Bow Hunting

Minnesota Rifle Season and Montana Mule Deer Hunting in 2013

2013-12-15T19:46:00.001-08:00

This post is long overdue as I have been busy hunting and enjoying the Bison Football Festivities! First, I would like to go back to Saturday Nov. 1st. On arguably the best bow hunting weekend of the year (weekend before rifle opener), I decided to sit on one of my fields stands adjacent to the swamp. About an hour till dark, I had 10-15 does and fawns on the field when several more ran under my stand. To my surprise, they were being chased by a coyote! It wasn't long until he presented me with a 30yd shot and my arrow found the mark!

Later that evening, I found out my good friend Pat Peltier had stuck a decent buck around the same time I shot the coyote. Little did we know, the buck turned out to be the deer he had dubbed the "Big Show" from early velvet trail camera pictures. He had no post velvet pictures and wasn't sure if the buck was still in the area. I was fortunate enough to trail the deer with Pat and his wife Katy and lots of high fives and pictures were taken upon walking up on the deer!

Minnesota Rifle Hunting

The Bent Horn buck is down! Old Guy (Dave Rud) was able to harvest this behemoth of a deer on opening morning! The buck weighed 225lbs field dressed! Congrats Dad! (more pictures to come once the European Style mount is done)

(if you were wondering, the deer was taken by rifle...)

Montana Mule Deer Hunting 2013

The annual Montana Mule Deer Hunting trip was again the highlight of my Fall! We went 6 for 7 on filling our buck tags and I was lucky again to shoot my second coyote of the year!

Below is a picture of a nice 2x4 mule deer buck we debated shooting mid way through the hunt. We decided to pass on him. The picture was taken through my binoculars with my phone using a special phone case that connects to the binocs! At the time the picture was taken, the deer was around 500-600yds away.

We arrived home from our Montana trip the day before Thanksgiving. Not that five straight days of mule deer hunting was enough for me, I decided to hit up the bow stand on Thanksgiving night. Sitting in the same stand of which the coyote was shot, I harvested a mature doe pictured below.

Just days ago, one of my fellow Montana hunting party members, Erik Tumberg, scored on this nice Mn Muzzle loader buck!

Below are some random pictures I've acquired via text, email and facebook from local hunters and friends who've harvested deer in ND and Montana as well. Enjoy!

Bull Elks taken in ND and WY along with some Trail Camera Updates

2013-10-08T19:21:00.002-07:00

Harvesting a Bull Elk is one thing I would like to check off my bucket list someday! For a few of my NDSU friends, they were able to make that a reality on their September Elk hunting trips.

Mike Svaleson and Nathan Housey were able to take down some nice Bull Elk while bow in Wyoming. Mike is a former NDSU Track & Field teammate of mine and is an avid outdoorsman. Congrats men!

Mike Svaleson (left) and Nathan Housey (right) stop to take a pic with their Bow Bulls

Side profile with Mike Svaleson (left) and Nathan Housey (right)

Mike Vipond was also successful on his Elk hunting trip. He was able to make good use of his once in a Lifetime ND Resident Bull Elk tag by Harvesting the nice 5x5 pictured below. Mike graduated from NDSU and is a Co-Worker of mine at Houston Engineering Inc. Congrats Mike!

Mike Vipond with his ND Bull Elk

Another angle of Mike Vipond and his Lifetime ND Resident Bull Elk

Congrats Mike!

After sorting through several weeks of trail camera pictures/videos (felt like a kid on Christmas Morning), I was excited to see appearances from the Bent Horn buck and the Big Eight! But what was even better, is that they were caught on camera during hunting hours! Granted they will likely become more and more nocturnal, daytime pictures of nice bucks are a bit of a rarity during this time of year and provides some hope of harvesting one of these brutes mid-October. Most of us know that once the rut begins, then all hell breaks loose... but that's not for about another month. So lets get to the fun part and start looking at some of the Pictures/Videos that September threw our way!

You may recognize the photo on the left as the Bent Horn buck from my last post. Well, he is back and has his signature "Deer in...Trail Camera... Headlights" pose.

The Bent Horn Buck does not have much mass, but the unique characteristic of a bent G3 lands him on my bow hunting hit list.

Bent Horn Buck Makes an October Appearance during shooting hours.

