General Hunting Discussion
Forest County Deer Hunting
Forest County from at least Laona north has a good 15" of snow left as of 3/19/18 with a thick crust when the temps are below freezing which has been quite often lately. The few deer we are seeing are having a tough time with the crust when it is frozen. Snow is melting but very slowly, need some rain and 50 degrees. I don't know how the Southern part of the county is doing but it is turning out to be a long winter up here.
I wouldn't believe what the DNR is saying about the deer having a mild winter up north. I took about a 30 mile ride through the National Forest East of Laona today and seen very very few deer tracks. One thing I could not believe was the amount of wolf tracks I seen, they were all over. Lots of piles of wolf crap all full of deer hair. Took a little snow shoe walk and found a fresh wolf kill of a probably 3 year old buck that had lost its antlers. There is close to 18" of snow with a thick crust from the rain a few weeks ago. Crust is thick enough the wolves and coyotes are mostly walking on top so its easy pickings for them after the deer right now. Years ago the deer trails were like cow paths in this area, now the most deer tracks are close to cabins. I thought the deer population was coming back the last couple years but this is the least amount of deer sign I have ever seen in this area in the winter.
thanks for the reports guys. for us in the Wabeno area, the deer sightings were up a good amount Saturday through Wednesday. The deer then went in nocturnal mode and nobody wants to drive deer anymore so we didnt see much the rest of the year. For our group...8 guys, 3 bucks were taken.
from the nightly trail camera pictures....there are lots of bucks left and some big ones. That's northwoods hunting. Always fun but frustrating for sure. Need more guys moving around in a coordinated effort to maximize success in the big woods. Awesome views again this year and I love the opportunity to hunt up there. -WW
Alvin/Nelma area. Overall deer sign way up. Highest amount of bucks on trail cameras I've had in 6 years of placing them including some nice 2.5 and 3.5 year olds and plenty of 1.5s. For some reason buck sign almost nonexistent. Baiting/feeding is banned in this county but you'd never know it. A flurry of shooting opening day between 8 and 10 and by flurry I mean maybe a dozen shots. Pretty quiet the rest of the day. Very quiet Sunday. Half dozen all day. Basically 13 guys in our camp(s) opening weekend, no kills. My stepson missed a running spike opening day and maybe 3 or 4 deer seen total among the 13 guys. I saw none all weekend. We get together with a neighboring camp and make drives Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I walk every drive. The amount of tracks and droppings in the woods is more than I can remember seeing in a long time. One of our group has extensive Buffalo County experience. He had a buck come out on a drive that he described as a "Buffalo County Shooter". I don't doubt it as I believe we got a very fuzzy picture of him on my stepson's trail cam. Unfortunately he was scoping 2 other deer that came out to his left and the buck came on his right. He had a shot but not vitals so he passed. We ended up with nice spike on our very last drive Saturday. Always a good time. The deer driving and camaraderie that is. However, it's been many years since I get excited about rifle season. It' just simply a big amateur show on public land. My "season" is the first week in November with the bow. I was up through the 12th and there was surprisingly little human activity on the fs roads and in the woods that weekend. I returned to my camp on Friday afternoon before the opener and with a fresh coating of snow on the ground to find every side road traveled, man tracks up and down roads and coming out of the woods all over. People invade the woods, clank up ladder stands, pop up tents the day before the hunt and then wonder why they don't see any deer. It really is a joke.
In six full days outside Wabeno during gun hunt I saw two does and one fawn. That's an increase in the Northwoods deer herd? Fellow hunters saw tails only when they walked, but even then hardly any. After being aall fired up night before Opener, just another typical season here .
here is another very good video from les johnson , he makes predator hunting videos. explaining how it all comes together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIL-RhOo2LU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIL-RhOo2LU
There are a lot more deer up there than 3 yrs ago. If we get another easy winter and few doe tags it will be a decent yr in 2018. I think 2017 will be ok . I was running around in the woods and actually kicked up a deer while walking and saw one sitting along the bank of the river. I also saw a few when I took a walk. Three yrs ago I could hardly find a track.
here is a great video explaining why there are less deer in northern WI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQUo0vwd9eo&t=34s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQUo0vwd9eo&t=34s
This warm spell is exactly what the deer needed. Seen more deer while snowmobiling in Forest County this winter then I have seen in many years and they look in pretty good shape. The only bad thing is we did see quite a few wolf tracks again and some really big tracks. Hopefully there is a wolf season this fall to knock their numbers back a bit.
Well like a dummy I hunted forest county this weekend. No deer seen. In fact no squirrels or birds either! #wasteland
all wasn't lost though. Sat both afternoons with my 4 year old son. He seems to be a gamer already.
Hoping for better tomorrows for my kids in forest county.
-ww
