November 17 

Rut Recap

This November has been very mild with above average temperatures almost every day.  This weather has been a factor to what has been a difficult rut in my opinion.  In speaking with several other hunters, rut activity has been fairly strong in the mornings with the cooler temperatures, but the majority of the activity has been small bucks chasing does.  A few hunters have had some big buck encounters, but they have been few and far between.  There is a major weather system hitting the Midwest tomorrow which will bring cooler temperatures.  Hopefully this cool down and bucks trying to find the last few receptive does will provide some late November action the next 7-10 days.

Hunt 16 November 12 Location Iowa

Temp 50F Wind SSW 10 mph Barometric Pressure 30.17 (falling) Moon Waxing Gibbous

I was back in the wood lot funnel stand for the evening hunt.  After a 36 hour bout of the stomach flu, I was finally feeling well enough to get back in the stand.  At about 3:45 I saw a buck slowly working his way through the woods from the south.  It was the 8 pointer with the crooked right G2.  He was walking in my direction when all of a sudden about 100 yards from my stand he bedded down.  I contemplated calling to him with a grunt call, but ultimately determined to let him move naturally.  I still was not certain that this was the buck that I wanted to harvest.  I had set a goal of harvesting a Pope and Young whitetail this year, and this buck was not going to meet that goal.  As I watched the buck while he was bedded I decided that I would shoot if he presented me a shot.  After being bedded for 30 minutes, the buck rose and continued to work his way closer to me.  Next came the moment of truth.  The buck slowly walked through my shooting lanes at 23 yards.  I was already at full draw from when he previously passed behind a large oak tree.  I placed the pin just behind the front shoulder for a heart shot and released the arrow.  The arrow did not find its mark.  I hit the buck low and forward, high in the upper leg.  The buck started walking away while examining the cut in his leg.  I frantically knocked another arrow in hopes to get a follow up shot.  The buck moved off into some thick brush, not presenting me another shot.  For the next 45 minutes I watched the buck lick his wound and then bed down on the edge of the woods.  When he bedded down again, I was hopeful that the arrow may have deflected into the body cavity, but that was not the case.  At sunset, he got up from his bed and walked across the county road into the other small wood lot.  I did not find any blood when I climbed down from my stand, and my arrow only had a little blood and white hair on it.  Wounding and losing an animal is a bowhunter's nightmare.  The feeling is terrible, but I am confident that in this case the deer will survive as this was barely even a flesh wound.

Hunt 17 November 13 Location Iowa/Minnesota

MN Firearm season tag soup

Temp 50F Wind SW 10mph Barometric Pressure 29.87 (steady) Moon Waxing Gibbous 

I went back to the same wood lot for the morning hunt.  The plan was to hunt the bedding area stand in hopes that the buck I hit from the night before would be working his way back to his bed.  I had early action with a small buck chasing a doe and fawn at sunrise.  An hour later another small buck chased another doe into the bedding area's thick brush.  After the action slowed, I checked the area where I hit the buck the night before for blood.  I only found a couple of tufts of white hair.  It was back to Minnesota for the evening to sit in the Oak Flat stand for the final hours of the Minnesota firearm season.  Deer movement was non-existent, a common theme for the past 10 days in Minnesota.

KK

November 10 

Rut Report

The final days of my "Rutcation" are approaching.  Unfortunately at the time of posting, I have yet to fill a tag.  Hopefully with cooler temperatures predicted this weekend that will change.  Here is a quick summary of my daily hunts.

Hunt #10 November 5 Location Minnesota

Temp 58F Wind SE 3 mph Barometric Pressure 30.28 (steady) Moon Waxing Crescent

I donned the blaze orange and sat for opening day of the Minnesota firearm season.  Action started quickly with a doe and fawn walking by my stand at first light.  Things were looking promising.  Unfortunately those were the only deer I saw the entire day.  Another hunter on the same farm did harvest an 8 pt buck on opening day.

Hunt #11 November 6 Location Iowa

Temp 54F Wind SSE 6 mph Barometric Pressure 30.28 (steady) Moon Waxing Crescent

A funnel between two small wood lots was the location for my morning hunt.  At first light I had a 2.5 year old 8 pt walk past my stand.  Not the caliber of buck I am looking for, especially on my first sit in Iowa during the rut.  A couple of hours later a 1.5 year old buck made his way out of the standing corn and also passed my stand.  An overall slow hunt.  Mid-day I hung a new stand on the new property which I obtained permission to hunt.  While hanging the stand an 8 pt buck came within 5 yards of me, and a nice 10 pt walked right under my freshly hung stand (my bow was in the truck.....).  My evening hunt took place over my corn food plot on a different farm.  Action started quick with 2 small bucks working their way passed my stand.  Several antlerless deer fed in the corn plot and commercial bean field the rest of the evening.  I was surprised that no other bucks came out to the plot to check the half-dozen antlerless deer.