Along with the previous pictures of the Bent Horn Buck, I have my Cuddeback Attack IR rigged to first take a picture, then a 30 second video clip. Both of the videos below correspond to the pictures above.

The Big Eight makes his first post-velvet appearance on 9/21/13 during shooting hours. The grazing picture below does not do him justice... which is why you will want to see the video that follows. The mass showcased by the Big Eight has landed him atop my 2013 hit list at the No. 1 spot.


Big Eight post-velvet

Now, if those videos didn't have me excited enough, the addition of an October Turkey hunt definitely put me in the hunting mood. Not to mention, several Toms & Jakes have been making appearances on all three trail cameras.

Stop Turkeying Around! In addition to the pictures, the following videos made for another surprise. In what appears to be a turkey sumo wrestling match, Toms are going beak for beak in shoving matches. I'm somewhat of a novice when it comes to turkey hunting... 0 for 1... but I thought it to be somewhat odd that they would "fight" in this manner rather than using their spurs? If anyone has a better explanation, please feel free to reply below!

Turkey Fight 1

Turkey Fight 2

Turkey Fight Royal Rumble

I hope you enjoyed this post! Good luck hunting all!

2013 Bow Opener

2013-09-14T19:58:00.003-07:00

Opening day and already the weather doesn't want to cooperate... darn rain. At least I was able to hunt in the morning and managed to see several deer. I had a Spike Buck and a fawn walk within feet from the tree I was sitting in and saw several deer throughout the morning. Early on, I was able to spot what I thought was the Bent Horn Buck at ~ 220 yards away. He was grazing on an alfalfa field and left within minutes of good shooting light. I had one doe within range (35 yds) but am waiting a bit longer before using an intensive harvest tag.
Since my last post, I have acquired a Bushnell Trophy HD trail camera and am very impressed with the Quality of Video. Currently, I have an old Moultree Camera, the Cuddeback Attack IR and this new Bushnell Trophy HD.

Its been a couple weeks since last checking my cameras but the Bent Horn Buck, the Big Eight and some new bucks make an appearance! Pictures & Videos Below

Bent Horn Post-Velvet


Bent Horn Buck

The Big 8 makes another appearance


Eight JR and his close up

New 9 point buck as velvet begins to come off

Oscar (Trash Rack)

Oscar with a better view of his Trash on the Left antler


A Crane, Two Bucks & a Turkey

August Trail Camera Videos and Pictures (Bear and Bucks)

2013-08-26T11:02:00.001-07:00

Bear and Bucks

Here are a few Pictures and Video's from my Trail Cameras Prior to September. A few nice looking deer and a decent size Black Bear made an appearance.

The deer I'm most impressed with to date is a Big 8 point buck. He is out to the ears and looks to be sporting some hefty antlers. Hopefully we get some more pictures/videos post shedding.

A screenshot of the Big 8 from the video below

A picture taken of the Big 8 as he walks by the Cuddeback

Video of the Big 8

Also, out and about is this Black Bear. Wishing I would have seen him during the two years I had a bear license...

Black Bear on 7/31/13

Black Bear on 8/22/13

Black Bear on 7/31/13

Below are a few more nice bucks that we have on Camera... including the "170+ inch Monster" (According to Elman Becker)... okay maybe not 170 inches but not a runt either. I'm hoping to get a few more pictures of this buck as well. I have another picture on my other computer that hints at this buck being a 9 pointer with 4 on his right antler (smaller looking in the picture below) and 5 points on his left antler.

Elman's Big Bastard

The buck pictured below has some potential... if he can make it through the season.

Nice 8 point

There are still a few bucks from last year that to my knowledge haven't been shot, including a thin antlered 14 point with split G2's... if he made it through the 2012 hunting season, he has potential to be one of the biggest bucks on our land. I also made a purchase of a new Bushnell Trail Camera HD from Scheels the other week so that will be fun to play with and see how the 720p video turns out.

Biggest Bucks shot in 2012 Minnesota Rifle Season!

2012-11-28T14:56:00.001-08:00

Both of these Non-Typical bucks taken in the 2012 Rifle Season have a good shot of being placed on the top 15 Biggest Bucks in Minnesota All-Time.

The first buck was shot near Osakis, MN by Osakis' Josiah Hetland and Alexandria's Aaron Gould. The huge non-typical whitetail buck had 22 Scorable Points and green scored 236 6/8 Inches.

