Named "Lord of the Prairie," the American bison once roamed the North America in numbers estimated between 30 million and 75 million. By the end of the 19th century, American bison were hunted to the brink of extinction with only an estimated 750 head remaining in North America by 1890. The American bison as a species were largely saved by the separate efforts of conservationist James "Scotty" Philip of South Dakota and two Montana ranchers, Charles Allard Sr. and Michel Pablo. The progeny of their small herds, along with the Yellowstone National Park wild bison herd, form the majority of the antecedents of today's American bison population which, according to the National Bison Association, stands at approximately 500,000-head.

Journalists often use the phrase “burying the lead”.  It means the reporter doesn’t mention the most important part of the story until the end.  Two reporters from the two largest newspapers in Minnesota have done just that over the past few weeks.  In fact, one of them has ignored the lead completely.  Minnesota has hired a new big game program leader.  The position manages the deer, elk, and moose programs.  Leslie McInenly started her new position within the DNR on November 15.  She was previously on staff with the Minnesota Forest Resources Council.  Before taking that position, McInenly spent four years studying elk in Alberta.  She majored in wildlife management and biology at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, one of the prestigious wildlife management schools in the country.

If we look at the above qualifications on paper, McInenly certainly deserves to be in the discussion for the job of managing the deer herd in Minnesota.  But there is one big problem.  McInenly has never hunted deer.  Sure, there are sales managers that have never worked in sales.  There is a good chance your boss has never done your job.  But this is deer hunting.  Hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans and several thousand non-residents hunt the state’s forests and fields for deer every year.  Now their hunt will be managed by someone who has never participated in a tradition they live for.

The funny thing is both Twin Cities newspapers make readers work to find out about this apparently unimportant nugget.  In fact, readers of the Minneapolis Star Tribune wouldn’t know about it at all.  The writer never mentions it in his story.  Dave Orrick of the St. Paul Pioneer Press does write about it but doesn’t bring it up until nearly the end of the story.  Here’s the most interesting part of Orrick’s story:

"Actually, I don't hunt," she said. "Obviously I'm not at all opposed to it. My father died when I was 10. A lot of people get hunting from a family tradition. I didn't have that opportunity. Just me personally, I'm not someone who joins groups of people I don't know, and hunting, it's always appeared to me, has involved groups of friends and family going out together. I've never been invited to a hunt."

She’s not at all opposed to it??  What a relief.  She’s not someone who joins groups of people she doesn’t know??  She just joined the fraternity of deer hunters whether she likes it or not.  According to Orrick’s story, she was never asked whether or not she hunted during the interview process.  That could be the most egregious statement in the story.  Why wouldn’t that be part of the interview process?  Isn’t that important?  It is to deer hunters.

But the story gets even better.  We’ve all seen political debates in which candidates are asked about specifics.  Orrick does a great job of doing just that.  When political candidates don’t know the answer or don’t want to be tied to one side of an issue they often side step the question.  Here’s McInenly’s answer when Orrick asks about deer management specifics:

"I don't think I'm in a position at this point to talk about specifics. I'm still getting up to speed. I am really eager to see how the harvest data looks in a lot of these areas, like the antler-point restrictions."

I applaud Orrick for asking McInenly these questions when it seems that no one else was willing to.  But I’m left to wonder why he waited until the closing paragraphs to reveal the answers.  Orrick is the outdoor reporter for the Pioneer Press and as a beat reporter it is often difficult to be critical of those you will deal with on a day-to-day basis.  Deer hunting probably isn’t as important as legislative issues or crime, but it is a big deal to many.

Perhaps McInenly will do great work in her new position.  I hope she takes on the challenge of hunting for the first time.  But until we see results, deer hunters should keep an eye on what is going on within the department.  We may be the only ones who are.

ForemostHunting.com ProStaffer Justin Davis recently tagged his best buck ever.  It is a big one by any measure.  Here is Justin's story.  

My 2012 season started off slow. After not taking a deer with my bow, and seeing very few deer in the first six days of the Wisconsin nine day gun deer season, my luck finally changed on Friday. The warm streak finally broke and the temperature dropped. Our mid fifty to sixty degree weather was replaced with low thirties and high winds, too windy to sit in a stand. My father, brother-in-law, and I were forced to sit on the ground that morning.

After a few hours, the wind and cold temps had taken their toll on my father who was the most exposed to the wind. We hunted as a team, as we always do.  Finally we decided that I would push some small brushy areas to try and move some deer. I worked my way down the hill, through the briars and brush. After nothing came out I went around the woods to come from a different angle hoping that the deer would run toward my father. After emerging onto the field and remarking to my team over the radio that there was nothing in the woods, we decided to head back in and try again later in the day.

Before going in, I checked my trail cameras to see if any deer were moving in the area. As I came to the camera I heard a crash in the brush, the sound of breaking branches. As I looked, I saw the buck running away. It happened so fast-I remember seeing the deer falling in the scope, but I don’t remember aiming or pulling the trigger. As my dad and I walked up on my buck together, we could see it’s rack a foot above the grass. I realized I had shot the biggest buck of my life.

As amazing as it was to shoot that deer, the reaction of my dad and my brother-in-law was even better.
They were just as excited as I was, cheering and hands shaking. They were happy for me as team
members should be, not jealous or envious. That is what hunting should be like.

Justin has a little history with this deer.  He has three incredible trail camera photos of this great deer from earlier this season.

The last four weeks have been a whirlwind and there is just one more week to go.  Instead of spreading out my hunting days throughout the season this year, I put all of my chips in from late October through November.  Three of the past four weekends have been four day hunting excursions.  This will be my last weekend in the field for at least a month.

