camp ripley

[weedman]

Looking forward to the hunt. I'm going with a group of guys 2nd weekend. I haven't been there in about 4 years. 2 of us are camping in a pop-up, the other 2 are roughing it in the motel.

[Jim916]

Is anyone else having a hard time working today thinking about Sunday? I am not working too hard, I am looking for some arial maps to print out of the area we hunt, and maybe a few other areas to try.

Good luck to everyone!

[c&amagn]

Jim916 try going online and using google earth.

googleearth

[Bear55]

Good luck to everyone! I went for the first time last year and had a good time but too many people for my taste.

[sticknstring]

Good luck to everyone hunting Ripley this weekend. Lots of beautiful bucks come out of Morrison county, I however cannot justify fighting the masses of people. For those more patient than I, shoot straight!

[Wanderer]

Good luck guys!

I won't be going for the first time in 4 years. I'd give someone directions to my tree but I would just want it back later when I get drawn again anyway.

Sticknstring,

The one sure thing about Ripley is: Don't go there if you NEED to have total control over your hunt. Once a person can accept that, you find it to be O.K. for a two day hunt.

I don't know if you ever got the advice you were looking for on Sherburne, but if you'd like to know what I've experienced, drop me an email. tsac4 @ hotmail. com.

[sticknstring]

I did get some feedback from some fellow FM'ers on the refuge. I was all geared about getting up there but as gas prices have spiraled down I've been driving further north to private land instead. I'll definitely be checking it out later in the season though. When I do... I'll be sure to pick your brain. I appreciate the offer...

[fishinmajishin]

Stick, if you want to do some bowhunting out there after the rifle season let me know. I've got a couple other places in mind too.

[kevfish1]

heard from a friend in line already that the line was a mile long at 10 am and they will be waiting for the rest of the line in the am again. Serves them right for not obeying the laws. They should not even let those people in tilll noon. maybe next time they will read and obey the rules.

[frogtosser]

what happens if you show up later in the afternoon? I have not gone before and was planning on showing up later in the evening, how long will i have to wait in the morning to get out, its not like I have any spot to go to anyway.

[archerystud]

Kevfish1,

So what are they doing to the people that show up too early? Are you saying that the people which show up at noon get allowed in and the early ones are getting sent in later.

I'm not hunting Ripley this year but in the past I showed up early only because I didn't want to be so far back in line. If they start letting people in at the alotted time and in order then I will show up at that time.

In any case it would be nice to see some pics of some of those Morison Co. bucks

[kooba]

WEll the first day of the first weekend is done for us. WE ended up 1 for 3 with a doe shot. We saw a total of about 20 deer. The doe that was shot by my nephew was a nice 105.lber Some nice bucks were brought in. Total deer at 7:00 was around 115 with a lot of people still in line. Biggest so far was 217lb 12 pointer. Thing was a hawg. I saw 11 myself today. Lots of does and fawns moving. With one a decent 8 or bigger running that would not stop for me. All in all a good day in the woods, will give it a try again tomorrow. KOOBA.

[sticknstring]

Quote:

In any case it would be nice to see some pics of some of those Morison Co. bucks

Agreed - lets see some of those bruisers!

[icefishing21]

heres a buck my dads buddy shot out of camp ripley yesterday morning. its a 9 pointer wieghing 200 pounds.i will be up there next weekend so hopefully ill see some deer.

[maros91]

nice deer. I seen many deer and passed on a couple of does and a spiker. In the 2 day hunt I seen about 11 deer on stand. There was a 225lb. 8pt. that was brought in late Sun. night. Lot of button bucks and basket 6's and 8's that were harvested. Of the deer I seen get weighed on Sunday I would say only about 5-7 were "bruisers".

[Guest Kyle]

Someone explain the body size to the antler size on that deer for me? It looks like that deer is huge in weight, shouldnt a deer that big have a larger set of antlers. Ripley has alot of monsters so I would assume most of the deer have fairly good genetics.

[archerystud]

I think Ripley gets a lot of monsters because the deer get old enough to get big racks. My guess is that buck would have never had a real nice rack, I don't think he has the genetics. If he is a 3.5 year old he maybe could have made it to a 140-150 class in a couple of years but that would have been about it.

Kind of like since my dad is 5'7" I never really had a chance to make it as a center in the NBA!

He's still a nice deer though!!

[RogersMN]

I’m going this coming weekend. It will be my 6th week up there (I think). We’ve had some success. My buddy has 2 does and I shot an 8 point a few years back. We’re trying new spots this year. If anyone has a honey hole they’d be willing to give up, I’m listening  Even though I got a buck up there I really never see very many deer. My 9 last year was the most I’ve ever seen up there.

