So I finally got out bow hunting for the first couple times of my life. Was a good experience.

Wednesday I got out to the place that I had selected and cleared shooting lanes for on some public land near Menomonie. It was a good area with some nice runways, but I was worried about it because it was quite close to the logging trail. Sure enough when I got in my stand there was a truck parked right in front of the heaviest runway. I sat there for 3 hours despite the fact that I probably wouldn't see anything and I forgot my jacket in the rush to get out. It was a cold 3 hours. I went back to the same stand in the afternoon hoping for better luck, but about a half hour into sitting the truck pulled back in and parked in the same spot. The evening was uneventful besides about 30 turkeys making a noisy hour and a half loop around me.

I decided that this stand would be no good so my roommate decided to get up with me in the morning and take me to another chunk of land that he had been bird hunting at and seen insane amounts of sign. Sure enough when we got there, there was sign all over, visible all over even in the dark. I selected a spot on a ridge with lots of sign around the area. About 2 hours into my sit (with hearing lots of stuff that I didn't see) a decent 8 pointer came into my Doe-in-Estrus call. He just appeared (didn't hear him coming for some reason) about 60 yards away. I knew I wasn't going to be shooting him since I was in an Earn a Buck zone and needed to kill a doe first. He started walking downwind away from me so I decided to give him a grunt. Long story short I couldn't get him to come back in, but it was definitely one of the biggest rushes I have ever had in my life. Plus I learned some things not to do.

That was all I saw that day, but it was a good experience. I'm looking forward to trying to get back out and learning a bit more.

Is anyone having any luck with the rut raging out there????

It definitely is a tough call on whether to fish or hunt. But I can get out hunting on a lot shorter notice than fishing. Besides fishing this fall wasn't much of an option due to lack of funds and time off.

I hope to get out a couple more times this year. I'm even tempted to forgo the true sportsman side of things and set up a corn pile just to be able to shoot a doe and loose my bow hunting V-card, I mean...everyone else is doing it, right? Pretty much the last V-card I have left that matters, besides a 50"+ skie . Jeez...that thought is kind of sad, not much to look forward to in life...minus relentless chasing of the lurking lunkers.

All I know is that I am absolutely pumped to get out for rifle season. The good times and comradery makes it an absolute blast, and it's a time I look forward to all year. I hunt in a pretty decent sized group, and the time between drives is almost as much fun as baggin' a buck. Plus it's cool because my dad and uncle (the unofficial leaders of the group) are really starting to set me up to take their place. They let me in on strategy talks and have me setting up drives as well as doing special "missions" (usually involving swinging way out into gnarly stuff and doing special routes). That kind of sounds like I'm a bitch on a football team. It's a bummer though because I have to work opening Saturday, which I was going to call in for, but my manager made me feel bad by apologizing that I have to work it and buying me lunch.

Anyways, hopefully I'll have some luck this year. It's been a while since I bagged a buck, I've missed some chances on some real dandies the last couple years, so hopefully this year is my time.

That's usually the best part of trips like that. I really enjoy muskie fishing in the fall with a big group of guys and just BS'n in the boat all day and having some beers at the bar or at the cabin in the evening. Never a lack of entertainment.