Congrats to Jake Harrison for taking down this impressive mule deer a few weeks ago in Wyoming. Jake is a Sheet Metal Foreman working out of Northeast Wisconsin. I have been given no other facts to pass along. Regardless, congrats on the successful hunt, Jake! Enjoy another picture:
The Week 8 raffle prize is a hat, shirt, and $50 Cabela’s gift card courtesy of Dan Feck at Packer Fastener. Thank you to Dan for the nice donation!
Congrats to this week’s winners, GREG WIERZBA and ADAM STANKEVICH. Greg is an Account Manager and Adam is a Virtual Designer, both work out of our De Pere Office. Congrats to Greg and Adam, and thanks again to Camden and Dan at Packer Fastener for the great prize.
The action has picked up. Many hunters got their buck on the board this week. Let’s recap:
Last Week
A lot of guys arrowed bucks last week, but we have a new leader so we’ll start there. Shawn Thomas continued his run of TG Buck Pool success on Thursday afternoon when he dropped a buck that came within 3/8″ of matching his trophy winning 2020 buck. Shawn ended Mitch Dequaine‘s run at the top, but Mitch still sits solidly in second place. Shawn’s buck now sits in fifth place on our pool’s All-Time List and joins his 2020 and 2017 bucks in the top five.
There isn’t another hunter that’s had his buck scored yet, but a few more were added to the list this week. Josh Andrews, Toby Goetz, and Matt Schmidt all took down bucks and added their names to the growing list of unsecured bucks. Here’s where we stand heading into mid-November:
Standings Update
Poll Question
As the gun season hunters prepare for their turn, here’s a simple question:
The Week Ahead
Temps this week will begin to look like November as we start hitting lows in the 20s and highs in the 40s. The closer gun season gets, the more I start keeping my fingers crossed for snow in the forecast, but so far no luck. That extra visibility and tracking makes life easier. The forecast you’re seeing here is for Green Bay. If I move further north to the Tomahawk area it looks like there is a possibility for some snow this weekend. Maybe at least some of us will get that nice white backdrop.
According to Deer Cast the best hunting times this week in our area are Saturday morning and Monday morning. More on that in a second…
This Friday’s Raffle
I did not get in touch with Jeff today to figure out what Friday’s raffle prize will be. My bad. Check back Friday…
Links
A few reasons why I’m skeptical of anyone who says one specific day is going to be a good or a bad day in any given area. #1: According to Deer Cast last weekend was supposed to be a “poor” weekend for deer hunting. Yet we had several guys shoot bucks. #2: According to Deer Cast Wednesday, November 10 is simply “OK” for hunting. However, according to the Field & Stream Whitetail 365 e-mail I’m subscribed to November 10 is the best day to hunt this year. In other words, if you’re reading this on Wednesday I hope you’re doing it from your tree stand. I understand the difference between what Deer Cast and Whitetail 365 are doing, but I find all of this information to be anecdotal. Trust what you see in the field and on your trail cams with your own eyes. I take everything else as entertainment.
Jeff recommended a great topic for today’s post: Hunt for the Hungry. If you’re not familiar with Hunt for the Hungry, it allows you to donate your deer to a local food pantry so they can process the venison and give it to someone in need. I know we all shoot deer to fill the freezer, and that’s great. I know my freezer is empty and I’m hoping to stock it up again later this month. But, some of us obviously end up with more meat than we need. Maybe you’re taking part in a doe-only hunt to even out numbers on your property or your camp just shot more deer than anyone will eat. Hunt for the Hungry is a responsible way to make sure that deer not only doesn’t go to waste, but goes to people in need of food. Shawn Thomas spoke to the Pulaski Food Pantry and he was told that they’re always in need of more deer.
For more information on Hunt for the Hungry, click here. For a list of participating processors in Wisconsin, click here.
Fun Stuff
The prime rut hunting days will soon be behind us. If you’re a bowhunter get out there now before the rest of us neanderthal rifle hunters get out there in 11 days and make a mess of things. Good luck and stay safe! If you have tips, ideas, comments, or general thoughts on any of this, please let me know.
Congrats to Nate Coe, son of Project Manager Nick Coe, on his first buck, taken during his first ever solo sit. You try to warn these kids that it’s not going to be easy and that hunting requires patience and discipline and then they go out there and take down a buck during their first sit and make you look like an idiot. Well done, Nate.
Congrats to Josh Andrews for getting his archery buck on Thursday afternoon. Josh got this 6-point buck in Marinette County. Here’s a quote directly from Josh’s e-mail to Jeff telling him about the buck:
“When he came around for the third time afternoon I decided it was time and wasn’t waiting anymore. Heard crashing around in the brush behind me and got situated. When a fork came flying by thought it was one of the bigger bucks running him off. But this guy stopped dead in my shooting lane at 25 yards. Took it as a sign, haha.”
I love that story. I’ve had a few of those myself when the same deer keeps coming around and you’re finally like, “This is a sign.” Congrats again, Josh! Here are a few more pics:
If you recall, last week our raffle prize came courtesy of Camden Whitaker and Tom DeGenaro from Michel Sales. This morning Jeff reached out to Camden to thank him again for the donation. Camden replied with, “I shot my buck last week Tuesday,” and sent pics. They are certainly worthy of sharing.
Camden got this bruiser on private land in Marquette County. It’s a 10-pointer with a 19″ spread. We should all be thankful Camden donated to the pool and isn’t actually participating because I have a feeling this buck will score well. Thanks again for the great prize, Camden, and congrats on the impressive buck!
