Their First Wisconsin Deer Camp

By: Joel Johnson

November 19, 2011 could not arrive soon enough for my grandsons Austin andCarlos. All the years of planning, scheming and anticipating the day would finally arrivewas unbearable. Do I have the right clothes, are my boots going to be warm enough, didwe pick the right hot spots to throw our pop up blind on? Nothing has been over lookedand the planning and prep work was a thing of beauty.

Getting a note to get off of school at noon the day before the opener was the icing onthe cake, the moment all was going to happen as planned. Were we going to stop and eaton the way up north, were we going to make a stop at Fleet & Farm or were we going forthe gold and stopping at Cabela’s for those last minute items, such as scent killer spraysand a couple of bottles of Mega Buck Lures. All was going swell and the adventure thatwas now underway could not have planned any better.

The sharp shooters arrived at Grandpa’s deer camp filled with excitement and wonder.The first order of business for the boy’s was to see all the snacks and goodies grandpa

stocked up on for thismonumental event. Itshould be noted that goodnutrition is paramount forthe successful hunter whowill need to keep up onesstrength and focus for theupcoming hunt. Aftereveryone was settled in andall the sleepingarrangements were in orderwe hustled over to greatgrandma and grandpascamp for dinner and tolisten to great grandpa’shunting stories. It was a dayto dream about taking a big

buck as large as the ones on great grandma and grandpa’s camp wall. With heavy eyelids,lots of hugs and good lucks. and we headed back to our camp for the night.

Although the sharp shooters swore they were going to stay up all night, my daughterJackie had them slip into there sleeping bags anyway. In a few minutes all went quiet intheir bunk area and now our preparations for the next morning began.

4:30am arrived before I knew it, the coffee pot was fired up, and lunches wereconstructed and packed in each pack for the long day. It took some work to get the boysup and dressed to go but after some hard work we were ready to go. 5:45 AM was the

designated departure time, Uncle Frank was to meet us on the top of the hill, Uncle Toddand his son Jerrod were headed for Spur Lake and Uncle Chet and his son Jerrod wereheaded for the beaver pond behind their camp. As mama and Uncle Frank faded into thedark woods the boys and I worked our way down our trail to “The Stand”.

Cold, cloudy with a slight breeze out of the northwest, a dusting of snow that fellduring the night, one could not ask for a better start to the season. Just the right windowswere open in the pop up to allow for just the right views, the folding chairs seemed to bethe most comfortable chairs the boys ever sat in, because within 15 minutes of oursettling in they were out like a light. They must have been conserving energy for laterwhen legal shooting time began. Smart hunters need that edge.

6:15 AM: still dark a shot rang out about a mile away; the boys snatched from theirnaps expecting a herd tostart running by. To theirsurprise it was still darkand with a keen eye forwhat just transpired left mewith the task of explainingwhy a shot came in thedark. I pondered for a bit,but explained either ahunter was careless anddropped his gun whichaccidently fired, or he wasmaking sure his barrel wasclean.No sense on elaborating onthe more plausible reasonfor the shot at this time. I however made them aware that the shot may push the deer inour direction and to keep an eye peeled.

Soon I saw a nice buck coming down the trail which we noticed rubs and scrapes theweekend before. The sharpshooters by this time were protecting their eyes with theireyelids not to allow dust or dirt to hamper their shooting eye and thus possibly messingup a shot. I slipped the rifle onto the shooting stick, slipped my hand over Austin’s mouthnot to alarm him and slipped his ear protection on. Things were going perfect. I gaveAustin precise directions on how things were going to happen once the buck hit theshooting lane. The best plans however do not always work it seems as I brought Carlosback to life and slipped his ear protection on. He got so excited he popped his little hunterorange head out the nearest window to take a look. Well. that was all that buck could takewas that orange blob poking out of the camo blind that I guess to that buck was not allthat camouflaged.

