DEER HUNT 1985 SQUAW LAKE

We had stayed in a log cabin at Leino’s resort in Squaw Lake, Minnesota opening week for a number of years. The group included Scott “Herman” Weiss, Jay “Bite-all” Jenewein, Mike Cochran, his wife Nancy “Treat me like one of the guys” Holman, and myself. We would arrive Friday afternoon/evening to get ready, tell stories and consider what opening day might bring. It was usually difficult to get to sleep the first night with opening day jitters, snores of all sorts, and a clock with a tick that seemed to get louder with each passing minute and echoed through the cabin. On this particular day before opener, I was at work in Mankato, Minnesota and had my car in for brake work. I was assured the work would be done by 5:00 leaving me plenty of time to go home and pick up my hunting gear and make the 4 hour drive. Well, the work took longer than expected and it began snowing mid-afternoon. Brenda was eager to get going with our daughters, ages 6 months and 3 years, to visit her brother in Clearwater, Minn. She had picked up a house key for me as we hadn’t had a spare and said she had left it on the kitchen table. By the time the car was ready, the hill up to North Mankato where we lived was unpassable having received about 4 inches of snow. As I approached the bottom of the hill I could see a long line of cars with their brake lights on, double lane stuck on the hill. I stopped at the hotel at the bottom of the hill and inquired as to the status of the road and wasn’t able to learn anything so decided to have dinner there. I don’t know how long it took but I think I got to the house around mid-night to find all of the doors locked and my key on the kitchen table. Fortunately I found that it wasn’t that difficult to break in as the screws that held the window frames on the front door were exposed to the exterior. So with a flashlight and a screw driver I removed one of the window panes and let myself in. After getting my gear loaded into the car, I evaluated whether I should go to bed and get up early to leave or head out and drive all night. I figured I was too wired to sleep anyway so headed out driving through 4-5 inches of snow as far as Lake Mil Lacs, about 2/3 of the way, then the snow stopped and roads were clear the rest of the way. I arrived at the cabin as the rest of the group was getting up for the day. I made a batch of pancakes for the group and was planning to stay in and get some rest, but again figured I was too wired to fall asleep and decided to get dressed and go out for opening morning. Nobody was hunting the island so that is where I would head. The birch stand on the island was a triangular platform built between three birch trees and was about 20 feet in the air. I got settled and began “the hunt”. I could tell right away this was not going to be a pleasant day as it was quite windy and cold and I was tired. After about two hours of seeing nothing, I decided to get down and take a walk to warm up. I headed north into heavier woods and was able to get out of the wind and started looking for an ideal place to take a nap. Finding a large spruce tree with branches that swooped almost to the ground was the perfect solution. I crawled under those swooping branches and sat down leaning against the large tree trunk. It was very comfortable and I thought it would allow for the rest I needed. I took out half of my sandwich and started eating it, probably about 9:00. I had eaten about half of that half when two does came walking down a trail toward me. The trail passed within about 10 yards of me and when they reached that point they both stopped and looked at me. I just sat still with my rifle across my lap, my arm with sandwich perched on my elevated knee looking back at them. Soon they became bored and continued their walk along the trail. Well, my dad always said when you see a doe be aware that there may be a buck close behind. I put my sandwich back in my pocket, rested my rifle on my knee, and waited. I didn’t have to wait very long before I caught a flash of antlers coming toward me on the same trail. The sun hit those antlers just perfectly. I pulled the hammer back on my Winchester model 94 30-30 carbine and waited. The hammer makes a click when you pull it back but I had learned that if you pull the trigger as you pull the hammer back then release the trigger before setting the hammer you can avoid any noise. So he keeps coming and I keep my rifle trained on him until he gets to the point where the does had stopped earlier. He stopped, raised his head and looked at me as I pulled the trigger. So, then I sat there and finished my sandwich wanting to allow him enough time to lie down and die. I got up and found him about 50 yards up the trail, dressed him out and then realized I was lost. I wasn’t lost but I didn’t know where I was and not sure how far I had walked from the birch stand. So, I started walking leaving articles of orange clothing in trees until I found my way. Then I went back and started dragging the deer by myself. After getting the deer near the stand, I decided to walk out and get help. I learned that Scott had also bagged a nice buck and we worked together to get them out of the woods and loaded onto the car. And, you know I never did sleep that day.