The weekend started off warm, in Barb's
kitchen at least. When we got to Barb and Chuck's, the house smelled
of homemade soup, beef and chicken. Barb is a serious soup maker.
Supper don't git no better.
Opening morning started off warm too;
in Barb's kitchen - with hot coffee and El's French toast casserole
with sorghum molasses on the side. We all joked about wanting Barb's
stand in front of her patio doors overlooking the woods and pasture
where they often see deer. She didn't really take a stand there
either, braving the wind and going out on a point overlooking the
woods. (After stepping outside, I was tempted to take her kitchen
window stand though.) Anyway, the chores got done, the lunch boxes
got packed, the thermoses filled, the trucks got loaded, and the
hunters got under way. The eastern horizon was just starting to glow
when El and I pulled out. We were going to our usual stands at The
Bench down along the Grant River, and I had hopes we'd be some
protected from the heat sapping breeze. When we got out of the
truck, the wind wasn't kidding around, blowing steadily out of the
north.
I carried my swivel chair and rifle,
slowly making my way to my stand so as not to work up a sweat. It
was getting pretty light by the time I was on stand. The wind took a
short breather once in awhile, emphasis on short. With a stout north
wind finding every little nook and cranny of one's Under Armor, sweat
shirt, jeans, coveralls, coat, face mask, hat, mittens, I had to
hunker down, back to the wind, on stand. Only my feet never got cold
in my Sorel ice fishing boots. I heard the first shot some time
after the opening time. I only counted 12 shots all morning on
stand. Usually, I count closer to 40 or so in the opening hour.
Perhaps the deer were smarter than us and just stayed curled up in
their beds. I did hear lots of wildlife though, mostly woodpeckers,
turkeys, and squirrels. I would have to say that in my experience,
one doesn't hunt squirrels on windy days, but there were at least a
dozen fox squirrels chasing each other around the woods by me all
morning. Everyone in our party remarked on it. (In hindsight that
may have something to do with the weather coming on Monday.)
Anyway, I was first back at the truck,
thankful to fill a cup with hot coffee and get out of the wind. At
Barb and Chuck's, my smiling nephew Chris was showing off his nice
10-point buck. It was the only opening morning deer to hang from a
party of 18. Some saw deer and didn't shoot, holding out for a buck
or just not getting a good shot. Anyway, we decided to drive Burton
Hill - up this time. El and I would be standers. I dropped her off
along the Grant River and drove farther down the bottom across from
the point of this huge hill where I usually take a stand when we
drive. I had hardly loaded my rifle when I saw deer across the 500
yards of bean field headed my way. The main drivers weren't even in
the woods yet. I could see them looking at the deer through their
scopes from too far away. I waited. There were five deer, three
fawns, and two older deer. When they realized I was there, they
stopped. I picked out the biggest deer and took a shot. It appeared
to be hit but made a run for the river along with the rest. I could
see a truck and a stander down the bottom, so I didn't shoot again.
The fawns ran back in the field again and finally turned and crossed
the shallow Grant.
I stayed put until the drivers headed
into the woods and down range from me. I started searching for sign
- blood or hair - of a hit. I found the blood trail some 200 yards
from where I started, going into blood stained reeds along the river
bank. “Oh no, not another floater or deer on the other side of
Grant.” I got lucky. I found my deer, an adult doe, with its head
pointed at the river a yard from the water. “Whew!”
The drivers pushed out other deer up
the hill, but mine was the only one taken. We had two deer hanging
in the cooler by lunch time, a bit down for our group. Chuck killed
two big does that afternoon at Ellen's home place. That evening the
count ended at four, another low as far as I can remember. We
watched the Badgers beat Minnesota on DVR replay that night.
Sunday morning was colder but not as
windy, and after Chef Chuck's big breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon,
and toast, El and I did not see a deer on stand. When the group met
at Burton Jesse was having his picture taken with the dandy
18-pointer he finally shot after hunting it all fall. He had been
seeing pictures of it on trail cameras taken at night, never while in
a stand, and he said he really didn't expect to see it during
daylight. On Sunday morning, he was about to climb out of his boma
(his being a small cabin on stilts with windows where he sat all
opening day), when the buck walked into the nearby bean field. It
had double drop tines and a tine sticking out the back, and curly
tines in front. One long tine still had dried velvet on it,
apparently at too awkward an angle to scrape off. Jesse said he was
entered in three big buck contests. Jesse's wife Hilary also shot a
dandy buck that weekend - good thing he is a part-time taxidermist.
On Sunday afternoon Ellen got some
shooting when we drove the Bench. She got two deer while on stand
near where she got the acorn buck two seasons ago. Chuck and I took
a couple hail-mary shots at a fleeing doe and buck that ran the
length of the Bench out in the cornfield against the drive without
losing a hair. Brian, Jordan, and Nick all killed deer on the drive,
so by the end of the day we had registered ten deer. I stayed at
Bill's Burton shed long enough to watch some football
highlights/lowlights after the Packers frittered away a chance to
stay tied at the top of the division. Barb made roasted potatoes and
french cut green beans from their garden and Chuck grilled some
seriously good pork chops for supper.
Monday morning dawned bright and . . .
snowy - in fact it looked like a blizzard had hit. We all slept in.
I had left over French toast casserole for breakfast. We butchered
deer this day. Brother Dave was already skinning and then caping
(carefully removing the skin on the neck and head for tanning and
mounting) out Jesse's buck when we got down to Burton. There were
tables set up the length of Bill's heated shop, Sports Center was on
the TV, and people were setting up cutting boards of all kinds
(several were counter top sink cut outs), putting out knives, freezer
paper, freezer bags, setting up the huge old grinder, and so on. We
had a wagon to haul the meat in from the skinners this year. Good
idea. I worked on hams, slicing away the debris left from hunting
and silver skin and such and pulling out the different cuts for
grinding, smoking, steaks, and roasts. Ellen and Barb and Lori cut
back strap loins into butterfly chops and roasts. Others worked on
shoulders and rib cages filling coolers with cleaned up and pretty
much fat-free venison for sausage and burger. We had the deer boned
out before lunch time. We had another wonderful midday meal of
fried-in-butter-and-onions tenderloin medallions on bread and butter
with a small cornucopia of homemade soups (chicken noodle, beef
vegetable, potato with pepper cheese, chili - you get the idea),
cheese and crackers, jerky, meat sticks, and cookies on the side.
The snow stopped by midday, leaving four inches or so on the ground.
Dave took a cooler full of venison to Hauber's Processing in
Dickeyville to make summer sausage. Todd set up the grinder and we
ground venison and pork butts to make burger and sausage that
afternoon. The highlight for me was the meal and making the rope
sausage that we tied off and then hung in Bill's smoker with some
apple wood for flavor.
Until next time, get out - We got home
to a very lonely Scout and little snow. Our Iowa hunters didn't see
much and went home empty handed except for a good time in the woods,
hardly hearing a shot fired. Deer registration was down all over so
I hear. At the Thirsty Turtle (when I registered a deer El and I got
on Friday) Chad Myhre said the registration seemed to be way off of
the pace of 2012. Ellen said it could be because it was colder so
there wasn't as much urgency in getting carcasses boned out. We
shall see. More next time. Enjoy.
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