By: Greg Haak
November 7th 2011, it was prime time in South Central Wisconsin. Deer activity was picking up. With many nice bucks on trail cam this year I had visions of putting an arrow through one of them as I walked to the stand on that crisp morning. I decided to hunt a new stand on one of the properties I don’t get out to very often. Just two days before I hung a stand in a funnel between two big chunks of woods; I was sure it’d be a hot stand if the bucks were chasing.  I got in my stand about 5:45. At first light it didn’t take long to see the first deer of the day, a decent buck from the second I saw him. A little while later I had 35 turkeys come in; 10 of which were strutting toms, you wouldn’t of thought it was November! It was the weirdest thing. 

As the morning went on I saw a doe, two fawns, and a spike. My plan was to sit all day but debated that idea between 8:30 and 10 when the activity died down. I decided to stick it out and around 10:30 the lack of activity got me thinking how hungry I was because I had eaten all my food during the mid morning lull. My phone began to vibrate, it was my boss, so I quickly answered and talked very quietly to him; as I am talking with him two does came busting out of the woods into the CRP 200 yards away. I told my boss I’d call him back. About 5 minutes after hanging up the phone another doe came flying by me with 3 little bucks hot on her tail; shortly thereafter another little 8 pt followed her path. Things slowed down again until around 1130.  I was watching the CRP when a buck popped out in the field for 5 seconds. It was a quick encounter but I could tell he was a nice buck outside the ears but he lacked in height. It’d be hard animal to pass knowing he would be my biggest bow buck. After he went back in the woods I contemplated what I’d do if he presented a shot and decided that I was going to take him. Just seconds later he appeared 35 yards out coming straight to me. He walked into my shooting lane mouth wide open. I let out a grunt to stop him, settled my pin behind the shoulder and released the arrow. With the Buck quartering away I hit the off shoulder, he ran 40 yards stopped looked back then I heard a large commotion. I sat in my stand for an hour, which seemed like 3 days. When I got down I went and got my dad. After a short track job I had my largest bow buck to date. About a week after I checked my trail cam and had a picture of the buck I shot a few days earlier. 

By: Brandon Hirsch

It all started in the summer of 2011, I had my trail cameras out and tree stands hung.   Within a couple weeks of having my cameras out I had received nice pictures of bucks.  I was seeing what I wanted to see to get me excited for the 2011 Bow Season.

 Finally it was here.  My mind and heart was focused on 1 deer, Lawerance Tynes.  At the time of the velvet trail camera footage of him we projected him to be around the 150 inch mark (he actually scored 160”). Opening weekend I filmed Greg in his stand the entire weekend. The next weekend was my turn to hunt, and I was getting really pumped in hoped I’d catch a glimpse of Lawerance Tynes my first time in the woods.  After sitting where I had pictures and videos of him 7 or 8 times and not seeing anything my hopes we’re running pretty dry.  I started to hunt in the bigger part of the woods a mile away from where I had been sitting.  After getting skunked there a hand full of times as well it really started to make me wonder.    It was rare for me to go a day without seeing a deer and somehow I managed to go 0-13 to start the season.  

The rut was about to begin and just thinking about the fact that I had gone out 13 times and not saw a deer made me sick.  I really wanted to hang up my bow and focus on goose and duck hunting.  But if you don’t know me I hate giving up so I head out on November 4th to sit in the bigger woods. My step father was at the creek bottom a half mile away.  My plans we’re to sit till 11 but around 8:45 I felt my phone vibrating. I noticed it was Tim calling.  I picked up and he said “Hey can you help me? “  I was a little confused because I thought he had gone to work that morning.  So I said “yes, where you at? “  His reply was “behind Don’s, I just shot a buck. “  From the tone of his voice I knew it was big so around 9 I climbed down my tree and got to the creek bottom within 10 minutes.  I jumped into his truck and we drove up to it.  My step father had shot Lawerance Tynes, the deer I had my mind and heart focused on since day 1. With the rut activity picking up I decided to start sitting the creek bottom (which is typically a good rut spot). That afternoon I sat there, and finally saw my first deer on our land a handful of does and a nice 9 pointer.

