As much as I enjoy paddling into canoe country for wilderness fishing adventures, I love wilderness big game hunting even more. A paddle-in BWCAW deer hunt seems like the perfect trip for combining my outdoor passions. So it pains me to admit I have never paddled a buck out of the BWCAW. I vowed 2009 would be the year to finally make this happen.
My wife Michele and I publish the Boundary Waters Journal from our log cabin ten miles south of Ely. Our 240 acres is surrounded by the Superior National Forest where occasional logging sustains better overall deer habitat than the no-cut BWCAW. Since 1979 I have shot 27 bucks on our place and chosen to “catch and release” over 100 more. Michele has shot nine good bucks here in the past nine years, including THE most impressive set of antlers on our living room wall. Friends and family have racked up many special deer hunting memories here too—so it is tempting to just hunt our own place.
In 1993 and 1994 I “guided” friends to a couple of nice bull moose in the BWCAW. That 93 bull remains the most remote kill in modern times according to MN DNR records. (Taken on Chuck Lake near the Frost River.) We proved we could paddle deep into the BWCAW and enjoy a world-class wilderness big game hunting experience for dirt cheap. The only problem is Minnesota moose tags are “once in a lifetime,” so I started scheming about the next-best thing, a BWCAW deer hunt.
In 1994 and 1995 I tried several three-day solo BWCAW deer hunts. I figured to just throw summertime camping gear into the canoe, paddle on out there and routinely slap my tag on a trophy buck. I quickly realized there is a huge difference between paddling/hunting the BWCAW in October vs. November.
Generally speaking, small creeks, ponds and lakes begin to ice over around the deer gun opener (Nov. 5-10). One particularly ugly scene, beating my way out of Bald Eagle/Gabbro through inch-thick ice in the dark, left a lasting impression on me. Clearly, I needed a better camp, a couple of good partners and a better game plan.
My quest to deer hunt the BWCAW by canoe took a serious hit in 1995-96 when the “winter from hell” claimed over 50% of the area’s whitetails. The next winter hammered another 25%. Only the super-tough made it. But nature has a way of balancing out the extremes, and the super-mild winters in 1997, 1998 and 1999 saw the deer herd bounce back beyond historical averages.
In 1997 I purchased a wall tent setup: a big canvas tent for four, wood stove, cots, lanterns, chairs, etc. For about $2,500 we now had a comfortable base camp to operate out of. It made all the difference.
From 1998-2008 I shot nine mature BWCAW bucks from my roadside camp up in the Little Indian Sioux River country. It’s still a simple matter to sling daypack and rifle at dawn, hike in a mile or two from the road and enjoy great BWCAW deer hunting. I have encountered only three other hunters in the last 15 years who were more than one mile from the gravel. As great as this style of hunting can be, I always felt that inexorable pull to hunt deeper and deeper into the BWCAW.
During mild Novembers, we did paddle in for the day, accessing deer country beyond where we could reach on foot. It was frustrating to find big buck sign, then have to scurry back out every night for fear of being iced in. Canoeing-in and camping/hunting for an extended stay remained daunting. We were gun-shy of the worst-case scenario: getting frozen in and being forced to walk out, leaving thousands of dollars of canoes and gear until spring.
Late April is my annual spring scouting trip. I paddle into selected BWCAW lakes and roam big wild country before the foliage emerges. Picking up dozens of shed antlers keeps my BWCAW backcountry deer hunt dreams alive. The big bucks are definitely out there, and nobody is hunting them. There has to be a way to hunt this untapped treasure...
In late October of 2008 we tried yet another approach. I led a group of four avid bowhunters into Cummings Lake for a five-day BWCAW archery deer hunt. By going in during Halloween week, we hoped to tap into pre-rut scraping activity and beat the freeze-up dilemma of gun season.
Everyone saw bucks, and we passed up shots at basic eight pointers. The highlight for me was watching a bruiser of a buck walk by just out of bow range. That was my dream buck right there. If only I could get back in there two weeks later with a rifle.
Our late October bowhunt was a good shakedown for portaging/camping with the wall tent setup, but we encountered two main obstacles. First, MN deer hunters can personally tag only one buck per season. As a hard-core rifle hunter, it is going to take a monster for me to burn my buck tag using a bow. Consequently, I have purchased an archery license for the past fifteen years, passed up a dozen decent bucks and never fired an arrow.
Secondly, it is very difficult to get into archery range and draw undetected on these super-wary bucks from ground level. Tree stands are almost a must, and they are a pain to canoe/portage. Plus there is no margin for error falling from a tree when help is so far away. Ground blinds are an option we intend to test further for BWCAW bowhunting.
The bottom line: it is possible to bowhunt deer in the BWCAW, but it may just be the ultimate whitetail challenge. Daytime buck activity is near nil until the rut in late October. This leaves a narrow two-week window of opportunity for archers before gun season and ice arrive. I have never encountered a single archery deer hunter in the BWCAW backcountry.
