First deer

An Outdoorsman’s Journal

Hello friends, This is one of those week’s where I have five times more material than the space to write it. This column is dedicated to my good friend Rod Bensley who lives with his wife Wendy Vick near Burnett in Dodge County. Rod is probably the best habitat/land manager that I have ever met. Rod has cancer, has majorly outlived his diagnosis, is in tough shape, and for the hunt you are about to read about, opened his property up to a couple of kids for Wisconsin’s youth deer hunt.

Saturday, Oct. 8 High 63, Low 30

I would be mentoring and sitting in a portable tree stand next to 12-year-old Carsyn Thiede, who is the daughter of Tyler and Patsy Thiede of Mayville. Keith Kneiser does a lot of volunteer work on this property and would be in a box stand with his 15-year-old granddaughter Kennedy Kneiser of Oostburg. Tyler Thiede would be on a total go-for-it hunt on state land near the Horicon Marsh with his 10-year-old son Conner.

Carsyn and I would be hunting in a forest that is a natural funnel between several food plots and corn fields. A brief description of our upcoming hunts, almost nonstop deer or turkey activity and lots of laughter. I did my best to teach Carsyn that this hunt was a learning experience and everything else was a bonus. We had deer long before daylight within 10 yards of us and over the next three hours we had an unbelievable hunt with five buck experiences including one that was bigger than anything that I have ever harvested.

I said this hunt was a learning experience and I meant it. We used “cookie doe” cow manure for a cover scent and it worked perfectly but getting a first-time hunter a shot without getting busted did not happen and we simply did not care.

Just before 7 a.m. we did hear the bark of Kennedy Kneiser’s .270 and though she did not know it at the moment, it was lights out for her first deer which was a 5-point buck. We took a break after our hunt and found it 30 yards from where she had taken her shot. Our good friend Rod is a hurting unit, but he was able to enjoy some time with Kennedy and her buck and that is what this weekend was all about.

On the evening hunt it was much slower for Carsyn and myself, but Conner and Tyler had a great hunt and Conner made a 140-yard shot on an adult doe and now two of our kids had their first deer.

Sunday, October 9 High 56, Low 31

This morning Carsyn and I had most of our experiences at a food plot that we could see but it was too far for a shot. After our hunt we used my loppers and made a ground blind and were we ever excited for our afternoon hunt. As usual, the mood was happy when we got in our blind and it was not long and three does entered the plot about 50 yards away. Carsyn was well composed but shaking like a leaf as she rested her TC 6.5 Creidmore in a bolt action on a shooting stick which I braced. When she went to shoot, her gun would not fire. The does busted us and life was not as much fun, but we made it fun. A half hour later the same type of experience happened and again her gun would not fire. Again, I kept things positive. Twice we had deer bust us from behind by snorts that were very close.

We had about 20 minutes of daylight left when a large buck entered the food plot from 100 yards away and began rubbing his antlers on a tree. I had Carsyn set up on the shooting stick and she was too excited for an accurate shot. I changed the plan to lay on the ground and put the rifle on my backpack. When she told me she was ready to fire I said shoot if you are ready.

The first thing she told me was the gun won’t go off. I knew this had the potential to be very bad for her hunting drive in the future. I told her there was nothing I could do and lets just live for the moment and watch the buck. After about 20 seconds I said give me the gun and pushed the safety forward real hard and set her up for another try. She was real nervous but smooth. I told her to think about something serious. When the rifle went off the 8-point, very heavy-bodied buck was dead before it hit the ground and we had a memory of a great weekend that both of us will always cherish.

Carsyn had a great attitude every minute of this weekend and she really got into the deer and turkey spotting contest that we had on each hunt.

Rod came down with the UTV. We took pics and life is grand!

Sunset