September 29:

MN Deer Archery season Week 2 update-
IA Deer Archery season Outlook-
Fall Fishing highlights-


Minnesota Archery season week 2 update:


Hunt #2 Sept. 22
 
Temp 70F Wind NE 5mph Barometric Pressure 30.05in (steady) Moon Waning Gibbous
 
I was back in the oak flat stand over looking my brassica food plot. Early in the evening a doe and two fawns fed in the the standing bean field to my west. After feeding on beans, the deer made their way to my stand. They were very wary in their movements, and I think they may have noticed me in the tree. They cautiously worked their way past me (in bow range) back to the timber. At last light, over my right shoulder, I saw one of the bucks that had been showing up on my cameras. I think this was the bigger-bodied 10 pointer but legal shooting light was fading fast. The buck started to walk in the direction of the big bean field so I gave a soft grunt to see if he would alter his path closer to my stand. It turns out that there was a smaller buck with the 10 pointer that I could not see. The small buck also heard the grunt and quickly pin-pointed my location making the 10 pt very cautious. Both bucks changed direction and turned back into the timber. So close, yet so far away!


Hunt #3 Sept. 25

Temp 61F Wind W 15mph Barometric Pressure 29.9in (steady) Moon Waning Crescent

Sunday night I again sat in the oak flat stand over my food plot. I got into the stand early as I wanted to move my stand higher in the tree to help with concealment since I felt I had been spotted in the stand during my previous hunt. The wind was a constant 15 mph with strong gusts as small rain pockets moved through the area. Deer movement was slow and I only saw a doe and fawn on a trail to the standing bean field the last half-hour of light.


Hunt #4 Sept. 28
 
Temp 60F Wind NNW 10mph Barometric Pressure 30.23in (rising) Moon Waning Crescent
 
With a projected north wind I sat in a new stand on the inside corner of an oak ridge that pinches down to another bean field. Mid-summer I also planted Big-N-Beasty into a small section of the overgrown pasture near this stand. This was the first time I had checked this food plot, and it has also exceeded my expectation. A doe and fawn were already in the food plot as I made my way to the stand. I thought their quick exit might make for a slow evening, but I would soon be pleasantly surprised. Around 6:40 a 3.5 year old 8 pointer quickly walked right under my stand heading to the bean field. This happened so fast, I didn't have time to get a real good look at him let alone get drawn for a shot.  Twenty minutes later, I saw a deer feeding in the bean field to my east. I quickly raised my binoculars and realized that this was a buck, and the big 10 pointer from the other night! The deer was slowly feeding my way. With bow in hand, I was ready.  At the same time, a small dark cloud moved overhead and it began to sprinkle very lightly. The wind that had been consistently from the north all night became prominent from the west with the arrival of this cloud. This wind shift caused my scent to blow right in the direction of the buck. He quickly became alerted, turned around, and fed back to the east instead of in my direction. Disappointing outcome, but very exciting evening in the stand.


-KK

Iowa Archery Season Outlook:


October 1st marks opening day of the Iowa Archery Deer season. I was fortunate enough to draw a tag this year, and I am eagerly awaiting the chance to head to my favorite hunting areas in Northeast Iowa to chase big whitetails. My first camera pulls from over the summer were not very exciting, but I did find a cool mature 8 pt buck that has a large brown tine and some trash on his right side. I think "Dagger" is a fitting name for him.  He is my #1 target buck so far. I will keep you updated on my hunts in Iowa, but I am really focused on trying to tag a Minnesota buck before the gun season opens in early November.


-KK


Fall Fishing highlights:

Friends of Corn Belt Outdoors had some great fall walleye fishing in Southern Minnesota. Here is the report!

9/26/16
Limit of walleyes caught in a S Central MN lake. A shallow (7 ft max) dishpan slough during a strong NW wind. Fishing the shore line in 1-3 feet of water with 2-3" rattling lures. Small wally divers in green were also effective. Jigs and twister tails were tried with little results, although a couple fish were caught with paddle tails on a black jig head. Color preference seemed to be blue and silver with orange belly. A fast retrieve was far more effective than slow.

The walleyes were from two year classes, either in the 7-9" range or in the 16-20" range.

