The Good, Bad, and Ugly of the 2014 Deer Season
By Jim Olsson
Hopefully this is the time of year when everyone is kicking back and reminiscing on another gun deer season. Now whether you judge your own success by how many packs of venison hit the freezer or simply by time spent with your family and friends, by the time you read this we will be at least into muzzleloader season and possibly late archery. It’s very rare to find the comradery that goes with deer camp and although my family and I didn’t fill all of our tags we did get to spend some quality time together. We spent time celebrating those who were fortunate enough to fill tags opening day by gathering together and trading stories Saturday night.
As a group we saw lots of deer and took two bucks and a doe. My cousin Kevin was able to take a nice 8 point by 7:15 Saturday morning and I was able to follow with my largest buck to date at about 9. Shortly after my niece Emily and her dad Dwayne were able to fill a doe tag while sitting together. With current deer numbers my family and I consider harvesting three deer on opening day a success.
While the hunt I've described took place in Shawano County I do a good piece of my hunting throughout the southern half of the state. My hunting buddies Ian and John have both been able to tag good bucks this year through persistence and constant scouting during the season. I also harvested a good buck during bow season just 11 days before the harvest of my buck with a rifle. This is the first time in my 22 years of hunting I've been able to tag two good bucks in a single year. Here is a little bit of our season in pictures.
Not all the pictures reflect success. We dealt with cows, trespassers, stolen equipment, wounded deer that were never recovered and even a couple of missed shots. I'm very grateful for a great season but it definitely wasn't smooth sailing the whole time. Good Luck to everyone who is still working on putting a deer in the freezer.
Remember… if it was easy it would be called shopping.
Scouting with trail cameras plays a big role in the Olsson camps of southern and northern Wisconsin.
Knowing the bucks are on the property and on the move in daylight helps fuel the enthusiasm for Olsson and partners in deer camp.
Ian Eckerstorfer with his 8-point Dodge County bow kill.
John Ford with his 8-poimt Iowa County bow kill.
OWO Contributing writer and video expert with a 9-point Iowa County bow kill, and his dumplings Lydia 8, and Cortney, 5.
Jim Olsson with his 9-point Shawano County buck taken with a rifle with 11 days of tagging his 9-point Iowa buck with bow and arrow.