Wisconsin 2012 Hunting Journal.

[Gafrage]

Thanks for all the kind comments on my buck kill.

Wanted to share one more picture of it which will be attached here.

Good luck to all, I spent 42 days in the stand this year bow hunting, I had plenty of chances at mature bucks, 3.5 or better, but this is the first buck I've shot that really was in his prime and really one I was after for a couple years now.

Sure I got lucky, and sure he's not the biggest buck I have on camera, but the two of us have history, and that makes it just that much more special.

Don't mind the messiness of the garage, that's in part of hunting so hard this year especially after I saw him in daylight hours 2 times before I finally closed the distance and got lucky after several failed attempts over the year.

Hightower and me

hightowermessygarage.jpg (92.96 KiB) Viewed 820 times

[BIG 8]

Congrats on the buck Gafrage.

I went out last weekend and it was pretty slow on Sat. but on Sunday mornig the deer were moving a little bit more. Didn't see any shooters but that's probably because they're most likely tied down with does right now. Hopefully rifle season will be good for our group again this year. Good luck to everyone out there and as always hunt safe!

[Jslotter]

First day of the 9 dayer. Sat on some VPA land this morning that is rumored to have a B&C buck roaming. You can tell, the whole township was there parked all up on the roads bordering it. I seriously though me and a few other people only knew about the buck, guess I was wrong. The public land areas down the other roads had no one parked there at all. Well, I sat on a ridge that was clear cut by loggers about a decade ago, so pretty much now its all dense briar thickets and young trees covering that entire ridge. Found two nice buck beds. Thought I had a good set up after I heard two bucks fighting about 150 yards away on the ridge around 7:30 this morning. Couldn't see anything, way to thick. Then about 11:00, I heard a shot about 150 yards away. There was another hunter sitting there the whole time and I didn't know it. That killed the excitement from the bucks fighting earlier. Im thinking that guy had some rattling antlers. I left shortly after. Then headed to some DNR land along a river. Kicked up two doe's and that was it. Been hearing alot of close shots most of the day, but Im not seeing or even hearing any deer moving. Its been a tough bow and now looks to be a tough gun season. We need snow!

[rosonj07]

Opening Weekend was quite interesting for me. Hunted a lot of hours during the bow season and just did not get it done with the bow this year. Seen a lot of deer, knew we had 4 big bucks on camera i would shoot but only seen one i would shoot while on stand bowhunting out of bow range. Opening day Saturday seen 11 different bucks throughout the day and about 45 deer total (Waupaca County). Did not see anything big enough to shoot. Sunday morning was a different story. Got out to my stand a little late sunday morning 6:30. Was just getting set up and everything situated, when i heard a noise to the east of me, here comes this buck about 100 yards away headed right for me. Waited until he was quartering to me, shot him right through the front shoulder 40 yards away. Ran 35 yards and died 8 feet in front of my stand. It couldnt have ended any better. Have tons of trail cam pics of this deer dating back all the way to July. Knew he was here and he lived on our property. Very rewarding for me, putting in a ton of hours and getting one of the deer on your hit list. Good year for our group also, one guy in our shot a big 11 we had been targeting all bow season, and my uncle shot a nice 8 pointer.

[Jslotter]

Very nice buck Roson. Congratulations.Had about an inch of snow this morning in the area I hunted and the deer were moving. Im gonna tell this in a nutshell, but I seen 6 deer in about a half hour and missed all 4 shots at 30 yards on a yearling. I was hoping the big doe would come into position, but she didn't. the other deer stayed in the brush and behind some trees. The yearling was getting way to close and was gonna get busted by it, so I decided to try to put the young deer down instead. Pretty frustrating season and to have that happen hung me up for rest of the weekend. Seen some nice bucks being registered at the little town nearby around noon. Hoping late season archery brings better hunting.

