Posted on

An Outdoorsman’s Journal; Chippewa River Bow Hunt

An Outdoorsman’s Journal; Chippewa River Bow Hunt An Outdoorsman’s Journal; Chippewa River Bow Hunt

By Mark Walters

Hello friends, This is one of those all-over-the-map kind of stories. In a nutshell, I headed over to Pepin and Buffalo counties near Durand, to camp, travel by canoe and hunt deer with a compound bow. Crazy as it may sound, my goal was to harvest a doe, not a buck. I have had some great hunts in my food plot and passed on a good looking 10-pointer two nights in a row, just before I left for this hunt. In simple terms, unless I saw a really nice buck, I did not want my buck tag to be filled quite yet.

Saturday, Oct. 10 • High 63, Low 44

So, here is the plan: I build camp, my four-year-old golden retriever, Ruby, is my companion. On a side note, Ruby would have been due this week, had I had her bred back in August. Realizing that the pups would be born in the peak of my busy season, I had to pass. If you want a pup, let me know, come spring, she should be a mama.

So, this would be the third fall I have explored this vast area of public land, and I actually spent the night in a tree here in July, scouting out this spot. I have dreamt about returning with a bow and my canoe for months.

Here comes the bad news. I paddle to where I am going to do a very short hike to what is a

The old Chevy just about met it’s Waterloo on this adventure. (Inset) This is the buck that Mark Walters passed up two nights in a row, while hunting his food plot.

natural deer funnel and a small, but very good spot to hunt. I set my stand down at the tree I am going to put it in and I am about as happy as I can be. All the sudden, I feel the presence of a human. I look and here comes the same fella I met last fall, at this exact same spot.

He is carrying a cross bow and has permission to cross through some private land, so he actually has a short walk. Just like last year, I am informed he has had a trail camera at this location all fall, and I am supposed to assume that even though it is public, he is the owner.

Like a fool, I chose to walk away without a negative word, just like I did last year.

Monday, Oct. 12 • High 61, Low 43

One of my main thrills on this type of trip, is the challenge of not using lights in the forest when hiking in the dark or paddling in the dark; you would be amazed if you just trust yourself how easy this can actually work. Today, I made an executive decision. Since I lost my spot, I am making this a five-day trip, instead of three. Back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, when I did not have a home, I basically went from trip to trip, hand-wrote and snailmailed this column, and went to a one-hour film developing business and made photos, which I also snail-mailed to everyone.

I loved that era of this career. After my “paperwork” was done, I headed my trusty pickup in the direction of the next adventure.

Before I paddle away from camp in the dark long before dawn, I throw a softball as far as I can, several times and Ruby always finds it. I repeat this game, even before bed and that is all Ruby asks for.

Last year, I saw a 5-point buck several times and he appeared to hang out in a small area. I swear today, I saw my old buddy in the same area, acting just like he did last year. He is now an 8-pointer, with a massive body and not a big rack, maybe 14 inches. I could have made an easy shot on him, but as I said earlier, I want to hunt my food plot, but it would have been so cool to paddle back to camp with a buck in the canoe.

Here is a crazy story...I had not driven my truck in four days, but had a 140-watt inverter plugged into the cigarette lighter. I use this to charge cameras, headlamps and my phone. Today, I opened the door to my truck and could smell that ugly taint of an electrical fire about to happen.

Something went wrong with the inverter, and it was literally melting a charger and its cord. I picked it up without hesitation and literally melted the end of two of my fingernails. Long story short, had it been an hour later, I think my truck that now has 311,000 miles, would have been gone as gone gets.

Another interesting note, is that on a recent duck hunt camping trip, I kind of beat the bajeezas out of my flip phone and it died, and I lost all 370 of my contacts. Text me your number if you know me! I would destroy a smartphone faster than snow melts in May! Sunset

[caption id="attachment_96099" align="alignnone" width="225"] The old Chevy just about
met it’s Waterloo on this
adventure. (Inset) This is the buck
that Mark Walters passed up two nights in a row, while hunting his food plot.[/caption]
LATEST NEWS