Deer Hunt 2015 The Burton Deer Hunters

Opening Morning at Barb and Chuck's

Lilly rests after a hard day of resting

Our truck in the snow at the Bench

Sunday morning sunrise

Brother Bill rounds up a doggie that had been on the dodge for several weeks

Bill helps pick teams for snow volleyball or maybe for a spot on the next drive.  Either makes some sense.

Proof even an old guy can get lucky once in awhile

Hanging deer at Burton

Brian hangs up my 8 pointer

My two bucks

A boy and his dog

Bill's $100,000 portable smoker, complete with the Kubota

Dave skinning deer

Jesse fills bags with venison burger

Grinding venison sausage

Some of the coyotes bagged opening weekend

the boys make rope sausage for the smoker

a world record hunk of rope sausage - at least for Burton

Grouse Hollow Journal for November 13, 2015

Considering how many times people have said I must be out of my tree over the years, I think I probably made up for it this last couple of weeks.  I have hunted the wily whitetail from an aerial perch for some period almost every day recently; I probably will later today for that matter.  I have seen deer, but I have not drawn my bow.  I can say unequivocally that there is no shortage of squirrels.  Some of the sunsets were those pretty fall ones and one was even spectacular, changing colors for almost an hour before I realized that the air was getting a bit chilly and it was time to climb down.  Pat and Eli were hunting too and both saw deer, and like me neither got a shot.  As I knock this out early Saturday morning, Eli is in a most likely frigid tree stand with a shotgun hunting deer in Minnesota and Pat is up on our frosty ridge with his bow.  I just finished some pancakes with sorghum syrup and bacon and hot coffee in our toasty kitchen.  You make the call.  

I was up in the night to let Scout out - after I got up in the night to let her in around midnight because those of us who can hear stuff in the night couldn’t sleep.  Scout was going nuts from her kennel.  To be fair, the Zinks had called earlier for permission to coon hunt.  Scout was barking, Roger across the road was barking, and there were some coon hounds barking an unsettling serenade.  (After 30 years of rock and roll, the only lasting benefit is that I don’t hear much and thus sleep pretty soundly.)  While I was outside, I was struck by the night sky.  It was a sparkling vision that could have inspired Van Gogh; it was one of those breathtaking moments you can only get at that time on that type of night.  There also doesn’t appear to be a shortage of raccoons out there based on the corn damage and just seeing the masked bandits along the road, so I hope the hunters had some luck.  

If you haven’t seen it yet, you can catch Deer Hunt Wisconsin 2015 on Vernon Communications on Thursday, November 12 at 6 pm, Friday the 13th at 10 am and 7 pm, and Sunday, the 14th at 8 am and 8 pm.  Ellen and I watched the hour and half show this last week and enjoyed and learned from it.  There were segments on sighting in your gun, the Wisconsin DNR Info line at 1-888-936-7463, the new registration process, how antlerless tags work this season, using UTVs for hunting, the DMAP program, info about winter kill, reports from different units, CWD, kill numbers from last season, a venison recipe, handicap hunters, crossbows vs traditional archery, hunting safety, an interview with the DNR secretary, and youth hunters - whew!   

Ellen, Pat, and Eli went out the other night and got soaked to the skin while helping our neighbors try to find a bow shot deer.  They came in bedraggled and cold, chilled more so by failure because the last sign of the blood trail had petered out in the downpour.  They made the effort.  Ellen went to pick up her orange marker tape in the area the next morning but she didn’t pick up a trail, but she put in the effort again.

Until next time, get out - I heard a story this last week about a bow kill at 7 am that was tracked down by 10 am half-a-mile away.  The carcass was almost completely consumed by coyotes!  All I can say is there is no shortage of coyotes either.  Eat more yote!  The Big One is next week.  Enjoy.

Grouse Hollow Journal for November 5, 2015 by Greg Koelker

Mark Twain once said, “If you hold a cat up by the tail, you learn things that you cannot learn any other way.”  I just came inside after Ellen and I did our version of cat education this morning.  Ellen held our outdoor cat and I put on her monthly flea and tick oil.  Gypsy, our generally shy serial killer reacts pretty much like a bucking bronco coming out of the chute but with claws.  She shows her disdain for us for a day or two and things are good again - unless we both appear on the patio at the same time that is.

Last week Scout had to have some dental work.  Ellen and Scout made a couple trips to Coulee Mobile Vet this last week.  Scout had three broken teeth pulled before they became infected.  It seemed expensive to me but she is like a new dog.  The pain must have been bothering her a great deal.  Thanks for giving us our pup back, Doc.

We just had a whitetail weekend as our young friends, Eli Jackson and Pat Kolbe were here at Grouse Hollow to chase the wily whitetail.  Eli had his chances on several bucks and Pat saw deer.  I even saw a nice buck one day.  Still there is nothing hanging on the meat pole - yet.  The boys brought some good food and drink to share and besides hanging out in trees, we watched baseball and football together, and Eli even climbed into our version of the black hole of Calcutta to help hook up the heat duct to our bathroom remodel.  

Ellen has been a whirlwind of fixing food, washing towels and laundry, shopping, making decisions on the remodel, helping the contractor carry stuff and hang it, and painting - one of her most least favorite activities, and for someone who hasn’t taken a bath in five weeks, she is taking it all pretty well.  With all the visitors including Tom the contractor, Doug the plumber, the pool table movers, the hunters, trick or treaters, Barb and Chuck, our neighbors, John from Chaseburg Coop checking on a possible LP smell, and all the dirt related to the remodel and hunt, I think she is secretly using some relaxation technique that requires a vision of her first long, hot bath when this now-going-on-five-week-project comes to an end this week.  (To be fair, our upstairs bath only has a shower, so people have not been sliding over away from Ellen in church or anything.)

