This year our group has twelve people (Glenn, Arlan, Jared, Tim, Shannon, Tom, Morgan, Tony, Little Tony, Matthew, Dave, and Scott) with guests Scott Weiberg and his wife.
Opening day (Saturday the 4th) Scott (2 does) shot two deer as he was going to find and shoot one of their cows that ran away a few days ago. By the end of opening day we had 2 does and a cow hanging. The cow is rather big for us as we are use to deer. The gutting/skinning process took 3-4 hours and was shared by several. Others hung out for a bit at the shack and had a good time (time change tonight).
On Sunday the 5th, Matthew (156lb., 8 point) shot a buck. We went to eat dinner at the Nazareth church and had a great meal of mashed potatoes and meatballs again. Yah gotta love the meal from these ladies. Oh, ya gotta eat some more meatballs - we always like the Nazareth deer hunter's meal. Dave (doe) shot an anterless deer this forenoon and Tony (doe) shot another anterless deer late afternoon, he actually shot two but one was a leg shot that managed to escape. We had 5 deer and a cow hanging by the end of the weekend. We spent time telling stories and visiting at the shack this evening. Some of the neighboring Nelson hunting party came to visit tonight.
Monday the 6th, We had most of our hunting crew. We went through the Hofstad north property as we have in the past and got no deer. Two does ran away from us out the east side. In the afternoon we hunt at the Holmgren swamp/pasture and Shannon (104lbs., 5 point buck) got a deer and Tony (185lbs 8 point buck) got a deer using a 270 caliber rifle for the first time, not his usual 30-06 which we will retire now. In the In the late afternoon Tom shot a doe up north to leave us with a total of 8 deer and a cow hanging up so far.
Tuesday the 7th. Dave got a nice doe today in the Nierson woods. He had good stories to tell as he saw 4 coming over a knoll so he had to get some shots off and get what he could. 9 deer so far hanging.
Wednesday the 8th. It got down to near zero degrees this morning. Aaron and a friend came to cut up the cow. The cow was given to them.
Thursday the 9th. Another cold/windy day, not good for hunting.
Friday the 10th. It is another cold day, woke up to -4 degrees. We did not hunt to much today. The deer are tucked in the woods and some may have moved to the willows and grass for cover. The wind has been blowing for a few days now as well.
Saturday the 11th, we cut up our deer meat. We started about 10am and were done about 4pm. I made the traditional venison tenderloins and a beer cheese potato soup. No deer were shot today either.
Sunday the 12th, Jared (97 lbs. doe) got a nice doe to end the 2017 deer hunting season for our party. He got this deer from dad's fancy deer stand south of my house on Hilgeman's alfalfa field. He had Orin and Leif with him so they got to see the hunt. Jared was taking a Sunday afternoon nap in the stand when Orin woke him stating that "you can't hunt sleeping dad" or something like that. Jared awoke and saw the doe about 35 yards away. We ended up with a total of 10 deer for the season.
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