Josiah Hetland (left) and Aaron Gould (right) with the "Red Willow Buck"

More about their hunt can be read here - http://www.theosakisreview.com/event/article/id/9870/

The second buck was shot near Sebeka, MN by Dylan Beach and was a buck I covered in an article a few weeks back. Dylans buck has 27 Scorable Points and is rumored to have green scored around 241 Inches.

Dylan Beach and "The Cornstalk Buck"

More about Dylan's hunt can be read here - http://brainerddispatch.com/outdoors/2012-11-06/27-points-success

As the Minnesota Record Book stands, anything above 234 1/8 would put either of these Non-Typical brutes in the Top 15. Below are more Trail Camera Pictures of Dylan Beach's Cornstalk Buck! Enjoy!

Montana Mule Deer Hunting 2012

2012-11-25T16:00:00.004-08:00

Another successful hunting season was capped off by the 2012 Montana Mule Deer Trip. My hunting party was able to go 7 for 7 filling all of our buck tags. Unsure of how productive our usual public hunting land would be due to summer fire that Burned 20,000 + Acres of public/private land we set foot in search of of a big Montana Mule Deer Buck.

Pictured above are trees that were burned in the Summer Fire of 2012. Although a majority of the land was charred, we did manage to see/harvest several deer within the burnt timber. One neat feature seen on several of our tagged deer, was the darker than usual antlers due to Rubbing on the Charred Trees. These deer were given the nickname "Smokey".

Deer sheds were also obtained during the many miles of hunting. Including a nice 6 point Bull Elk Shed!

It was the second to last day when Author Ted Rud was able to harvest his 4x4 Mule Deer Buck (pictured above). Dave Duchene was able to complete the hunt with his Last Morning 3x3 Mule Deer Buck (pictured below).

Pictured from left to right is Sam Tumberg, Erik Tumberg, Pat Peltier & Ted Rud

Posing from left to right is Danny Tumberg, Dave Duchene

Pictures of "Smokey Valley". There must be a coal vein that was burned in a 2011 forest fire that continues to smoke to date... hence Smokey Valley!

Dave Duchane with the Deer Lineup

Rud Boys with the Deer Lineup

Tumberg Boys with the Deer Lineup

Peltier Boys with the Deer Lineup

Dylan Beach's 27 Point Buck

2012-11-12T08:00:00.001-08:00

Below is a youtube video I stumbled upon of 12-year-old Dylan Beach in an interview about shooting his near 30-point buck! Dylan was hunting with his step-father on his aunt's farm roughly eight miles west of Sebeka. He shot the 229 lb buck with his .270-caliber rifle.

Bucks in Rut!

2012-11-06T15:03:00.000-08:00

The Bucks are rutting and with that several nice deer have been taken the first weekend of MN Rifle Opener. The biggest I've seen is rumored to have been shot by a youngster name Dylan Beach! Below are a few trail Camera pictures that have been floating around and some have been referring to him as the "Cornstalk" Buck for his massive brow tines! Also below is Dylan and his brute of a buck! Congrats Dylan!

Dylan Beach and His Opening Day Buck

Trail Camera Pictures of the "Cornstalk" Buck!

It appears that the bucks right brow tine broke 3-4" off while fighting other bucks sometime between the 9th of October and November 3

My hunting party (Kantack Cattle Co.) also had some opening day success! With 5 guys in the stands we were able to harvest 3 nice bucks. The nicest of which was shot by Dave Rud (my father AKA Old Guy) around 5 pm. Without having left his stand all day, Dave was rewarded with this typical 10 point buck. Congrats Dad!

Dave Rud with his 10 point Buck

Dave was the only Rud to put a deer on the ground. I was able to shoot a mature 8 pointer around 9:00 AM. After being field dressed, the deer weighed in at 225 lbs... one of the biggest we have taken off our land.

Ted Rud's Bucks (weighed 225 lbs)

Rud Bucks hanging side by side

Trail Camera Picture courtesy of Brady Winter.
Which Rud buck do you think it is?

Last but not least, Randy Windels (member of Kantack) also took a nice 8 point buck. Pictured below in the trail camera photo is Randy's Buck. The deers left main beam is now broken off after the G3. Bucks be fightin!

Mark Simpson was also able to score on a nice Rifle Buck. Pictured below is Mark with his Buck.

