Holy cow does time ever fly! I cannot believe it's already the first week of June! Not only am I wondering where Spring has gone, but with just over 3 months left until bowhunting season opens in Wisconsin I feel like I should be getting ready to go sit in a treestand again. But before I get into looking forward to this fall already, maybe I should recap my spring!
My shed antler season was rather unproductive for the most part. I did a fair amount of walking, not a lot by many people's standards, but enough for me. I did manage to find one small matched set at my property in Wisconsin while I was with my son Craig, so that was a definite bonus to a slow shed hunting season.
They're no monsters, but finding a matched set is always cool.
Like Father, Like Son?
While we were in Wisconsin I decided to get a head-start on fixing up a few of my stands for this fall as well. In fact, I went as far as to create a new platform underneath my rifle stand for bowhunting this fall. Those big bucks always seem to head by that stand during the bow season, so I figured I would try to get a shot at one this year. We'll see how that works out! I also planted about 30 new trees on my "swamp" property as well. Hopefully they'll grow up and make some additional cover for the deer.
Craig and my Dad helping out with my new deer hunting platform.
One of many nice rubs I found while looking for sheds.
Unfortunately this buck didn't make it through the winter.
Craig helping me out with planting trees and hanging treestands.
With shed hunting and some winter scouting out of the way, now my mind has turned towards this fall. I'm really looking forward to our trip to Campbell Illinois Whitetails in October to participate in the Campbell's Outdoor Challenge. This will be mine and Justin's first real test at doing some serious filming, so we better get some good practice in before the season starts if we're going to have a chance at beating the Pine Ridge Archery guys!
It's just about time to start putting out trail cameras and seeing what kind of bucks are roaming our hunting areas. I've seen a few velvet bucks starting to show some good growth, so hopefully I'll start having a few photos to post here pretty soon.
Justin looking over his trailcam photos from last fall. Where did all the bucks go??
I've also been doing a bit of fishing with my 3 year old son Craig, and he's really taking a liking to it so far! A few weeks ago as Craig was reeling in a big bluegill this big Northern came up and ate the bluegill right next to the dock! Craig managed to land the Northen with the bluegill still in his mouth! If that won't get him hooked on fishing, I'm not sure what will!
Another exciting event I'm looking forward to is our first annual HuntingNet.com Hunt'n Camp that will be held on June 23rd at our hunt club in Garden Prairie, IL. Hunters from around the country have already signed up for this great event and we're really looking forward to a good turnout. Our friends at Rinehart Targets donated a few new targets for our 3-D course, which should make for some fun shooting! If anyone is interested in more information on this event, you can check ou the official HuntingNet.com Field Journal HERE.
Last but certainly not least, HuntingNet.com is continuing to set record numbers for visitors and pageviews in 2007, which is already shaping up to be our best year ever. Despite being the off season our Forum has remained busy with talk of the Hunt'N Camp, the upcoming deer contest for this fall, who is going to bag the biggest buck! And if you haven't had a chance to check out our Trophy Gallery or Trailcam Gallery, now's the time to do so! There's nothing that will get your blood pumping and your mind on this fall's hunting season like photos of some monster bucks!
~Todd
