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EARN A BUCK Hunting with my girls A father passes along hunting traditions to his next generation by Michael A. Eierman The 2004 Wisconsin deer hunting season introduced a new concept to our hunting: Earna-Buck. Wisconsin’s deer herd was not being properly culled so new rules were put in place that dictated that a hunter MUST register an antlerless deer before being able to legally harvest a buck. Our hunting camp was not overly concerned with this. We were more than willing to shoot does…they taste as good as bucks. Plus, we’d been practicing Quality Deer Management and generally needed to shoot does for meat because big bucks are not guaranteed. While I agree with the EAB rules, they can be frustrating. The first couple of weeks of bow season passed without a chance at a doe. Then one evening I took my 10 year old daughter Lindsey hunting and we got to watch four shooter bucks sparring in front of us for 45 minutes. Several times I had shot opportunities but without having killed a doe, all I could do was watch. A couple of more weeks passed with no shot opportunities when it came time for Kid’s Weekend. Once or twice a season, all the guys in our camp bring their children. The kids range from 1 to 11 and there are about 10 of them so it makes for a fun, hectic weekend. I wanted to take my girls (Lindsey, age 10 and Kyra, age 7) hunting before they got so involved with their cousins and friends that they wouldn’t want to leave camp, so we went up early to hunt Friday evening before the crew arrived. I planned to hunt the Turkey Field blind with the girls. This blind is 20 yards off a logging road on the edge of a one acre field we planted with clover the previous spring. The clover was doing its job and deer and turkey frequently stopped by for a bite to eat. But I really wanted to use it for the ease of access and ability to hold all three of us. We were all settled in an hour and a half before close. The first hour passed eating snacks and whispering but not seeing anything. Probably not a big surprise. Kyra, my youngest daughter, was close to her limit and was wiggling and moving about. The situation didn’t look like the probability of success was very high. I had to relieve myself, so I told the girls that I was going to go up to the logging road to take care of my business. I said they could play but when I got back we would all sit very still for the “best” hunting of the day. They agreed. I left the blind and relieved myself. I just turned back toward the blind and there was Lindsey. 32 ❘ Badger Sportsman ❘ badgersportsman.com ❘ NOVEMBER 2011
“Daddy, there’s a deer in the field!” She was very excited. We started to sneak back to the blind when she pointed out the deer, about 40 yards west of the blind, feeding in the field. Then I saw Kyra. She was standing like a little statue in the field, in front of the blind facing the deer. Oh boy, now what? I knew the doe would not come any closer with Kyra in the field. However, the wind was blowing in my favor. “Lindsey, sneak back to the blind and whisper to Kyra to not move. I’m going to stalk this deer.” Between the logging road and the field are about 10 yards of little pine trees. I went back to the road and edged west until I was even with the doe and then began moving toward the field. I got to where I wanted to be when the doe spotted me. She didn’t know what I was so she started toward me. I froze. She got to about 20 yards and then started feeding again. I couldn’t move. Suddenly she turned toward Kyra and stared intently. She was now broadside so I drew and fired. The shot looked good but as she sprinted away across the field I saw my arrow hanging from her side with what looked like only a couple inches of penetration. Damn! Then I saw blood streaming from the opposite side and I knew I got her. She disappeared into the pines on the opposite side of the field. I stepped into the field and the girls were running toward me. “Daddy,” Lindsey said excitedly, “I saw the blood! We got her!” “Yes we did.” We all hugged and jumped around. “I didn’t bring my knife or a rope to drag her so we should go to the truck and get them and then we’ll track the deer.” On the way to the truck Lindsey told me her story. She was watching me and the deer and saw the deer “Daddy,” Lindsey said excitedly, “I saw the blood! We got her!” move toward me. When it started feeding facing me she knew I couldn’t shoot so she whispered to Kyra, “Move!” Kyra wiggled around. When the deer turned she whispered, “Stop.” Then she saw me shoot, saw the blood and came running. We got the equipment and headed back to trail the doe. It was getting dark so while I figured she didn’t go far I wanted to make sure we were going in the right direction. Also, Lindsey likes tracking and I wanted her to get more experience doing it. We tracked her across the field and into the pines. About 10 yards in we lost the trail. Lindsey and I were on our hands and knees searching for blood while Kyra was just bouncing around us. I was getting concerned, “Where could she have gone?” Then Kyra said, “Hey daddy, there’s a dead deer over there!” “That’s her, good job Kyra!” The doe had taken a hard right and was laying 20 yards from us. As I field dressed her, Lindsey pulled out the various organs with a stick and told Kyra what they were. When we got back to camp the girls couldn’t stop talking and went running to each vehicle as it arrived “WE GOT A DEER! WE GOT A DEER!” What a great way to Earn a Buck! Michael A. Eierman holds a Ph.D. and is the Information Systems Department Chair at the College of Business Administration-University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. EARN A BUCK NOVEMBER 2011 ❘ Badger Sportsman ❘ badgersportsman.com ❘ 33
Page 1 and 2: Sportsman Badger M A G A Z I N E De
Page 3 and 4: Sportsman Badger M A G A Z I N E FE
Page 5 and 6: LAND FOR SALE BUY SOME LAND BUILD Y
Page 7 and 8: NOT SO TOTALLY BLAND-O Whenever you
Page 9 and 10: E-Mail: info@northernwisconsinhunti
Page 11 and 12: important aspect of the rehab proje
Page 13 and 14: 22 | BADGER SPORTSMAN | BADGERSPORT
Page 15 and 16: opportunities. Key in on the channe
Page 17 and 18: Frank Zombo grew up a suburban kid,
Page 19 and 20: OSHKOSH Oshkosh ROTARY Rotary SOUTH
Page 21 and 22: in 1942. I can remember always feel
Page 23 and 24: ack to bed for a nap. He put on the
Page 25 and 26: hunting. Hopefully lots of hunting.
Page 27 and 28: hunters each year. Whether you hunt
Page 29 and 30: DEER CAMP Badger Sportsmen in Deer
Page 31: From Rick Martin Holcombe Hilton Fr
Page 35 and 36: TRAIL CAMERA FANATIC My First Big B
Page 37 and 38: with a sense of completion we have
Page 39 and 40: LAND FOR SALE REASONS TO BUY THIS L
Page 41 and 42: WINTER SPORTS Today is going to be
Page 43 and 44: “Drop Your Game Not Your Gear”
Page 45 and 46: What can you do if you have phragmi
Page 47 and 48: BADGER BIGSHOTS Todd Reuss Caught o
Page 49 and 50: BADGER BIGSHOTS Josh Toll of Winnec
Page 51 and 52: BADGER BIGSHOTS Jason Cox My husban
Page 53 and 54: HOWLIN’ AT THE MOON While creatin
Page 55 and 56: HOWLIN’ AT THE MOON Senior Love..
Page 57 and 58: IN OUR NEXT ISSUE Coming next issue
Page 59 and 60: :: Latitude: 46° 05’ 54” N ::

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