by Todd Graf
5. October 2006 13:12
In between my recent elk hunting trip to Montana and trying to get some work done at home I have managed to sneak in a few deer hunts and even a duck hunt at my property in Wisconsin. Unfortnately as luck would have it, things haven't turned out exactly the way I had hoped - but they're not all bad.
Opening day of Wisconsin archery season found me perched in my Lone Wolf stand looking to harvest a doe in order to cash her in for a valid buck tag. You see, my unit has been put back into Earn-A-Buck again this fall. Two years ago we had Earn-A-Buck regulations put on us and I was able to harvest two does in the first weekend in order to earn both my archery and and firearms buck tags. This year, I wasn't so lucky. As fate would have it, this gorgeous 10 point buck appeared under my stand just after first light on opening day and I couldn't shoot him with anything but my camera.
The rest of my weekend was rather uneventful and I went home without any meat for my freezer or a buck tag. A few days later I headed out to Montana on an elk hunt. That's a whole nother story for another Journal post, but I will say that it was one heck of an adventure!
After I returned home I started gearing up for Illinois archery opener, which much like my Wisconsin opener, wasn't very eventful. So I packed my bags, loaded up my dogs, and headed back North with my good friend Steve Marti to persue some Wisconsin ducks and does.
I'm not sure what has happened to the duck population and the migratory flight patterns through Central Wisconsin but the duck hunting hasn't been very good for several years now. In fact, we didn't even see a duck the entire morning. Another bust!
After our busted morning duck hunt Steve and I formulated a plan to move around some treestands and move in on the deer as they made their way from bedding to feeding in the evenings. Once again, there's nothing quite like a good set of Lone Wolf climbing sticks and an Alpha hang-on stand when you need to run and gun on some deer.
In a matter of few minutes my stand was set up and ready to hunt.
Here is Steve, spraying down his boots before heading into the woods for the night.
I wasn't in my stand more than a few minutes when a lone doe wandered into my shooting lane. The story is rather short and sweet on this harvest. I made a perfect double-lung shot on her at less than 10 yards and she ran less than 40 yards before expiring in plain view of my stand. Those are the kind of tracking jobs I like!
Unfortunately before Steve and I could get my harvest out of the woods the sky opened up with one of the worst downpours I've seen in a long time. I was soaked all the way through my gear down to my bones in a matter of seconds!
Once we got her out of the woods and field dressed, Steve and I headed back to my cabin to cook up some fresh tenderloins! As the owner of a fantastic authentic Italian restaurant in Park Ridge -
Nonna Silvia's Trattoria - Steve really knows how to cook. He showed me a few trade secrets on proper preparation of venison and I must admit, it was delicious. In fact, it was the best venison I have ever eaten in my life, and that's no joke! For those of you in the Northern Illinois area, be sure to stop in at Steve's place for one of the best meals you'll ever eat!
The Illinois season is officially under way and I'm really excited for this year. My food plots have done very well and I'm finally starting to get some more decent bucks on my CamTrakker cameras. I can't wait for the rut to get here!
Last but not least, I wanted to let everyone know about some new gear that I'm trying out for the first time this year. So far I have had very good results with these great new products and would highly recommend them to anyone looking to for some high quality gear.
- Bowtech Allegience - this is one sweet shooting bow!
- Scent-Lok Buckskin clothing in Mossy Oak Break-Up camo
- NAP Nitron broadheads - they sure put my doe down in a hurry, and fly like darts!
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