Deer Hunting, Ready or Not

Ben's newest addition to his Trophy Room!

Well, like everything these days it's amazing that deer hunting is already here.  What started out in the early 1980's hunting with my friends Mark and Jack Taylor, their brother-in-law Tim Guzek and myself has been reduced to simply Jack and I for the last 15 years or so.   Our first adventures deer hunting was in Roseau, Minnesota which is 10 miles from the Canadian border.  Staying at the Evergreen Motel, $20 a night for 1 room with 2 full sized beds, 4 of us slept very comfortably as the goal was to go on the cheap!  We hunted in Roseau because a guy at my work, Dale Larsen was from there and invited us up.  These were the great deer hunting times, 6 hour ride up north in Mark's dad Earl's Blue Chevy van, couch in the back with room for our gear and in those days, beer for the road! After a couple of years we started making a little more money and decided to get 2 adjoining rooms, we each had our own bed.  Eventually we ended up hunting just south of Roseau, staying in some cabins at the Skime Store.  Simple rooms built on a slab, the flies would come to life once you turned on the heat.  Hunting was good around there but eventually that faded as Tim moved away and the hunting land we were on had been bought by a country celebrity called Shotgun Red and his wife Miss Daisy from the old television show He Haw.  We had asked Shotgun to hunt his land and he had no problem however a conflict occurred between us and Red's old hunting camp, the Olsen's.  Red was in the wrong but wasn't going to put us in front of the Olsen's even though he knew that us being on the land would help stop them from assuming they could have free reign of his newly aquired land.  Busting into our cabin and being warned about getting shot ended our days in Skime.  Next we hunted around Pequot Lakes, where Tim's cabin was, those were also good times but eventually Tim sold the cabin and we started hunting the area we are today.  Things continue to change as Rich is been gone over 5 years ago, Mark no longer hunts, and this year Jack's son Ben is joining us. Speaking of Ben, my friend Ben Aiona from Eleva texted me a picture of the beautiful buck he shot while bow hunting in the area.  Trempealeau and Buffalo Counties in Wisconsin are home to some of the largest whitetail deer in the country and this 13 pointer just validates that.  Next to Ben is his son Jared, who I am told actually helped track the deer and found it (wink).  As I say every year, only in my dreams!

Well, Ben wasn't the only one sending me pictures of their successful hunt, another friend Dwight Jordan sent me a picture of the nice elk he shot last week in Colorado.  A nice 5 x 5, maybe not a massive trophy but definitely worth bragging about.  Dwight goes out west every year to hunt and for the most part he does pretty well.  I hunted a few times with Dwight up near Thief River Falls when my cousin hunted a few years back and we have stayed in contact ever since.  I know he's a few years older than me but I'd tell you that he is still someone I wouldn't want to mess with and I'm afraid if I ever did hunt with him I know I couldn't even keep up with him.  He lives just south of Hudson, Wisconsin and I have featured his family in past posts on the Blog.  He's a really great guy and often wish that I could see him more often than I do.  So with that I have bought 12 pounds of boneless ribeyes for the steak feed on Friday night, my stand is ready although we are still debating where we are hunting, in the swamp or on the edge of the field 10 miles down the road.  I can tell you the field sounds like a better option but I think there is more deer in the swamp.  It will be good to see everyone again as we toast to our glasses to Rich Allen, a very nice man who really embraced Jack and myself.  It's suppose to rain on Friday and turn cold on Sunday which is OK with me.  We might as well start getting the lakes froze over as I'm getting anxious for ice fishing.

Happy Thanksgiving

The Ferguson's home!

