Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Deer Camp- last day


Bobby Bass

Recommended Posts

End of Deer Camp- not as bad as it sounds. Spent most of the day packing up things around the shack. Had a late breakfast and spent some time out on the porch with a cup of hot coffee and my feet up on the rail. Heard a few shots off in the distant but the day was pretty quiet. Elmer and Chuck were both up to, between the three of us we made quick work of closing the shack up. Securing the propane tank and making sure the wood stove was cleaned out and wood was hauled in to fill the box. Cupboards were emptied and the floors were swept. The drain on the sink was taken apart and the sign to that effect hung on the sink. The spare key was checked to be sure it was in it's hiding place. Ropes for the hanging beam were coiled and put away in there box.

Log book was signed and placed on the kitchen table. A few boxes of mice bait were laded out. Getting towards two in the afternoon and we all closed up the two trucks and grabbing our rifles we set off to end the season in our stands. I took my time and walked slowly out to the stand by the cedar swamp. For mid November it was warm. Almost 40 out. The sun filtered down between passing clouds and was already low in the sky. Making myself comfortable in my stand I settled in and scanned the area around me. A ground squirrel worked it's way across the forest floor. Making enough noise to sound like a deer it would have had me on the edge of my seat two weeks ago. Now it just got a passing glance as I continue to search the brush around me.

As on cue the two grouse flew in to land on the tree across the ditch from me. I watched them for a few minutes till they to went to the ground and soon walked away into the deeper brush out of eyesight. The sun settled deeper in to the tree tops and I had to adjust the collar of my coat to close up around my neck. I got a chill and had second thoughts about not bring the thermos out with me. Peeking under the cuff of my coat I saw it was already almost four. Kind of late to shoot a deer now.

It had been a good season, several deer were taken and everyone has meat in the freezer. Spent time with friends and the bragging wall at the Hotel will have some more memories added to it. Another peek at the watch told me it was 4:15 If I leave now I'll have enough light to make it to the clearing. I unload the gun and using the rope lower it to the forest floor. I just start to swing over the edge and here coming down the trail is the doe with her two frisky fawns. I think they are the same ones I saw coming into the feeder to check it out on the first night. Glad to see they made it through the season. I waited till they passed and then retrieve the rifle I worked my way back to the clear cut. Elmer and Chuck were waiting, as soon as they saw my blaze orange they started the engines. I put my gear in the truck and rubbed my hands in the warmth of the trucks vents.

Elmer makes one last check of the shack. He goes inside and makes sure the bars are across the windows and the shutters secure. To bad we have to lock it up like this but times have changed. The padlock is snapped on to the wood door and we are ready to return home. We will be back, not as a group though. Everyone has a key and some will come back to do some grouse hunting. Others will tend to the deer feeder if the winter gets bad. A few of the younger guys will bring their families up to cross country ski. They will check the mouse traps and write in the log that they were there and how they did. Others will read the log and add to it.

We make the ride back home following Chuck down the twisted trail to reach the dirt road then to the highway. We stop at a small resort / restaurant and have a late supper. Another tradition of ours. We chat and take our time finally getting home around eight or so. Chuck heads down his driveway and Elmer turns in to mine. He pulls to a stop in front of the garage and we step out just in time to watch eight deer exiting Chucks yard to cross my yard heading in the direction of Elmers. Elmer and I just look at each other and shake our heads. Yup a typical deer season here at Lake Iwanttobethere hope yours was a good one...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Read more about Lake Iwanttobethere at Outdoor Discussion, Clean-ups, and Agendas Fishing report for Lake Iwanttobethere

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.