As mentioned in previous blog posts, the ForemostHunting.com team is documenting the season by camera.  Our film project is titled The Stand.  My goal was to begin premiering episodes November 1.  I was able to produce the trailer for the video but unfortunately, the episodes are still in the works.  I’ve only been at home for four of the past 14 days… It’s been tough to get the time to put out the episodes I want to produce.  My new target date for the first episode is November 28.  I want the episode to reflect the effort we’ve put into it.  Rushing the project out doesn’t serve anyone.

To say it has been an exciting season is an understatement.  I have never spent this much time in the woods in November.  My friend Jason has been in the tree with me all season and we have seen some amazing sights.  Here is a short clip of a half rack buck that walked directly under our stand.  He arrived within a few minutes of putting down the rattling antlers.  You will see the tree in front of us shake just before he walks into frame.  He rubbed that tree before walking up to ours.  Very exciting stuff!


We nicknamed that buck “Hollywood”.  He just couldn’t get enough of the camera.  We filmed him once in late October and then three times on the day the video was shot.  We spent a lot of time hunting scrape lines this fall and we had several deer make scrapes in front of us.  The rut literally unfolded in front of us over the past few weeks.  In early November we noticed a lot of young bucks chasing does with very little movement from more mature bucks.  Last week the big boys started moving.  We identified at least four different mature bucks tending does in front of us.  Here’s a short video clip of a buck pursuing a doe.  Unfortunately for him, the doe he was looking for was piled up by an arrow about 30 minutes before he arrived.  There would be no love for him.


The rifle season opens this weekend.  Jason and I are looking forward to having a little more range this week.  We were teased by a few very nice bucks that skirted the edges of our effective archery range this past weekend.  The rutting cycle has surely changed since last week but we expect pressure from neighboring properties to help us out this weekend.  As is the case with hunting any time of year, you never know what will happen.  It will be fun and I can’t wait to share our season with you over the next few months.

Hunter trends are often a reflection of larger societal trends and the move to social media is no exception. A visit to Facebook or Twitter yields hundreds of thousands of hunters, hunting groups, and companies. I count myself among them. I often find myself in the midst of a debate on a number of issues including baiting, antler point restrictions, crossbow hunting, and “is this a shooter” type questions. By the way, if you’re asking, it probably is. One of the biggest hot button topics out there these days is wolf hunting. You will find very passionate people on both sides of the issue.
Recently, I engaged in a conversation with a wolf hunting opponent that seems to believe wolves have evolved in a very strange way. The only explanation I have for their thought process is that they believe wolves have decided to go vegan. Someone posted a trail camera photo of a group of young wolves scoping out what he says was an area a local farmer buried some dead calves. From there the conversation goes awry. Last names were covered to protect the silly.
Apparently, Lou didn’t see the pasture in the background of the photo. Jerimiah(original poster of the photo) is not amused. It gets better.
So Lou promises not to get into a contest which is disappointing. Luckily, Jim shows up.
Actually Jim, there is no law that says you must send cattle to a rendering plant. In fact, many farmers don’t because of increased regulations on rendering plants. But why would we let the truth get in the way of a perfectly good conspiracy theory. Jim says this photo looks way too good to be real. In fact, he informs us that it was altered. He knows this because of his super duper photo software.
Now that is damning evidence. No trail in the background means it can’t be a trail camera photo. Even if we assume Jim has this awesome software, he obviously is unaware that Facebook compresses your photos to save server space.  So Lou didn’t believe the photo was in cattle territory and Jim swears the photo has been altered. My question is this: Why is this photo so unbelievable to these people? Is it completely uncharacteristic for wolves to seek out a meal? This is what wolves do. They eat meat. Why would this photo need to be altered? There are probably hundreds, if not more, trail camera photos like this. Wolves eat dead livestock all the time.

The only reasonable explanation for this mind set is that wolves have obviously decided to go vegan. These three wolves are innovators. They want to be the friendly, cuddly wolves we see in cartoons. They hired a PR firm to change their image. They hired online reputation management people to hide The Grey from search engine results. Wolves will join deer in farm fields every night. Not to eat the deer but to share the delicious green foliage. Nature will finally live in harmony. Deer and wolf. Wolf and deer. Cattle will no longer be in danger. The sharks in Finding Nemo were trained that “fish are friends.” Wolves will sing to the same beat with different wording. “Cows are comrades.”

I’m not one to demonize wolves. They have a very specific and useful spot in our ecosystem and have for millions of years. However, we’ve had an unchecked population in the Midwest that has grown to unsustainable levels, biologically and sociologically. I understand why it pains these people that even one of these creatures will be killed by a hunter. But in the end, a managed population leads to a healthier population. They are right when stating no one hunted them 500 years ago and they managed to survive. To that I ask, does the landscape around you look as it did 500 years ago?

The Sportsman Channel and Pig Man: The Series is heavily promoting a new episode they call Aporkalypse Now. This new episode of Pig Man premieres Sunday, August 26 at 10 PM and features Pig Man Brian Quaca hunting wild pigs in Texas with Ted Nugent. Uncle Ted tends to bring attention, positive and negative, wherever he appears. But Nugent isn’t what is provocative about the episode. Quaca and Nugent hunt pigs from a helicopter with AR style rifles and Nugent is shown shooting pigs with an automatic rifle.

 I have to admit, it looks like a heck of a lot of fun. Shooting fully automatic guns out of helicopters is a dream I didn’t know I had. But after seeing it, I’d like to sign up. The out of control hog population is certainly something that needs to be dealt with. The abundance of wild hogs has led to disease, crop damage, and habitat destruction. Texas hunters donate millions of pounds of wild hog meat to food pantries. There is no doubt that killing hogs is a good thing.