I heard there were 324 deer shot (that was a record for one week) with the biggest being over 230 pounds. I also heard there was a guy that got lost and the state patrol had to bring in a helicopter. Didn’t find him until 11pm. Anyone have any dirt on that?

[ANYFISH]

--A hunter over the weekend was lost, but then found. The Todd County Sheriff’s office said it received a report of a missing bow hunter in a Wildlife Management area along County road 16 in Turtle Creek Township Saturday night around 9. An immediate search was conducted by members of the Morrison County and Todd County Sheriff’s Offices, Randall Police and Browerville Fire Departments, and at about 10:30, 43-year old Keith Kotsmith of Oak Park, MN was found. Kotsmith said he had become disoriented after dark, and was unable to find his way back to the entrance. He was not injured. A special thanks was given to all who helped in the search.

Copied from Falls radio's web site

This may be the story that you heard.

[fishinmajishin]

Stuck a young doe yesterday afternoon. Was my first Ripley hunt. A lot of people, but I was able to hunt several areas without running into anyone, although most spots that looked decent had trucks 200-300 yds apart. I did a fair amount of scouting and found 4-5 sleeper spots for the next time. In the two days I saw 2 bucks. I passed on a 6 and watched a very nice 8 pt at around 75 yards. Saw 9 does/fawns. I made a 28yd shot and had to thread the needle thru a small hole in the brush. Hit her perfect. The Rage 3-blade I use did it's job and she collapsed within 20 yards. Huge blood. All in all it was a good time. People were courteous. Good luck to all on 2nd hunt.

[RogersMN]

congrats on the doe. I wish i would have spent more time scouting on my previous trips. now i'm going to hunt a new area and go in blindly. i hate that.

[Cheetah]

I was up at Ripley yesterday (Sunday). We decided not to hunt Monday (today) since it's getting to be a busy fall for me and my dad.

For those that didn't understand how the line worked this year, I believe the first line was at the main road and went from the registration station back to the entrance to Ripley. Once that was full they started sending the second line down the river road (we were near the start of this one). Anyone in the second line was quite a ways from their camping area, and I know some guys complained about this from last weekend. Then there appeared to be a third line once the river road line was too long, but I don't know where they had these guys parked.

Anyway, we hunting along Lake Alott road and the hunter pressure was the usual. Lots of trucks, I had two guys walk in on me in my stand. Deer sign was down from past years by quite a bit. I didn't see any that morning in the snow/rain/wind, but my dad had a 6pt walk up to him at 45 yards while he was getting ready to put up his stand. He drew, but the deer spooked before he could get a shot.

We then scouted a bit looking for deer trying to get out of the wind and managed to jump a nice buck and a few does. Almost got a shot on one doe, but she knew something was up.

In the evening we set up near west boundary road and I shot a nice doe at 20 yards. Had a small 8pt and spike come by out of range, they wouldn't come in to my grunt or rattling. My doe weighed 107lb on the scale. We didn't stick around to see what other guys brought in, saw a couple fawns being weighed when I brought mine in.

[fishinmajishin]

Did good taking a doe with that wind. And only a one day hunt. Congrats.

[icefishing21]

didnt see a whole lot this year where we hunted. we hunted off punic road on the north end both days. yesterday my brother had a spike buck come in at 8 yards and when he drew back, his bow hit a bar on his tree stand and the deer saw him then and started running so my brother shot and hit him in the hip. we followed the blood trail for about 100 yards and there was no blood after that.

this morning i had an 80 pound doe walk down a trail at about 9 yards but decided to let her keep walking hoping for something bigger. didnt see any after that. my dad had a 200 plus pound 10 pointer walk down a trail 50 yards away. i think i saw a total of like 10 deer and didnt see a whole lot of deer in the beds of trucks. only 103 deer were killed the 1st day.

[dustin85]

I only saw one deer while on stand. It was a large 8pt. he came cruising in at about 30 yards, but never made it into my shooting lane.

Dustin

[Cheetah]

Did good taking a doe with that wind. And only a one day hunt. Congrats.

The wind was really tough, not to mention the rain/snow on Sunday morning til lunch time. On both stands I had wind switching all over the place, it'd be NW, N, NE then all of a sudden start coming out of the south... The only option was to just wait it out and try to be in a spot with multiple trails coming from different directions. That and try to figure where the deer will be bedded out of the wind as well as finding spots where the other hunters haven't been pressuring the deer yet.