Hunt #12 November 7 Location Iowa

Temp 51F Wind S 9 mph Barometric Pressure 30.20 (steady) Moon First Quarter

I sat in the new stand that I hung on the new property.  This stand is on a narrow strip of timber overlooking a large river bottom.  Access to this property is a problem.  I have a 1/2 mile walk to access the property, and to get to the woods I need to walk through a picked corn field.  Not an ideal set up.  I bumped a half-dozen deer that were in the picked corn field on the way to my stand.  The deer slowly returned back to the field to feed, and then worked their way back to the timber to bed down for the day.  I had a doe and fawn bed down 20 yards from my stand for over an hour.  2 small bucks came in and bumped the doe out of her bed.  The action the rest of the day was very slow which made of a long all day sit.  I was encouraged by the number of deer I saw at this new location, but the lack of mature buck sightings is getting frustrating. 

Hunt #13 November 8 Location Iowa/Minnesota

Temp 48F Wind NW 9 mph Barometric Pressure 30.28 (rising) Moon First Quarter

A day to forget.  I was in another funnel between a large section of river bottom public land and a series of narrow wood lots.  This stand does not look like much, but I have had some exciting mature buck encounters here in the past.  Unfortunately the only action was a doe and spike buck.  For the evening hunt I was back to Minnesota with the gun overlooking my brassica food plot in the Oak Flat stand.  Deer movement was terrible with only a button buck and doe coming out at last light.  Another day of slow deer movement.

Hunt #14 November 9 Location Iowa

Temp 57F Wind SW 4 mph Barometric Pressure 30.40 (falling) Moon Waxing Gibbous

I was back in the same location as Hunt #11.  When I arrived to the woods, I found that the farmer had started harvesting the corn that surrounded the woods the day prior.  When I pulled into the driveway, a doe and fawn crossed the road into a strip of corn that was still standing.  I made it into my stand "clean" and got comfortable for another all day sit.  The doe and fawn that I saw earlier entered the woods an bedded down 30 yards down wind of me.  I can attribute using Nose Jammer as the only reason these deer did not wind me.  An hour later, a 2.5 year old 8 pt entered the woods from the corn to check the doe and fawn.  The doe and fawn were pushed from their bed by this buck.  Finally some rutting activity! About 10 minutes later a nice 10 pt buck entered the woods and checked the bed that the doe was sitting in.  He proceeded to then walk run under my stand and stop in a shooting lane giving me a perfect 5 yard broadside shot.  I passed on the opportunity thinking the buck was only a 2.5 year old.  Mid day was slow, but about 2 hours left in the hunt the 10 point buck worked his way back to my stand.  After the slow afternoon and more time to see the deer through my binoculars, I convinced myself that this buck would be worthy of my tag.  Unfortunately he did not provide a shot attempt on his return visit.  An hour late a nice 8 pt came and checked that same doe bed.  He had a couple of sticker points and some unique character on his right G2.  The buck did not provide an opportunity, and I think I would have passed him anyway with my focus shifted to the 10 pointer.  A very exciting hunt! (One I may regret the longer my tag goes unfilled)

Hunt #15 November 10 Location Iowa 

Temp 64F Wind W 10 mph Barometric Pressure 30.00 (falling) Moon Waxing Gibbous

I went back to the same location as the day prior to see if there would be similar action. I only saw one yearling buck.  I figured it was time to regroup and try a different stand.  I went back for an afternoon sit on the new property.  I was hopefully that getting to my stand in the afternoon as opposed to the morning would spook less deer.  This did help, but I did jump a few deer on my way to the stand.  Mid-afternoon action was tremendous.  I saw 3 small bucks on their feet cruising for does.  I saw a HUGE buck down in the river bottom about 75 yards from my stand.  I grunted at him in an attempt to bring him in, and he started to walk down wind and ultimately caught my scent (I had my scent-lok jacket off due to the warm temps and not wanting to wear it on my 1/2 mile walk to the stand.  I ended up seeing 6 different bucks and another half-dozen anterless deer.  Another exciting hunt,  the rut is really heating up now!-KK

November 3

Iowa pheasant opener recap-Minnesota and Iowa Rut Outlook-Fall Fishing Report

Iowa pheasant opener recap:

North Iowa received two inches of rain the week prior to the weekend pheasant opener.  This made for wet and muddy conditions and tough hunting with lots of crops remaining unharvested due to poor field conditions.  The large, unpicked corn fields create an ideal sanctuary for pheasants to feed and elude hunters.  We did have some success both on private and public land hunting the edges and transitions from grass cover to the crop fields.  Pheasant numbers were very encouraging.  Once the crops are harvested late season hunts show promise.-KK