 I’ve always been one to say, “if it’s legal, I’m OK with it.” For example, I’m not a fan of baiting for a variety of reasons. But if someone wants to bait and it’s legal, I have no problem with it. Utilizing a helicopter for hunting hogs makes it easier to find hogs quickly. The producers make it clear that a chase vehicle is rounding up the hogs for processing. I believe Quaca and Nugent are doing everything in their power to make both an entertaining television show and a quality hunt.

However, firing a gun out of a helicopter with great accuracy is next to impossible. Helicopters rigged for television are equipped with very expensive gear to maintain a steady camera shot. It is clear from the video that both Quaca and Nugent are essentially letting the lead fly. There is no doubt that more rounds are missing the pigs than are connecting. What are the odds the bullets that are connecting are hitting vital areas and making quick, clean kills? Deer drives are common in many locales and there is an art to shooting big game on the run. Some hunters master it. Others never figure it out. Buckshot is used where it is legal to increase the odds of a successful shot. If you’ve ever shot at driven deer or pigs, imagine making the same shots from a moving vehicle. Do you think you would be able to shoot accurately?

One of Uncle Ted’s signature lines is “Ethics Schmethics”. He likes being controversial and he’s not one to bow to what others think is the right thing to do. He is who he is and he does what he wants. That is why people love him(or hate him). I would have no problem with Ted and Quaca heading into the Texas plains with night vision scopes and laying waste to as many hogs as possible. But in my mind hunters owe one thing to the animals they pursue; a quick, clean kill. There are no guarantees in hunting, even from the ground. But I don’t believe you can reasonably expect to make a high percentage of accurate shots when shooting from a helicopter. We owe it to our quarry to have at least a reasonable expectation of a quick kill, even if they are pigs.

Turkey hunting is a tough endeavor. Even in states well known for great turkey hunting success rates often hover around 20 to 30 percent. In other words, 70 to 80 percent of hunters are going home without a bird. Dan Ellyson had some success hunting in Nebraska but struggled to find his stride in his home state of Wisconsin. Dan owns A-1 Archery in Hudson, WI and hunts all over Western Wisconsin. He gave it one last shot on the final day of the season. But Dan decided his blind just wasn't quite in the right spot. So he decided to move the blind about 200 yards for his evening hunt. Dan didn't realize his mistake until checking his trail camera over the weekend. In the first photo you'll see Dan picking up his blind. The second two were taken about an hour after he left. It was nice of that bird to throw in a little strutting for good measure. There's always next year!

Filming hunts all year long would be a real treat.  But we don’t have the budget to travel to the southern hemisphere during the summer and deer hunting in 90 degree weather just doesn’t sound like a good idea to me.  Besides, the Wisconsin DNR would definitely frown on that kind of thing.  But that doesn’t mean my camera gets a break.  I recently produced a DVD with Tom Dokken of Northfield, Minnesota.  Tom is a professional dog trainer with a worldwide reputation as one of the best in the business.

When it comes to working dogs, bird hunting is king and Tom is a leader in the sport.  However, he also has a passion for whitetails.  He has combined that passion with his dog training expertise to create a system for training dogs to find antler sheds.  This training DVD covers everything you need to get started.  One of the great things about training for shed hunting is you can begin training right in your backyard.  You won’t need live birds or a gun for shooting blanks.  There really isn’t much equipment needed at all.  If you already have a bird dog at home, cross training isn’t a problem.  Shed hunting isn’t going to mess up your bird dog.  This is just another opportunity to get into the field with your dog.  Hunting breeds are popular but any dog can be trained to find sheds.

Here’s a short clip from the DVD.  This is a simulated shed hunt with Tom and Rookie, his ace shed hunting dog.  This scenario is similar to what a trainer would set up for a dog who is getting ready for his first real shed hunting experience.  The idea is to build confidence in the dog by guaranteeing early success.



The DVD is hot off the presses!  I just delivered it to Dokken’s Dog Supply early this week.  But you can get your copy right now for $19.99 + s&h.  Give them a call at 507-744-2616.  If you want to win a free copy, simply use the comment box below and write “I want to win”.  I’ll randomly draw one winner this Friday afternoon.  Good luck!

A few days ago I wrote a post about the Facebook group "Save Wisconsin Hunting" and the political firestorm surrounding it.  At the end I noted that we didn't know where the group was located but judging by the hunting photos used, it probably wasn't Wisconsin.  None of the hunters were wearing backtags.  Sure enough, today I find out the website The Daily Kos is behind it.  I would like to ask you, the deer hunter, do you think a website based out of Berkeley, California really cares about deer hunting in Wisconsin?

I would say the Daily Kos is left leaning, but that would be a huge understatement.  Their sole mission with this issue is to use it to garner votes from hunters against Governor Scott Walker.  It's yet another case of an organization trying to pit hunter against hunter to advance a cause that either hurts hunters or has nothing to do with hunting.

If you disagree with Governor Walker's politics on issues like collective bargaining, vote for Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.  I'm not saying Governor Walker is "the" choice for governor.  I'm saying deer hunting should have nothing to do with who you vote for on June 5.  This "controversy" is a hoax.

There are a few new groups that have put their hat in the ring when it comes to fueling the Wisconsin recall efforts.  They have grasped on to an “issue” that is rarely used by them.  Wisconsin has a rich tradition of deer hunting and the over 600,000 Wisconsinites who hunt deer are a passionate crowd.  Polling data is showing Governor Scott Walker has a six to eight point lead over his challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.  That is certainly not insurmountable, but it doesn’t look good for those looking to oust the Governor.  What they need is to swing a few of Walker’s votes their way.

