Sit #18 Whitewater!

So Steph and I went down to see the Minnesota Wild play the Washington Capitals (and Alexander Ovechkin). The Wild won 2-1 and Ovechkin scored the Capitals only goal. Very good time. After that, we drove down to Red Wing to stay with Donny, Tara, and the peanut (Andrea). The baby was up crying for a while so we slept in a bit and ventured down to Whitewater in the later morning. We picked out our spots to hunt the south wind and things looked incredible. I had a scrape to my left and a scrape to my right. Not to mention a plethora of rubs within sight. This set up was incredible. My scent and my thermals were falling downhill behind me and the deer were going to come right to me! All that was great to imagine in daylight, but the truth of the matter I learned is that this pristine public land is hit just as hard or harder than any public land around - not just because it's close to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, but because it's managed for herd health and habitat. There are almost 21,000 acres of public land with the majority being bluffs, bottoms, ravines, draws, and some places that most people wouldn't even think of hunting. On the tops of these bluffs we found corn, alfalfa, clover, soybeans, monster oak trees, apple trees, you name it...If you tried to construct a 'perfect deer habitat' this was it - except it gets too much pressure. If I ever go back to hunt there with the bow, shotgun, or muzzleloader, I will be attempting to hunt the botttoms or somewhere inside the pressure.

My first sit produced nothing but a whole lot of anticipation. Donny hung a stand and left it out there for next time.