2005 camp ripley

[wayno]

Hi all you fellow bowhunters. Im planning on applying for the 2005 camp ripley bow hunt. This will be my first time applying. I have the following questions.

1 Do u have to camp there over night or can u leave each night??

2 when is application date??

3 if i get drawn can i scout the day before or not?

4 What trophies have u all gotten from there???

[bigbucks]

I've never gone myself, but know several who have as it's only about 30 miles from here.

1) You don't have to camp there. Local people generally go home each night.

2) I believe the deadline's sometime in early August, but it's in the DNR regs which you could look at on the DNR site. I doubt it changes much from year to year.

3) I don't believe you can get in there anytime other than when you actually hunt, but I'm not totally sure on that.

4) NA for me obviously.

[Neiko]

I have hunted it the last 2 years and it is quite the experience. You don't have to camp there but the earlier you show up the better spot you will get in line to go down range and hunt. I have gotten there by 8:30am the day before and was around the 60th inline. You are not allowed to scout the day before but they do have nice topographical maps available. I have only bagged a doe there but have seen some really nice ones comeout of there. It is that chance of getting a big one that keeps me coming back.

[Captain B.R.K]

I experience the Ripley hunt for the first time this past fall. I had all the same questions you had and I will go ahead and answer them for you.

1) No need to camp. It was a wet spring in the campground at Ripley, lots of standing water to deal with. The eariler you get to the line, the better your chances of getting in the field earlier and faster.

2)The deadline information can be found on the MN DNR website. I don't believe the information is up there yet for the 06'. Typically there are 2 hunts, one is a week earlier than the next with one hunt during the week and one over a weekend.

3)I found Maptech Mapserver website to be the best available website to download topo maps of specific counties in MN. OR the DNR has general maps that are sent out with your notification of winning a permit.

My 2 cents- spend the first day finding a spot and then getting comfortable with an area. It seemed no matter where we went, there were vehicles and guys all over the place! I counted more guys in trees than birds in the air at one point AS the time nears, start asking questions. If you do a search, you will find some great information on the Ripley hunt. Information I found invaluable!

4) Many nice deer are taken yearly out of camp. I only saw pictures of the deer--many quality bucks.

[RiverRunner]

Wayno,

I went on my first Camp Ripley hunt this year and it was a unique experience. The guy I went with and myself both had larger bucks within 40 yards, but no shots. Saw several huge bucks that other hunters took. The opportunity to get a nice buck is definetly there. Just some tips for you: I'm far from an expert on Ripley these are just some things I learned.

-Your first year will be kind of a crap shoot. I think the best way to do this hunt, would be to try to learn an area and hunt it several years in a row. Just too much ground to cover by hunting another area every year.

-Get a good TOPO map of Ripley and pick out several areas. Chances are your first choice may be crowded with other hunters.

-There is a lot of hunters but the further north you go on base the less people you will see. If your a 1/2 mile + off the road you generally won't see as many people. It also seemed that the southern portion right out of the gate to the west was less hunter populated. The majority of the hunters hunt around the middle of the base around Normandy road.

-Plan on bringing a tent or camper if your not from the area. This will give you a chance to get out of the gate earlier the next day.

Hope this helps you out. The drawing apps come out sometime around August. Good luck.

[wayno]

Thanks Captain and river. One more questions is where can you park when in the park. Along the gravel roads anywhere? Also ive been told to head north and near the west any truth to this guys. Did you all stand hunt then. In the morning did you all walk in 3/4 mile find a few deer trails and climb a tree near then and wait or did you use scents also. Looks like the moon will be good for both hunts this year. Thanks the more i learn the better. Im just looking for areas not gps spots. Ive never hunted big woods just river land. Also i just got a Garmin legend wich i think will come in handy.

[Captain B.R.K]

Make sure you have that GPS on and start trail blazin' in the woods. I went off to the west the first day and sat on a knoll before it got light. As soon as it got light, I started walking all over the place. I found a real well used deer trail with some HUGE scraps and rubs that were put down. I got of the trail and set-up a stand. Later in the day I was in the same stand I noticed movement on the side of me................the doe didn't come anywhere close to me, but it was fun to see her in the binoculars.

IT is a learning/crap shot the first year. 2nd day we found some real good stuff to hunt- but lots of other hunters found it too!

Keep that GPS- the 2 days I was there I DID get turned around and needed to use my GPS!!

[ricqik]

We hunt the same area every year, but this past season another group we haven't seen before showed up in the same area. 4 of us and 4 of them. All 8 of us spread out into an 150sqyd area. We all talk and told eac other what we saw. We were pretty close and the does we shot can be seen and heard by them also. Crowded but fun. Though, there was one individual(we nor they know the person) who cussed and ranted as he walked throught the woods about people being everywhere and with hundreds and thousands of acres why'd we have to be where he's at. The guy left peeling out on the dirt trail. It was a good year for us, saw and missed some huge bucks but our group tagged 3 does.

[bigbucks]

Application deadline for Ripley is August 19th. I just was putting hunting opener dates on my calendar & saw it on the DNR site.