For the full background of this story, read Making Sense of The Dr. Kroll Controversy.  The short story is the Governor pledged to hire an outside consultant to look at Wisconsin’s deer management strategy in 2010.  Dr. James Kroll got the job.  Some people were critical of the hire but in my opinion it was generally lauded.  Kroll has over three decades of deer management experience.  He is quite possibly the most well known deer biologist in the country, certainly in the Top 3.  However, he does have ties to high fence operations(he owns a small operation and does consulting work for others) and that is the major hang up for most who disapprove.   But Kroll also does a lot of consulting work for organizations who hunt in much the same way Wisconsinites do.

This entire issue was almost exclusively a deer hunter issue until the past few weeks.  As the June 5 recall election drew near, these groups started getting desperate.  So they’ve brought forth a series of lies in attempt to garner support from deer hunters.  Sure, there are plenty of deer hunters who may be voting for Mayor Barrett anyway.  But it’s fair to say most of the deer hunting set are going to vote for Governor Walker.  The intent of these scare tactics is to get some of those people to swing over.

They have made claims about Wisconsin selling off hunting land and deer hunts that cost over $2,000.  The fact is neither Governor Walker, DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp, or Dr. James Kroll have the ability to sell public hunting land.  The funny thing is, it’s obvious these groups don’t know much about Wisconsin deer hunting.  Look at these photos.  They are screen shots from a face book page and a website.  Notice something missing with these hunters?




All of the hunters in these photos would have expensive Wisconsin deer hunts.  Not because Scott Walker made them pay $2,000 to hunt deer.  Because they would be in violation.  None of them have backtags.  These hunters obviously aren’t from Wisconsin.  Because of the way the groups are structured and their late entry into the game, we don’t know who these groups are.  But it will be interesting to find out.  It probably won’t be  a surprise.

On another note, Wisconsin is about to make the biggest public hunting land purchase in state history.  Pretty cool huh?

The last time I was at the hunting cabin back in February, I set out a trail camera. It was the first serious attempt at getting an idea of what wildlife passed through our woods. I knew I would get some deer photos. The camera was placed on a prominent trail. Due to chronic wasting disease, using bait or mineral blocks is against the law in our area. I was forced to use woodsmanship to select a good camera site. I know deer bed in the area and there are several trails in and out. I was confident I would get some photos.

 A few weeks passed and my dad headed out to the woods to retrieve the camera. After searching for an hour or so, he couldn't find it. A few weeks later, he tried again, this time with a friend. Still no camera. I was back in camp in late April, two months after placing the camera. I figured I would walk right out there and find the camera. I was wrong. After an hour of searching, the idea that someone stole the camera was feeling more and more like a reality. Three more guys were due in camp the next day and I decided to stay positive until we could form a four man search party.

 As a weekend of turkey hunting(which I'll document in a later post) came to a close, the four of us lined up and started walking in to the section of forest the camera was in. The walk didn't have much suspense. After walking less than 100 yards my buddy yelled, "found it!" I popped open the camera and pushed the tell tale button. The meter read 1467. I had the camera set for a three shot burst so that meant it was triggered almost 500 times. I couldn't wait to get back to the cabin to see the pictures and they didn't disappoint. The highlight of the photos was a nearly 80 shot sequence lasting about an hour and 45 minutes. A buck bedded down right in front of the camera. I put together a time lapse video of all the photos that lasts just over a minute. Pretty interesting stuff.



A few days later, another buck sprinted past the camera. There were also numerous photos of does looking around and bedding in front of the camera. I use a Primos Truth Cam Blackout. There is no sound or flash. But many of the deer were looking right at the camera. It was set on a tree that is directly on a trail and I'm sure this peculiar looking box captured their attention.
Deer were not the only visitors to the camera site. Plenty of turkeys also stopped by to say hello. In early March, the birds were still in their winter flocks. In late March, I got several pictures of lone gobblers making their way through the woods. This was nowhere near a field. Yet, gobblers passed by in full strut on numerous occasions.
There are deer and turkeys in a few of the photos. This one is a favorite. Here's a jake showing a yearling whitetail who is boss. I believe he is swearing at him in Turkish.
It wasn't just deer and turkeys looking for a meal in this spot. There are countless raccoon photos and one sequence with a coyote walking down the trail.
I have never hunted this spot but losing the trail camera for a few months gave me a great snapshot of all the activity in the area. This spot definitely will have a treestand hanging there this fall!

by Chris Larsen

After a two month hiatus, I made it back to the cabin this weekend. I loaded up the car with a few Edge by Expedite predator decoys, some guns, and my daughter. She’s just a few weeks shy of her first birthday and has already become a hunting camp veteran. Thankfully, Grandma is more than happy to get some time with Emma and graciously tends to the little one while I’m off gallivanting in the woods.

The plan called for some product testing for Edge by Expedite, venison sausage making, shed hunting, turkey scouting, looking for new deer stand sites, and pulling down a few stands that were left up from last season. But perhaps the best part of the trip was something that wasn’t planned at all. My dad has been cleaning up some of his buildings over the past few months. He made a few discoveries that I found incredibly interesting and I think Foremosthunting.com readers will too.

It turns out I’m not the first in the family with a passion for filming hunts. My grandfather hauled a film movie camera to Wyoming for several years. We pulled out a reel from 1968 and were shocked to find the film to be in incredible condition. What we were watching was nearly 45 years old. My dad turns 60 in less than a month and there he was… 16 year old him… shooting a mule deer in Wyoming. I don’t remember my grandpa with anything but grey hair. It was cool to see him as a strapping 40 year old man. He pulled deer up and down the Rocky Mountain foothills with ease. As the reel begins to grow small, the men of the camp start stacking deer on the roof of the camper shell. A half dozen mulies and a pronghorn were tied down. This was the norm in these days. No one worried about someone being offended.

