Nothin wrong w/ that spike tl--nice way to finish the season.

My mom is 84 she missed her buck but shot a doe Sunday, nice clean bottom of the heart shot. Gave her a hug and told her I was proud of her. She says it's only a doe, I told every deer is a trophy and gift from God! Well done!

I figured out DNR offers a free online certificate for a person's first deer. I went online today & filled out the form for my 10-year-old nephew & will give the certificate to him for Christmas. He is very excited about the spike buck he got for his first deer in in this his first year ever hunting. I think the certificate will be a hit.

Nice Mike some good vittles there. Horns a after thought ...lol

Really nice buck Mike!

yuppers, nice rack there Mike, next time stick the tongue back in before the pic is taken, eh?

Lone camped it this year, Regular boat landing was locked in ice so put in where I had some current. Dad bought the Grumman used back in the 60s. The Sportspal is a little workhorse, need to replace the sponson on this side. It sees hard use.



10x13 wedge with smoke hole out the back end. Spacious one-man or snug two-man tent. Ran the 4-dog stove so could load it up at night for one wakeup to refill. Had a new fly for it but with the strong winds in the forecast for Saturday and no precipitation in the forecast I never saw the need for setting it up.



Had enough of the wind Saturday afternoon and retired to the tent for a warmup and nap. Loaded the stove and got it cranking. Showed this pic to Susan later, thought I was nuts. Well, you know how it is when you get really cold. Lots of heat feels soooo good. Reminds me of a time I was duck hunting up on Brice Prairie back in the 70s while a college student at UW-L and had fallen in over my hip boots and was real cold. Fired up the '67 Chevy shortbox and by the time I got up on the highway the heat was cranking good in the cab. Picked up this hitchhiker and was headed through Onalaska and the fella suddenly starts yelling at me about the heat and says pull it over. I pull over, stop, he looks at me and says "What's wrong with you, are you nuts?" . . . or something like that. Anyway, you know how it is.



No deer, good camp, probably repeat this for the holiday hunt in December if Mother Nature cooperates.

amen

my aunt still loves to have us for deer camp , she doesn't get out in the woods the last 3 years she is 89 she gave up carrying a gun in about 95 she didn't have much confidence in her shooting and it was too much to carry .but she loved to do all the drives she had her compass on a string around her neck and her ski poles to keep balance over obstacles in the woods and she walked 3 miles a day to keep in shape to be ready for deer driving.

I hunted hard all day everyday and didn't have a decent shot at anything. Sunday headed back up north for the morning, Managed to get a doe about 10:00. Drove down to my brother-in laws for the afternoon and managed to get another so we will eat this winter. Spent all day Monday processing and today we are canning all day.

Sorry Mike. I always put the tongue back in its mouth, but by the time I was ready for pictures, it was too frozen and stiff, but I did try as my wife mentioned it as well.

Saw that buck several times bow hunting and couldn't seal the deal. Never saw him on opening day after sitting in that wind all day. Sunday about noon he came down the trail...done deal.

Great memories

Awesomeness

Muskrat's post is embarrassing- I was snuggled up in my footy pajamas- talking about how cold it was outside.

Wow Mike that is a lot of gear for one person at a campsite! Canoes look as if this was not their maiden voyage! But they get the job done.

Mike that is a very nice buck. It is nice to have those where you don't have to "squint" to do the gender thing.

Bryce

Bryce, indeed it is a lot of gear for one person. But . . . what do you leave behind? If you're going to spend four to five days in the river bottoms camped, you might as well be comfy, eh? And if it takes a couple of hours to set camp, well, that's the price one pays for the experience.

There's something magical about a tent deer camp. Once set up and the woodstove purring, no matter the weather outside it's cozy inside. A short walk to the stand and if you feel like coming back to snack or sleep it's there waiting. At night you can hear the beaver letting you know they aren't appreciating your presence and the coyotes will sound like they're all around you at times. Step out to take a tinkle in the middle of the night and the stars are just above your head. Once season is over the camp is folded up, back in duffel bags, awaiting new adventures next year.

Memories made forever. This little girl is now 30 but come Christmas time in several weeks we'll be talking about good times had at fish camps, duck camps and deer camps over the years. Both dogs have been long gone. And Susan has decided the sewing room is more appealing than the tent at that time of the year.



Had several students over the years come deer camp with me. When my oldest daughter was in high school we had two of her friends accompany us to deer camp. Those fellas are now in their 40s and still recall the times they had at deer camp.

When we retired the old rendezvous tent, it replaced the modern tent for deer camp. No skeeter netting to worry about screwing up.





Leftover firewood is stored in the crotch here to escape flooding now marks time passed.



Mother Nature sometimes has surprises in store for ya. Three times now in the last ten years I've had to vacate the bottoms during that opening weekend due to high waters. Had one close call. Sometimes you set camp in the grass . . .



. . . and wake up in white.



Yuppers, lots of gear, takes time to haul in, set up, take down, and stow. Worth it in the long run. There'll come a day when I won't be able to do this anymore. 'Til then . . .

Way cool Mike I have always enjoyed your deer camp post. Keep doing what you do as long as you can.

Mac

Awesome Camp^^^

That is an awesome camp , when my aunt passes she turns 90 in the spring so as much as I hope she live forever no one does and we don't have the house to hunt from , I keep thinking I need to get a tent and camp setup like that

Same in NY.

Awesome set up and camp.