Hunting Season Comes to an End

Well the long, hard road of hunting season has officially come to a close here in Wisconsin. Due to a special "Holiday" season, we were able to hunt deer until yesterday January 3rd. Despite yesterday’s frigid temperatures (7 degrees), I was able to get out to The Land for one more deer hunt. I traveled out to The Land around 11:30 and planned to sit until 2:30 so I could be home for the Packer game. It was a cold, beautiful day with a slight breeze and lots of sun. I decided to make my way to James' ladder stand that sits on the edge of the South woods, hoping something would be cruising the fence line or the south woods. About half way to the stand, there is a pretty deep ravine that the deer like to use as a travel way between the north and south sides of the property. We've always referred to these as "fingers". As I approached the finger, I heard the distinctive sound of deer movement. Cracking tree branches, snow crunching, and leaves rustling etc. I knew it was a deer, however I couldn't see through the thick cover. Suddenly, about 80 yards into the woods, I see a small doe making her way towards the south swamp in a hurry. In a flash she was gone. Hoping this would be a sing of “good things to come”, I hurried up to the ladder stand. Needless to say, this was the only deer sighting of the day. After sitting in the stand for about an hour, I was able to find fresh deer tracks in the “finger” and followed them past the Cedar Stand and towards the south swamp. Then I became really ambitious and walked through the south swamp, all the way to the east side of the property. I followed Baker’s fence line up the hill; past Baker’s Stand and finally made it to the “peak” of the mill overlooking the entire property. I sat on the “peak” for twenty minutes catching my breath and enjoying the view of the property. After I recovered, I decided to cut through the picked corn field and walk the field road back to the quarry. I didn’t see anymore deer; however I was able to chase a few turkeys out of the trees behind Mike’s ladder stand. As I made my way around the “first finger”, I came across a perfect “wing mark” in the snow left by a turkey. I was able to snap a picture with my cell phone.

Until next time........Jason