Well, another deer season has come and gone. It seems like months leading up to deer season take forever and the season never seems to get here… then all of a sudden its here and done before you know it. We have so much fun and make so many memories with family and friends.
Our Whitetail season in the far Northwest Minnesota (Karlstad) runs from November 5th through November 13th. Some other areas in the state have 3 weeks to hunt but of course not ours! I’m not sure if my body can handle 3 weeks of “hunting” season. I usually stick to a pretty good diet and on a regular schedule when at home, but when we head North to the cabin the diet gets left on the porch at home. So here is our two weekends of hunting.
The Friday before season is a day to get things packed up. My 18 year old son Blake gets a “get out of school” pass and we get groceries, ammo, hand warmers, treats and clothing ready for the big hunt. This year we got everything packed in the truck and were about to leave when I realized we hadn’t packed our guns! You can see how important that part of the hunt is to us. So we finally get on the road by 1 pm and start our trek 45 minutes North to Karlstad.
We pull into the cabin at about 2pm and get settled in. It was a gorgeous sunny day and about 60 degrees so we decided to go check out our deer stands. It was good that we did! My portable 16′ high tripod stand had tipped over in the wind. So we spent the next couple hours getting that back up and ready. Its an old stand that I’ve had for years and its getting pretty beat up from getting blown over. It once had a nice top to protect me from the elements and a skirt to help block the wind and conceal me a bit. The top is now just some busted up metal with no roof.. the skirt is gone but I’ve replaced that with some old carpet remnants. Once we got it back up, Blake crawled up the ladder and all he said is the my stand was “sketch”… meaning not very nice. Everyone else in our hunting party sits in enclosed stands with windows and heaters.. not me. I love to be out in the open with lots of vision and be able to hear. I get a little closer to the warms stands each year.. must be old age setting in.
Once the work was done, it was time to kick back and relax. We turned the fireplace on and had some supper. After supper my brother Chad and my nephew Drew (13) arrive. Everyone was getting all their hunting clothing set out for morning and talking about what we were hoping to see. Once that was all set and ready, we bring out the dice box, a few adult beverages for us, pop and treats for them and shake dice for quarters. The kids love this and before you know it, its midnight and we need to get to bed… the alarm is going to go off at 6am!!
Opening morning is here!!! Alarms are going off throughout the cabin.. we all get downstairs likes its Christmas Day and santa has been there! We get the coffee pot going, make a few slices of toast.. my dad/grandpa shows up (he lives near by) to hear the plan etc. and we are off! Chad, Drew, Dad and Blake ride of into the dark woods on ATV’s while my dad I head out in the darkness by foot and a little flashlight strapped around my head. (around my neck in picture) My sketchy tripod stand is a little less than a half mile from the cabin and a great walk. I hear Coyotes howling in the distance which makes me walk a little faster than normal and before you know it, I’m at my stand. Still pitch black and can’t see a thing. I finally get up and in there, get everything ready to go and just sit back and admire the gorgeous morning and all the bright stars… it was amazing. It wasn’t long and the sky to the East would start to lighten up and I could start to use my most important sense.. my vision!
In the picture, you can see a small buck (male) coming up from behind me! Once it got light, I had deer walking all around me. It was so neat. Why not shoot? Well, we have decided to let these smaller deer go and wait for the bigger bucks.. QDM we call it, which stands for quality deer management. I had a total of 4 deer walk right by me on this opening morning and most of them walked right by Blake as well. His stand is about 600 yards across the field from me. It was fun to see Blake be patient and just enjoy the beauty of these animals. I have to be honest, its not easy to just sit back and let them walk by… I love venison and my freezer is empty! Chad, Drew and dad all saw deer on this beautiful morning but nothing to call ours.
I checked my phone and it was already 8:30am.. deer were gone so I sent out a text saying it was time for breakfast! We all head back to the cabin to talk about the morning hunt and get our bellies filled up. Everyone was excited about all the deer movement and couldn’t wait to see what the evening sit would produce. I’m the camp cook and I love it! My brothers cabin has a restaurant style grill and its amazing. (I’m trying to get a pic loaded of it.. but) So the first morning I make breakfast burritos! Scrambled eggs with onions, green peppers, mushrooms and sausage… I pack them full of small Tator Tots and my special cheese sauce… they were amazing! Fattening as ever, but amazing. Everyone got filled up and had some coffee and hot chocolate! Breakfast was done and cleaned up and it was time to relax and let the food settle. After a nap and some more dice shaking.. it was time to head for the stands for the evening hunt.
It was very warm for this time of the year. Again it was in the upper 50’s while I walked out to my stand and almost to warm for meat to hang if a person were to harvest an animal. I get out to my stand and it felt like I was in paradise. Sunny, no wind, birds were singing.. it was just so relaxing. About an hour before sundown the deer started moving again and we had several small bucks and a handful of does and calves walk right by us. Again, nothing that fit the bill but was fun calling them in and watching them in their wild habitat. They are very smart and have a very keen sense of smell! I think one of them could smell the burritos on me! The sunset on this evening is still etched in my mind.. unreal. (I hope to figure out how to get these pics uploaded for you) The sun went down and the darkness was approaching fast.. so it was time for me to start the long walk back in the dark.
Once we all get back to the cabin the stories began to flow… one had seen a buck this big, another seen a bigger one but not big enough.. As they talked about the evening hunt, I started to get supper ready. Earlier in the day I had put a bunch of chicken, potatoes, carrots, onions and a stick of butter in a big roaster.. that had been in there for about 5 hours and was almost ready!! The cabin smelt so good when we walked in.. our bellies were ready for another filling! It was also time for the cook to have a ice cold beer and get the dishes out. Once again, everyone dished up and filled up on a great meal. The chicken was falling off the bone and the potatoes that had been swimming in butter were amazing. I as well as everyone else, ate way too much and could barely move after eating. We got everything cleaned up once again and then it was time to kick back in front of the fireplace and once again, let the food settle. What diet?
We spent the night talking about our kids, our families and how life gets so busy at our age. Blake will graduate next Spring. I can’t believe how time flies and thats what I was telling my brother. He has three wonderful kids between the age of 8 and 15.. its nice to just sit back for a minute and be thankful for the wonderful families that God has provided for us. I also have a daughter Ashley who is 24, married and has our little grandson Brevyn who is 15 months old! I can’t believe how awesome it is to be a grandpa!!!! I’m kinda getting off track here.. oh well, I can’t wait to get him out of school soon and bring him with to camp. Its funny when you get away from your normal diet and busy life at home, that you find time to be thankful for what you have in your life. Its not always about the hunt.. its more about the time spent together and the memories we produce.
Ok, so we finally get the food settled in and the kids want to shake dice again! So off the couch and into the kitchen table to see how many quarters I have left from the night before.. lucky enough I had enough to play. Its a lot of fun to see the kids laughing and enjoying themselves.. I think I lost 5 dollars in quarters this night but had a million dollars worth of fun. Before we knew it, it was 1:00 am and our alarms were going to go off in 5 hours.. time to head to bed. I did have one more shake for a dollar with the kids before heading off to bed.. which I lost 🙂
Stay tuned for day 2 of the opening weekend…….
p.s. I will try and get more pics loaded. -cross your fingers. 🙂
Handy Grandpa 