[Gafrage]

Sat tonight again, as I was sicker than a dog this morning, only to see a fawn come out of the woods, and work its way down the field edge, across property lines to the neighbor waiting for it. I plugged my ears with my fingers waiting for the shot, and sure enough, another buck fawn shot that I could see.

What's sickening to me, is watching two buck fawns that I've seen time and time again during bow season, get shot by gun hunters, and people hugging, and giving high fives like its some accomplishment. Great job, you shot a fawn that is 7 months old...

Rant over with...I don't want to hear people complain about not seeing deer next year when they shot the first 1.5 year old buck or fawn they saw this year...start being selective, and maybe the whole state will be similar to Buffalo County...

Shoot all the MATURE does you want, let some little guys and fawns walk, so you have something to look at next year...

[Dan Salmon]

Gafrage,

I understand your frustration, but you are the minority in the state. Everyone wants to shoot Field & Stream & Outdoor Life cover Bucks, but very few (I would guess <3%) want to exhibit the restraint that it takes to do such a thing.

What you need to remember is this, even though those guys are the loudest critics of everything that doesn't go their way, in the end, they really don't care what they shoot as long as a tag is filled.

Doesn't make them right or wrong, makes them hypocrites, but hey that's the "in" thing these days. Talking out of one's rear end in one breath and from their mouth in the next gets really old.

[Gafrage]

I don't necessarily want to shoot the cover for Field and Stream or Deer and Deer hunter, but it would sure be nice to balance out the herd a little bit and get the ratio of bucks and does closer to 1-1.

We, as hunters, are a management tool for the deer herd in Wisconsin, sure, I'm in the minority with my management process, but I think its coming along. The group I used to hunt with in Marinette County saw 4 deer this year between 15 guys. 1 person saw a doe, and 3 fawns. He passed up the shot on the doe because up there with the predators (all species) the fawns are as good as dead without a doe with them, even though he had a doe tag for the area.

Its frustrating when people shoot fawns, what's the purpose? You get a meal out of them, maybe two with a well placed shot. Doesn't make any sense to me.

I'm just sick of people using predators as a scapegoat for not seeing deer, I see this a lot with fishing too...

People will go out, catch a limit of walleyes or whatever else, go to that same spot the next day, do the same thing, and then complain when they go out and don't catch anything...I wonder why...

I planned on shooting a few more does yet this year to help balance the herd, until I heard what the neighbors shot and saw what the other neighbors shot...I think that's enough baldies by me for the year...

[Jslotter]

Wow, my story from yesterday must have ticked someone off. Jeez. Sucks not all of us are fortunate enough to have management property to hunt.

[Gafrage]

No, J...your story didn't tick me off. I apologize if it came across that way.

My neighbors ticked me off, you just happened to post something about shooting at a fawn, it was nothing against you at all. It's been a never ending battle with the neighbors, and accusations of trespassing when I have them on camera trespassing, amongst other things...They used to come outside when I was bow hunting, mow their lawn in mid november during the peak of the rut, do basically anything and everything possible to make my hunts frustrating. The list goes on...

Shooting buck fawns was basically the final straw for my tolerance with them. Only thing I can do at this point is hope that if I pass up a few 2.5's and 3.5's that the following year 1/3rd of those will make it and make my sits more enjoyable whether I shoot something or not.

I don't have a load of land to manage, but I've bought in to what the neighbors to the East are doing, because of the success that we've all had over the years, whether it be gun or bow hunting.

Am I a trophy hunter? Absolutely not, I eat venison just like the next hunter,

Across the road people are doing QDM and have been doing QDM for quite some time. Its not everyone's cup of tea, because there is patience involved, and you do have to hunt more than the average hunter (which most people don't have time to do).

So my post wasn't directed at you at all, just frustrations being built up over the past several years, and the guy poaching turkeys out of season that he also didn't have a tag for. Turkeys walk through their backyard while they're sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner, and he runs to the garage, grabs a shotgun, and shoots some of them, then goes and mows down fawns...