Before heading back home, the crew paraded through Douglas, Wyoming with game on the roof and their camper in tow. I have to give Grandpa some credit for shooting these scenes. It took a visionary since there were no 24 hour outdoor cable networks to study 45 years ago. They stopped to do some fishing too. The cast-and-blast was complete with a bucket full of rainbows. My dad said these never made it back to Illinois. The fellas fried them up right along the shore. McDonalds was a long way from becoming an empire at that time. A heart-attack-in-a-sack wasn’t available. See that strapping fellow in the picture? That’s my dad at 16. If you look closely you can see the film projector we used. I will be sharing the movies with you in the next few months. It’s an incredible look back at a different era of hunting history.

This past deer season ended with just two deer on the pole all season, both killed by me. I took a young buck during archery season and a doe during the gun season. My dad and my friend Jason decided against shooting a deer this year. They still had venison in the freezer from the previous season and decided it would be a big buck or nothing this year. My supply was exhausted but I didn’t need that excuse. The way I see it, deer season is for getting a deer. If I find myself with surplus venison, I’ll go into hyper venison eating mode! Last year we made 125 pounds of sausage. This year, just 45 pounds. Not bad considering we cut three roasts out of the buck’s hind quarters.

Our deer season ended abruptly and there were a few stands left trees. The stand in the photo was dubbed “The Rut Buster”. I spotted five bucks from that stand this year, but just one came close enough to put an arrow through. After pulling it down, we found a perfect tree closer to where the elusive bucks walked past. If they follow the same path next season, we’ll be putting meat in the freezer and a mount on the wall! The two hangers were in really good shape but my ladder stand had sunk deep into the mud. The ladder pulled away from the seat section making it a little exciting to take down.

Of course, the main even of the weekend was coyote hunting. Edge by Expedite is headquartered just up the road from my house and I’ve made a few contacts there. They have a new management team and were more than happy to allow me to test some of their new products. Look for reviews on our coyote hunting site soon. My dad & I hunted two different sets on Saturday without seeing a coyote. Jason arrived Saturday afternoon. We presided over three more sets before calling it a day. Again, no coyotes. We scoured the area for sheds as well. No dice there either.

Sunday morning I spotted something on the horizon that I thought could be a coyote. I soon realized it was a gobbler in full strut. Moments later, his entourage appeared. Thirty turkeys passed through the field. A spectacle for sure. I dozed off for a quick power nap and was awakened by Jason in short order. A dozen deer burst from the woods into the field. Three bucks were in the group, all with their antlers intact. Nutrition is a big factor in the timing of sheds dropping. The farmer who tends our property lost a lot of corn this year. A wind storm knocked the stalks down in late summer and they were still crooked when the harvester went through. A warm winter and plenty of corn left in the fields squashed our shed hunting efforts this weekend.

Our next coyote setup was deep in the woods right between two areas I’ve seen coyotes before. Nothing showed up but we did see a Pope & Young class buck retreating from the ridge. Again, both antlers were secured to his head. It was fun to see four bucks we’ll be hunting next year survived the season and most of the winter. We did spot a yearling and a doe carcass in the woods. The northern edge of the property skirts a major highway. Unfortunately, finding a dead deer or two in the woods is a yearly occurrence.

We ended up with eleven total coyote sets for the weekend. We hunted field edges and deep woods sets with the same lack of success. I guess 45-to50 degree weather in mid-February isn’t conducive to successful coyote hunting. Or maybe they just know why we’re in the woods. During archery season I had several nice bucks well inside gun range. During gun deer season two coyotes were in the scope but I passed on both. Deer season has been closed for a month and big bucks are running all over. I was confident we could get a kill on video for the guys from Edge. We’ll keep going for it. Maybe those coyotes I passed on fell to the neighbors. Hopefully, the turkeys can make it through nesting without being harassed by yotes. With a year round season, we’ll be at it again soon. Either way, the weekend was a blast. It was nice to be back in the woods again.

The following is a commentary by foremosthunting.com's Chris Larsen. It does not necessarily reflect the views of foremosthunting.com.

The big news for Midwest hunters last week was the delisting of the Great Lakes gray wolf population. The move puts management of gray wolves back in the hands of state wildlife managers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. This authority has been something state agencies have been asking years for. Currently, state agencies have no authority to use lethal means to deal with problem wolves. By the end of January, they most likely will.

This isn’t the first time we’ve been down this road. This is the third time since the millennium the Great Lakes gray wolf has been delisted from the Endangered Species list. Each of the previous two times it was relisted. This is, for lack of a better term, a bunch of hooey. There are more than 4,000 wolves residing in these three states. That is three times the wolf population of the Northern Rockies. In my home state of Wisconsin, the original management plan called for about 350-400 wolves in the state. Biologists believed the maximum carrying capacity of the state’s habitat and resources would be around 500 wolves. The current Wisconsin population is estimated at over 750 wolves.

There is no good science for continuing to protect the gray wolf as an endangered species. This doesn’t protect common sense from dolts with lawyers and judges who are duped by them. The Humane Society of the United States is one of the key opponents to wolf delisting and they have deep pockets and good lawyers. The big question is, assuming the gray wolf remains delisted, what is next?


The first step should be allowing state agencies to use deadly force on wolves depredating on livestock or nuisance wolves that roam near homes. Most wolves want nothing to do with people and there are plenty of deer for them to eat in the woods. Right now, state agencies can’t use lethal tactics. That leaves them with strategies meant to scare wolves away from farms and homes. Fladry is a common tactic. The instrument in the photo is a siren that goes off every 30 seconds or so. Would you like to live next to that? After a while wolves acclimate themselves to these things and eventually ignore them. If we start shooting problem wolves, fellow pack members will either move away from farms and homes or end up falling to the gun or trap as well.

