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
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| "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).
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| "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 1st.
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
