Pete's 42 and a Sweet Mandarin Duck!

In hopes of preparing themselves for the hours of casting they have ahead of themselves, Pete and Mark decided to come out and give their arms a workout before the big trip.  They leave in a few days for some famed Wisconsin waters, but wanted to put one of the elusive 50 inchers in the boat that we have been so fortunate to catch lately.  Well, it's tough to plan on catching one over 50 each time out, but we did our best, saw a few nice sized fish, and Pete landed this nice 42 incher.  Most of the action came from Pete's bait, but Mark had an explosion on his topwater after the sun set that we will never know about.  I do however think that it was larger than a perch, and the last fish out of those weeds measured in at 50.5, so who knows.  It was a great evening on the water, who would have guessed it would have been 82 degrees at sunset on October 7th.  Thanks for the fun boys, and good luck in Wisconsin.

Look at the duck that Mike shot yesterday morning.  I'm no duck expert, but after doing some research on it, it is called a Mandarin Duck.  Native only to Asia, China, Japan and some surrounding European Countries.  There are very few of this specie in those countries, and are known to be numbered in only a few thousand worldwide.  How did it get to Carver County Minnesota????  Who the heck knows.  But it is sweet, and will look good on the log above the fireplace.  I plan on doing a bit more research on this bird, and if anybody knows anything else about this duck, please let me know and I will put it on this site fore everyone to view.  I think the MN DNR would also be interested in this rare specimen. This duck was definitely wild too, it was flying with all the other wood ducks and mallards that Mike kept on missing.  For 16 or 17 shots that you missed on that morning, you sure picked the right duck to fold up.  Well done.....Add one more to your wall of fame!

Now That's A Duck Boat...

This morning we converted the Muskie boat into a duck boat.  Heehee, that's right.  We threw on the waders and jumped in the Ranger for a trek across the lake to our hiding spot.  Not the normal setup that we're use to, but it got the job done.  It was kindof a little more spacious than the Johnnie boat that we typically use.  Our bag consisted of what you see in the pic.  1 Drake Woody, 1 Drake Mallard, 3 Drake Gooses, and one Drake Wakeboard that somebody somehow misplaced in the reeds.  It wasn't a slaughter fest by any means, but a memorable hunt for sure.  The highlight was not the wakeboard or the birds, it was Benny filling his waders while shooting at a flock over his head.  This is my 2nd water hunt for the season, and I have now seen 3 different people slip below wader level.  It's not mean, it's just simply funny (as long as it aint cold)!  Thanks Benny and Schulzy. 

The local duck hunting report from this area has been pretty spotty from what I have been hearing.  Either you did great, or you did horrible.  Back to the muskie reports very soon.  Keep on livin that dream!

Way to Land The Big One Mark!

Way to Go Mark!  A dandy 48.5 incher that went airborn 3 times before he even knew if he had it hooked or not.  It was truly an exciting explosion, and left us full of excitement.  The funny part about this morning is that a few days back, I received an email from his brother Mike (standing next to him) stating that he was bringing his brother along to have him witness the 50 incher that he was going to haul in.  Instead it was the rookie who landed the big one and gave us the mornings excitement.  For Mark, this was his first true muskie, since the other one he landed was less than a foot long while walleye fishing.  Well, he now has bragging rights over his brother, and although Mike has landed a few in the past, he can't say that he has the largest fish in the family any longer.  This was a great catch this morning, but our only picture taker for the day.  It is very evident that the fishing pressure that this lake has been seeing is causing these fish to hide from us Muskie Dude's.  While we may not be seeing 30 fish a morning any longer, we are still putting giants in the boat, and this morning Mark completed a textbook muskie battle and was on the winning end of the deal.  Congrats on the fish of a lifetime!  Truly something to be proud of (and brag to the family about!).

Bails, Nate and myself skipped town early Friday to head up to my old stomping grounds up north and to get in on the last couple of days of the early goose season.  I typically have several birds in the bag by this time of the season, but have not had the chances to get out hunting that I normally have.  We left in time to set up deer stands and find the birds before Saturday morning, and the results were typical to my previous years successess....AWESOME!  this honey hole has given some of the most "in your face" action in the past and it didn't dissappoint this time either.  I know this isn't a picture of a muskie, but we filled out in no time and watched several more risk their lives coming into our spread.  Saturday gave us our limit of 15 birds and my first trigger pulling of the season.  Saturday night we chose to bow hunt for the deer opener, and although we usually see between 20-30 deer a piece, they moved throughout the morning hours and didn't hardly move a muscle during the evening.  I video taped a small buck at about 5 yards, and got busted by a doe at full draw on my bow, but other than that, Bails passed on 3 smaller bucks within 10 yards, and Nate had nothing in sight.  Still nice to get in the deer stand again even though we didn't get spoiled with deer frolicking all around our stands like normal. 