While many people like the idea of being able to hunt wolves, if we’re going to be true stewards of the land and resources, I would like to see the results of nuisance hunts first. For example, lets say there are nearly 800 wolves in Wisconsin and the initial management goal is 600 wolves. If we sell 200 wolf tags and they are randomly killed throughout the state, did we really manage the population responsibly? Wouldn’t we rather kill problem wolves and leave those who are doing what wolves naturally do to continue doing it?

On the other hand there are those who say every wolf is a problem wolf. Many salivate at the prospect of being able to hunt a wolf. Perhaps we could create a system with 150 nuisance wolf kills and 50 hunter tags per season. If we did a drawing for these tags the difference between having 200 tags in the drawing and 50 in the drawing is pretty minimal. The odds would be thin either way. Charge $5 to be in the drawing. That would raise a lot of money to help pay for wolf damage. Perhaps take one of those tags and auction it off. The state of Iowa does this with one buck tag every year and makes between $5,000 and $10,000 on the tag. And that’s a tag that you can get every three or four years no matter what. The state could probably make $10K by auctioning one wolf tag per year. I think this would be a good compromise that would show good, responsible stewardship while keeping agriculture and hunting interests happy.

As long as the courts don’t stop it, state agencies will begin managing wolves by the end of January. We’ll get a good idea of what the future of wolf management will look like at that point.

After years of chasing waterfowl and whitetails with firearms, this season I decided to get into archery hunting. Instead of just killing a deer with the bow, I decided to make my hunts even more challenging by filming them. My good friend, Jason Oswald, has been generous enough to offer his time and efforts to film my hunts. On the way, he has also become addicted to bow hunting lifestyle. This was our first season of hunting from elevated stands and it has been exciting. Seeing deer from above while they have no idea you are there is a thrill. I arrowed my first deer a few weeks ago. One of the cool things about getting into archery hunting is the welcome I have received from fellow hunters. Dozens of emails flooded my inbox after releasing the video of my hunt. The following message is from my friend, Matt Appel. After a hearty congrats, he shared the story of his most recent hunt. Matt is a new daddy this year. Check out the photo at the end of the story.

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I curbed my addiction this year by taking a buck I normally would of passed up, but it was on public land, the first time into the area, and it was a fun hunt. I got in my stand, watched a storm front move in, put up my umbrella, sat there and thought “well I'm not going to see anything this morning.” Luckily, the front passed with out a drop of rain. Then I heard some leaves kicking up and looked up to see the buck walking right from where I had walked in 45 minutes before. I looked behind him as he got to 30 yards for a bigger buck, drew, looked behind him again, then settled on him as he passed broadside at 18 yards and figured I would spend some more time with the family this year, then released.

The arrow hit hard and disappeared while the buck bolted out of the woods and into a prairie grass field. As I was getting down from my stand I had a black lab come running in from where the deer went. I looked up to see a pheasant hunter walk by the little wood lot I was in. I hollered over to see if he had seen a deer in the direction he came from. He said “yeah, he's laying right over there!” He walked me over and showed me the deer. He said he tried to stay away from the woods he thought I was in. I told him not to worry, “I was bird hunting out here 2 days ago!” He congratulated me and continued on his way.

While getting my tag out for the buck, I looked up through the prairie grass, and here came another buck walking up on me. He looked me up and down, and just turned and walked in the same direction the pheasant hunter had walked 15 minutes before. I walked my stuff back to my truck, as the pheasant hunter finished up his hunt and managed a nice ring neck. I stripped off my long johns and headed back to the deer. After a 30 minute drag, I had him loaded up and was home 10 minutes later for a nice little breakfast. After 3 years of losing two wallhangers to misplaced shots, and not drawing on one last year, it was very gratifying to tag a 125 lb buck. - Matt Appel, Wisconsin Deer Hunter

No matter how many hours we put in at the range, not every arrow is going to land exactly where it is intended during a hunting situation. Sometimes nerves are the culprit. Sometimes the arrow is deflected by vegetation or a twig. Sometimes we just plain miss for no explainable reason. Every hunter I have met would rather miss completely than mortally wound or injure an animal without recovering it. Everyone preaches the “wait it out” strategy for wounded deer. But how much time is enough? Even if you allow enough time for a deer to expire, you may not recover the deer in the condition you expect. Such is the case for Minnesota hunter/photographer Matt Addington.

Matt recently sat high above a clearing near the Big Sioux River in South Dakota while waiting for a whitetail to make a mistake. Across the river from him is Northwest Iowa. The Hawkeye State is well known for monster bucks. But South Dakota is no slouch and these river bottoms are home to their share of trophy animals. As Matt’s evening sit played out, a stocky ten pointer appeared under his stand. At just five yards away, the angle created a difficult but still more than ethical shot. After the arrow zipped through the buck, Matt determined his shot penetrated just one lung. He decided to leave him undisturbed for a while.

After four hours of wait time, the trailing began. As he anticipated the opportunity to put his hands on this SoDak whopper, his fears were realized. The buck popped up out of his bed and darted off. A sleepless night ensued. The next morning Matt was back on the blood trail. This time his buck would not escape. In fact, he was just a portion of what he was the evening before. Coyotes made a meal of the great buck’s hind quarters and entrails. If Matt had not found his buck, there is no doubt they would have been back the next night to finish the job. Who knows, he may have bumped the coyotes off the deer as he tracked. Mother Nature doesn't let anything go to waste. Still, it is sad to kill a deer like this and not be able to enjoy the meat. Kudos to Matt for sticking with it and finding his deer.



Thanks to Matt Addington for the photos and willingness to share his story. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattAddington

For more information on coyote control, visit foremostcoyotehunting.com

The deer woods are undergoing a massive and dramatic change. Fresh buck sign began popping up a few weeks ago and deer movement is picking up. The October new moon is just a few days away and deer are responding. It is quite likely that a small percentage of does will begin going into estrous this week. Bucks are already starting to change physically. Case in point, this photo submitted by Paul Korn of Tombstone Creek Outfitters in Northern Missouri. Look at the neck on that stud buck. He is already displaying the classic “rutted up” look of a thick necked goliath.

