Whitewater Day 3 - Sit 19 & 20 - The Bottom & Scrapeville

With the weatherman himself being my new number one on my hitlist, the wind changed again. So I made the decision to venture down into the bottom to see if anything would come by my stand that Scot and I hung two days earlier. We hung the stand on Friday the 28th and this was Sunday the 30th. It took me a short while to get down the steep ravine, across the shelf and down the other short ledge into the bottom. My stand was in a perfect spot. Once I got all my stuff set up and I was quiet, it was a hair past 8, about a half hour later than I had hoped to get down there. Regardless, I sat quiet and still and the wind was perfect. It was calling for a SE and because of the east-west direction of the ravine, it forced a perfect east wind in the bottom. I sat quiet until, at about 9:35, I heard the panicked footsteps through the leaves and turned to see a young doe running down the sand trail down into the bottom. She stopped at the bottom and looked a little riled up and of course I thought this was my big chance. I watched her back trails as I flipped the camera on. Nothing. She weaved in and around the bottom and offered lots of shot opportunities, but there was no way on earth I was going to drag a measly doe up and out of that ravine. So I watched her walk on by. She didn't seem to even notice me. Then at about 11, I heard something coming up from behind me. I burned the brush with my eyes looking for what made the sound. The above where I was gazing, up on the opposite ledge, there walked a person dressed in faded camo carrying no weapon - definite Hmong. I thought that I had escaped human existence by dropping down in the very bottom, but I guess I was wrong. I thought, well maybe he'll kick something up. Nope. About 45 minutes later, he came back down and I was relieved. Now I was just waiting on a buck trying to sneak back to bed. At about noon I had two does come by and both offered a shot. They came from the east (up the draw) and went past me slightly and cut up the other side of the ravine. It's amazing to watch a deer go up something so rediculously steep. They just run up at a 45 degree angle. I bet there isn't an ounce of fat on these deer. Incredible. Anyway, I sat until about 1:40 and decided that if I wasn't coming back to the bottom, that I'd need to take my stand with me, so I started packing up. After I got all my stuff together, I climbed west and around on the shelf just to see if there was an easier way out. Nope.  It got worse. I zigzagged my way up this open face and I didn't get back to my other stand until 4:40 or so. 3 hours to go a half mile (not including the elevation changes). I was exhausted!
I climbed up into my stand by the edge of the cornfield and got completely settled in by about 5 or so. At about 5:30 (an hour left of light), I had four turkey's come to 30 yards and walked in front of my trail camera. They went up into the corn and fed for the evening. This got my hopes up that maybe the deer would do the exact same thing. At about 5:50 or so I heard a rifle shot (yes this is a shotgun only area and it's not even gun season yet!) at about 300 yards. At about 6:10 (best time to kill a deer), here comes a Hmong and his son. Dad's carrying a bow and the boy's carrying a shotgun. I'm sure they had a deer working it's way up the ridge and they had gotten in there before me. Who knows, it was probably a doe, but either way. One thing on top of the other was creating a negative experience at Whitewater in 2011. Worn out, I climbed down after legal shooting light and packed up the jeep and headed back to Scot & Cassie's.. I had this sense that I just wanted to be home with my wife. I missed her and I started thinking how cool would it be to drive home tomorrow and ring the doorbell when she's passing out candy for Halloween! The only downside to that was that I left my stand up along with my Cuddeback. I got up early with Scot (as he had to take off to a job site) and repacked all my stuff and took off for Whitewater (about a 45 minute drive from Rochester). I stopped in the gas station in Elba to see if anyone had had better luck than us in those three days. One new buck had made the board shot on the 29th. Here are some of last year's bucks taken:

I took my stand and camera down and packed up and took off to Red Wing to visit with Donny a bit before I  left for Roseau. I made it home by about 7:50pm and put on the mask I picked up at Target in Bemidji on my way home. I turned my shirt inside out and rang the doorbell and hunched over and cried out TRICK OR TREAT in a scary old woman voice. Steph had no clue who I was and I just held out my right hand for candy. It was silent for like 20 seconds and then she asked, "Who are you?". I felt her get a little uneasy and so I stood up and took of my mask. She was thrilled to see me (as I hoped). We spent the night together hanging out and watched an episode of Friends.
Overall, my Whitewater experience was negative for 2011, but I learned a lot. 1) The terrain is a double edged sword. It nearly kills people if they try to scale it, but yet it's the biggest reason that deer are able to get to maturity. 2) The week before gun season is going to be your best opportunity for a rutting buck, but I need to make sure that the week before does NOT include weekend hunting. There are too many hunters to feel successful in an archery situation. Choosing years with a later gun opener would be the smartest decision available. Drive down on a Sunday evening. Take Monday morning to set a stand or two. Hunt Monday evening through Thursday evening - 7 sits or 3.5 days of hunting. My thought is that in 2013 the gun opener will begin on Saturday the 9th of November rather than the 2nd. If that is the case, the days of Monday, November 4th through Thursday November 7th would be archery only. 3) There risk has to be worth the reward. There are bucks of a superior caliber that are taken every single year out of Whitewater State WMA.  There must be literally thousands of hunters in that area during the opener of gun season so two things are happening: A) hunters are pushing deer around, making them more visible and therefore shootable and B) the rut is in full swing making bucks make their mistakes. The food sources, genetics and terrain make for a lethal combination for mature bucks in that area. The risk is worth the reward as long as the timing of the hunting is correct. Be sure that I will watch the calendar for the best seasons to head down there. There is potential to take the biggest buck of your life down there. For that reason, I will return.
My time with Steph's family was great. Scot & Cassie were good hosts, they cooked me meals, we laughed as we watch shows about sasquwatches, and just had a great time. It was really good to hang out with Donny too. It's awesome to see so much enthusiasm to kill a big deer. These guys are infected with it. That makes for two great brother in laws. Thanks guys.