Camp Ripley 2017

[monstermoose78]

I bet them deer are moving for you guys

[ANYFISH2]

Have only saw one young buck so far.

My hunting partner has saw 3 bucks and a couple doe and fawn pairs so far.

[Wanderer]

My original group of 4 has seen 3 decent bucks.  I’m the odd man out.  I claim Anyfish2 as our 5th expanded party member so I can say 4 of 5 saw bucks this morning. 

Plus he’s in the neighborhood.  

[monstermoose78]

I seen a buck chasing a doe while looking for ducks

[Wanderer]

Long line for registering deer. 

 

One of my crew took a forkie.

[ANYFISH2]

Really nice day for hunting today.  I only saw 1 deer, 1 racoon, and 1 bear from the stand.  Did, however, see 2 deer walk near my stand right after getting back to the truck for a sandwich!

My hunting partner(non-expanded group) Chad had deer near him most of the day seeing 3 legit shooters and multiple smaller bucks.  No shots taken for various reasons, I guess.

My brother-in-laws group went 2 for 4 today with a spike and doe.

A coworkers buddy arrowed a nice 8 pt as well.

Hoping Wanderer and I get to see a few more deer tomorrow!  The rest of the guys can too, I guess.

Good luck everyone.

[monstermoose78]

Today is your day guys!! Pop some lungs

[Wanderer]

Nothing for my regular group today.  Fewer deer seen by us as well.  4 does while hunting, 2 does and 1 buck seen on the “scouting” trip.  The expanded group had a better, or at least more active day. 

My brother did talk with one member in a group of 10 that was working on their 6th at the time.

All in all, still a good time.

[ANYFISH2]

Chad and I came home empty handed as well.  Not because we didnt have deer close enough, because of being selective and a touch of bad "luck".

Chad had a slow day only seeing a doe and a small buck early this morning then getting blanked the rest of the day.

I had increased action seeing 5 deer in the morning and 2 more right at 6 this evening.  

Overall it was great hunt this year, weather was absolutely perfect in my opinion, deer seemed to move a little this year, and I got to "steal" a spot from Wanderer to start the season, what were the odds!

 

[Wanderer]

10 hours ago, ANYFISH2 said:

I got to "steal" a spot from Wanderer to start the season, what were the odds!

 

The odds?  Take 53,000 acres divided by the number of hunters, then divide by 2 seasons and two people dropping off friends at their spots before coming back to “theirs”.  Take that number and divide by the number of members on this site.  And then divide that by the number I’ve actually been able to talk to outside the forum.

It still blows my mind.  But really, after talking as much about deer and stuff as we did, you and I look at a block of deer woods MUCH the same.

But the only stealing that would’ve happened is if I just blew by you without asking what your plans were.  I’m glad I did.  And thanks for being easy to work with.  I think a lot of people with as much history with a spot as you have wouldn’t have been as pleasant about it.  At least after thinking about that one since last year I was able to know what goes on there.

Thanks for being a great Sportsman.

[monstermoose78]

I feel I missed out this year!  Glad you all saw some deer.

[ANYFISH2]

Your too kind!

Now if I can limit my mental mistakes with bucks.

[ANYFISH2]

205 deer shot this weekend!

262 for the 2 seasons.  MY hope is we didn't kill a majority of does. It was good hunt this year.

[Wanderer]

6 minutes ago, ANYFISH2 said:

Now if I can limit my mental mistakes with bucks.

And I’ll work on my math skills.  I think we’re supposed to multiply those numbers to get 1:xxxx odds!!   But I’m no mathmagician anyway.

We saw 2 does and a nice 8 on our Sunday afternoon recon.  And I located a few key spots if I were to hunt those other areas we talked about.  Been wanting to look at those for a couple years, which again are areas you’ve hunted in the past. Rest assured, even though I say I found “key spots” around there I still plan on seeing you in the same spot next year.  I only ask that you allow me to use the bed of your truck as my blind!

[ANYFISH2]

It is all yours!

[BuckmasterG]

ANYFISH2 nailed it. Weather was absolutely perfect. We were blessed with perfect weather. The wind dying down just in time for the hunt and having snow was amazing. Our group of 5 (4+1) saw probably about 50 deer total from stand, mostly the same deer due to us hunting the same area.

 

We ended up tagging 2 bucks; I got an 8 pointer Saturday afternoon and my brother in law smoked this stud 9 pointer (should've been a 10 broken brow tine) on Sunday morning.

 

Overall I think hunters had great success. I never did see the day-to-day number of registered deer posted. Another group that camped with us ended up 1 for 3 with a nice 6 pointer.

 

[ANYFISH2]

Nice, to hear of your success.  Congrates!

[Wanderer]

Great job BuckmasterG!

I think that’s the ticket for group success; have your group cover the same area.  You all might see a lot of the same deer but it’s so easy to not get a good shot.  Ups the odds for everyone I think.  Kind of the opposite of traditional archery thinking.

[monstermoose78]

Way to go on the bucks!!

[BuckmasterG]

Thanks guys! It's a year for the books. We had a blast.

 

Wanderer you're correct. So often we as hunters want to be as far away from commotion and people as possible, but when you have a group that is all on the same page and put ego aside it can up your odds of taking a deer tremendously. We normally spread out quite a ways, but sometimes through observation you find out you gotta move in on the deer movement which may put you only 80-150 yds away from someone else. If that deer walks directly between you, you still may not even have an ethical shot opportunity. Long story short, we all saw our fair share of deer, some different and many the same, but it's not very often that they are all within a comfortable shooting range. Especially with the snow cover, you sure could see quite a long ways through the woods. Thanks for the kind words and happy hunting to the rest of you!

[ALEXANDER1]

Those are some great bucks!  Looks like fun..  Are you guy's going way back in the woods or staying out along the roads and hunting escape routes?  I've tried both with limited success in there but curious to see what other guys are doing.  I love hunting ripley, hunted it for 5 years now.   maybe it's the challenge and adventure

[ANYFISH2]

2 hours ago, ALEXANDER1 said:

Those are some great bucks!  Looks like fun..  Are you guy's going way back in the woods or staying out along the roads and hunting escape routes?  I've tried both with limited success in there but curious to see what other guys are doing.  I love hunting ripley, hunted it for 5 years now.   maybe it's the challenge and adventure

The area i hunt is near a road, couple hundred yds away.  I hunt a pinch leading to/from a suspected bedding area.

[Boonie5]

I would say it was a decent year for camp. IMO the weather was perfect and the snow cover made for a lot more deer seen compared to last few years. I think its coming back but nowhere close to where it was 10-15 years ago. Who knows if it will ever get there but I sure do enjoy hunting in there so will continue to apply. 

I hunted all day both days and saw plenty of deer including a "Ripley Buck" on Sunday at about 3:45 but couldn't compete with the doe he was chasing. Of all the people I talked to and our group it seemed like the bucks were on their feet and people were seeing more bucks then does or fawns, however most being smaller. 

Here is one my buddy shot on Saturday around 3 o'clock 

[ALEXANDER1]

Agreed Boonie.  I noticed this year a lot more gates that said "foot traffic only".  Spent a lot more time walking this year. 

anyone else notice more of those?  I think I need to find a lighter climber for next year.