The encounter led to more instruction and quite discussion of why and what went arye with the buck encounter. As the mid afternoon rolled in say 3:30 PM another identical

scenario unfolded only thistime it was a nub buck. Itwas a precision operationthis time, when I tapped thesleeping sharp shooters onthe shoulders to slip theirear protection on it was likewatching a finally oilmachine at work, Austinslipped the Ruger 44 magcarbine topped with aLeopold scope to theshooting stick and readiedfor the shot. Seconds turnedinto minutes and thebreathing and shaking was

becoming a problem. Just before he stepped into a shooting lane I slid the rifle from hisshoulder, He took a couple of deep breaths while looking at me. I then had Austin notlook at the deer again but to settle the rifle to his shoulder, find the deer’s shoulder in thescope, give me the okay so as I slipped the safety off he was calm and ready to make theshot. Bang! The deer went down on the spot; I had Austin stay on the deer just in case afollow up shot was required although there was not another cartridge in the chamber.

All went quiet. Once I knew the deer was down to stay, I slid the unloaded rifle off theshooting sticks and out of the way. Now the shaking, hooping and jumping around began.The boys collected theirknives and butchering geartogether and cautiouslyworked their way to wherethe trophy went down.After a few photos and patson the back as well aslooking at the wonderfuland skillfully placed shotwe drug the nub buck backto the blind to prepare foran opportunity for Carlosas it was still early. Therewere deer moving in andout and along the edge ofthe spruce swamp butnothing close enough for ashot. It was good for the boys to watch and observe the deer and there movements, agood education and not to much information at one time,

The dragging party arrived just after dark and in short order the trophy was loaded andoff to great grandma and grandpa’s to show off the deer. That night there were lots ofbragging and the story was retold many of times by the new pro hunters. But soon allwere tired and away to our camp for a good night’s sleep which came quickly.

Day two started the same as day one with everyone to there same stands. When wearrived at “The Stand” the pro staff set out there secret buck lures. The little orangethings with the scent in them adorned many a tree within sight of our position. Whilewaiting for the action to start, the talk was about if a doe came in. Would Carlos havethe shot? If a buck would show in the scent filled area, would Austin take the shot? Notalk however about grandpa getting any action. We watched a few deer move about. Itwas too early to get a shot and by late afternoon both hunters, not me of course, had allthe rest they needed to give them the edge during the last hour of the campaign. Shortlyafter 4 PM I noticed deer moving into our ambush and the pro staff ready for actiondonning ear protection and switching chairs for the shot, was up to the task. I had to placeCarlos on my lap so he would have enough height to make the shot. As a large doestepped into his shooting lane, Carlos laid the crosshairs behind the shoulder andsqueezed off the shot. The 225 gr. Hornady FTX hit the mark dropping the doe on thespot. The doe however regained her legs, spun around mortally wounded and made tracksfor the swamp.

Hooping, hollering and jumping around as previously demonstrated was the way weroll after a solid performance I guess. The now seasoned veterans collected the properequipment and made for the spot of the shot. The sign was dark hair and a double lungshot I was told given theblood on both sides of thedoes exit trail. The veteranswere on the trail andclosing in on the mortallywounded deer. Noticing theground that was turned upfrom the running deer, theblood on the branches itrubbed against during itsfutile escape and on thebroken dead falls it leaptover. Within 100 yardsthey found the trophy piledup under a downed tree.Moments later the crewwas there for the dressing and dragging of the magnificent animal. The boys insisted wetake the heart and make sure we have it for dinner which we did.

Starting on the third day we started covering some ground, still hunting looking overnew areas and some big country. We spent a lot of time going over deer sign, topographicfeatures and how deer use terrain and cover to move and feed. I also made note that the

pro staff liked to make a lot of noise and found that poking each other with sticks andwrestling did not affect their hunting at all.

All in all, this was a great hunting camp and holds many wonderful memories, for notonly the boy’s, but for the rest of us as well, The next generation will be fineoutdoorsman and will readily carry the torch.