An Outdoorsman's Journal

  Fun on the Bowhunt

Hello friends,

   The Tiffany Bottoms is a wildlife area that covers about 13,000 acres, and is divided by the Chippewa River and in Buffalo and Pepin Counties. Much of this property is very difficult on foot due to marshes, flooded and down timber and very few roads. I love to bow hunt it while camping and travel to my hunts by canoe.

   Thursday, September 18th
   High 83, low 50

   The challenges of aging and beating the sun clock can be a constant if you are an outdoor writer. Today would include travel, building a camp, canoeing to the area that I would hunt, setting up 3 climbing sticks and a portable stand and as soon as that those tasks are complete, breathing easy and once again, telling myself that I love this way of life/job.
   The hanging of a stand conversation is one that anyone that has hung a portable is well aware that you have to be good and lucky. One stick at a time, climb, hang another and when that is complete, hang the stand. Next you test the stand and then you hunt, simply put, I love it and at 64 I am well aware that someday I will have to hunt the ground.
   I have 2 crossbows and do not know how to use them or care. I’m still a compound guy and well aware that will come to an end as well.
   My hunt on this given day was perfect and interesting, to describe the lay of the land is like this, dense tag alders on a trail that deer cross coming from a flooded woods that is very difficult to walk. I hunt the tags as there are no other options and, in most cases, I cannot see my quarry until it is 10 to 20 yards away. That game is very cool and often I get busted as I am too close before I realize there is a deer.
   My freezer is down to maybe 10 pounds of venison steaks at best. On this annual expedition I like to put an arrow in a doe to make some fresh meat but that was not an option as I am bear hunting and soon will be elk and deer hunting with my daughter Selina in Montana. In other words, I have to think freezer space.
   I had a group of 3 beautiful doe come about 25-yards from me which is about my maximum range that I am comfortable. They were given a pass. An hour before dark a large but skinny doe and a fawn came within 8 yards and were also given a pass. Twenty minutes before sunset 2 sumo doe gave me ample time and 14-yards shots and I said it is your lucky day ladies. I did kind of wonder why I only saw one fawn for 6 mature doe.
   My canoe trip back to camp often is just as enjoyable as the hunt for me. When I reach a narrow spot in the marsh, I pass a beaver hut and the local beaver family literally gets as close as they can and splashes their tails on the water in warning to others. It’s actually hilarious if you do not let it scare you.

   Saturday, September 20th
   High 84, low 58

   Lots of good things happening these days, I passed a father and his daughter in the dark this morning who were set up for the youth duck hunt and we had a nice talk. At the end of the day my stepson Travis Dushek would be successful in helping his 8-year-old stepson Jett Shaban on his first buck which was a 6-pointer. Travis is doing an excellent job as a dad, coaching in wrestling and baseball and teaching lots of outdoor skills.
   My deer action would slow down and I kept thinking of an option where I could hunt in this area, the water, mud and task of getting a deer out from most of the spots in this area limit me.
   Today I had a serious brainstorm, there is an area on the marsh where on both sides there is dense forest that is all tag alders and you cannot see what is on the ground from a tree. I am well aware that deer cross the open and shallow water between the forests and there sure was a lot of sign. My brainstorm has me hiding my canoe in the cattails and hunting from it. A very unique method of hunting and I could position my canoe according to the wind. To be honest though, this hunt was over, I became very excited and to really make me feel good, later in the adventure I was paddling by this spot and I saw a beautiful buck that was crossing the swamp.
   I’m a canoe guy, does not matter if it’s on the Mississippi, Lake Michigan, Green Bay or a swamp. I prefer paddling to a motor, I think I came up with what will be a very fun idea and you will have the chance to read about it in the future.

   Live till your heart quits pumping!

   Sunset