Meanwhile, an interesting related development arose during the winter/spring of 2009. The Minnesota Deer Hunters Association (MDHA) and the MN DNR finally recognized just how under-utilized the BWCAW is by deer hunters. A proposal was made for a special late-October nine day BWCAW rifle deer hunt. This seemed like the perfect answer to BWCAW wilderness whitetail hunting without the dreaded freeze-up problems.
The basic concept of an October BWCAW gun deer hunt earned solid support from MDHAs 65 state-wide chapters but existing BWCAW area hunters worked to defeat the proposal as written. See sidebar page X for more on how you can make a difference in establishing America’s one and only canoe-in wilderness whitetail deer hunting opportunity.
Watching the special BWCAW deer hunt get derailed, at least for now, put me back to square one. Only now I had a new powerful incentive to paddle in, camp and gun deer hunt the BWCAW and tell the real story to anyone interested in a REAL WILDERNESS DEER HUNTING EXPERIENCE. I put together a group of four guys who were willing to paddle into the BWCAW come hell or hard water. Here is the story of our November 2009 BWCAW deer hunt.
The week of the gun deer opener (November 7) the forecast is for lows in the 20°F range, so with open water prospects looking bleak, I’m scrambling with contingency plans. I set up my traditional roadside camp on the Echo Trail on November 5. We will hunt out of here week one if the Little Indian Sioux River freezes and hunt here week two no matter what. But at the eleventh hour the weather moderates, and by late morning on November 6 we are paddling south towards Sioux Falls.
With no designated campsites between the Echo Trail and Bootleg Lake, we elect to camp in a clearing on the 20-rod portage just west of Bootleg Lake. (Designated campsites are not required in the off season.)
This is the first trip for my new Cabelas Bighorn 3 tent. The XTC cloth is lighter, tougher and more waterproof than regular cotton canvas. The heavy-duty stakes and poles allow for a very sturdy tent once set up. I can’t imagine any wind or heavy snow affecting this tent. The big vestibule is perfect for a table/propane cookstove plus storing the food packs. All told, we are talking 100 pounds for our shelter and worth every ounce. Here’s why.
In a week of all-out dark-to-dark BWCAW deer hunting, the difference between getting the drop on a good buck and just another camping trip is razor thin. The number one factor for consistent success on mature BWCAW bucks is maintaining a high level of intensity—hour after hour, day after day. You have to be ready to make the big play at any given instant. Staying ultra-sharp for an entire week demands uncommon mental discipline. Very few hunters have what it takes. If you’re cold, wet, hungry or feeling guilty about missing work or the kid’s birthday party, your chances of shooting a wilderness buck are slim to none.
I live in heated wall tents for six weeks every fall guiding elk hunters in the Colorado wilderness. I see firsthand just how critical it is to have a warm place to dry out, eat a hot supper and get a good night’s rest. A wall tent is THE way to go for wilderness hunting. Even then, only hard-core, highly motivated hunters will thrive in the BWCAW. That’s just the way it is and just the way I like it.
At daybreak on the opener, Nathan and I shuttle across the river by canoe and head our separate ways. While I really enjoy the camp camaraderie of fellow hunters, I want to go one-on-one with these elusive bucks.
Before I am really settled into my still-hunting mode, I jump a doe and fawn pawing acorns in the scrub oaks on the ridge above the river. The red oaks in this area rarely reach six inches in diameter, but some years they do produce enough mast for bear, deer and grouse to take notice. I can’t say I have ever shot a buck by keying in on acorns, but these deer definitely eat them so maybe someday.
I spend the rest of the day making a one-mile diameter circle. I see decent deer sign, find two big moose sheds (which I hang in trees and mark with my GPS) but see no other deer. Just three days ago, the bucks were tearing up their scrapes everywhere I went. Today our group sees about 50 scrapes, and every single one is stone cold. Which means the bucks are actively prospecting for does and on the verge of the chasing phase of the rut. Research has shown most BWCAW does are bred November 12-14.
On day two Pat elects to hunt near camp, so Dan, Nathan and I paddle the three-seater Bell Northshore an hour back downstream. A wolf pack serenades us in the pre-dawn gloom as I steer the canoe down the middle of the river where a bit of current preserves an ice-free slot.
For an hour I flounder through super-thick hazel brush. A moose grunts and crashes off without ever showing itself. That’s a bad sign because deer hear ten times better than moose. Still-hunting the BWCAW can be very frustrating, and many hunters are quickly defeated. The key is to write off the thick noisy stuff, just blow through it, and then gear down and hunt hard where the cover does afford quiet progress and decent visibility.
From 8:30 to 10:30 I slowly creep down the primary deer trail along what I call a jackpine/ledgerock vein. The runway is compacted by the deer so there is less leaf crunch under my boots. The stretches of ledgerock are virtually noiseless. Just be careful not to scuff your boots. Such vibrations carry a long way, and deer really feel them. The scattered jackpine here are relatively “open” for the BWCAW. By moving slowly, stopping often and really working my eyes, I have a decent chance to get the drop on any buck cruising through here.
