Sunday, November 23, 2008

Opening Weekend 2008

Once again, opening weekend of the gun deer hunt was extremely successful.  We didn’t see a lot of deer, but nobody got hurt.  That’s the ultimate goal of any hunt. 

Opening day was miserable.  I hunt with a group of guys on private land.  Nobody saw any deer on opening day except one guy, who saw 11 at a distance and took a couple of shots at a buck for no good. 

Today was a bit better.  One of the guys shot a doe in the morning with a muzzle loader.  I didn’t see a thing except a flash of a tail running off in the distance.  In the afternoon, we decided to drive a batch of public land across the river.  We went and got a boat and put it in the river.  That was interesting because the river was frozen across in a couple of places and patchy in the rest.  We had to break the ice on the shore to put the boat in.  Then we posted a couple of guys on the bank, boated up the river a ways, and put in on the opposite shore.  The hope was to drive the deer across the river to our shooters.  I got on the boat with another seven guys and went across.

When we put ashore, we had to break through the shore ice again and scattered up a shale shore.  We spread out at about 30 yard intervals and began the silent drive.  We jumped one large buck on the far side that ran back.  Nobody had a shot at it.  A while later, another buck jumped and ran right at one of our guys.  He pulled up his shotgun as far as his hip and pulled off a shot.  The buck was within five yards of him at full speed.  He managed to hit it right in the chest and it dropped on the spot.  Not bad for a hip shot. 

That was it for the weekend.  One six pointer and one doe.  That’s the worst year we’ve had since I’ve been up there.  I spoke to a guy at the gas station and he said that nobody was seeing much. 

Slow year… it happens. 

Unfortunately, due to scheduling anomalies, today is my last day hunting for the season.  I look forward to next year.

(8) Comments
Posted by Owen at 2148 hrs
Off-Duty

  1. Gave-up deer drives a decade ago.

    Shots at running deer results in a higher percentage of wounded and non-recovered animals.

    I would agree on a slow start.  We only have one hanging as of tonite.  First time ever.

    Talked to the tavern owner tonite when we registered my buck and he said that registrations are off by half compared to last year. 

    That’s pretty anecdotal evidence since it’s been so cold.  Hunters may be leaving their deer hang for a bit.

    Posted by Treefarrmer on November 23, 2008 at 2239 hrs


  2. Welcome to Wolf Country. The overpopulation of Wolves north of US10 will produce a decrease ofDeer this year.
    We usually spot alot of Deer on our Musky hunts. There was only 1 deer spotted per weekend.

    There are no Deer pictured going into set up grazing areas.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on November 23, 2008 at 2313 hrs


  3. Fond du Lac county where we have earn a buck. Our hunting party of 6 shot one doe on opening morning. That was it.
    I saw two small doe I could have shot, but I already got one from T-zone and we haven’t finished eating that one yet.

    Otherwise I didn’t see any deer on Saturday or Sunday. I will go up again next weekend.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on November 24, 2008 at 0110 hrs


  4. Over here on the better side of wisconsin.
    It was slow also.
    opening weekend we have a couple hung up by now.
    we have 1. it came late saturday.
    we saw nothing sunday.
    it seems not much hunting in the fields around us, and no pushing the deer around.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on November 24, 2008 at 0328 hrs


  5. What was the doe doing with a muzzleloader?

    Posted by Lance on November 24, 2008 at 0941 hrs


  6. Isn’t muzzeloader season in December?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on November 24, 2008 at 1100 hrs


  7. My husband hunts over in Oconto County and I don’t think they saw a ton either, though I do know my brother-in-law got a buck.  Of course, my husband was sitting with our six-year-old for one of the days and that boy NEVER shuts up, so that might have contributed also. wink

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on November 24, 2008 at 1108 hrs


  8. Have place “up north” of Green Bay Forest/Marinette County area.  The last time my guys shot a deer was 1995!!!  When they hunted a few years ago they kicked up a wolf on opening day.  There are no deer!!!  If the wolves don’t get them I’m told the bears eat the fawns, and the turkeys chase the deer from the fields.
    I would be interested to know if there are more hunters this year because of the economy.  I’ve been told hunting permits were higher this year.  Would also like to know if more hunters are keeping their deer rather than donate to “hunt for the hungry”.  Just curious.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on November 24, 2008 at 1402 hrs


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