Dad and I both arrived early Friday afternoon and I spent some time getting the cabin cleaned up enough to have 3 hunters stay there. With rain in the forecast on Saturday, I knew that we would need to be able to keep all of our gear inside.
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| Piling all of our stuff into the cabin |
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| October weather in December |
Justin made it down in time to hunt the evening and it turned out to be pretty slow. The weather was great though, so it was hard to complain. We were greeted with light rain on Saturday morning, so Justin headed for one of the blinds while dad and I hiked over a mile in the dark to a major pinch point just above the lake on the DNR land. I was sitting about 40 yards behind dad. Just after 8:30, I stood up to stretch and was startled by a gun shot and puff of smoke from dad's muzzleloader. I saw a deer running to the South and quickly hustled up to where dad was just in case a follow up shot was needed.
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| Dad is the orange speck in the middle of the picture |
The shot was only about 20 yards and we found blood quickly. The blood trail was easy to follow, even on wet leaves and we found him about 100 yards away. I had a mission this season to help dad get a deer after not getting one last year and I was very excited that he was able to get it done.
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| Dad with a nice 2 1/2 year old buck |
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| About half way back on the 1.5 mile drag |
The evening hunt was a washout as it started pouring rain just after 4:00 pm. Justin was lucky enough to be in a box blind while I was a half mile away on the county land and came back dripping wet. The next morning, I took Justin to the same spot that dad had shot his deer. The wind was perfect but temperatures were in the 50's and deer were just not moving.
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| High on a ridge overlooking a pinch point above the lake |
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| Heading back to the cabin after our morning hunt |
The afternoon was spent taking down tree stands on the public ground. Justin then headed to the Ridge Stand, while I still hunted my way through the county land to the West. As I was working my way back, I heard a gunshot just a little after 5:00. That was followed by a text message from Justin saying that he had a deer down. I made my way back to the cabin and fired up the ATV, then headed to the Ridge. Dad and Justin were just finishing up field dressing the doe, so we put her into the ATV wagon to get her back to the cabin.
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| Justin with his first doe ever |
Even with the bad weather, we had managed to fill 2 tags in 2 days of hunting. Justin headed for home and I was the only one left with a tag. Temperatures dropped overnight and I headed for the DNR lake ridge again the next morning. I was very surprised that I didn't see any deer once again (this is usually a pretty reliable spot to see deer). Dad and I spent the afternoon packing everything up before I headed out for one last hunt. I headed to the small field blind but didn't have a lot of confidence. Around 4:40, I was pondering if/when I could return to the cabin later in the week when I looked up to see a deer just to the right of the blind about 10 yards away. Initially I thought it was a doe, but it was a bigger deer so I had a suspicion that it may be a buck that we had on camera with both antlers broke off. He made it out to about 60 yards before turning broadside where I made a perfect shot. He ran off into the woods and I was easily able to find him.
Dad came over with his game cart and we made quick work of getting him field dressed and back to the cabin. 3 1/2 days of hunting and 3 deer to show for it. Even with the bad weather, this was one of the most successful hunting trips that we have ever had. I have been hunting late muzzeloader season for 5 years and have managed to fill my tag every year. In addition, this was the 3rd consecutive year that I have shot my LM deer out of the small field blind. As a little memento, I have started lining up my primers for each of those years across the ledge above the door inside the blind.
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| Tagged out in 2019! |
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| My view from the small field blind |
Looking back on 2019, it was a very interesting year at the cabin. I took the fewest number of trips to the cabin that I have in all 8 years that we have owned it. We did very minimal work throughout the off season and I just wasn't sure what to expect come hunting season. As it turns out, it was one of the best seasons that we have had.
Between bow and late muzzeloader season, we were able to fill 5 tags, including 4 bucks and 1 doe. Our hottest stands were the Open Gate Stand and the Ridge Stand. We saw a lot of deer in both places and managed to kill 3 of the 5 from those locations. We are still working to tweak the exact location of the Ridge Stand but we are getting closer each year.
For as good as this year was, we have some even bigger plans for next year. For starters, we will be spending a lot more time at the cabin this off season. My girls and I are going to plant a big garden as well as work to expand the big field food plot to it's original size (2 1/2 acres). Bigger yet, we are going to work on finishing the inside of the cabin and rearranging things a little as well. The biggest news though, is that Abigail is planning to hunt for her first time ever beginning next youth season. She is excited and it is up to me to make sure it is the best experience possible. We will be spending a lot of time learning how to shoot a gun and everything about gun safety. I will also be teaching her about the anatomy of a deer and the importance of only taking the best shots possible. Even though I want it to be fun, it is important for her to understand that she is taking the life of an animal, and thus is a serious situation.
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