Hunt #9 October 30

Temp 43F Wind SSE 4 mph Barometric Pressure 30.23 (falling) Moon Waning Crescent

I went back to the Oak Ridge stand in hopes to see some of the same bucks that I saw a week prior and detailed in Hunt #7.  I also wanted to see if the "spooky doe" would come back into the food plot and present me with an opportunity.  Early in the hunt, a group of turkeys fed in the woods immediately behind me.  The initial sound of rustling leaves and sticks breaking made me think that a big buck was working his way towards my stand.  At about 5:30 pm I happened to glance toward the edge of the woods where I expected deer to enter the field.  My eyes were met with a second pair of eyes starring right at me! The "spooky doe" was back and had spotted me in the stand again.  I stood motionless in the stand, hoping she would not ruin my hunt again.  She remained calm, and proceeded on the trail to my food plot.  When she stepped behind a tree, I drew my Mathews bow back and waited for her to present a shot.  At 17 yards I released an arrow tipped with a Rage broadhead which found its mark just behind the front shoulder.  The "spooky doe" was down within sight of the stand. I finished the hunt and saw two more anterless deer and a nice tall 8 point buck a half-hour before end of legal shooting on the opposite side of the overgrown pasture.  A great night on stand and I feel fortunate to harvest a nice mature doe for the freezer.-KK

Minnesota and Iowa Rut Outlook:

The Minnesota firearm season opens this Saturday.  I have purchased a gun tag and will likely hunt the first two days of the season with a gun.  I am vehemently against a gun season during the "seeking" phase of the rut (a topic for another day), but with limited time and an Iowa tag also to pursue I will be joining the orange army.  This Saturday also marks the first day of my annual "Rutcation".  I have tried to take a week of vacation time to hunt the rut since my last year in college.  This is an exciting time to be in the woods and something I look forward to every year.  I will be spending most of my time in Iowa trying to fill my Iowa archery tag.  I just recently received permission to hunt a very nice piece of private land that I had hunted for shed antlers 2 years ago.  I will be hunting this property with zero prior scouting and minimal knowledge of the land layout, so it will be an exciting challenge to put a plan together on a new piece of property.-KK

The rut can be brutal. Local wildlife technician Andy, found this dead buck on public land with his eye gouged out.  A life-ending traumatic injury suffered in a fight for dominance.



Fall Fishing Report:


Fly fishing for trout in Northern Iowa:
The water was high and slightly stained from recent rains.  Fish were not in the usual runs, but holding in slower water against the bank.  Smaller nymphs were totally ineffective so we started using zonkers and wooly buggers with a jerk retrieve that stimulated strikes.
Flies were never struck on a down stream retrieve but when stripped across or up stream.
Landed 15 rainbows in the 11-13" range.-JK

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

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

October 13

North Dakota Pheasant Opener Recap

This past weekend Corn Belt Outdoors traveled to SW North Dakota for the opening weekend of pheasant season.  The area received little rain over the summer, and this was evident with the nesting grasses and corn food plots clearly stunted from the lack of moisture.  The predicted population decrease, and two large neighboring fields of unharvested corn and sunflowers did account for slightly fewer birds seen compared to 2014 and 2015.  The hunt was a success with an average of 2 roosters/hunter/day, but the quality time spent with family and friends will be the lasting memories.

-KK

October 6:

MN Deer Archery season week 3 update-

Hunt #5 Oct. 2

Temp 73F Wind N 3.5 mph Barometric Pressure 30.08 (steady) Moon Waxing Crescent

With warm temperatures and little wind, I was not expecting great deer movement.  I set up in the oak ridge stand again over looking my other food plot.  I was hopeful that the 2 nice bucks I saw a few nights before were still on the same pattern.  This was not the case as there was no deer movement this evening.

IA Deer Archery opening week update-

I did not hunt the opening weekend of the Iowa Archery season.  I had some family events that took priority, but there were a couple of Cornbelt Outdoors contributors hunting the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids areas.  The common theme was: warm temps, lots of bugs, and little deer movement.  I suspect deer movement should really improve this upcoming weekend with a cold front moving in and temperatures dropping 15 degrees throughout the weekend.  

North Dakota Pheasant Opener Outlook-

This weekend Cornbelt Outdoors will be traveling to SW North Dakota to hunt the pheasant opener.  Opening day of pheasant season will always be more about spending quality time with family and friends than the number of roosters harvested (although I suspect we will bag a few birds).  The farm that we will be hunting has done a tremendous job in terms of land stewardship.  Shelter-belt tree plantings, CRP enrollment, and established food plots have created tremendous opportunities for upland bird hunting.  Drought conditions in the southwest part of the state has led to a projected 20% decline in the pheasant population. This area of the state however, still maintains the highest population density of pheasants according to a Pheasants Forever report.  Below is a highlight clip from our 2014 North Dakota trip. -KK