Mark Simpson and his buck

The rifle hunters weren't the only ones to score big antlers in the past week. Todd Paavola was able to arrow this three beamed buck on the Thursday morning before Opener. The buck green-grossed 203". The deers right antler has a second main beam coming out of the base. I couldn't even get my fingers all the way around it! Talk about a base ball bat!

It is also believed that deer who have previously injured one of their hind quarters or legs will reflect that injury with abnormal growth in the bucks opposite antler. Sure enough, it appeared that Todd's buck has sometime broken his back left leg.

Todd Paavola with his bow buck that grossed 203"

Another angle of Todd's Buck. Congrats Todd!

In addition to Todd's archery buck, the Mursu boys were able to shoot two nice bucks by bow in the week prior to Rifle Opener.

Jeremy Mursu (left) and Trent Mursu (right) with their bow bucks

Trent Mursu's buck

Jeremy Mursu with his buck

2012 MN Bow Opener! Doe Down!

2012-09-16T14:11:00.001-07:00

This weekend is the opening weekend for Minnesota bow hunting. It felt good to gear up and get back in the stand. On opening morning, I saw several does and fawns and had a fork within shooting range. In the Evening, I arrowed a doe at 20yds and was able to record the shot on my GoPro Hero 2! I'm pretty excited about that! Take a look at the video below for the shot.

Last weekend I was testing out my GoPro Hero 2 and was able to slow down some video while I was target shooting. The result was a neat slow motion view of my Mathews Switchback bow as the arrow was being released. Check it out in the video below.

2012-09-04T22:16:00.002-07:00

Round two of Trail Camera Pics. 3 of my 5 Hit List bucks have made an appearance on the trail camera. Two of which can be seen in the video below along with several other young bucks with good potential.

2012-08-22T06:13:00.001-07:00

Last week was opening Early Goose season in North Dakota. Pat and I sat in the fields on Saturday morning and had a chance to break out our new GoPro's and take some video. Although we didn't shoot many geese (3), we still had a blast and got a chance to get some cool footage.

Watch the video below

2012-08-08T22:10:00.002-07:00

Hello all,

As we near the up and coming hunting season I've set out my trail camera's for some early velvet footage. Take a look at the video below to see a hitlist buck we've labeled Hondo. I haven't been able to check my camera's for the past two weeks so I'm eagerly awaiting the weekend!

Montana Muleys

2012-01-05T19:47:00.000-08:00

Yet again my favorite hunting trip of the year proved to be one of the most successful as well. The Montana Mule deer hunt. Pictured below are hunting party members, Pat, Ken, Dave (aka Old Guy), Ted (me), Dave, Danny, Sam and Erik. As Danny Tumberg would say, our hunting trip concluded with 6 "fine specimens".

Pat

Dave

Ted

Dave, Danny, Sam and Erik


Ken and Pat

Now that my hunting season has wrapped up. Its time to do a little fishing!

41" 18lbs

First Weekend of Rifle Season 2011

2011-11-07T18:02:00.000-08:00

The first weekend came and blew away. Strong southern winds may have put a hamper on deer movement but couldn't keep these hunters below from shooting some nice Central MN Whitetail Bucks.

Adam Minten with his 170 1/2" Gross Green Scored Buck

Dustin Teberg

Erik Tumberg

The Rut is on!

2011-11-03T17:19:00.000-07:00

Bucks in Rut

Last weekend bow hunting I had 4 different little bucks chasin does. Although I didn't see any big boys, Mitch Becker and Sam Zutter can say otherwise. In the past few days, both have put arrows through some impressive bucks! Here are a few pics.

Sam Zutter with his Green Scored 178 Buck. Also shown to the right.

Mitch Becker with his Brute.

Farm South of NYM

After having another trail camera on our small farm South of NYM we have a couple decent bucks roaming the area. See pics below

Cody Gronvold Buck

Remember that Cody Gronvold's double drop tine buck from last year.... well one year later and a trip to the taxidermy made a nice wall mount shown below.

Cody Gronvold's 2010 Rifle Buck

Cody Gronvold's Shoulder Mount

Early Bow Season Buck

Congrats to Wade Salo who scored this nice buck (shown below) in early bow season!

Wade Salo's 2011 Archery Kill

Kindred Buck!

2011-09-15T19:57:00.000-07:00

One day too late! Just got back from bow hunting tonight and below is a picture from last night! Going to try again tomorrow so hope he comes back!