On November 13th, a week and 2 days from when Tim shot Lawerance Tynes, Greg, Mark, and myself found ourselves in the same area with the hopes history would repeat itself; the night before I had seen three shooters so we had a good feeling. Greg was equipped with the camera to film Mark in hopes a shooter would present them with a shot. Filming me would be a challenge since the tree I sit in has very little cover.  We arrived in our stands at 5:15 am. Well before legal shooting time I had 12 deer come within 40 yards of my stand.  I heard a deep grunt in the marsh walking towards me.  I knew it was the 150” 8 I’ve been watching for 2 days.  First light came and there he was standing around a hot doe.  I watched him for an hour before the doe started making her way towards me.  She stopped at 20 yards; he was a little behind her presenting me with a 20 – 25 yard shot.  I drew back as he started to walk towards her, all I could think about was it’s do or die time.  I grunted at him stopping him in his tracks and let the Rage fly.  I watched my arrow hit him in what I thought was the shoulder blade.  He ran off about 150 yards and started to wobble I watched him in my binoculars as he fell over.  I stood there shaking and in shock.  Did I really just shoot my first buck with my bow?  In process of letting Greg and Mark know I just shot the 8, a 130” 9 starts making its way towards me.  I knocked another arrow thinking he could give me a shot too. He didn’t like what he saw in the area so he trotted off.  Greg and Mark made their way to my stand where we began to track my buck.  An hour and a half after I shot we recovered my buck which I ended up making a double lung shot on.  We scored it in the truck finding it to be 152 5/8”.  I set my standards high saying I wasn’t going to shoot anything under 120”s, and mount anything under 150”s.  I’ll give you one guess where this buck is at right now! The buck is believed to be 4.5 years old, and we never had any pictures or videos of him.  Hunting isn’t always easy and doesn’t always go the way you want it to go.  I learned the hard way this year but just kept my head in the game and boy did it sure pay off!   So next time the going is getting tough for you, just keep going!

The rut is picking up here in Wisconsin and some bucks are finally starting to hit the ground for the BMGOutdoors Team! Greg Haak harvested a nice 9 pointer at 11:30 yesterday morning (story and pictures to come soon) and Brandon’s Step Father Tim Miller shot a buck we named “Lawrence Tynes” last Friday. The buck grossed 160” and net 154”, here is his story.

The gut wrenching pain of the miss and the ecstatic HIGH of the perfect shot

November 4 2011
By: Tim Miller

 It was 6:30 am on Friday when I pulled into my hunting spot. The temperature was 26 degrees and the wind was calm (perfect). I was in my stand by 6:40 am.

  I was sitting on a fence line. To my left were 40 acres of CRP. The entire field was recently mowed except for a small island in the center.  To my right is 50 acres of corn, not picked. Twenty yards in front of me is a creek bottom and swamp.

 Just as I settled in and caught my breath, I looked to my left and saw a deer walking through the open field. I was not in my stand 5 minutes. The light was still low but I could see it had antlers (not sure how big). I watched him jog up to the barn and turn down into the swamp. The sun was starting to peek out now. I could hear a deer coming up behind me in the open field. A little 4 point walked by into the swamp. As the morning went on three does and two more 4 pointers walked through the open field into the swamp (all different deer).

Now it is 7:30 am. I heard something in the corn behind me. I stood up and looked that direction. I could see a deer 8-10 rows in with its head down eating but couldn’t make out his antlers.  I grabbed my bow locked on my release. The deer picked his head up and finally showed his rack. It was an 8 point; I’m guessing 18-19 inside spread with not real heavy 4 to 6 inch tines. He then jogged right by me and immediately I drew back. When he got slightly ahead of me I grunted; he stopped and looked right at me. I found a hole in the corn and took the shot. WWHHHAACCKK, he ran 20 yards before he stopped in the swamp to look back at me. I was waiting for him to fall over, instead he calmly walked away never giving me another shot. I could not believe it, I missed. I looked in the corn where I took the shot and saw my arrow laying on the ground (clean) and next to it lay the exploded corn cob that my arrow struck. I was kicking myself! I sat down and tried to regain my composure. I was still in shock that I had missed.

By 8:45am I had seen two more 4 pointers. I was freezing and discouraged about the miss earlier. I was going to have a cigarette and head home. I stood up and lit up just as I was pulling out my jar that I use as my ash tray I looked in the corn behind me to see a MONSTER looking up at me. He turned around and headed the other way. I grabbed my bow locked on my release. Suddenly he turned, crossed the fence row and headed across the open field. I pulled my bow back and let out a loud grunt. He stopped at 25 yards quartering away. I took careful aim and took the shot. It was BEAUTIFUL watching the arrow fly right into the bread box! He hunched up and let out a groan. I watched him run 25 more yards into the uncut island in the field. At full speed he rolled ass over tea kettle. Then he got up stumbled 5 feet and it was over. By the way I never had time to put my cigarette out; it was in my mouth the whole time. When we field dressed the deer the heart was in pieces.

