October 20 

Mid-season Archery Update

My Minnesota archery season started out very promising.  Late September produced lots of action and glimpses of several bucks that I would be proud to put my tag on.  As summer faded and we ushered in fall, the number of mature buck sightings have definitely dropped off in my hunting areas.  October often brings a decrease in mature buck movement.  This is especially evident in the middle portion of the month.  Hunters refer to this period as the "October Lull".  Many experts analyze the cause behind this lull, but I tend to think that changing food sources, crop harvest (especially in the Midwest), and hunting pressure play a big part in this decreased movement.  I think the warm, humid temperatures in October have also played a significant part this fall.  Deer simply do not want to move when they have their winter coats on during 70 degree weather.  Although deer movement has been discouraging lately, I am committed to the plan of hunting conservatively, but aggressively when the conditions and deer movement are favorable.-KK

 


 This picture was sent by a friend of Corn Belt Outdoors.  He was hanging a new stand, and found this skull from a buck he saw during the 2015 season.  An unfortunate end to a great buck.  He would have been a dandy to hunt this year!






 Hunt #6 October 15

Temp 64F Wind SSW 13 mph Barometric Pressure 29.74 (steady) Moon Full

I traveled to Iowa for my first morning hunt of the year.  I sat in a new stand that I had placed in August on the intersection of 2 well used trails in a natural funnel for deer.  The weather was warm, but the corn field surrounding this small funnel of woods was still standing so I new I could get in and out of the stand undetected.  My main goal for the day was scouting, I wanted to check the trail cameras in these areas to see what deer I would be hunting.  My sit was uneventful with no deer movement, and my camera unfortunately also revealed very little action or mature bucks to get excited about.  I came back to Minnesota and sat in the oak flat stand for an evening hunt.  This stand also doubles as a great observation stand as I can see two large crop fields, one also being the large bean field (now picked) adjacent to my oak ridge stand. At last light 6 deer (3 bucks) walked right by my other stand.  At first I was discouraged that I had made a poor decision, but I quickly realized that the wind would have been bad for that stand.  I am confident I know where the bucks are bedding, and with the right conditions I think it will produce some opportunities.-KK




Fall Fishing Updates

It's no secret that fall is a great time to be on the water fishing.  Cooling water temperatures can trigger a hot bite for many gamefish species, sometimes producing the best fishing of the season.  Friends of Corn Belt Outdoors had some great fall crappie fishing in Longville, Minnesota area this past weekend.  These slab crappies were caught near the weedline in 4.5 ft of water using a simple presentation of a bobber, sinker, and floating jig head.  Green and yellow jig heads produced the best results tipped with minnows and worms.  Minnows seemed to catch the biggest crappies and were also productive for sunfish.  Worms seemed to produce more sunfish, but also caught several of the large crappies.  A key technique was in the hook set.  The fish were biting very lightly so quickly reeling in line versus a hard hook set put more fish in the boat. -KK