Archery
Price County deer hunting
LakeShiner, I hope your wife comes through ok. My son and I only sat 4 times each and didn't see anything. We both agreed we wont be there next gun season. However, we have said that before. We wished we would shave brought our shotguns, at least we would have had some grouse and even some grey squirrels. Had we left our rifles behind, we surely would have seen a buck. I am quite sure your area has better deer numbers than our area, and tha is kind of strange. We are in the old unit 20 and you are in the old 29 . Unit 29 was very stingy on doe tags.
My dad and I hunted opening weekend and didn't see anything. Then Monday morning I saw 2 does. Went again on Friday afternoon and saw a doe and fawn. No bucks seen for us. We were in the Chequamegon section. Very little shooting, honestly didn't sound like gun season at all. With all the doe tags this year I thought there would have been more. A few cabin deer got shot by us. I call them cabin deer because they are fed all year by people in the area and get pretty stupid. They watch me cut the grass in fall. Some years they are really dumb and I even talk to them when I'm in the yard. Whenever I see trucks parked nearby for gun season I know they are after them. I imagine them getting all excited about seeing a deer that won't run away.
Was going to head up for muzzleloader but my wife had a surgery and I have to stick around home. Probably done for the year up here.
My son and I hunted Saturday to Tuesday and saw 3 bucks and maybe 10 does. Saw deer every day. One of the bucks a 3-year-old 8 pt. we saw 3 different times. We also heard some grunting and chasing. More than likely the 2nd rut. The deer were hitting my food plots pretty hard. We had our buck tags and we both had bonus permits but didn’t elect to shoot anything. Both our freezers were full from the bow season so we pretty much were horn hunting. Had an awesome time with the mild weather and just being up to the cabin getting ready for maple syruping in a few months
drawsbaby- If you are getting 95% of your pics at night, I think your camera is obviously giving you the intel you need, that is not a location the deer feel safe in during daylight hours. I hope you didn't hunt that location. Deer are rarely truly nocturnal, most deer, even mature bucks, move in daylight. Most people just aren't willing to hunt where they are doing the moving, which seems strange to me. Many people tend to hunt where they can see and shoot easily, but you can't kill deer where they aren't. You have to hunt where they live, and if your camera is telling you they aren't there, then you need to move. Sorry for the blunt comment and I'm not meaning to single you out because I don't know how you used the info from your camera, but its just an observation of "typical" hunting practices I notice. Best of luck in the future.
Opening day of gun season was pretty good for our group. 5 guys and everyone saw deer except for me. My cousin shot this 8 point at 9 am on a rub line. I didn't see anything until Tuesday morning, but no antlers. Had to leave ahead of schedule to tow the tractor back before the snow. Great hunt!
That is quite funny about the 104 yr old lady that has me beat , however, it was on private land and almost for sure over bait. I am sure I could get a deer every year out of Price co. Just bait every week for 2 months. They come right in like they are almost tame. Good for the lady .
Great work gillpill n lakeshiner. Been hunting in Price county since mid 90’s. There aren’t the big bucks of 10-15 years ago but the room to roam and the solitude, if you look for it, is worth it. Plenty of small bucks on cam this year, reason to be optimistic in the future as long as Mother Nature does her part ( doesn’t look like a great start for an easy winter)
We had some luck ourselves. I hunted Wednesday Thursday and friday morning and night without seeing a deer. It was 430 this past Saturday and thought it was the damn red squirrels again and had a giant bodied 6 pointer come in down wind. I was about to shoot him behind my tree then he turned around and thought it was over he was leaving then he turned around and walked 15 yards infront of me. My brother showed up to the cabin 5 minutes after me, we doubled down.
Well as luck would have it I saw some deer on Thursday afternoon. Was about 20 minutes left in the day and a doe came crashing through with an 8 pointer behind her (I'm counting the little point haha). He stopped near me and I was able to get a shot off. First deer I saw in 5 sits up there, but everything can change in 30 seconds. I find that I can do a lot of sitting up here staring at nothing but if I put my time in usually something shows up. Will see what gun season brings.
The fresh snow on Sunday showed my first wolf tracks of the year. I was not far behind them because it just quit snowing and they were not snowed over at all. Almost as big as my hand.