Bucks in Bachelor Groups

2011-09-11T15:31:00.000-07:00

Bucks are running in small bachelor groups and will soon branch off on their own, but for now, multiple bucks in one picture can be seen more often. Pictured above are two 9 point bucks. The one on the left is the Split Brow 9 and the one on the right is the One Brow 9. I have several pictures and videos of these two near hit-lister bucks along with 3-4 different 2 1/2 yr old 8 point bucks. Often 2-3 off them in the same picture (SEE BELOW).

Below are a few videos of bucks taken over the last few weeks. In the top video is a couple of nice 8 point bucks. The Split Brow 9 makes an appearance in the bottom two videos and the One Brow 9 appears at the beginning of the bottom video.

Hunting ND

I was able to get permission to hunt some land near Kindred ND and after a few weeks of having a trail camera set up on some apples and a salt lick I've started to get a few incoming bucks! Below are a few pictures including a nice main frame 8 pointer with a broken left brow tine.

Nothing beats a Cuddy trail camera!

2011-08-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

I just purchased the new Cuddeback Attack IR trail camera (pictured above) and boy is it sweet! One setting I love is the picture plus video feature. The camera will take a picture and then record a short 30 second video clip which I found to be of good quality. Shown below is a picture plus the video to go with it.

2011 Season is right around the corner!

2011-08-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome back!

Its been awhile since I've posted so I figure its time for an update. With the 2011 hunting season right around the corner I have been able to line up several tags/locations to hunt!

The first tag I will be trying to fill is my MN Beer license. I will begin baiting in the next week or two and will be spending my Labor day weekend hunting bear!

I also have a MN Buck tag (bow/rifle/muzzle loader), ND Archery Buck tag and MT rifle Buck tag.

Pictured above is one of the first pictures obtained from my trail cameras this year. At the time, only one camera was out. The camera angle was adjusting higher for a better angle. More pictures to come!

Ice Fish? Have a smart phone? Check out the Navionics app for lake contours!

2010-12-30T19:16:00.000-08:00

Navionics Lakes: US North ($13.20 in android app store)

Recently I upgraded my cell phone to a Droid X from Verizon Wireless. Among the thousands and thousands of neat apps in their App store (some free and some cost $) was an app called Navionics Lakes: US North. This app cost $13.20 but gives your phone the capabilities of any GPS with a lake maps chip. After some use I have found that the app works amazingly well and when I use it with a free My Tracks app, I'm set when it comes to finding my spot ice fishing and following my trail back to the access... all done using only my Droid X.

First I will show you the basic layout of the Navionics app. When you first open the app you will see a map of all the lakes in your app. In the upper right corner you will be able to zoom in/out. If you click the menu button on your droid (button farthest to the left of the four on the bottom), the screen you see below will pop up with more options.

This menu now lets you find your exact location by hitting the GPS button. The search option will allow you to search through different tracks or way points you may have stored on your phone. The distance button is a neat tool that allows you to drag a pin across the screen to determine the distance from one point on your map to another. By hitting the Track button you will be able to record a track and save it to your phone. If you hit the settings button you will be presented with more options, including the capability to have a map or satellite overlay, share your info on facebook or twitter, set the safety depth (depth of which will start to show up as white for deeper waters) and allow you to set the units you prefer (shown in three pictures below).

If you just tap a spot on the screen a little menu will pop up (shown below to left). If you click on the expanding arrow you will see a menu (shown below to right) where you can add that point to you phone or find the distance from your GPS. If there is already a saved location you will also get the option to see the details for that too.

My Tracks is a neat little app that will allow you to record your tracks and save them on your phone. You can also share tracks and send them to a friend, email account, or google account.

For each track you can see other information as well as speed, time of travel and the elevation you were traveling at. You can find this information by hitting the side arrows in the middle of the screen.

After you record and save a track to your phone you can later go back to your tracks and pull up which ever one you want.

(26" catch and release on Ottertail 12/30/10)

One of 2009's Biggest Bucks

2010-11-27T10:28:00.000-08:00

(Eric Hendrickson with his massive 2009 buck taken by Bow, photo courtesy of hillviewmanagement)

Looking back at the 2009 hunting season there were many fine bucks taken. One of which was Eric Hendrickson's main frame 8 pointer. This buck might not have as many points as other mature deer but he is definitely not lacking mass which is why he is one of my all time favorite bucks taken... and by Bow! That's right, this buck was shot with a bow!

