Hey Gang,
well, the bait has been laid for a few weeks, the blinds have been built, and the plans have come together. It's now time for the two week late season swamp hunt that I do with a buddy of mine just about every year. I'll try to take pictures along the way to keep you updated on progress. 1st night of hunting is this afternoon...yeehaa! Update late tonight hopefully with pictures. Merry Christmas everyone! Matt
Good Luck!
good luck :0)
Sticking around for this one!!
Good luck
:thumbsup:
Whatcha hunting for ?
Did ya get lost? Can't wait for the story.
Best of luck!
A very Merry Christmas to you all! Well, I hope I can describe the hunts adequately enough and what I can't the pictures can describe more adequately. I always liked it when other folks share their hunts on here, so here we go:
We had a snow storm the night before with wind gusts up to 50 mph, but in the swamp it remained calm enough for no blowing snow. We recieved about 4" of the white powder that makes tracking so lovely.
What a beautiful walk in it was!
(http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k297/mmgrode/Tradgang/PC242197.jpg)
The swamp is pretty thick as is, but with snow it's even more so.
(http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k297/mmgrode/Tradgang/PC242198.jpg)
(http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k297/mmgrode/Tradgang/PC242199.jpg)
And just what I like to see! Well, almost;)
(http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k297/mmgrode/Tradgang/PC242196.jpg)
Of course a guy has to do some stump shooting on the way in.
(http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k297/mmgrode/Tradgang/PC242201.jpg)
Well, I got to my spot to head off the trail to my stand. Here is the bait being used. Here in Wisconsin we can only use two gallons at a time. It sure doesn't last long in the swamp.
(http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k297/mmgrode/Tradgang/PC242202.jpg)
I made my way back to the blind for the afternoon sit. Here is hopefully the last thing a deer doesn't see;)
(http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k297/mmgrode/Tradgang/PC242203.jpg)
And here is the view from my blind to the baitpile.
(http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k297/mmgrode/Tradgang/PC242204.jpg)
It was an exhillirating evening in the swamp. There is just something in the air with a fresh snowfall on the ground and fresh tracks at your bait. A bluejay and woodpecker kept my attention most of the evening. No deer where seen from my blind, but it was a great afternoon nonetheless.
I headed back out to meet up with my friend and see how his luck had been. "Did you see anything?" I ask. "Yeah" he replies with a smile on his face. "Did you shoot at anything?" I ask as the excitement starts to rise. "Yup" He replies. "Did you get one?" I ask finally. "Nope, I missed high, she jumped the string on me." Oh boy oh boy, it sure does get a guy excited when all that hard work baiting and seting up results in a shot. He had had three antlerless deer come in and this deer was looking straight at him when he took the 25 yard shot...about an inch over her back. I gave him a big congrats even for the miss. I sure do get excited! I had to take off to go to a christmas party so I bid him farewell as he went to bait his other stand and collect the deer camera placed there. It ended up with over 400 pictures on it. Well, more to come...hopefully I can get out again today for a bit. Have a Merry Christmas everyone! Matt
COOL, Nice beginning :bigsmyl:
Matt,
Great story and pics. Keep them coming:) Good luck and Merry Christmas!!
Great Story & Pic's. It looks so Peaceful in that swamp. Thanx for sharing
Well lads,
went out again for a short sit this afternoon with my buddy. We both went to the same stands as last night. He ended up seeing 4 deer and passed up a perfect shot on a half rack eight pointer. He also tried to draw back on a doe at 5-6 yards, but she caught him and bolted. He also got a glimpse of a BIG deer. That's usually the way it goes with those type of deer. All the bait he had put out the previous day was gone and all he brought with him today was 6 apples which he laid out and smashed. Within 30 minutes the half rack was already there eating them. He actually text messaged me in my blind to say he was staring at an eight pointer eating his apples...boy did that get me going! Hopefully I'll get a picture up off of his camera of the half rack.
Myself, well I had the company of a cardinal, a couple woodpeckers, and a gang of chicadees in my stand even having the chicadees jumping on my string and wizzing past my face. It was a beautiful evening, but yet again, no deer sighted for me. The bait wasn't even touched...odd. Looks like tomorrow my buddy will be letting his first stand rest and I'll be heading nearer to his stand to set up my treestand and try to draw some out of the bedding area. I also need to bait up my other stand set up for a north wind.
It sure is exciting when we come back in after dark to see how each other has done. I sure would like to see him see a big buck and get a pop at it.
Manny- We're deer hunting. Only open till January 5th so we'll be hunting hard till then.
Salvatore- Yes, it sure is peaceful in that swamp. It's almost as if the deer appear from thin air at times...it's like roaming through a blanket of possibilities searching for that peace that can be found in such a place.
Well, it's off to bed for this guy. A very Merry Christmas to you all and I'll give you guys another update with more pictures after the hunt tomorrow. Hopefully I can give one the old two blade tomorrow! Good night, Matt
Good story :thumbsup: That looks just like around here;) Hope you get a good un.
Very cool Matt, looking forward to more....how the heck do you shoot out of that blind?
looks like he shoots in between the logs.... just like a pop-up blind.
great stuff Matt, good to see you get real snow there! beautifull looking place.
keep it comming.........i wanna see some RED on that snow
:D :thumbsup:
awesome pics. We are headed up near Phillips soon for a late season bowhunt. It is always a fun hunt. Where are you hunting?
Good morning!
Curt- I am able to shoot right between the logs. The setup is just right for when a deer is at the baitpile. No shot anywhere else, but these deer are really spooky this time of year around bait. I need all the help I can get. With this setup I have to lean forward to see out and shoot allowing me to remain hidden behind some tree roots until I can get a shot. The bait is at about 15-18 yards or so...just right.
Clay- We're hunting a ways North of Appleton. We are fortunate enough to have private land owned by his family to hunt on and permission from some of the neighboring properties. Good luck on your hunt up in Phillips. Do you guys bait them up there?
Andy and James- Thanks for the encouragement guys! Hopefully tonight will be the night it comes together.
Hopefully pics later this evening with a story to tell. Have a good day guys...I'm going huntin'!!! Matt
yes we do bait. That is about the only way to hunt deer in that big woods except for the rut because they have no real bedding/feeding areas. The big woods is all the same. We hunt private land too. My dads friend owns 200 acres and a cabin, but is trying to sell it, so this may be our last year up there. Best of luck to you as well.
Well, back in for tonight. It ended up being quite a warm day and the deer were not moving. Neither of us saw anything. Perseverence is a difficult thing, but I hope it will make it that much more worthwhile when I connect.
I walked out of the swamp a bit down, but glad to be spending quality time with a good friend. "Tomorrow's another day" I said to myself. I looked up to see the sky blushing in agreement.
(http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k297/mmgrode/PC272211.jpg)
And so tomorrow is another day, a day full of promise and hope, of expectation and apprehension, of doubt and confirmation.
And so there in the cab of my friends truck on the drive home we continued to plan and scheme for the next time, the next opportunity at the fulfillment of our hard work. "We'll see what tomorrow brings," my friend says. A smile creeps across my lips, "Aye, that we will, that we will."
why use the bait? With the size of the herd in WI and the ample public land, is it really necessary?
"yes we do bait. That is about the only way to hunt deer in that big woods except for the rut because they have no real bedding/feeding areas. The big woods is all the same."
I am of the camp that any legal means of hunting is OK even if I don't agree with it. Yet, a statement like this I just wrong. Set the bait bucket down and take a walk around the woods, I think you will be in for a pleasent surprise.
Happy hunting and MMGRODE I look forward to the rest of your hunt. Thanks for sharing.