Paul also says he’s seeing a lot more daytime buck pictures on his many trail cameras. This big eight pointer has no problem walking right out in the open during late afternoon hours. Most hunters equate the rut with the best time to hunt big bucks. After all, they are on their feet and moving at all times during the day in an attempt to breed as many does as possible. However, the pre-rut may be the best time to hunt, especially if you’re the type of hunter that keys in on buck sign like rubs and scrapes. As foremosthunting.com’s Will Allen writes in his latest story on pre-rut hunting, during peak rut bucks are too busy breeding does to tend to rub lines and scrapes.

Of course, the best part of this change is the October hunting doldrums are coming to an end. The next month of deer hunting will likely be the best hunting we’ll see north of the Mason-Dixon Line. I’m hearing a lot of reports of successful hunts. What’s even more exciting is that many of these successes are on trophy bucks. Foremosthunting.com’s Tyler Hinner connected on a dandy Northwoods 10 pointer over the weekend. Killing a big buck in late October is becoming a tradition for Tyler. He took a meaty 10 pointer last season around the same time.

After deer hunting solely during firearms seasons in the past, I have started archery hunting this year. I was lucky enough to pass up several shot opportunities on opening weekend back in September. Temperatures were warm and I didn’t want to butcher a deer unless it was a trophy class deer. Since then I have been out chasing waterfowl and upland birds and just haven’t put a lot of time in deer hunting. In mid-October I sat in the tree for a few evenings and one morning hunt without seeing any deer move through. I spooked some bedded deer coming in and out of the stand but haven’t had as shot opportunity in five weeks. I’ll be spending three full days in the woods this weekend and look forward to having a chance at my first archery deer. With cooler temperatures moving in this week, I’ll be hunting meat from the outset. The first deer in range of my bow is in serious trouble! Good luck, and please share any of your successes in the comments section.

by Chris Larsen
This is the 2nd post in a multi-part series on Huntography: Filming America’s Hunters One At A Time.

When I saw the map detailing the Huntography 2011 Deer Tour I immediately noticed the route went right through my hunting area. After a quick email to Rudy from Huntography to confirm dates and the route, we were all set. If you don’t know about Huntography, check out my last post. To put it simply, Rudy is traveling east from Colorado to film hunts with 19 different hunters in 12 states. The idea is to capture what hunting is all about from regular hunters, not the guys from big budget TV shows.

My location and timing were perfect for a quick stop on the Deer Tour. Rudy plans to arrive in camp on the evening of Saturday, October 15. He will likely be coming off the road after 12 hours of driving, so I don’t plan to work him too hard. We’ll have dinner, tell stories, and perhaps shoot some interviews. My dad will head off for his favorite turkey field Sunday morning as Rudy and I sneak into the woods for a rendezvous with a whitetail. My dad doesn’t bow hunt so chasing whitetails outside of the gun deer season is off limits to him. He’s more than happy to wait for fall gobblers.

Up until this season, that was my game as well. I am rookie bow hunter this year. The opportunity to chase some of the giant whitetails on our property for more than 10 days a year is just too much to pass up. I’ve watched them move through the woods confidently as I sat still with a turkey gun on my lap. Two years ago I sat in the woods for two days during the rut. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. A few weeks later, one of the bucks I saw that weekend hit the ground. They are out there. I just need to put in the time to get my chance.

I recently purchased a Parker Trailblazer XP from A1 Archery in Hudson, Wisconsin. Dan Ellyson has put together an awesome package with the Trailblazer XP. First off, the bow originally retails for $499. He has a deal on this bow right now for $250. This single cam arrow launcher is IBO rated at 310 fps. It’s an incredible bow at a great price. This deal is good for all readers of foremosthunting.com. Dan ships anywhere in the US. He has an accessory package that is just as good. For $109, I added on a 3 pin Trophy Ridge sight, Trophy Ridge whisker bisquit rest, Bohning quiver, Truglo Stabilizer, peep, and string loop. I also picked up a half dozen Easton Carbon Storm arrows for $35. So for under $400, I now have a certified deer-to-venison conversion machine. I’ll have more details on my equipment in a future post. By the way, Dan has helped me go from newbie to competent archer in no time. Over the weekend I grouped three arrows inside of 3 inches at 30 yards. It was the first time I have shot at thirty yards and my bow is shooting tacks!

Back to the hunt… I have chosen three stand sites for this season. In addition, I have recently acquired a climber so if I need to switch it up it’s not a problem. This is the third season of hunting this property and I feel confident in these spots. The three blue triangles on the map represent my stand sites. The red lines are the property boundaries and the yellow lines are fence lines within the property. The white lines are roadways. The yellow triangle is our cabin. I have two refuge zones. The north one gets driven on the final day of the season. The east refuge has never been walked in by anyone in our hunting party, ever. That doesn’t mean someone else hasn’t. But it gets very low pressure. The corn is still quite green and probably won’t get picked until November. There will be some standing corn well into mid-November but usually a few rows are cut by then. This would logically be a big hindrance for our hunting success but so far, it has not been. Deer use the forest as safe travel routes from field to field. There are cattle trails along the fence lines that deer frequent as well. I plan to utilize these as ambush points throughout the season.