Sunday morning we switched back to the geese, and had the typical 2nd day of hunting the same spot.  Some of the birds were a little less willing to come full steam into our spread, but we highlighted the morning by taking 8 birds out of a flock of 11.  Not too shabby for only having 3 guns and Bails missing everything but the air with his shots (heehee).  But in all honesty, it was a hunt I won't soon forget.  It was Nate's first trek to my honey holes, and I don't think it will soon be forgotten.  I want to thank Jerry for another memorable hunt on his property, and Steve for putting us up in one of their fabulous cabins.  I truly have to recommend this family owned resort to anybody looking for a place to stay in the northern country.  The cabins were cozy as heck, fully stocked with all living necessities, and the hospitality was second to none.  It was quite the relaxation for us between our hunts, and I will definitely be paying them a visit the next time I cruise up there.  Cedar Rapids Lodge is where it's at!  Until next time, keep on living the dream!

Da Turdy Point Buck!!

The 2006 rifle season here in Minnesota is coming to a close yet again.  As always there were many great stories and jokes told.  Our group managed to harvest quite a few deer yet again this year, but with mixed results from each hunter.  The majority of the deer taken from our party of came from the first weekend of season.  We had 11 men in our hunting party this year.  On day one of the season we took 11 deer, followed by 3 more on day 2.  The remaineder of our group returned for weekend number two and bagged a couple more which gave us a total of 16.  We had 2 real nice 8 pointers and a couple of younger bucks ( no turdy pointers this year).  As always there were a few good ones that managed to get away, but hey, that's hunting.  Hopefully the ones that got away from our group found a safe hiding spot and can sport an even larger rack next year.  Way to go guys, especially Art and Mike for their dandy bucks!

On a side note, I have yet to fill my tag on a Minnesota buck, and am still going to be in pursuit in the coming months.  I have harvested 2 does out of the large northern herd to this point (1 by bow and arrow, and 1 by rifle), but have another week of rifle hunting in my zone and a few more weeks of bow hunting in the fridgid cold if I can get out.  Wih the liberal bag limits this year, I am allowed 3 more deer for the remainder of the season.  Thus far I have had 2 days in the woods with my rifle, and only a handfull with the bow, so if I can find the time I will definitely be in full pursuit.  Watch out deer, you're not in the clear yet!

Finally a New Update....Sorry!

Ok...Ok...Ok... so I know it has been forever since I have shown the world what I've been up to, but I have been away at school up in the beautiful northwoods of Bemidji.  Just a little side note to that is that THIS IS MY LAST SEMESTER!!!!  So while I have been up at school, it doesn't mean that I haven't been out in the woods or hitting the water. 

During the last month or so I've had some good hunts and bad hunts as well as a few good times on the water and a couple of cold rough times.  I will eventually try to get all of the pictures up of the latest and greatest adventures, but until then I'll post a few gems for all to drool over.

I've hunted for almost everything that this state has to offer as far as the seasons go, and have had some pretty darn good results.  I must say that the northern part of this state can pretty much offer the finest goose huntin known to man.  It doesn't hurt anything that my roomate has pretty much the best set up for the job (check out that butt-kickin trailer full of decoys, or as Joe calls it "The belly of the beast").  When you add to the hours of scouting and a few good callers in the field, it doesn't take long before our bag limit is full for the day.  I thought I had a passion for waterfowl hunting, but when I witness Joe on the Go I see a different enthusiasm and skill that  maybe nobody else has.  We've managed to sneak a few great hunts in before classes in the morning as well as on the weekends.  I know some of these pics aren't all fish related, but hey, they are trophy encounters nonetheless and I enjoy showing them. 

My hunts have been from the area's near Waconia all the way north to Blackduck, Fosston, and Bemidji.  I've shared a few good laughs with fellow schoolmates and hometown huntin buddies that make the trek up to join in on the fun of the fields and woods.  We've shot anything from grouse to wood ducks, white tails to mallards, geese to teal and a few other creatures along the way.  My travels have included: a few great clients on the water back home for muskies and walleyes, Matt, Vans, Whorel, Bails, Joe, Drew, Aaron, Dusty Bottoms, Stender, and Goofy.  All of these times have as you could imagine been great and action packed, not to mention all the laughs and goof ups that we experience along the way.  Especially hunting for fowl with a man on crutches,  I must say that it was quite a sight to see a full body goose decoy under each arm as he hobbled out to the pasture on his crutches.  Nice work Chadly.  Thanks for the fun hunts guys and many more to come. 

Oh yeah, and I'm giving a shout out to my buddies who harvested their first deer ever with the bow and arrow on a weekend hunt with me.  Nice goin Bails and Whorel.  And good luck in Dakota, Wish I was goin with you boys.... More to come soon...

Back to the books I suppose.....I have a pretty big test tomorrow....Darn tests....