Winter in review

Well it has been over a month since my last post. Things got insanely busy at work which limited my time drastically. Over the past month we have finally got out ice fishing for pike and bass mainly. Action has been steady with some nice fish caught on tip ups fishing in 8-12 feet of water around green weeds. We haven't fished for panfish much this winter because of the late ice. Typically we like to target panfish during the early ice period but once the ice did form the fish were already in mid-winter patterns.
Hunting was very good with the warm temperatures! Rabbits, pheasants, grouse, turkey, deer and other animals should be in good supply next year!


And the great news is trout season starts in just 16 days!

RUSH OF THE FLUSH!!

Well Denali's leg is finally back to 100% after he twisted his leg pretty good in early October. He was very excited and worked very well pheasant hunting this past weekend. Dry, cold and windy conditions doesn't make for ideal upland hunting conditions but He managed to put up four birds (3 roosters and 1 hen).
Felt really good to get back into the fields and watch my young pup turn into a man. He worked the last bird of the day for a good 25 minutes and by the time he caught up to the hen it was totally buried in some of the thickest marsh grass I have ever seen and managed to get her up.

Winds were blowing at about 15 mph so making a good first shot was a must. Once those birds get up into that wind they are VERY tough to hit. I knocked down two roosters with my first two shots. We also saw one rooster run a crossed the road on the way down to Mt. Horeb.

I am shooting a Remington Wingmaster 870 this year and love it. By far the easiest pump shotgun I have ever swung! A very nice upland gun in my eyes.

Pheasant Hunting Tomorrow

I am hoping that the past couple of days the cold temps have froze over a nice section of thick marsh that normally always produces a limit of birds. Last year my dog Denali and I hit that spot three times in the late season and every single time we kicked up 3-6 roosters and got a limit 2/3 times (missed a couple one day). Going to hunt the Mazo Unit also if there isn't too many guys out there.

Picture of a hunt from a couple years ago in Southern Dane County.

Good start and finish (first trout and last trout of 2011)

First trout of the year was a 24 inch Brown Trout

Last trout of the year was this 23 inch Rainbow

Would be nice to start and finish like this again.

2011 Deer Season in review

Well the 2011 traditional 9 day deer hunt has closed. You still can harvest deer with a Muzzleloader until December 7th and Bow until January 8th. For rifle hunters there is a antler-less deer hunt which runs December 8th-11th.
This year we was another very successful deer hunt for us. We hunt in Northern Grant County with around 30 others from the area and 6 that make the trip every year from Mississippi. Total we shot around 27 deer in the group out of roughly 1,600 acres that we lease and hunt. This year the numbers seemed to be up slightly from last year (WI season numbers reflect that +3%)we averaged about 6 sightings per sit. Opening morning we always stand hunt until noon and stand hunt the final 2 hours of day light through the week. During the afternoon we plan and coordinate a number of very detailed drives which always produce. Some very nice bucks were taken this year (2 wall hangers) and we passed on many smaller bucks. We all love to eat vension and use that as our primary source of meat throughout the year. I harvested two does and a 11 pointer so supply enough meat for the family.

Another safe and successful season!
Now back to bird/small game and ice fishing.

7 days from Wisconsin deer season!

Well we are only 7 days away! Today during my lunch I headed over to the Dane County Sheriff facility for the annual Dane County Sheriff sight in. This year I am shooting a new rifle a 30.06 Remington 7600 pump rifle. Had a 1 inch grouping of three shots at 50 yards dead center so the gun is ready! Last weekend we finalized stand locations on the property in Grant County and I am very excited about my stand placement this year! I am located on a large saddle ridge that runs down into a deep wooded valley all mature hardwoods with corn and brushy edges on all sides. Tons of great trails and buck sign all over!

Wish everyone a successful and SAFE hunt!

Little one I shot during the October antler-less hunt.......... Not proud of this at all but sure will taste good!

Wisconsin DNR updating Beaver Program is good news for trout streams.

Getting it's first modifications in 20 years.

Updating the program