The southeast stand sits on a small funnel going into the main valley. This point is the top of a small ridge. On the map you can see a little brown spot in the field just below the stand site. That brown spot is a wash that forms a bowl. There is a lot of space below the barbed wire fence for deer to cross under at that point. Deer then use this crease to walk into the main valley. I have also seen deer cruising the trail that runs parallel with the fence line. Bucks are probably scent checking the does in the field along this trail. The road to the west of this tree line is down in a valley and vehicles can not see the forest edge. Deer feel safe here. There are several benches just inside the forest from here and the orchard across the road offers good eating for deer with a sweet tooth. Baiting is illegal in this area, making natural food sources dynamite. This is the main entry point into the woods from the property to the west of us.

The stand site just north of this one sits on what we call “The Hot Corner”. Nearly every time I walk into The Hot Corner I see deer. There are several fingers leading into this area from adjoining properties and ours. Nearly every deer trail in this woods eventually leads to The Hot Corner. It stacks up. I don’t think there is a bad wind or a good wind for this site because deer literally come from all directions to get here. There is a 90% chance this is where the opening day of the 2011 Huntography Deer Tour will take place.

The stand to the east sits along a fence line overlooking a cornfield and a corner of the woods. Probably not the most ideal place to hunt when the corn is standing. But in reality, the standing corn makes this place what it is. There is a crease that runs from the creek on the southeast boundary through the center of the refuge directly to the northwest corner of the refuge boundary. You can also see the clearing in the woods separating the refuge woods from the main woods and my stand site. Deer walk along the fence from the refuge right to my stand site before jumping the fence into the other refuge area. I have seen several large bucks run this path and found two dead bucks this spring in this area. When bucks are injured, they usually go where they feel safe. This is the spot. The fence should serve as a natural speed bump. When they stop before jumping the fence, I’ll launch an arrow. The corn serves as a natural buffer. It is planted right up to the fence and prevents deer from jumping over until they walk in front of my stand. It is all part of my diabolical plan! Muh hah hah hah! If we’re going to see a trophy buck at any of these stand sites this is the place. It is also a great doe site. That little clearing in the north refuge is known as “The Cave”. Deer load up in there. During last year’s season ending drive I pushed at least two dozen deer out of The Cave. As Ferris Bueller says, “I highly recommend it.”

I can already envision our day on the stand. It’s a crisp autumn morning. Just before the morning dew greets the rising sun, a flash of antler appears. A thick wide ten pointer is walking the saddle of the ridge on his way to destiny. Rudy has the Huntography camera pointed in his direction, recording this big fella’s every step. As he walks below my stand and into range, nothing happens. I watch him walk in and out of range with a wide grin on my face. It is exciting to see deer like this walk below your stand. But I never lift my bow. No reason for it. This Sunday morning marks the final day of the antlerless deer season in our area. We couldn’t shoot a Booner if we wanted too.

Yep, I read the 2011 deer regulations a few weeks ago and was not a happy camper. I planned to hunt Friday and Saturday before Rudy arrived to scout. I would only shoot if a “can’t pass it up buck” walked under the stand. I would wait until Sunday’s Huntography shoot to take anything less. Now I will still be in stand Friday and Saturday. But only to film. I have no desire to kill two does in one weekend. If I’m going to take a doe that weekend it will be with Rudy. Unless something crazy happens, I know we can get a doe in range in The Hot Corner within a few hours. I’ll let Rudy decide how long we wait. We can sit all day and get some great footage of deer moving through the area or kill the first one in range and relax a bit before he hits the road to Green Bay. We’ll play it by ear and enjoy the day. Even if we can’t kill a buck, it will still be a great time.

If you’re trying to figure out what this “antlerless” season is all about, here is the skinny. Chronic Wasting Disease was discovered in Southwest Wisconsin in 2001. Since then, state deer managers have worked hard to reduce the size of the herd in the area. They essentially put a target on every deer in the state. Their efforts to reduce the size of the herd worked great, in the northern part of the state where there is no CWD. The southern portion of Wisconsin is primarily privately held. Most people continued to hunt with the attitude of more deer is better.

The state instituted what is called “Earn-A-Buck”. Basically, it means that you are not allowed to shoot an antlered deer until after shooting an antlerless deer. This rule applies to archers and gun hunters. To make it more appealing, the state gave gun hunters an opportunity to kill an antlerless deer before the regular gun deer season by creating the early antlerless season. Ten years later population densities are still high, CWD is still present, and people still hate Earn-A-Buck. Bowing to political pressure, this year the DNR is allowing hunters to kill either sex for their first deer. However, if you kill a buck first, you must kill an antlerless deer before killing another buck. It really didn’t matter to me, but this has made a lot of folks pretty happy. Personally, I would rather have seen deer managers manage the herd, not the hunters. The DNR allowed the previous year’s doe kill to count for the following year if you didn’t get a buck. There are plenty of does around and most property owners don’t manage them unless they are forced to. This was clearly a political maneuver.

The unfortunate part is that even though the antlerless requirement is relaxed, they still kept this stupid early antlerless season. I’m usually a guy who applauds any extra opportunity to hunt. However, it’s usually so warm that people don’t want to shoot deer. And secondly, and more importantly, this season imposes a blaze orange requirement on everyone who hunts. Ever try to hunt turkeys wearing blaze orange? It doesn’t work. I’m firmly convinced that deer can not see blaze orange if you take the glare off of it. I’ve had deer literally walk right up to me when wearing blaze orange, even when sitting on the ground.


Remember the big buck I talked about at the beginning of this story? Here he is. He came within 15 yards of a hunter sitting on the ground wearing a blaze orange jacket & cap. But do we really need this season anymore? It literally cancels four days of turkey season and puts an unnecessary burden on bow hunters. The middle of October isn’t exactly prime time for hunting. But I would guess more people are negatively affected than take advantage of the early hunt, especially after the EAB restrictions have been relaxed.

So when you get your Huntography 2011 DVD next year remember, the guy bow hunting in blaze orange isn’t stupid, his state is.