Zooming In 4 (Season 2)
Show 4 – Jeff in Wisconsin
My brother Jeff’s successful hunt in Wisconsin proves two important points. First of all, it proves that the pre-rut can be a great time to be in the woods. More significantly, however, it proves that even small tracts of property can produce big bucks. Let’s Zoom In and take a closer look.
Believe it or not, the tract of land Jeff had permission to hunt, which is located right here, is a mere 33 acres in size. But as this overhead view clearly shows, the tract has a lot of things going for it. On the east lies a literal smorgasbord of crop attractants, namely soybeans, corn and alfalfa. The property is bordered on the west, south and north by a fairly large block of timber. A deep wooded draw, located here, provides the local whitetails with a virtual bedding sanctuary.
Now on the fateful day Jeff had decided to hunt from a stand he’d previously put up along this field edge. Thanks to some Reconyx scouting camera photos from earlier in the fall, my brother knew that several “shooter” bucks, including one with at least two drop tines, had been frequenting these croplands. Jeff was hoping that he could ambush one of these bucks as it made it’s way to this freshly cut soybean field. And that’s exactly what happened.
Judging by where the buck first appeared, my brother figures the whitetail had been bedded in the deep draw and had walked up this steep ridge somewhere along this route. As the footage showed, the buck popped out of the timber and was right about here, approximately 25 yards away, when Jeff took the shot. After the hit the buck ran around this wooded point and continued along this edge before cutting into the timber here.
Jeff, along with cameraman Matt Tandy and good friend Dan Treankler, returned some time after dark and tracked the buck to this point. However, due to a scant blood trail, the three men decided to back out and return to the scene the next morning. As Jeff explained during his recovery, they found the buck right here, just a short distance from where they had left the trail the previous evening.
Buffalo County Wisconsin has long had a history of producing some real bragger bucks. But as anyone who has ever hunted the area will quickly tell you, the rugged terrain and intense pressure make for some extremely tough hunting conditions. Like it is in a lot of places, the harder you work, the luckier you get!
Hey, make sure you tune in next week to see where on earth we’ll be Zooming In. We’ll see you here!!