[RogersMN]

We also had a very difficult hunt. The wind/rain/snow was something I’ll never forget. I watched rain and snow come up a ridge towards me (never seen that before). The funny thing was between me and my buddy we only saw 6 deer and all were while it was snowing and raining. I had a gimme shot on a doe at 15 yards but I hit a branch that I completely forgot about. One branch in my shooting lane and of course I nail it. Had a small 6 point come directly into my tinks. He picked me out of the tree and bolted. I also saw a bobcat which made my hunt. Never saw one before. We left Monday at 1pm.

[Cheetah]

Yea, good times when you can hear that 35mph gust blowing through the woods then BAM a cloud of snow and wind bashes into you and the tree you're in starts rocking and trees around you are falling over. I watched at least a half-dozen dead trees tip over, heard one that was definitey huge by the boom it made when it hit.

[colonel42]

Wow what a two day hunt. Not any luck in the killing department but still good just to be out. Saw nothing on Sunday. Sat from 7:30 til dark, Monday was a tad better had a doe and a fawn walk out 15 yards but decided to let them walk. An hour later had a nice buck come out 60 yards away and he just headed up the ridge. The guy I went with saw a total of six. Two bucks but nothing in range. He also seen a bear with one cub. All in all it was a good hunt. Sure would be nice to be able to rifle hunt there. Also seen about six deer on the way out yesterday really close to the gate. No fear in the animals out there at all.

[Studer]

Well here goes my Ripley Story!!! Get out in the woods about 7am on Sunday Morning and find a nice tree on top of a small ridge looking down into a swamp/pond. It was raining, snowing, sleeting and wind was brutal!!! Well I get settled in and hear something behind me.....not a deer, it was a hunter of course. So he keeps walking, then I hear something else and see another hunter....not walking....let's just say he had to get down from his stand due to maybe a good bowl of chili the night before, (if you know what I mean) Then things settle down a bit and CRACK/SNAP here more noise, here it was the first hunter I saw and he was coming up from in front of me at this point. He said he lost his backpack or something. So he keeps walking and about 10 min later, here he comes again. Same hunter still looking for his bag. So just as all this is going on it is now about 8:30 am and I am thinking this ripley thing is kind of frustrating cause of all the pressure etc. etc. but just then I here some snapping behind me and luckily I was standing up and it was a small six pointer and a beautiful 8 point walking right towards me. The eight stops looks up and I don't think he quite made me out cause he kept coming. Starts off down the ridge, I draw, he is about 25 yards, the six catches me drawing so they both stop. I let one fly at the big eight and WHACK!!!! Good solid hit. I immediately get down so I can get right on him and eventually find my arrow. Full of blood. Good sign. This other hunter walks over and apparently had drawn on him but had snow in his sights. Lucky for me I guess. So I start tracking this deer and I have a good solid blood trail. I am clipping pretty good through the woods following this trail. About 30-40min later I am still tracking but now getting worried cause I have no clue where I am. So I take my hat off flip it to blaze orange side, hang it on a tree, and back out. I heard him get up and run a couple times so I wanted him to bed down but worried about all the other hunters getting a crack at him. I hurry back to my stand back tracking the blood trail, meet my buddy who has some tracking tape, and we immediately get back on the trail. About another hour of tracking we begin to get worried cause all the rain/snow is really washing the trail away. As we stand there looking for more blood, up he pops about 40 yards out from behind a dead fall. We run up there, see where he was laying and it was not a ton of blood. We decide to just hang tight have lunch and relax and catch our breaths. So about another 30 min we stay there and start back on him. I bet he went another 800-1000 yards but we had great blood this whole time. Finally we get up to a big beaver swamp and hear voices and car doors. We thought oh great he ran right to these guys and they got him!!! I stayed at last blood as my buddy heads up to see where these guys are. He found nothing but when he started coming back down, he kicked him up again. There I stand watching my trophy run around this swamp up the ridge. Oh boy we got more tracking to do. So we regroup and decide that jake will run around the same side as the buck and I would go the opposite way to try to drive him toward one another. So as I sit in a deadfall waiting for him to show himself, he pops out of the brush and he was limping pretty good. He was getting just as worn out as we were. So I watch him bed down again and I just got down cause he was facing me. So here I sit, both legs asleep and everytime the wind picked up and made noise, I would then move inch by inch closer to the deer. Soon I was able to get behind a tree and stand up. Wind was perfect so he would not wind me. Pretty soon I look and there Jake is about 30-40 yards behind the deer. We had him cornered. I took one more shot and it deflected. He didn't move. Then Jake takes a shot right from behind him and by that point, I knew we had him. Finally 4 hrs later and about 2 miles through the Ripley Ridges.....we had this guy in our hands!!! ABSOLUTELY THE MOST MEMORABLE HUNT I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED!!!! Thanks to good team work and persistence, we got a nice deer down. UNREAL!!!!