An Outdoorsman's Journal

The Red Brush Gang

Hello friends,

   This week and next I will be writing to you about the deer camp that I am a member of, "The Red Brush Gang," and all the fun that we have. Lots to write about so I had better get started.

   Saturday, November 22nd
   High 47, low 28

   We build a 36x18 pole barn on public land in The Meadow Valley Wildlife Area in northern Juneau County that we take down the last day of Wisconsin's deer gun season, this would be my 54th season in a row in which I have never missed an opener.
   Very bad luck came our way when my daughter Selina who drove all the way from Missoula, Montana became ill at 2:45 am. Selina had pretty serious health issues last May and June, we thought, hoped, that had passed especially after seeing a ton of specialists in Montana. I had no choice but to take her home, get the woodstove rocking and then had just enough time to drive, hike in 1.5 miles and start hunting. I got to my stand 11 minutes before the season opener.
   I did not see a deer today; my buddy Ryan Moll dropped a real pretty 7-pointer and was the only member of our group to pull the trigger. Well after dark I picked up Selina as she was better and I took her back to camp and I assured her that Sunday morning would be her opening day as I have never seen another hunter where Selina and I hunt.

   Sunday, November 23rd
   High 45, low 27

   Selina was better this morning and so we were up early and 1.5 miles later we were in our stands, I might add that the last 500-yards to our stands is real tough swamp country, hip boots are mandatory and falling comes easy in dense swamp. I had told Selina that at 9:30 if we had not seen any deer I was going to do a drive to her which would cover about 40 acres of tag alders and marsh grass. Just before I started the drive, I received a text from my brother Mike that he had dropped a real nice 7-pointer that was bigger than Ryan's which would put him in the lead for our big buck contest. I might add that last year we only harvested one deer in the first 3 days of the season.
   I had not been doing the push for more than five minutes when I heard the beautiful sound of Selina's BAR 30:06 in action. A minute later she called me and said buck down. I cannot tell you the joy that I felt after a tough fall for both my bear hunt and Selina and myself on our elk hunt.
   I finished the drive and we began searching for her buck which had been traveling in a swamp with marsh grass as tall as a human. After 30 minutes Selina found it and it would be one of our camps top bucks in our very long history, a beautiful 10-point with good mass and a body and face that told us it was at least a 4-year old.
   I would not let Selina help with the drag and I will admit, it about killed me, but had zero cares as I would have died with a smile on my face.

   Monday, November 24th
   High 44, low 29

       Today we start doing deer drives for the rest of the season and we would not be disappointed. I think there were 12 of us, we cover areas about a square mile in size and it is all hip boot travel. I kicked up a beauty right away and could not bring myself to shoot it as the only shot was the back of the head and he was running in the right direction to see him again. The action was nonstop for the next 2 hours with deer being kicked up. Four times the same buck I kicked up was spotted heading towards the standers.
   In the end the beautiful 8-pointer gave Nate Moll and Doug Cibulka a shot, and they both fired kill shots at the same time.
   Riley Schuster was confident that he had hit a broken horned 4 pointer, but we could not find it. We started our next drive which is in a hell hole and Derick Cibulka saw movement, a head, and found Riley’s buck just as it died. This my friends is a prime example of, just because there is no blood trail, it does not mean that you missed.
   The mood in camp is excellent, we have a dozen hunters between the age of 21 and 36 who have been bummed that we see less deer and more wolf. The action we had so far this season will keep this camp strong.

   Sunset