lot of animals along with good sign. Things just may be looking up in that area, though they have always managed to do well, even the last few years. It's great to see your daughter getting in on the hunt! That is awesome!

Jerk, great pictures! You'll have to save a backstrap to grill up during morel season!

[paceman]

241 near frazee. Probably the worst in over 15 years. Over 35 hours in the stand and only 1 deer in front of me. Normally see about 20 by now. Even last year I had seen a dozen by now. Fresh snow every day. About perfect conditions. No deer, no tracks. Terrible but at least I am spending quality time with my son and reading a few good books. Will keep on hunting through the weekend and then go get a muzzy tag. I just love being out in the woods!

[Tripleplay]

New lease in 241 near Butler. Son saw a dozen on Saturday and I saw eight. We believe 4 of those deer were seen by both of us and double counted. Other than a glimpse of a bigger deer in the swamp he shot the only adult doe he saw on Saturday. I got a big doe on Sunday morning a bit after 7AM and we were done for the season. The neighbors tagged out by 9AM Saturday with an 8ptr,doe and button and that realy helped out my stand since they weren't shooting them before they got to me. Key seemed to be that the deer were bedding in the pines and if you weren't in their bedroom or on the edge of it you weren't seeing much of anything.

Daughter still deciding whether she can get away to hunt next weekend so I might still be back out there but happy with the results.

[walleyeking19]

Hunted in 183 this weekend. Bought the land about 2 months ago, so was pretty much our first time hunting out there.

I got a big bodied 4 pointer on sunday morning. He came in with a 7 pointer and they were both chasing a pair of does. The 7 pointer never game me a shot but the 4 pointer stopped when I grunted and after missing on the first shot, I connected on the second and he ran 30 yards and tipped over. In total, I saw 5 deer from Saturday to Monday at noon. 3 bucks and 2 does.

My dad saw only 1 deer on the stand and it was right at legal time on Sunday but he couldnt tell if it was a buck or not. My brother saw a button buck when he was walking over to my stand to help me drag my deer out. Talked to a few other groups, and they had nothing hanging up, so I guess I was fortunate. We need a gentle winter so the population can rebound.

[coletrickle26]

Zone 169. Around Marcell, Mn on public land. 3 of us went 0-for the weekend. Bucks only in our zone and 2 of us saw multiple deer and two wolves. My buddy did have 6-point in sight but unfortunately the buck was in thick cover and he was unable to get off an ethical shot.

I had an interesting encounter with a wolf on Saturday at 2:00 pm. I was hunting in a ground blind. Mainly dead falls that I stacked up in a square next to a tree halfway down a ridge. I hear some crunching coming in and the wind was in my favor. It's a healthy Doe walking gracefully through. Comes into about 15 yards in front of me and has her head on a swivel. Constantly looking behind her. She would take Two steps and then look back in both directions. Had no clue i was there and certainly didn't seem spooked. Of course I'm thinking a buck is behind her following based on her behavior. Not the case. The doe continues to gracefully walk away and about 3 minutes later a Wolf walks by following her same route, nose on the trail. It was eery and unreal at the same time. Had no clue I was 15 yards away. Well, 25 minutes pass and I'm still kind of in awe as I have never seen this before and suddenly the wolf is walking back toward me at a rapid pace. I hear the crunching and see the same wolf about 50 yards out. Nose down glued to the trail with no clue I'm there except heading toward me. It closes in to about 20 yards and I stand up and yell, "Hey". It stops, stares me down for 5 seconds or so, turns around and runs off back into the deep woods. It was quite an experience but certainly made me realize the wolves are pretty thick in our area.

I remained optimistic for the weekend with quite a bit of fresh rubs/scrapes in our area. It just wasn't meant to be. Back at it this weekend.

[leech~~]

Wanderer, Sounds like she has a good teacher helping her out. Didn't know you were hunting up in the same neck of the woods in 172. The Wolves over by us are still around with lots of fresh tracks ever morning and howling in the evenings. It was nice for my son to have 25 Turkeys scratching around him for about an hour. At least they are doing better in the area! Not sure if I will be back up this weekend but for sure the last one. Good luck to you and your new hunting partner!

[rkhinrichs]

great weekend for us!