North Dakota 2009

The beginning of sept. found me along with 4 other guys from Wisconsin on a trip to the badlands of North Dakota in search of Mule deer and maybe a whitetail or two. The trip went great except when we ran into a hatch of some type of bug that literally made it dangerous to drive in for lack of vision. We hit our destination around 230 am Mountain time. We never did go to bed that night we got our stuff ready and were out glassing by a little after sun up. We seen some deer that morning and actually were able to glass a real good Mulie on what we are positive was private land. After heading back for a quick nap and lunch we all headed out in some different areas, Jerod and I bivy hunted an area he had found the year before. I put the stalk on a bedded buck but couldn't get any closer than 100 yards to him before he busted. We hunted hard in some tough weather conditions extreme heat and one nasty rain storm made for some tough maneuvering. In the end we went 3 for 5 which is pretty decent with archery equip. I had my chances but I just couldn't seal the deal. I learned a ton on that hunt and can't wait to get back next fall.

Now it's time to hunt midwest whitetails, I have been out a few times already and have my sights on a buck I call swamp thing, his core area is in a funnel with two swamps and my food plot, it is going to take patience but I am confident he will mess up a little closer to the rut. Until then I am just going to hunt nice and easy and let him make the next move, there is a lot of season left and I am going to enjoy every minute I can.

More pictures

I did mange to get a quick picture of a good eleven point buck and a real nice 135 inch 8 point, I have been watching these two guys on a somewhat of a regular basis. Sept. 19 th can't get here fast enough.

D Day 2009

It's unbelievable that I will be kicking off the 2009 hunting season in less than 20 days now. I am very excited to be heading to the Badlands of North Dakota for my very first time. This will be a Bivy style hunt which will have us carrying everything on our backs for the majority of the 7 day hunt. To get ready I have been shooting my bow at some pretty long ranges and most recently I have began the task of what to bring and what not to bring. Light is good when you are in the backcountry. And counting ounces is the name of the game. Hopefully it isn't 100 degrees everyday we are out there but I am expecting some very hot conditions. Wish all of us at Back 40 Outdoors luck.

Back 40 Outdoors

For those of you who don't already know I am involved with a website called www.backfortyoutdoors.com/blog we have recently changed the website around and are currently adding content as we speak. I encourage all of you to visit the site and let us know what you think. We also are sponsoring the DIY forum at http://www.sagecreekoutfitters.com/ we are going to have a ton of videos some of them are hunts we have filmed but more importantly a lot of tips and techniques that we all like to use. Come and check us out. The picture I added doesn't have anything to do with my post but it is a picture from an area in Wis. that I hunt and beings that the hunting season is oh so close I felt it appropriate to share.

Finally !!!

Well it finally happened, I have had my cameras out for almost two months and I had yet to get a decent buck on film. Well I checked one of my cameras last Friday night and I got a good one. He is a solid bodied buck with a nice spread to boot. I need him to put some inches on his tines and when he does he will be a shooter for sure. Every day we get closer to the archery season, I don't think I have ever been as ready as I am this year hopefully all the hard work will pay off.

On a side note I had a comment on my last post that asked if we ate those ugly looking Gar up here. The answer to that is yes we do. You would all be surprised on how they taste, it is a tougher meat but not any tougher than shrimp or lobster, the wife loved it and she is a very picky eater. So if you ever get the chance to try some gar give it a shot. As for the carp no those we use for fertilizer it's to bad we can't find a better use for them because we have plenty.

Food Plot Updates

It is going in to the Fourth of July weekend boy that's hard to believe, where did the time go? My favorite two food plots have been in the ground now for 5-6 weeks and another was planted one week ago ( Brassicas) every thing is looking good and seeing the pics from my CuddeBacks it doesn't look like we have any shortage of Does and fawns and the occasional young buck. Another month or so and we should start getting some pics of good bucks. Stay tuned to see how it all turns out later this summer.

GAR!!!!

Long Nose gar? if you would have asked me about them last year I wouldn't have had much to say, ask me what I think now and I have lots to say. After spending a day on the lake with good friend Forrest Robeck and Team Full Barrel Bowfishing Team (Keith and Tyler) I can definitely say that gar are one of my favorite fish. Just the look alone is awesome, now mix in there speed, stealth, and great camouflage they are the ultimate predator in the lakes they inhabit. As you all know I love to shoot carp with a bow but when the offer came up to go on a gar hunt I have to say I was a little worried. I knew I could hit carp but gar? These little critters are a fourth of the size of a carp. But after 15 minutes being on the lake I had my first one in the boat. Forrest struck first when we trolled up to a spawning group, there were fish everywhere and Forrest capitalized on a nice 4-5 pound fish. Seeing all the tails coming out of the water when they are spawning is a really cool sight. In the end we had a total of 16 gar. It was steady enough shooting to keep you busy. But that was only part 1 of a two part hunt, after shooting all day we left the lake and headed for a different honey hole to shoot carp and buffalo at night. We got on the lake around 10:00 and we were in for the long haul. We loaded the boat on the trailer around 5:30am and headed back east. We ended up with 96 fish total for the day/night. I figured we were on the boat roughly 17 1/2 hours, that is a good shift of shooting fish. Once again I have thank Keith Imholt and Tyler for letting us tag along. These boys have it going on when it comes to putting fish in the boat, Keith has a great set up and loves seeing other people get the shooting in. Thanks once again.