Minnesota 2018 Season

Have a very good Thanksgiving with your family, the deer will be waiting for you when you get back to the woods.

Good luck on getting a Black Friday Buck!

Good luck....I was out tonight and I had a buck chase a doe by at 3:30 pm...not shot possible, they were moving, she really wanted zero to do with him, but now I know there is a hot doe around that might help for Friday - Sunday for me Happy Thanksgiving to you as well !

Good luck Guys Happy Thanksgiving!

I was finally able to get back out on Saturday morning, and was hoping the impending snow storm would have the deer on their feet. I decided to hunt my favorite spot, which is where I took my doe earlier in the year. I was the only vehicle at the parking area and with the snow cover I didn't even need a flashlight to walk in and set up. After first light I started seeing a few squirrels and then the wind picked up. I had layered up pretty good, but this wind was cutting right through me! I was able to stick it out for a few hours before calling it quits.

After climbing down I decided that since this would likely be my last time hunting this area I'd take a loop back to the parking area and follow some well defined trails, just to learn a bit more about the area. Let's just say I have some interesting areas to check out for next year!

It's amazing how different a spot will look after the seasons change.



Our season ends at the end of the month so I am hoping to get out a few more times before that. Weather will be the deciding factor in that, as it's difficult to pull the bow back with temps in the single digits.

double post

- Season Recap -

The MN season closed 30 minutes after sundown on December 31 and I was certainly bummed to see it go. Nothing beats spending time in the woods in the fall, and I am happy to have had the opportunity to get out as much as I did this past season. I qualify success by a few different measures: enjoy myself / come home safely each day, learn something new, and lastly harvest. By that definition my season was successful in spades.

Marker 1 - Enjoy myself / Come home safely each day - All told I spent about 50 hours on stand, which is pretty solid for someone who is pretty much limited to weekends! One of my favorite things to do is listen to the woods wake up in the morning and I had many opportunities to do just that. I am absolutely thankful for each day that I get to hunt and try to not let anything get me down. After all, there's much worse ways to spend my time than sitting in a tree.

Marker 2 - Learn something new - Takeaway number one from this season is arrow construction and how weight and balance impact an arrow's performance. Prior to this season I was 100% ignorant to most of this having never bothered to dig any deeper than making sure I had the correct spine of arrow. I have always been interested in math and science and found the physics of the operation to be really cool. I started the season on the very light side of the spectrum and made the switch to a heavier setup midway through. Unfortunately, it took a lost deer to get me interested in such things, but I am glad to have found it. I will be spending the offseason continuing to tweak my setup while looking for the optimum speed / momentum combination.

My second takeaway is having been fortunate to learn a few new pieces of property through the park drawings. At first I was cautious about MBRB and all their red tape but I found that to actually be a benefit. I enjoyed the experience of hunting with that group and am looking forward to drawing with the organization again. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the second park hunt I participated in...I did not find that to be a terribly enjoyable experience. It was something of a free-for-all and they had a TON of hunters. The experience of fighting for stand locations was frustrating and honestly worse than any of the public land around. I did get some big deer on camera in this park so I can understand the desire to hunt it. I do have some points to burn at another one of this organization's parks so I will be looking to cash those in next year. I will likely stay away from this large park hunt in the future.

Marker 3 - Harvest - By far the least important to me. I was fortunate to tag a doe on opening morning and have some additional encounters throughout the season. As much as we say the animal is only a small part of the experience, it definitely makes it more enjoyable when you see the game you are chasing.

Thanks to everyone who followed along here this season and provided their thoughts, encouragement and notes. I certainly felt that keeping this log helped me throughout the season and am certain I will review it again prior to next year. If you're still out there after it, good luck! For all the others whose seasons are over, keep in mind that spring turkeys aren't that far away!

That's a great recap. Here's to a successful season!

awesome season!