Wild idea

[Tree Spud]

This weekend is the last for rifles in zone 1 in MN. It's also forecast to be as cold as the case of what really happened between Paul Pelosi and David DePape.

I'm not jazzed about sitting in single digits with wind, even in a blind. It's forecast to warm up next week over thanksgiving.

I'm considering not hunting this weekend, and instead spending the couple days getting a half acre of trees knocked down in my sanctuary. Then I'd come back next week when it's warmer and bowhunt where I dropped the trees.

Crazy?

Don't know if it is crazy or not, but some of my best days have been when I had the lowest expectations. It's the days you don't hunt where you wonder what could have happened.

As they say ... hunt the wind!

 

[TWIG]

Based on what I'm about to type below, there ain't no way I'd ever willingly venture into a bedding area during hunting season.

Years ago, Dad and I discovered just how powerful a chainsaw can influence deer. I happened to be hunting on the west side of the farm and my dad wanted to clear a fallen tree from a logging road to the east. Mind you, 25-30 acres of sanctuary separated us and roughly a 1/4 mile in distance. I heard him fire up the saw and before long deer started funneling out. Probably had 100 deer in view by the time he was done. They weren't on alert or spooked. The wind was blowing in a direction that wouldn't allow them to smell my dad. This was late morning so as soon as he was done, back to bed they went.

Now, years later, we incorporate this into our hunting strategy. If we have confirmation of a hit list deer on the farm that utilizes a huge home range, we'll hop in a stand and have one another run the saw. Yields a sighting of a specific buck almost every time. Getting the buck in bow range under those circumstances and allowing for a shot with so many eyeballs around has proved to be challenging though.

 

[Daydreamer]

The deer get on ash and birch tops faster than the cops get on a friend attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer.

If I got them down this weekend, they’d be in full chow down within 3 days and probably last for a month or better.


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So what did you end up deciding to do this past weekend??

 

[SD51555]

So what did you end up deciding to do this past weekend??

I was up to my eyeballs in other problems. I didn't even hunt Sunday. Cannot wait to get the cabin sealed up and closed down for the season. I need a break.

Activity usually drops off after first snow, and it has. I've definitely got a bunch more than usual, but not what I had 10 days ago. The does and small bucks are working in the snow for rye up front right now. The plots out back barely had any action since it snowed.