It's that time of year again where we give thanks for everything that we are thankful for.  For me it's a pretty easy exercise as I wake up thankful that I woke up and it's simply downhill from there!  The list could go on from family and friends however those that know me understand their importance so there is no need to restate the obvious.  The reality is that I have been waiting to get my tractor home and check out all the fine work that Dick has done in the last 6 weeks.  Knowing there is little time to organize my plow, disc, and brush hawg, the timing was perfect.   Picking her up last Friday night, Saturday was the day to try everything out.  Dick did a great job with the repair as everything works great.  Wanting to move my plow and disc to the back of my property for the winter I hooked up the 2 bottom Moldboard plow and decided to try it out.  Having never plowed before it was pretty interesting as I successfully turned over about 2000 square feet of sandy soil and it was pretty cool.  After putting the plow away next was the disc.  Unfortunately I soon discovered that one of the flanges on the rear right spool bearing had broken off and it didn't work very well.  Unable to locate one on the Internet I will have our machinist we use at work to come up with a solution.  Next was the brush hawg with the intent on chopping the remaining sweet corn stalks in the garden.  After backing it into position I shifted the PTO control to start the shaft turning and a huge bang followed by a large metal piece flying out the side.  Here I had left a huge 1 1/2 inch box wrench on one of the nuts and it flew off not before the blades cut the 12 point box end in half.  That's nothing to sneeze at as it simply chewed up this large wrench.  It did do a great job on the stalks before she was put to rest under a new addition to my pole shed, especially made for it.  Next I attached the blade and spent some time repairing my pole shed driveway for the winter.  Having ordered a new Tractormeter (tachometer) and cable which connects the back of the special alternator to the tractormeter, that was hook up and although it's measures alittle faster RPM then the engine is really running, I finally have all the gauges working.  I did post a picture on a Ferguson forum and one of the guys commented that looking at the droop on the front bumper, the pivot pin and bushing was shot.........really?  After checking it out, he was right and I have another new project for the winter. As you can read, its a blast owning Gramps old tractor and Dick assured me it had plenty of power and I could look forward to years of enjoyment.  

Paul's nice 8 pointer

So this weekend was the Wisconsin deer opener.   People are crazy about deer hunting in Minnesota yet it doesn't hold a candle to back home where everyone participates.  So I will start out with my good friend, Paul Wenaas.  As stated in previous posts, I worked for Paul's dad Victor while growing up in Eleva.  When Paul became old enough to work, he and I switched off on weekends giving each other a break from changing tires and oil. Paul and a number of guys own some prime hunting land north of Strum, WI and is next to another friend, Gary Hageness.  Paul bagged this nice 8 point buck within 15 minutes of the first morning.  They took 4 nice bucks of the property within the first hour.  Back home Trempealeau and Buffalo Counties consistently rate in the top areas of the country for trophy whitetail deer.  It nice to see Paul get this buck, I am sure that it a good distraction to the sad events of the last couple of weeks for him and his family.  The next picture is an absolute whopper!  Don and Dwight Jordan are brothers who live in Hudson WI, both help farm land near Ridgeland WI, south of Barron.  I met Dwight years ago through my cousin Greg, we went deer hunting in


Don Jordan's trophy

Minnesota together.  As well, his brother Don is friends with my brother-in-law Walt, who also live in Hudson.   Dwight helped me get hooked up with Dick, my tractor guy, as we have been talking lately including the story of the big buck on their farm.  Saying it was one of the biggest racks he has seen, on Saturday morning his brother Don dropped him in it's tracks.  Having 13 points the inside spread measured 24.75 inches, it looks dang near like a mule deer.  Dwight stated that they took it into the processor who quickly skinned and caped the deer telling them he wasn't interested in being responsible for the safety of the the huge trophy.  It went to the taxidermist immediately.  I am anxious to see what this deer will score once it's fully dry.  Unfortunately these trophies seem distant in my world of deer hunting yet maybe some day the moon and stars will be aligned.  Hope can be described as  the act of "looking forward to something with desire and reasonable confidence", I'll keep my fingers crossed.

It's 62 degrees out today, not very conducive for making ice.  Reports show a major cool down for next week, just in time for the Ice Fishing Show at the Excel Center in St. Paul starting November 30.  I did get my Clam put together and it's pretty sweet yet there are nuances that still drive me crazy.  I head for New Orleans on the 27th for a 3 day conference with The Transformer Association where I serve as it's president.  We tried to get a Saturday fishing trip out of Venice, Louisiana however my schedule does not allow for any free time.  On Sunday, December 2 I fly to Hong Kong with meetings in Guangdong Province.  My postings will be tight as it could be difficult to find the time, maybe on the airplane as the flight over is 25 hours and the flight back is 20 hours.  That's a long time in a plane!  Sitting in my tree stand for 2 days was great practice.  Don't eat too much turkey now.