(photo courtesy of hillviewmanagement)

The Hendrickson's definitely do things right when it comes to taking mature whitetail bucks. These guys have been practicing quality deer management long before Hillview Management was established. With more and more people every year joining Hillview Management, the quality of deer keep improving. Not too long ago my Dad took me to see the Hendrickson's collection of mounts. Below are a few pictures I took of their impressive display! Enjoy

Below are a few more pictures of Eric Hendrickson's buck courtesy of hillviewmanagement.

Big Bucks shot in 2010 Minnesota Rifle Season!

2010-11-19T14:12:00.000-08:00

(pictured above is Jay Schmitz with his buck that green grossed scored 196 2/8)

Rifle season is now over but many great bucks were taken in 2010. This post mainly includes pictures of nice bucks shot mainly in Area 241 but I'm also including a few shot in southern MN by my current roommate Chad Gillespie and even a Nebraska Muley shot by one of my good hunting buddies.

(more pictures of Jay Schmitz wit his buck)

Jay wasn't the only one to land a gross score mid 190's buck during rifle season, Suzi Karvonen was also able to shoot a monster buck near New York Mills.

(pictured above is Suzi Karvonen with her buck that green scored a gross of mid 190 in.)

Brady Winter decided to head to Nebraska instead of hunting the second weekend in MN where he took this nice 4x4 mule deer. Looks like he made a good choice!

(pictured above is Brady Winter with his Nebraska 4x4 mule deer)

Kevin Trana from Henning MN took this nice 9 point buck.

(pictured above is Kevin Trana with his 9 point buck)

My current roommate Chad Gillespie shot the 8 point buck pictured on the left opening weekend to follow it up with an even more impressive 10 pointer the following weekend. Chad hunts in southern MN. Also pictured below is a buck shot by Chad's Dad and cousin.

(pictured above are the two bucks Chad Gillespie shot in southern MN)

(the buck picture above was shot by Chad's Dad and cousin in southern MN)

Amanda Kneisl of Bertha-Hewitt shot this 12 point buck during the rifle season.

(pictured above is Amanda Kneisl with her 12 point buck)

Getting up at 5:00 A:M and hunting can result in heavy eyelids. Good thing Pat Peltier and Katy Kraemer where hunting in the same stand so they could take turns napping.

(Sleepy hunters)

Let Em Go so they can Grow!

2010-11-09T17:37:00.000-08:00

Let Em Go so they can Grow! This is a saying commonly heard while fishing but is now becoming more popular with the sport of hunting trophy whitetail bucks. Ever since I was young I have been an avid outdoors hunter and fisherman. Over the past few years I have become more interested with the Quality Deer Management system QDM.

(The video above is of the 8 point buck I passed up during opener rifle season)

Currently one of the many successful QDM's in the area is Hillview Management. The theory is simple, but without the interest of neighbors and the will to not shoot little bucks makes a successful QDM difficult to achieve.

Here are a few rules I try to follow and encourage other hunters to do so as well.

Let the young bucks go. Even if you think your neighboring hunter will shoot the deer anyways, let him go. If you shoot the small buck and your neighbor shoots a small buck then there are two dead small bucks. If you let the little one go, maybe your neighbor will shoot it or maybe the small buck will get away. Either way, only one small buck at most is dead vs. two.
Let young hunters shoot whatever buck they want. Hunting for youngsters is suppose to be fun and exciting! Don't pressure them into staying on the stand all day if they don't want to and let them shoot whatever deer they see.
Try to better your best buck. This one is easy, try to not shoot bucks that are smaller then your biggest. Once you get to a certain point, only bucks you are going to put on the wall should be harvested. This may take a long time and there might be several years in between filling your buck tag, but stick with this and you will see an improvement on your buck population.
Shoot a doe or two for meat. If your just looking for some meat, harvesting a doe can be a good way to help keep the deer population in check. I might also add that back-straps are pretty good tasting as well!!!

(Pictured above are the two 8 point bucks I passed on opening weekend)

(Pictured to the left is Cody Salo with his nice 10 point buck. On the right is Jason Hotakainen with his Hotakainen Management buck! Both bucks were shot on opening morning.)