 

 I started shaking uncontrollably. I sat down pulled out my cell phone to call my step son Brandon. This by the way is whose stand I was sitting in! (THANK YOU BRANDON). It took 10 minutes before I had enough control to call Brandon. I told him I shot a buck and needed his help to get it in the truck. He was hunting on the other side of the road and said he was on his way. I got down from Brandon’s stand and headed back to my truck. I could see the antlers sticking up above the CRP grass however I didn’t go over to see it. I had 150 yard walk back to my truck and Brandon almost beat me there. He must have sprinted back to his truck and sped over to me.

Brandon and I drove the truck back to within 20 yards of him. When Brandon and I walked up to the deer he said “It’s Lawrence Tynes”. It Turns out Brandon had the same deer on camera in velvet. Brandon got the video across the street over the summer about a half a mile away.

 Needless to say we celebrated once we got the deer home. I am getting a shoulder mount of the deer which should be ready in April. 

“I was just as excited as Tim was.  I was happy that it was shot on our land since I had video of him.  It may sound bad but the people across the road don’t really have good hunting etiquette.  I had spent countless hours in the woods trying to catch a glimpse of this guy within range and never did.  It honestly couldn’t have happened to a better person!  My step father has taught me a lot about hunting. When I was younger he gave up his time to hunt to get me started and make sure everything from my bow to my clothes to my tree stands were all set when hunting season came around.   He also takes the neighbor boy out hunting, giving up his time again to get more people involved into hunting!   He was telling me after we got back to the house that it has taken him 38 years to get a buck like this.”

-Brandon Hirsch

This video taken by team member Nick Berndt in Eastern Wisconsin shows the salmon returning to their annual spawning grounds from the waters of Lake Michigan.  Pretty neat stuff!

Welcome to November, by far the greatest month of the year in the eyes of any avid bow hunter.  Nothing seems to beat those crisp still mornings, then when the woods erupts with the sound of bucks grunting, leaves crunching and arrows slinging! Here’s a quick update as to what the BMGOutdoors Team has seen the last week.

South Central Wisconsin:
Brandon Hirsch and Greg Haak
For the guys down south things have started to pick up in the last week; Greg and Brandon have been seeing some young bucks out cruising and checking does.  Just last night (October 31st) Greg had a great encounter with a small 8 pointer.  Trying to take advantage of the bucks aggressive tendencies during this pre rut phase Greg decided to put up a buck decoy and sit in a homemade ground blind.  With little action besides 2 fawns, Greg decided to bust out the horns; within 5 minutes of setting them down he heard the buck coming down the tree line. The buck circled the decoy bowlegged, puffing up to an aggressive stance a mere 5 yards from Greg’s natural ground blind. It was great encounter but hopefully he makes a similar appearance two years down the road.

Pat Raab
Pat has been hunting hard having passed numerous 130 class deer in hopes of an opportunity at one of the bigger deer he knows are out there. Sunday night one of those bigger deer by the name of Cactus used one of his extra lives to elude Pat.  As it was getting dark Pat decided to call it a night.  He often leaves his stand earlier than the typical bow hunter to avoid detection by one of the numerous deer that roam his property.  He was lowering his bow to the ground when he heard leaves crunching nearby.  He looked up to see cactus, a 165+ class deer walking broadside at 30 yards.  He quickly got his bow up, loaded an arrow and drew back.  As he was settling his pin at the buck that was now 20 yards away broadside,  his arrow fell off the rest and Cactus waked away unscathed.  An unfortunate sequence of events, but knowing Pat he’ll close the deal on this buck or another giant before the seasons end.

Eastern Wisconsin:
Jason Lisowe
Jason has been getting out whenever his schedule allows.  His best property has been slow since opening weekend most likely because he has been sharing the woods with another hunter.  Deer movement ceased however things should pick up with the rut.  He also got access to another property.  After having the trail camera out for 5 days he was pleased to have gotten 60 pictures with 35 of them of bucks.  He has added a couple new shooters on his list one of which may be the virgin buck.  Just this morning (November 1) he passed a 2.5 year old 8 pointer that came within 25 yards of his setup.

Mark Mitchell
Mark is finally starting to see some deer.  Sunday I braved the rainstorm and sat at my fiancé’s farm for my first legit evening hunt of the year.  I was in the stand no more than an hour when a small six pointer came out of the cattails.  He circled around my set-up, made a pair of rubs and scrapes in the 30 minutes I was able to see him.  I was hoping the big buck that has been seen with this younger guy would make an appearance, but he never showed. I’ll be heading back to this spot for my first of three vacation days this Thursday for an all day sit. With a cold front moving through I have a feeling things will be rocking!

Best of luck to everyone the next few weeks! Be safe and remember to celebrate NO SHAVE NOVEMBER with us since it’s been scientifically proven you kill more deer with facial hair!