“When the Gales of November Came Early”

 


Steve's 22 inch walleye

 Gordon Lightfoot’s song, The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald, has a line which comes close to describing the conditions of last weekend’s fishing adventure.  As stated in previous posts this was the big event my brother Steve arranged, having me showcase the famous Mille Lacs September bite and showcase I did.  My guests were all from the La Crosse, Wisconsin area and represented an interesting mix of successful business men to my nephew Kevin.   The plan was to leave at noon on Friday, head to the lake and fish the late afternoon/evening bite before checking into our rooms at the Grand Casino.   I was paired with Steve Contrell and Steve Dolezel, the key players with my brother Steve’s new company he works for, Authenticom.  Their business is quite interesting as they deal in information, a hot item these days.   Our first stop was Bill's of course, we needed licenses, bait, a few hot lures, and a couple of lead line rigs for trolling.  The wind was already coming out of the west northwest at 15 to 20 mph when we arrived at the landing just north of the casino, I could see the whitecaps a mile out from shore.   Hoping the wind would settle down for the late afternoon we headed to Sherman's for some deep water trolling.  You could see patches of rain to the northwest of us yet it seemed as though it would leave us alone for a while.  After about 2 hours of trolling the flag finally went down on the port side planar board.  5 minutes later we had a nice 25 inch walleye.  Further trolling the deep produced nothing but water over the bow as we struggled to maintain a pattern close to the edge.  With sunset heading our way I decided to move in towards Indian Point and fish the shallower reef that runs straight out from the point a 1/4 mile or so.   With the wind blowing in to the reef, the chances of the shallow water bite producing were good.  Being on the front end of a cold front was the negative.  Out with the Shad Raps we immediately caught 2 smallmouth bass, 14 inches long, dang things.  Just as we reached the end of a reef a fat 21 inch walleye hit my crayfish colored #5 shad rap.  It was 7:30 and looking west towards the landing didn't look so good we decided to call it a night, 10 minutes too late.  Half way to the landing we hit the front with all it's fury.  The rain simply stung ones cheeks as we worked our way to the launch, the wind must have been over 40 mph.  We arrived at the landing soaked, loaded the boat, checked into hotel ready for dinner.  A great steak, a good nights sleep and we would be ready for the morning.



Steve with a deep water smallie



Saturday was a new day however the wind decided to repeat Friday's performance.  Adding to the experience was a morning air temperature of 35 degrees, we decided to launch out of the Red Door Resort with the plan to stay out of the wind as much as possible.  One of our boats was piloted by Victor and only had a depth finder on board.  I decided to fish the Resort Flat where they could drift along the top of the flat with jigs and Lindy Rigs while we trolled around in the deep.  Having seen a boat land a fish in the deep water we figured the fish might be there.  Even being sheltered from the wind, it was still strong as we struggled to stay in a steady pattern.  The flag went down on the board and Steve reeled in a nice 22 inch walleye which he is holding in the first picture.  After another hour of fighting the waves we moved inshore to a fish the water around a deep rock pile.  The waves were much more tolerable however with the wind it was still pretty cool.  We nailed another walleye and a surprise smallmouth in 24 feet of water on the lead line, a total surprise.  Having enough fun for the day we loaded up and headed for the Blue Goose to warm up.   Admittedly I wasn't prepared for the cold and even with flannel lined jeans and heavy shirts I got pretty chilled.  Of course my guests were most important and I let them dictate the time to leave.  Maybe we all simply figured out that it didn't pay to be stubborn.  You know it's cold when you find pleasure in holding the fish because it is warmer that your hands!  Waking up to 28 degrees Sunday morning we decided it best to simply head south.   I had a great time fishing with the Steve's, they really hung in there and I certainly took advantage of their business experiences.  Maybe we can get them back up next June for a better chance to catch fish without a constant shiver.

Getting home earlier than expected my next task was to haul my tractor down to Hudson, WI and have the rear engine seal repaired.  I met my friend Dwight Jordan who offered to accompany me to the mechanic he recommended earlier.  We dropped the tractor off, returned the trailer to my cousin Greg's, and made my way my brother-in-laws to watch the finish of the NASCAR race and whatever football game was on.  Monday was a depressing evening as I watch my beloved Packers lose on one of the worse calls in NFL history.  Just returning from Chicago, I am looking at what the weekend will bring.  For sure Saturday will be spent at the annual neighborhood Pig Roast where we have a 230# hog ready for the smoker.   I have some big minnows left from the weekend and I would really like to find some time to get out on the river.  We'll see.