All the fish were caught by casting into the shore right against the bank. The wind had stirred up the water to only about one foot visibility and the larger walleyes were taking advantage of the forage fish (mostly small sheepshead by what the stomach content showed). The fish were piled up in certain areas where the water was stirred up the most. They fed from dawn until about 10 AM, then shut down.



Tonight (9/28): Evening walleye fishing in kayaks on same lake…

Using 3 ½ inch soft ribbed baits, perch color, limits of walleye were caught next to shore in ½ hour or less.







-JK

September 22- Minnesota and Wisconsin Archery Opening Weekend recap

"Immerse yourself in the outdoor experience.  It will cleanse your soul and make you a better person." - Fred Bear 

2016 Minnesota Archery Opener:

Hunt #1-Sept. 17

Temp 57F Wind WSW 10mph Barometric Pressure 29.91in (steady) Full Moon

Anticipation for the first sit of the year was at a fever pitch.  I chose to sit the oak flat stand over looking the Big-N-Beasty plot which I had referenced in my prior blog entry.  This year I am making a more conscious effort to hunt "smarter" and not harder".  I am going to focus on low impact stand locations and hunting those stands when the conditions are most ideal and the deer are active in daylight.  I chose not to hunt opening morning as my entry routes to the huntable areas of the farm are hard to access with out bumping deer, especially early in the season. The conditions opening night were perfect.  Deer activity was slow until the last hour of daylight.  A doe and fawn came and fed in the food plot for 15 minutes and then made their way to the large soybean field to the west.  The beans on this farm have already turned yellow and have really started to dry down.  This seems about 2 weeks earlier compared to the past few years on this farm.  With about 30 minutes of shooting light left I spotted a buck 300 yards to my south eating acorns along the oak tree line.  I studied the buck through my binoculars and realized quickly that I was looking at a 10 point buck!  This was a different 10 pointer than the one I had been focused on from my trail camera pictures.  The buck was feeding along a trail that leads right past my stand.  He just needed to get there before the end of shooting light.  The buck unfortunately disappeared into the timber and darkness ended my first sit of he 2016 season.  

A disappointing conclusion to the night is that I spooked both the big 10 from my trail camera and this new 10 pointer on my way out of the stand.  I thought the old pasture that I had to cross was clear, but with the full moon and warm temperatures, I think the bucks were hanging out just inside the timber and spotted me as I walked to my truck.  I can only hope that this mistake on opening day won't negatively impact the rest of my season.-KK

2016 Wisconsin Archery Opener:

Each year since moving back to Iowa from south central Wisconsin, I have looked forward to returning for the archery opener.  As many of you know, Iowa’s season opens on October first.  Since several states surrounding Iowa open in mid-September, it provides an opportunity to get into the woods early.  As I have for the past four years, I returned to south central Wisconsin to film a friend for opening weekend.  Every avid bowhunter knows the excitement that builds toward opening day and that first climb into the stand with bow in hand.  This year was no different.  Having filled his tag on opening day the past two seasons, we had high hopes for this year.  Summer scouting had revealed several mature bucks frequenting the area, making a few appearances during shooting light.  Opening morning found us welcoming daylight with temperatures in the mid-sixties and a moderate wind.  We were perched above an alfalfa food plot in a stand which produced an opening-day brute in 2014.  This sit was sadly characteristic of the rest of the weekend.  We saw very little movement, having only one opportunity at a year and half old eight-pointer.  Movement this time of year is generally slow and having a coinciding full moon may have played into the limited activity.  As we expected for this time of year, we saw no scrapes or rubs as we moved about the farm.  Cameras were checked and revealed consistent sightings of the deer we have our sights set on, fueling the fire with more anticipation for the weeks to come. -JM

 

September 15-Minnesota Deer Archery Season Outlook.

