Steve Bartylla will bring you along as he bowhunts Wisconsin's Bluff Country Outfitters

Bluff County Outfitters

Day 2 - 11/13
Morning: Overcast, light breeze and high 20s.

I arrived at stand #I well before first light. After uncovering and setting up decoy, applied some Special Golden Estrus to wicks positioned between its legs and high in a tree along field edge. At first light I caught movement along the southeast trail I had seen deer traveling the evening before. Before 11 o’clock rolled around, I saw 16 deer, all well out of bow range on the southeast trail. I climbed down to scout and relocate my stand. After picking up my scent wicks and stashing the decoy, I went to check my mock scrape. Sometime during the evening a big boy dropped in. 4 tracks were clearly visible in the scrape measuring a smidge over 3" wide, yes, wide.

After drooling over the tracks for a moment, I made a brief, yet revealing scout. Approximately 150 yards east of my stand a handful of white oaks had dropped their fruit since Brent and I had hung stands. While slowly working through the area, I spotted a nubbin buck scarfing acorns. Leaning up against a tree, I observed him as he slowly fed his way over and completely circled me at 10 yards. The little guy spent over 10 minutes alternating between feed and checking me out. At one point he was close enough that I could have touched his nose. He knew something was quite right, but he couldn’t smell me from any angle....what a rush!

I hung a stand just down from the feeding area, overlooking trail all the deer were using. I will leave it alone until morning.

Afternoon sit: temps in the low 30s, light breeze and light snow

After grabbing something to eat and taking a quick shower I was up in stand #2 by 1 in the afternoon. From this stand I could just make out the edge of the bean field. I was glad I could because it resulted in my being able to watch a buck measuring in the mid 120s dogging a doe in the field…Always a good time.

In the morning, Ron hunted a thick bench on side of steep ridge. He spotted a 130" following the bench. It stopped at 20 yards, made rub and eventually dropped down the side of the ridge into a thick tangle. Ron was uncertain if it was a shooter so he grunted, trying to bring him back. The buck turned and came within 15 yards. It was a shooter, but Ron had his goals set higher for this early in the hunt and passed. As the buck left, he headed up the ridge. According to a previous hunter that Ron had talked to, all the deer he had seen from the stand had headed up the ridge as well. This inspired Ron to ask Tom if he could do the same.

With Tom’s blessing, Ron grabbed his climber and took on the lung-busting climb to the top of the ridge. While scouting the top, jumped 3 deer, 160ish, another shooter and an unidentifiable deer (top of ridge, point, trails dropping down ridge) Having scouted the area, this was definitely the spot. Climbed up and got ready for hunt. 2:30, a doe browsed through the area. 2:45, another did the same. 4:15, 120 class 8pter worked through, giving him amble shot opportunities before dropping into the valley.

Tomorrow: hunting the first snow of the year.

| Scouting | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | For those looking for every advantage in understanding whitetail deer, Steve Bartylla's column Becoming A Student Of Whitetail Deer is a must read.