An Outdoorsman's Journal

     Back Country Bow Hunt

Hello friends,

   I just returned home from a 5-day camping and bow hunting trip at the Tiffany Bottoms which is almost 13,000 acres of Chippewa River surrounded by floodplain forest and it runs from Durand to Nelson. I travel for my hunts by canoe and my main goal is always met and that is a wilderness escape with my 2nd goal making some fresh meat in the form of a whitetail deer.

   Saturday, September 19th
   High 66, low 42

   I am now solidly into the transition from summer camping and fishing to camping and hunting. Bottom line, a lot more gear, getting up much earlier and a major uptick on being on top of my game. I literally am booked every week until December 19th.
   Yesterday I said goodbye to River. River is Red’s one and only pup and was a pure joy to watch. I have never experienced just one pup in a litter, and it is called a "singleton". In this case River had all the milk he could consume and from day one was a pure muscle machine and like most of my pups, tough as nails. My good friends Kurt and Angie Ligmen love the Wisconsin River and River is calling the Ligmen's home and property north of Adams his stomping grounds for the rest of his life.
  After building my camp and rigging my canoe and loading it with my compound bow, a portable stand and tree sticks which are ladders that you strap on a tree for climbing, I began to paddle to an area that I dream about year round. One of the first things that I noticed was that this year’s hatch of wood ducks seemed too young for this late in September.
   After about a mile paddle it was time to get out of the canoe and head to the tree that I dream about sitting in more than any other in my life. Everything in my world here is marsh and tag alder trees, generally there are a lot of deer but a very cool part of the game in this case is that I do not see them until they are within 30-yards or less due to the thick brush. On this afternoons hunt I did not see a deer but 3 times I thought I heard deer coming my way, in each case they were down wind and I never saw them, just heard them walking in the swamp.

   Monday, September 21st
   High 64, low 44

   I either paddle to my stand in the dark or from it in the dark. Yesterday I tried hunting directly out of my canoe in a swamp where the deer cross from one flooded forest to another. I have often seen deer in this area when paddling and feel it would be very cool to get a shot at a doe or a buck from my canoe. On the doe/buck thing, I would like to make something perfectly clear, and I know that I am a rare bird in this discussion. I consume venison, burger, steaks and roast about twice a week and have for 65 years.
   I have harvested my share of big bucks. In many cases they are not very tasty. My goal on this hunt was a 1.5 year old doe or a young buck and for sure I would send an arrow in the direction of a trophy buck but when it comes to table fare I really enjoy a 7 month old deer.
   I was climbing into my stand this afternoon and was still on the ladder when a 1.5 year old doe came within 15-feet of me, she did not have a clue that I was there and she was given a free pass when I saw a very small spotted fawn with her and soon another. Both fawns were 35-pounds at best, and my guess is that this doe, that was probably a fawn last year was probably bred in January instead of early November.
   The doe and fawns meandered on down the trail, and I was soon forced to make another decision. A humongous cow doe appeared and was only 15 yards away and she had no clue that I was there. Until a couple of years ago, this doe was getting an arrow sent her way. I resisted and just watched her as I have also learned that an old doe is not as tasty either, later in the fall, if there is no red meat in the freezer that attitude will change.
   This was a simple a really pleasant trip for Red and I. By December 1st, I will be as run down as a mature buck after a month of rutting. Someday, all of this will just be memories and I hope I keep them to my last breath.

   Sunset