In an online article I wrote this summer called “Celebrating Summer Whitetails,” I detailed the massive wind storm that struck Wisconsin in July 2019. I pursue whitetails on public land in some of these wind-damaged areas, and access after the storm has been extremely difficult, and at times impossible, due to the number of downed trees.
While looking at maps recently, I wondered about a massive public land parcel I’d never hiked or hunted before. I knew this area had been decimated in the wind storm, so walking the property wasn’t an option. But I noticed a lake bordered it on one side, and figured I could drop in a row boat at the lake access and then travel across the water. This would allow me to check out a distant part of the parcel that I predicted hadn’t experienced much hunting pressure since the storm.
I was right.
After rowing to the distant shoreline and beaching the boat, I began my scouting mission on foot. The area was tore up with buck sign, and my only mistake was not packing my bow and hunting clothing for an evening sit.
I plan to return soon to bowhunt the property. During my scouting hike, I piled up some logs to build one ground blind near a funnel. It should be ideal for an all-day sit in early to mid-November when bucks are traveling to find a doe in heat. I also found an old logging road that points toward some nearby private land ag fields; this should be a fantastic area for an evening sit.
Not only will my boat allow me to access this public land, but having the boat will also make it possible to haul in a portable treestand (legal) if desired, and haul out a dead deer if I’m successful.
