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What happens in June at Turtle Creek? We work on deer stands, clear trails, create habitat and plant food plots. Then we watch for fawns, and the fireflies, which illuminate the hay fields in June.
Hunters typically know what the night skies look like in autumn. These photos show what the night skies offer in June.
While taking these photos, I heard hooves close by. A tiny mag light showed me a big doe walking by at 30 yards. I turned off the light and continued shooting the skyline. The doe stopped about 50 yards away (guessing by the sound, cuz I couldn’t see her, and evidently she couldn’t see me) and snorted for at least 5 minutes before taking off. She stomped the ground and snorted loud enough to easily fill the valley with her snorts. Just another interesting deer encounter.
.jpg "Firefly Magic")
.jpg "Fireflies Wisconsin")
Here at TCO, brook trout, along with the bucks, are a major part of our life. Brook trout are the only native trout in this area, and basically east of the Mississippi River too. Both the Browns and the Rainbows were planted years ago. Of these three trout, Brookies are the most sensitive, needing the coldest, cleanest water to survive.
Look at the detailed patterns and color on this brookie. They are sensational, aren’t they! It’s time to shake off the winter and wander into a stream, here on the northern edge of the Driftless Area. Brookies N Bucks!
The autumn of 2017 was an exciting year for watching deer from the lodge. We were able to watch chase action numerous times in the near hay field.
It was also an action packed year for Hudson, our camp dog.
One day when I took Hudson for a walk, while hunters were at other properties, I spotted a 120″ buck down near the slough, just over a hundred yards away. I took video of the buck as the buck watched Hudson sniff up and down the road. The buck was not phased as he slowly disappeared into the corn. The buck was on a scent trail too. The buck returned shortly to watch us again for a minute or so, before slowly moving out of sight.
Hudson and I continued our walk up the road near the ranch, when I heard a grunt. I figured we had stumbled into a bit of rut action. I stopped to pull out the video camera, while Hudson sniffed with his head down along the road edge. I eventually was able to video a ten point buck plus another buck, only sixty yards away. I also expected to spot a doe, along with the bucks up the ridge. As I moved slowly to get a clear angle for the video, I realized both bucks were looking at us and not at a doe, whiling still grunting periodically. The bucks were watching Hudson, who still had his head down to the ground. It was stand off, the deer and I staring at each other, until Hudson and I left, returning to the lodge. While sharing this encounter with the guys, I was telling them, in a semi-kidding way, that the bucks “grunted us in”. I was thinking there was actually something to this.
A couple weeks later on a sunny, calm, 38˙ day at 2:00 p.m. Hudson and I were on another walk. We headed southwest along the field edge to check a trail cam. Hudson was generally ahead of me 20-50 yards as I enjoyed this sensational weather. I looked up to my left across a bean field to spot a small eight point running at half speed. Not so amazing, except the buck was running right at us. More precisely, he was running at Hudson who was ahead of me. The buck never saw me as I pulled out the video camera, dropped my gloves and started filming. I was getting a bit nervous for Hudson’s safety, so I started calling Hudson. The buck finally stopped and looked at me, 70 yards away. The buck didn’t run. A stare down ensued as the buck looked at Hudson, then back at myself. Eventually, and reluctantly, the buck turned and slowly walked off, looking back once or twice at us. I think he was as confused as I.
Later I had a far flung plan to walk and archery hunt with Hudson next year. Wanted to see if this “Hudson as decoy” experience could be duplicated but that won’t happen.
We said goodbye to Hudson March 10, 2018. He had a large tumor that finally took over.
Hudson left us with a myriad of wonderful stories. This crazy story about the bucks is just one from his numerous Turtle Creek adventures.
Ten minutes earlier, an 8 point buck went by on the same path. Jeremy took some video of the 8 and sent it to me. Shortly after, this 10 point buck showed up 10 yards in front of him, in the open. Temps were in the low 20’s, and yesterdays moisture had frozen on his bow. So when Jeremy drew back, his bow cracked the frozen moisture, scaring the buck. The buck bolted 25 yards, then stopped in a clearing, where he was double lunged immediately. 50 yards, or less, and the WI trophy buck was down. While Jeremy didn’t hit the heart this time, the buck didn’t go far. It seems all of his deer are down within 50 yards. Ya Gotta Love That!!