deer hunting in wisconsin

Let me start out by saying that I am not really much of a hunter. I don't spend my days pining after that big buck, or any of the other things that so many hardcore guys do. I don't have any issues with hunting, but generally, it isn't really that interesting to me personally.

That said, My wife's family is full of hunters.

Babe's grandparents spend much of their own time making a living in their country butcher shop. I don't imagine that they make much money at it, but it is what they do. Grampa and Gramma have a place in the woods, about 80 miles from our home.

Their home is spectacular from an agrarian point of view. Grampa has spent the better part of 30 years making it what it is, and doing most of the work by himself. It started out as 20 or so acres of solid wooded land, mostly hardwoods, clear floor, with a mix of evergreens here and there to add interest.

Initially, they built a small cabin for hunting and weekends away, living in the city at the time. Over time however, the home has turned into a very nice home, modest, in a 2 acre clearing, the siding on the house, as well a quite a large amount of the rest of the place, was cut and milled using a rented portable milling machine. the wood came from the trees cut down to make room for the house.

They also have a 30 by 50 foot barn on the property, built much the same way as the house. The barn houses what i would call a professional style butcher shop, complete with a hoist for hanging the carcasses, a huge walk-in cooler, and tons of ice-chests.

It is one of my favorite places to spend my time. There is something very calming about being in a place where your own knowledge of the agrarian way of life dictates how comfortable you live.

We spend time each year cutting wood to heat the place through the winter, Grampa uses an outdoor wood burning stove for his heat, and this requires an amazing amount of wood each winter to work. We never cut standing wood, only those trees that have fallen during the year. It seems no matter how much time we spend cutting each october, we barely make a dent in the fallen wood, and believe me, we cut a lot of wood in a month.

But this weekend was the opening weekend of our gun-deer season here. Friday night, after I was done with work, I drove up, and spent the evening visiting with my father and brother in-law, gramma and grampa, and Babe's uncle and cousin. This is pretty much our deer season crew. We normally spend a few hours each day hunting, and then quite a few hours working on processing the few hundred deer that people bring in each season.

I think that this is the reason that most guys enjoy deer hunting. Camaraderie to me is more than the actual hunting, but for a lot of us, it is the only time of the year that we are able to get away from the hustle, bustle, and stress. We can collectively take a deep breath, forget about our real lives, and focus on spending time with those around us. I find it unfortunate that so many people allow the time to become absorbed in alcohol and the like, but who am I to determine what your time away is fueled by.

We sat in the lower room on Friday evening, well after dark, and watched the deer come up into the yard to pilfer corn from the bird feeder in the yard. It is truly an amazing thing to watch a huge 10 point buck walking in peace, coming up for a bite to eat. He knew we were watching, and grampa said that he was a bit more skittish than normal, but nonetheless, I got to watch him from 20 yards away eating his dinner for a solid 20 minutes.

We did manage to harvest two deer between the six of us, and they'll make for some good dinners for all of us through the coming year. We have another chance next weekend to see if we can find a few more, but mostly, I am looking forward to spending another weekend living in a world that is so much different than the one i wake up in the rest of the time.

get outside and play with your friends....
Greg