October 27

Iowa Pheasant Opener Outlook/Central Iowa Archery Update/Fall Fishing Report

Iowa Pheasant Opener Outlook

Pheasant season opens this Saturday in Iowa, and roadside survey reports indicate increased pheasant numbers in Northeast and North Central Iowa.  This is encouraging news after several consecutive years of harsh winters and wet springs drastically decreased pheasant numbers throughout the state.  Corn Belt Outdors will be hunting a mix of private and public land in this area of the state opening weekend.

Hunt #7 October 22

Temp 65F Wind NW 3 mph Barometric Pressure 29.95 (steady) Moon Wanning Gibbous
 

"Bedroom" Stand

I drove to Iowa again for another morning hunt and also to check cameras.  I had the slight SW wind which I needed to hunt a new stand that I had placed in a bedding area.  This spot has historically held mature bucks.  The small woodlot is still surrounded by a large standing cornfield which I suspect is the reason why deer movement was slow in the timber.  The card pull on my camera did reveal a a solid 10 pt buck I am naming "Herky" (I was watching the Iowa football game while I checked the pictures).  

"Herky" 

That evening I was back in Minnesota to hunt the Oak Ridge stand.  If you have been following the blog closely, you will remember that on Hunt #6 I witnessed several deer, including 3 different bucks, walk by that stand at last light.  I had just the wind I needed, and I got into the stand early with high anticipation.  An hour before the end of legal shooting time I heard some movement behind me.  I gave a soft grunt and a small 8 point buck and yearling buck poked their heads out of the timber.  It is always exciting to call deer to your stand, but they were not age-class of bucks that I am hoping to harvest.  Fifteen minutes later, a doe and fawn started walking down the trail adjacent to my stand on their way to the food plot.  It was still early in the evening, and I suspected that more deer would be coming out to the soybean field so they were given a free pass.  The doe and fawn fed briefly in the food plot, and then suddenly the doe looked up in the tree right at me and proceeded to snort and stomp the rest of the night.  The wind was perfect, and this stand provides me with lots of camouflage so I feel I was just extremely unlucky getting busted by the wary doe.  With 15 minutes left of shooting light, a high and tight racked 8 pointer stood on the edge of the timber to monitor a different small 6 point buck chasing does in the soybean field.  From a distance, this 8 pointer looked like a mature buck which gives me a target for the upcoming rut.  The deer moved back to the timber as light faded, but a great night filled with lots of action.

Hunt #8 October 23

Temp 51F Wind NW 15 mph Barometric Pressure 30.05 (rising) Moon Last Quarter

The Oak Flat stand was my location for my first Minnesota morning hunt of the season.  Action was slow until 9:00 am when I noticed a yearly buck eating browse on the edge of the tree line 75 yards to my north.  Thirty minutes later, just as I was contemplatinging ending the hunt a small 2.5 year old 8 point chased a doe right past my stand.  The rut activity is really starting to increase.  I went back to the Oak ridge stand again for the evening hunt in hopes of action similar to the night before but deer movement was limited to one lone doe at last night feeding in the soybean field.-KK


Central Iowa Archery Update
 

The excitement that builds over the summer months and leading into fall is one of my favorite parts of the “whitetail season.”  All of the anticipation and dreaming of how the season could unfold seems to scratch the itch of deer hunting prior to archery season opener.  Whether it’s planting food plots and envisioning a mature buck frequenting your new food source, or slogging through a gigabyte of trail camera photos and coming across a new bruiser, it all feeds the animal inside of us that is waiting to be unleashed on October 1^st.

            This year has been full of change for me.  My family has grown, I took a new job and we moved across the state in July.  Though all of this change was positive and has been a blessing, I couldn’t help but to hear this voice in my head alerting me of the struggles ahead in my hunting pursuits.  As all of you know, gaining access to deer hunting properties is becoming more and more difficult.  When I search for new places to hunt, more often than not, I encounter land owners who think the deer are their pets, land owners who hunt themselves or land owners who already have given permission to other hunters.  It is a time-consuming grind to find a reasonable property and gain access.  In leaving eastern Iowa to move to central Iowa, I knew I would be challenged to find hunting land.  I knew that I could still return to my eastern Iowa parcels to hunt on weekends and early November, but I would not have the opportunity to scout and prepare the way I typically do, which I feel is in large part the reason for the success I have had.  Nevertheless, the balancing act of becoming a father and settling into a new job began, and time was scarce for seeking permission to hunt on land in the area.

            By mid-September and after hours of driving gravel roads and knocking on doors, I had found one small, ten acre property to share with the owner.  I resigned myself to the fact that this was going to be a transitional season and I shouldn’t get my hopes up for harvesting a mature buck.  At the same time I kept reminding myself of the old adage “It only takes one deer and five minutes for everything to come together.”  I had decided to take my week of vacation in early November to head back to eastern Iowa and see what happened.  I was sharing my woes with a co-worker who divulged that he lived on a wooded lot and he would be willing to let me check it out and hunt there if I thought it would be worthwhile.  The area seemed appealing and I was running out of options, so I put a stand up and set a trail camera out to see what was in the area.  When I checked the camera two weeks later I couldn’t believe it, but there was a mature buck!  My hope for the season was instantly renewed.  It’s amazing what a single picture of a single deer will do to inspire a whitetail hunter.  I was lifted, energized and ready to start the game of figuring out this deer’s patterns and try to intercept him.

            Although all I have is a picture, and the real work and test of my skill and luck is ahead, this one deer has changed my attitude about this season.  I have had seasons in the past where I became discouraged, but persistence paid off in big ways.  I need to keep reminding myself that rarely do we as whitetail hunters have the perfect season.  There are always going to be difficulties and challenges that arise throughout pre-season preparation or in-season execution, but there is always a chance for the tides to change and to find yourself at full-draw with a beast standing broadside at ten yards.  Ok, enough writing, I need to get back into the woods…-JM

Fall Fishing Report

Longville Area Lakes 10/21-22/2016

Friday:  High 50 degrees Stiff/ bone chilling wind from the south all day.

A late start due to a late night sitting by the fire with the neighbors led to a very cold experience.  The fish seemed to be hunkered down in what would seem to be great weather to have some luck.  However not much luck was had on the lake for anybody venturing out in the brisk wind.  Thankfully, a warm cabin and a warm meal at the Anchorage Inn in Longville made up for the less than premiere fishing.

Saturday:  High 60 degrees Wind Light if any

Following up on advice garnered on the previous Corn Belt Outdoors blog we went straight for the spot specified.  However we were a bit late to the party as 8-10 boats sat in a steady line over approximately 150 yards of real estate on the lake.  It was a demoralizing learning experience to say the least as two boats not 40 yards away were catching fish after fish while my colleague and I sat along with 5 other boats without a bite.  Crappie were steady in the 12-16 inch range for the other boats and plenty were thrown back.  Each boat limited out efficiently and switched to keeping only Sunfish as they were also prevalent.  People were fishing sunken weed beds in approximately 6 feet of water and had the slip bobber set 3 feet deep using fatheads and crawlers.

Nonetheless, the old adage was true.  A bad day fishing is still better than a good day working, so great camaraderie and fun was had between the groups of boats.  The only fish I caught were three small Bass when I was getting frustrated and went to the shallows in front of the cabin just so I could catch and release something.  With the Dock pulled out of the water and the Cabin closed down for the winter, we bid adieu to the open water season on our little lake.  Hoping the hard water season turns around an up and down (more down) year.-CN