Camp Ripley 2016

[SmellEsox]

Total harvest was 34 deer for the two days.

[ANYFISH2]

Thanks smellesox.

[monstermoose78]

I will not be going to Ripley due to the fact I am fighting lymes disease and the dr told me to take it easy

[ANYFISH2]

That's too bad Monstermoose.  I hope you heal quick.  I know it is no fun.

[SmellEsox]

13 hours ago, monstermoose78 said:

I will not be going to Ripley due to the fact I am fighting lymes disease and the dr told me to take it easy

Been having a lot of deer ticks on me this year.  Kind of scary for sure.  Hope you recover quick and no complications.

[Wanderer]

On 10/26/2016 at 6:01 PM, monstermoose78 said:

I will not be going to Ripley due to the fact I am fighting lymes disease and the dr told me to take it easy

 

Sorry to to hear that Nick.  I know you always look forward to Ripley. 

 

Yep, 34 deer, 2/3 being bucks.  813 hunters on day 1; 724 on day 2.  Camp says they're happy with the outcome.

[ANYFISH2]

Success was lower than I expected, but my partners will make up for it this weekend!

While spending time out there during the DS hunt it was said during Thier fly over this past winter, the over winter population was at 16 dpsm.  A far cry from the 25 to 30 we've been feed for the last 18 years.  

I can believe those numbers.

Long term average is 8% success.  Less deer, lower number of hunters (1st season), and a lower herd = a 4 % success.  Seems right.

 

This weekend I think will be a little better with more hunters.  Any how, I will most certainly enjoy this yearly pastime.

 

Good luck to all!

[Wanderer]

Yes!  Good luck all!

 

This week went by so fast I wasn't thinking it was Friday until I saw the line up on my to work! 

[SmellEsox]

Going in with low expectations, just to have fun and sit in my favorite spot.  Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised.  Hope the rut is ramping up and the bucks are on the move.  Good luck everyone!

[monstermoose78]

A friend seen a buck breeding a doe in the refuge.

[ANYFISH2]

Seen 2 so far, small 6 and a doe.

[certified jumbo]

Keep us posted!

[ANYFISH2]

Having a sandwich now.  As of 12:30 no deer down for us.

I have just seen the 2, Chad has seen nothing, and Dave is up to 4 does.

 

[ANYFISH2]

They didn't have any stats on the board this morning, rumor has it though only 17 killed day one.  Suprisingly, most people we talked said it was slow, but seen a few, including some true ripley bucks. I was expecting better.

Seen 2 so far this morning, a small basket and a "super" fork. Impressive fork to say the least.

[certified jumbo]

Hope your second day is going well.  I also heard 17 deer yesterday from another site.  They also said hunters found a big 9 point dead.   Possibly non retrieved from last weekend.   It's looks really big in picture.  Super heavy mass.  But that is second hand info, but appeared legit.

[SmellEsox]

I saw 5 deer for the weekend.  A doe and two fawns and later a spike Saturday morning, another spike Saturday evening and a fork/spike Sunday morning.  A guy shot about a 125" 8 pointer up where I was Saturday morning.  Looked like a 200 pound deer.  Good buck.  I heard that 48 deer were shot Saturday.  Haven't heard anything on Sunday.

[Boonie5]

Our group of 4 all saw deer, not a ton but a little action here and there, as usual morning was definitely best time. Few basket 8's, 6's & spikes but no true Ripley bucks saw by us. Heard of a nice 12 pointer shot the first day weighing in the 190's and a 218 lb 8 pointer with a total of 47 deer day one. I did not catch the day two numbers though.

 

Lots of wolf dump & tracks in almost every area we went. Hunted the north end Saturday and the south end Sunday with #'s very similar. Only really found one area that had a nice scrape line towards the south end, and not much buck sign on north end but did see a few small bucks up there. 

 

Heard some people saying there were no fawns, but all the does we saw had fawns so there are a few in there   definitely not the most action packed year but better then the last few so hoping were on the road back to what it was 10-15 years ago. 

[ANYFISH2]

I hate to bring it up but, this is the first year in awhil, I didn't hear one person I talked say they seen a wolf.  I am sure some did though.  I didn't see any fawns, but I did see a lot of fawn tracks on the trails.

Our group of three seen 3 small bucks and 7 does for the weekend.

[SmellEsox]

16 hours ago, Boonie5 said:

Our group of 4 all saw deer, not a ton but a little action here and there, as usual morning was definitely best time. Few basket 8's, 6's & spikes but no true Ripley bucks saw by us. Heard of a nice 12 pointer shot the first day weighing in the 190's and a 218 lb 8 pointer with a total of 47 deer day one. I did not catch the day two numbers though.

 

Lots of wolf dump & tracks in almost every area we went. Hunted the north end Saturday and the south end Sunday with #'s very similar. Only really found one area that had a nice scrape line towards the south end, and not much buck sign on north end but did see a few small bucks up there. 

 

Heard some people saying there were no fawns, but all the does we saw had fawns so there are a few in there   definitely not the most action packed year but better then the last few so hoping were on the road back to what it was 10-15 years ago. 

I saw 1 doe with twin fawns, and they weren't very big.  I didn't see any others while sitting, but I did see three standing in a group on an impact area.  I didn't see any wolf sign and I hunted three different spots, northcentral, southeast and southwest.  I think I heard that the total kill for the weekend was around 80 deer.  So less than 120 for the two hunts combined.

[fishattacker]

Here is the breakdown of both archery hunts:

10/20 - 19 deer taken, 813 hunters

10/21 - 15 deer taken, 724 hunters

10/29 - 49 deer taken, 1457 hunters

10/30 - 30 deer taken, 1278 hunters

 

76% bucks, 24% Antlerless

 

Largest bucks by weight: 218lbs, 212lbs, 208lbs, 207lbs, 198lbs(X3), 197lbs, and 194lbs

Largest doe was 148lbs

 

[ANYFISH2]

Thank you for the stats.

[pumper317]

Any pictures to go with the stats?  I am always curious what those big bodied deer have on their heads.  Thanks for the reports guys!

[fishattacker]

Sorry, I have no pics. 

The biggest deer is in the outdoor news. It was a really nice deer.