Congrats to Toby Goetz for getting his buck last Friday. Toby is an Account Manager out of our Central Wisconsin office. He took this guy down at about 10:00 AM on his land near Pittsville, WI. To quote Toby’s e-mail, “Not as big as I initially thought, but there’s always rifle season.” I don’t know about you, but I’d be happy with it. Congrats on a job well done, Toby!
Here are a few bonus pics of Toby with his kids who seem very excited to see dad’s buck.
When Jeff receives word of a new buck for the pool he texts me pics and details so I can write up posts for the site. I hadn’t even gotten a chance to react to the Shawn Thomas texts on Friday when he sent along pics of another buck down. This time it was De Pere Plumbing Foreman Matt Schmidt dropping this nice UP buck. The only details I currently have are that it’s an 8-point buck with a 17″ spread. Jeff has not been able to score this buck yet, but he’ll be added to the standings under TBD. I’ll add more details as I get them. Good to see guys having success this weekend. Great buck, Matt. Congratulations!
Congratulations to our TG Buck Pool 2020 Champion Shawn Thomas on taking down another great buck Thursday evening. I don’t have a lot of details on the story behind Shawn’s buck. What I do know is that the deer weighed 175 pounds. I also know that Jeff was already able to score the buck and he came in at an impressive 143 4/8″. Last year’s contest winning buck measured in at 143 7/8″. If only he had another 3/8″.
Wait for it…
Sorry. Not funny.
Anyway, Shawn now has three of the five best bucks on the TG Buck Pool All-Time list. Shawn is a Plumbing Foreman working out of De Pere. Maybe we can get him to write a guest post on this site so he can pass along his secrets. Or, maybe he should keep them to himself because he’s now put himself in position to win this pool for the second consecutive year, or as I call it, pulling a Tlachac. Congrats on the awesome buck, Shawn! Here’s one more look at Shawn’s buck:
The Week 7 raffle prize is a Benchmade knife, a Michel Sales knife, a bottle koozie, and an insulated mug courtesy of Camden Whitaker and Tom DeGenaro of Michel Sales. Thank you to Camden and Tom for the nice donation!
Congrats to this week’s winner, MIKE KRANZUSH. Mike is our Director of Green Bay Accounts. Congrats, Mike, and thanks again to Camden and Tom at Michels Sales for the great prize.
Sorry for the delayed post. Jeff actually got me the video early and I messed up automating the post and was too busy this weekend to fix it until now. My apologies. It looks like we had some successful hunters in the past few days, so look for a few more bucks to be added to the standings shortly.
Big congratulations this morning to Gage Delcore on taking down this 11-point buck in Kewaunee County last night. Gage is a freshman at Luxemburg-Casco High School and the son of plumbing foreman Davey Delcore. Great job Gage and Davey!
The calendar has turned to November. The best month of the year is upon us.
Last Week
Justin Johnson traveled 1,400 miles last week to take down an impressive Montana whitetail and add his name to the leaderboard. Justin told TG Buck Pool Organizer Jeff Blohowiak that he doesn’t even want to waste Jeff’s time getting that buck scored because he has much bigger deer running around here. I admire the hell out of that kind of confidence. The buck that JJ isn’t even going to bother scoring would land in my Top 3 all-time. I’m going to personally request that Justin get that buck scored just so we can see Montana on our all-time list. It’ll look unique there next to all of the Wisconsin and Michigan bucks.
Jason LaBine took down a 5-point buck on Friday. It’s not going to win any big buck trophies, but as my dad always said, “The meat still tastes the same.” Of course, he always shot tiny deer so he had to say that. I would always come back with, “The bigger deer taste like satisfaction. Plus, you get a lot more meat.” This is all beside the point. Jason joins Mitch Dequaine and Tom Williquette on the 2021 Leaderboard.
Speaking of Mitch, his deer was officially scored at 118 1/8″ which now puts him at the top of the standings as November begins. That score was good enough to put Mitch in the Top 20 of all-time bucks in our TG Buck Pool. Check out the All-Time List for the full rundown.
Standings Update
Poll Question
Not sure why my mind is already leaping ahead one month, but this is another question I’ve been wondering since we’ve been doing the TG Buck Pool:
The Week Ahead
This is not a mistake. I didn’t steal the forecast from a month ago. The dates and temperatures you see are real. It’s going to hit 60 degrees this weekend. Overnight lows rise back into the 40s as well. According to Drury Outdoors’ DeerCast the best time to be out in the stand in the next week is tomorrow morning. Not great news if you’re working this week. The rest of the week ranges from OK to bad. I thought the first week of November was this magical time when trophy bucks just blindly wandered in front of hunters in search of hot does. I guess not.
One reminder: This Sunday is the end of daylight saving. Sunday at 2:00 AM we fall back an hour, which means it’ll be light an hour earlier in the morning and dark an hour earlier in the afternoon. I apologize for explaining that to a group of adults. I’m used to having to explain it to my kids. You get it. Just remember that’s coming up this Sunday.
This Friday’s Raffle
This week’s raffle prize will be a Benchmade knife, a Michel Sales knife, a bottle koozie, and an insulated mug courtesy of Camden Whitaker and Tom DeGenaro of Michel Sales. This entire prize will be given to one winner. Stay tuned to the site on Friday for announcement.
Links
Check out this story from Field & Stream about a Wisconsin hunter who recently shattered the state record for a typical crossbow kill with a 196 7/8″ monster.
Here’s a recipe to make your own scent-free deodorant. I’ll personally just spend the six dollars and save myself the time and effort, but if you’re a big DIY person this might be right up your alley.
Fun Stuff
That’s all I have this week. If you’re a bowhunter I hope you’re out there enjoying the week and proving those DeerCast prognosticators wrong. Good luck out there. If you have tips, ideas, comments, or general thoughts on any of this, please let me know.