Double Drop Tine Buck is Down!

(Pictured above is Cody Gronvold with the Double Drop Tine Buck, more pictures to come!)

Cody Gronvold sent bullets flying as he managed to take down the Double Drop Tine Buck that he videoed earlier this year Double Drop Tine Buck video can be found here.

1st Buck!!!

Congrats to Aaron Wilschewski (pictured above) who shot his first ever Whitetail Buck!

Sticker Buck Down

2010-11-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

(Pictured above is Marty Wolf with the Sticker Buck)

After doing some last minute preparation for the upcoming rifle season, my dad and I decided to swing into the Wolf Camp and see how our bow hunting only neighbors have been doing. The Wolf's have been practicing quality deer management longer then any of our neighbors in the area and they have been successful hunters all the more.

Soon we were greeted with hand shakes and deer hunting stories. One of those story's goes a little like this...

It was Oct. 23 and Marty Wolf was hunting in one of his portable stands. Not too long into his hunt and sometime around 5:00 P:M he noticed a nice buck making his way toward his stand. Having two trail camera pictures of what has been dubbed the Sticker Buck, it didn't take Marty long to notice the extra tines shooting out of either G2. At about 50 yards away the buck decided to bed down. With plenty of day light left, Marty decided to just wait it out and see what Stickers next move would be.

(Pictured above are the two trail camera pictures Marty received before shooting the Sticker Buck)

Another deer came into view, but unlike the serious head gear Sticker was wearing, this buck only had a couple forks. Soon the little buck made his way closer to where Sticker was bedded down and began to make a scrape. Sticker didn't even bother to look at the smaller younger buck while the whole commotion was going on. After the fork buck was done, he walked within 15 yards of where Marty was seated.

A little while later Sticker was back on his feet and ready to move. Following on the same trail the fork previously traveled, Sticker made his way to within 15 yards of Marty. Making a clean shot, it was not long until Marty was admiring the stickers in his own hands.

Other news....

(Pictured above is Dean Salo with his Nice 8 pt. Buck)

Local New York Mills hunter Dean Salo was at it again harvesting this nice 8 pt buck during the bow season.

Pheasant Hunting in ND

2010-10-25T16:10:00.000-07:00

(Chase Helmeke with his first rooster ever)

     During this past weekend I went pheasant hunting with my dad (David Rud), Ken and Pat Peltier, and Brent and Chase Helmeke. I have been pheasant hunting many times before and this trip has become a yearly tradition to our hunting group. This trip however was different and a little more exciting since it was Chase's first Pheasant hunting trip ever! He just got his gun safety certificate a couple weeks ago and was ready to hunt.

     The guys and Chase had hunted a few places in the morning before I was able to catch up with them but I think the story goes something like this....

     As they were driving to another location, they passed some Youth only hunting land and upon driving by saw several pheasants fly into the CRP grass. Chase, Pat, and the three labs were released on a mission to land Chase his first Rooster Pheasant ever. Magnum (Pat and Kens black lab) started working over the area immediately and it wasn't long until a rooster busted out of the tall grass. Chase managed to get a shot at the bird and was able to hit the wing. Down the bird went into some cattails.

      After watching the bird soar down, David and Brent walked the dogs into the cattails to find it was a little more wet then they expected. Brent made his way back to the truck to grab some hip waiters and the dogs began to search the area. Not too long after, another rooster (could possibly have been the same one), shot out of the cattails and was met by flying lead straight from Chase's 20 gauge shotgun!

     Upon hitting the bird, Hunter (Ted and Davids yellow lab) took off after the bird with Pat close on his heels. It was now a foot race as the bird took off running.   Hunter proved to be faster then the bird (and Pat for that matter) and was able to retrieve the bird. Hunter in all his glory received many head pats and was enjoying every moment of it. Chase too received lots of high fives and there were plenty of smiles to go around for this new hunter! Many memories were made and we had a very fun hunting trip.

(Pictured above with his first rooster ever is Chase Helmeke along with Hunter)

Chase not only proved to be a good pheasant hunter, but back at the hotel room he cleaned out our pockets by winning several games of 5 card pinochle... and I guess I won a few too ;)-

I was just looking through some of my old hunting pictures and was able to find a pic of me on my first pheasant hunt.

(Pictured above is me (Ted Rud) on my first pheasant hunt in 1999)