On the Board Early - MN 2011 Season

The 2011 Minnesota deer season opened up on Saturday morning with perfect conditions. The temp was in the upper 40's, cloudy skies and a southwest wind at 10-15 mph. I started the season in my Money Set like I do every year if the wind is right for the set. A SW wind can be a little suspect if the wind swirls, but I decided to chance it because of all the acorns dropping back in the timber.

I made it to my set 30 minutes prior to legal shooting time. I did jump one deer from it's bed about 15 yards from my set, but it only ran 15 yards then walked off without much commotion. 20 minutes into the season I heard foot steps approaching. Seconds later a doe popped out of the understory directly in front of me. She angled right towards my set and offered me a quartering away shot at 14 yards; arrow #1 of the 2011 was touched off. The arrow hit home entering just in front of her back ribs and angling up through the heart and exited the opposite side. The nanny ran right down an open trail and dropped dead about 50 yards from the shot. The 2011 Minnesota archery season was off to a great start!

Throughout the remainder of the sit I had 5 separate bucks come with in 25 yards of my stand. One of them was a pretty nice 2 1/2 year old 8pnt. that really had me thinking about punching my buck tag. I talked myself into holding off because of the trail camera picks I have of more mature bucks on the farm. A great morning sit! Below are pics of the two bucks I plan to hold out for until later in the year.




Saturday evening I wasn't able to hunt any of the sets I have been getting the good pics from because of a SE wind, so I sat over looking the inner bean field. Nothing came by my set but I did watch a nice 2 1/2yr old 8pnt. get bullied around by a 130" 8pnt. Both deer exited the field directly under one of my other stands that I couldn't sit because of the wind. Either way it was a great opening day. I have fresh venison in the freezer, and got to watch 7 different bucks. Below is a view from my Saturday evening set.