Big-N-Beasty Plot

Softball-sized Turnips

September 17th brings the opening day of the Minnesota Archery season.  Opening day is special.  It brings the anticipation of a new beginning and fosters hope for a successful season.  This year I have made a couple big changes to my hunting approach.  I have moved several stand locations to new areas.  These stands had historically been productive but for whatever reason have not provided recent success.  The landowner who graciously allows me to hunt his family farm, has also allowed me to plant 2 food plots this year.  This is the first year for planting food plots on this farm and they turned out amazing!  I planted Frigid Forage's Big-N-Beasty, and this brassica blend will hopefully pay dividends this fall.  I expect them to be very attractive to the deer starting after the soybeans yellow and into the late season when the ag fields get plowed under and food sources become more limited.  These 2 food plots were made out of an overgrown pasture with simple hand tools and a lot of help from mother nature.  I sprayed the area with glyphosate in mid-late July.  After a month of letting the grasses die off, I then used fire and a controlled burn to remove the dead grasses.  I then spread roughly 60 lbs./acre of Nitrogen on the plot using a lawn and garden spreader.  Lastly I spread the brassica mix according to the labeled directions and prayed for rain.  It is very important to not overseed brassicas.  This could lead improper plant spacing and thus not allowing the plants to reach their full potential.  The summer of 2016 has provided southeast Minnesota with quit a bit of rain the second half of the summer.  This caused damaging flooding in some areas, but provided the food plot novice the perfect conditions for a bumper crop of softball-sized turnips.  

A big thank you to JFN Farms for allowing me to enjoy the outdoors on your beautiful farm. Thank you!
 

Mature 10 pt. (needs a name)

My trail cameras have not shown many mature bucks using my mineral stations over the summer.  This concerns me, as there were 3 nice mature bucks that I saw on the hoof last year on stand that I was hoping made it through the 2015 season.  I suspect at least 1 or 2 of them did not make it. I do have one mature 10 pt. that has shown up that will be the focus during the early season until the bucks have fully dispersed into their fall ranges.  My strategy will be to sit on an oak flat over looking one of the new food plots hoping this 10 pt. will visit the plot on the way to the ag fields in the evening. I hope to get in the stand for several sits the opening week and will share my report in the September 24th blog.

KK

September 8-Lac des Mille Lacs Recap

 Labor Day weekend found Corn Belt Outdoors on a fishing trip to Canada.  We fished Lac des Mille Lacs near Upsala, Ontario.  Pine Point Resort welcomed us as guests, and the hospitality of Bill, Kris, and staff was first class.  We struggled to find a consistent pattern fishing for walleyes but a sliver scale Smile Blade Slow Death Rig tipped with a half crawler in 14-18 feet of water put several eater walleyes in the boat.  Smallmouth bass and northern pike action was fast and furious with  #5 Mepps Agila spinners being cast into the rocky shoreline.  A gold/red-white blade seemed to be the hot color.  Lots of laughs and great company was the recipe for some life long memories!

Jason with an 18" Smallmouth

Charlie with his first pike.

Welcome to the Corn Belt Outdoors Blog! Thank you for following along as we bring you weekly updates on our outdoor adventures from across the heartland.  We hope you find this blog entertaining and informative as we our share stories, tips, and tactics.

September 1: Lac des Mille Lacs Outlook

Labor Day weekend will find Corn Belt Outdoors venturing outside of the Midwest and heading north to Canada on a fishing trip to Lac des Mille Lacs near Upsala, Ontario.  This trophy lake is known for excellent walleye, northern pike and smallmouth bass fishing.  On this trip we will be fishing out of Pine Point Resort.  Check out the blog next week to get a recap of this trip!


Upcoming Schedule:  

September 8: Lac des Mille Lacs Canada Fishing Trip Recap

September 15: Minnesota Deer Archery Opener Outlook

September 22: Minnesota Deer Archery Opener Recap

September 29: MN Deer Archery season Week 2 update, IA Deer Archery season Outlook

October 6: Iowa Deer Archery Opener Recap, North Dakota Pheasant Opener Outlook

October 13: North Dakota Pheasant Opener Recap

October 20: Archery Mid-Season Update

October 27: Iowa Pheasant Opener Outlook

November 3: Iowa Pheasant Opener Recap. IA and MN Deer Rut Outlook

November 10: RUT REPORT-Deer hunting updates from MN and IA

November 17: Deer Rut hunting recap

November 24: Thanksgiving reflection

December 1: Iowa Deer Shotgun Season 1 Outlook

December 8: Iowa Deer Shotgun Season 1 Recap

December 15: Deer Season wrap-up

December 22: Year end blog review.