Got deer?  Hunters who wish to participate in the Wisconsin Deer Donation in our area can drop off a deer at Westby Locker & Meats (608) 634-4515 406 N Main St, Westby.  If you have one to donate, make sure to tag it, field dress it, register it, and write the confirmation number on the tag, before dropping it off.  They are open 8-5 Monday thru Friday and 8-12 on Saturday.  They will also be open Sunday afternoon of opening weekend of the gun deer season.  Don’s advice is that the deer must be “a whole, clean deer.” That means field dressed correctly, and it must come with hide and head including antlers for the donation program.  “They get the antlers back, heck I don’t want any I didn’t shoot,” he added.  The locker also processes deer for hunters and guarantees that each hunter gets his or her own deer back.  Don says, “There is this myth that meat processors sometimes throw all the venison together and you don’t get your own meat.  Here you do.  Each deer is tagged individually and the meat is kept separate.”

Until next time, get out - the Kickapoo Valley Reserve offers another in the Ralph Nuzum Lecture Series this coming Wednesday, November 11 at 6:30. DNR Wildlife Biologist Dave Matheys will present this week’s topic: Wisconsin’s Weasel Family.  There is no fee or registration necessary.  Finally, can you believe it?  The BIG ONE, the Wisconsin Gun Deer Hunt is coming up in TWO WEEKS.  If you haven’t checked out your shootin’ iron and gear, you‘d better get on it while there is still time to get your gun to a gunsmith and/or pick up a new pair of mittens.  I’d also like to recommend you catch, Deer Hunt Wisconsin 2015 with Outdoor Wisconsin’s Dan Small on November 5 on Wisconsin Public Television’s Digital Wisconsin Channel.  The show will also air TBA on Vernon Communications in November.  According to the Wisconsin DNR Web site, the show will air on Fox Sports Wisconsin on November 12 at 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. and on November and on November 15 and 16 at 6 p.m.  Dan and his guests, will take questions from callers and discuss the new registration process, antlerless permits, the violation hotline, and more.  Our family has always enjoyed Dan’s deer show; it provides info about new laws and such.  Enjoy.

Grouse Hollow Journal for October 29, 2015 by Greg Koelker

As we rush head-long into the time of ghosts and goblins this weekend, I submit to you that real life can dish out plenty to frighten us.  I know I have had some close calls over the years in the pursuit of fish, game, energy, and other foolishness I guess.  I have gone through the ice three times for the sake of a fish dinner.  I was lucky enough to just get wet feet twice and wet legs once.  I have fallen out of trees a couple times while climbing out after a hunt.  One time over in Mohawk Valley, I just had lowered my new compound bow and aluminum arrows to the ground on a rope, swinging the rig clear a dozen feet or so before it settled - at least I thought it was clear.  I started to climbed down out of the huge oak I had been hunting from and spied a four-inch wide birch tree within reach with all the attributes of a fireman’s pole - or so I thought.  I reached for and swung over to it to shinny down; the base of the birch was rotten.  It broke and tipped over, dropping this cub bear down a dozen feet or so away from the oak and down hard on some rocks and - you can see this coming, right?  I bent all of my new arrows.  A couple times while cutting firewood I have almost dropped a tree on myself.  The worst time was back in the day when I was helping my dad and brother cut a huge widow-maker elm behind my grandma’s hog house.  The tree was completely cut off and dad and I were driving wedges into one side to get it to tip and fall.  It did, right at me.  I jumped back away from, tangling my feet in some crushed woven wire and tripping down a ten foot bank onto a pile of cut firewood back first.  Ultimately, I had smashed a bunch of muscles in my lower back.  I rode home in the back our station wagon on my back and then on to emergency.  I missed a couple weeks of work and hunting, but my back recovered.  

I could go on, but the point is that this last week one evening Scout and I were up on our ridge checking trail cameras and trimming some limbs here and there by tree stands.  I decided to take a different way out of the woods on the four-wheeler.  There was only one log between us and dinner.  I locked the four-wheel drive in granny gear and drove over the log, sort of.  I managed to high center the entire quad on the slippery surface.  I couldn’t push or lift it, so we walked home.  Back at the ranch my better-half was already worried about me because she had been trying to call me - I left my phone at home.  Anyway, I loaded up a come-along and chainsaw and we drove the Ranger up to the woods.  I was able to drive right up to the foundered four-wheeler, so I hooked up my tow rope and climbed on.  Ellen slowly backed the pickup and things looked pretty good until I goosed the throttle and managed to tip the quad up on its side.  It was going over; I was able to scramble away from it before it tipped on me.  I know I frightened Ellen, and I admit, it took my breath away a bit too - okay, a lot.  We reattached the rope and managed to get the four-wheeler upright and off the log on the second try from a different angle.  The Honda started up no worse for wear and we headed home.  Back at the ranch with Scout and Gypsy fed, I apologized to my wife for being so careless.  As we ate dinner and watched the tape delay of the Badger game, I also realized I had jimmied up a knee and shoulder, duh.  

I’ll chalk this up to another close call; if that 600-pound machine had rolled over on me, things could have been a lot worse.  You read and hear about serious and even deadly four-wheeler accidents often enough, but you never think it’ll be you I guess.   I promise I will be more careful from now on for sure.

Until next time, get out - the rut is on.  The roads no doubt will be more dangerous because of running whitetails for a while.  This is the week to be in a tree stand all day if you can, so be careful getting in and out of tree stands, let someone know where you are planning to go, and take your doggone cell phone.  Enjoy.