It has taken me a lifetime to become a good still-hunter. Follow me for the last 100 yards down this ridge so I can illustrate the basics of my approach.
First, I quickly glance down, memorize my next couple of steps, then get my head back up. I want to maximize the time my eyes are scanning the cover and minimize the time I am looking at the ground. Better to step on a stick and create “low level noise” than look down more than absolutely necessary. The only way to consistently see these bucks before they see you is to live on the extreme edge of your field of view.
Casually glancing around for obvious motion in obvious openings won’t get it done. I’m talking about carefully scrutinizing all those little holes in the brush that might reveal a piece of a deer. I concentrate on looking for a stationary outline of a deer. I know I will subconsciously pick up any flicker of movement.
I take a couple of steps. Stop. Hold my arms and gun perfectly still. Only my head swivels. I look more than 90° hard left then back more than 90° hard right. I always try to stop with my left foot slightly ahead of my right. As a right hander, this allows me to rotate my body in a wider range of motion to shoot without moving my feet. Bird hunters moving in on pointing dogs know just what I mean here.
A jackpine branch hangs over the deer trail and there is a scrape under it, but I notice it is not fresh as I contort my upper body around the licking branch so it doesn’t scrape against my backpack. In my opinion, there is not a single hunting backpack on the market that is quiet enough for BWCAW still-hunting. My coat and pants are absolutely quiet Wind Pro fleece, but I’m hoping to live to see the day I can carry all the gear I need in a truly quiet pack.
It takes me about 20 minutes to cover the 100 yards. That’s 25 yards every five minutes on average. I see a couple of Canadian jays flit through the jackpines. I stop long enough to make sure the red squirrel barking in the distance isn’t signaling the approach of a deer. Another squirrel chews open a jackpine cone on a log not ten feet from me. He is totally un-alarmed. Evidence I am moving slowly and effectively.
I’ve seen six rubs in here, all on 3" to 4" diameter conifers. Not big buck sign but worth filing in my memory bank, because this buck could be a shooter next year. I shoot most of my bucks the year after I find their sign.
Sometimes while in a favorable stretch of cover during the peak of buck rutting activity, I find myself immersed in a trance-like, elevated state of alertness. Everything slows down, and I see things more clearly. I transcend the ordinary mindset of hoping for a shot to feeling like one is about to happen. I’m in that zone where my confidence soars, and for the moment, I have the edge on these wily bucks.
It may sound far-fetched but several times each season I can sense I am about to see a buck, and then it happens. This is the magic of still-hunting. It is, by far, the closest connection to nature I have felt in a lifetime of chasing after the wild. Still-hunting has delivered countless indelible encounters with whitetail bucks, and the deepest sense of spiritual fulfillment I have ever known.
I’m kind of disappointed when I reach the end of the open vein without seeing a deer. The wolf pack we heard howling up the Little Pony River is still raising a ruckus. Unusual for late morning. I believe BWCAW whitetails seek refuge in spruce bogs and alder swamps when the local wolf pack comes calling. So I follow the deer trail down to where it enters a huge spruce bog.
Suddenly a deer blasts off not 20 yards to my left. I can clearly see it is a doe, and strangely, she doesn’t blow me off. Sometimes when you jump a deer real tight, they are so intent on putting distance between themselves and danger, they don’t blow. Nine times out of ten, wilderness deer do blow when they bust you. I’m not sure if she was bedded or traveling, so I assume the latter. Which means I get my feet in shooting position for any buck following her. Remember—we pretty much established yesterday the chase phase of the rut is upon us.
I see no buck for about five minutes, so I make a sequence of four or five grunts on my call and then get my gun back in that bird hunters’ shooting position. Then I hold rock-solid still. Maybe two or three minutes later there is a deer head looking at me through the thick black spruce, not 20 yards away. The ground cover is foot-deep sphagnum moss. This buck approached with no sound, motion or warning. He was just there, absolutely locked in on the exact location of the grunt calls. If I had moved a muscle, I would never have seen him.
The buck cuts the distance between us in half, all the while bobbing and weaving his head to get a better view. I will never know if this buck was trailing the doe or not, but I am going to credit my grunt calling as contributing to the shot opportunity.
I hardly breathe as I try to decide if his antlers are big enough. Even this close, I can’t definitively judge the size of his rack. Just another of the many BWCAW deer hunting dilemmas. An absolutely positive look to evaluate antler caliber is a rarity out here. I have passed up shots on bucks only to discover, when it is too late, that those racks would have looked very good on my wall after all. Conversely, I have shot bucks with serious ground shrinkage. The more selective you become, the more you will have to learn to deal with this challenge.
Since three of us had magazine article assignments for this trip, we needed a buck in the canoe for photos, etc. Suffice to say, the circumstances dictated it would not be this buck’s lucky day. Inches of horn are important to me, but they are not the only thing that counts. How you play the game matters too. Taking this buck while still-hunting in the wilderness from a canoe/tent camp with the wolves howling all around—well, it doesn’t get much better than that.
Nathan hears me shoot and comes on the two-way radio. While I’m talking to him a second, bigger buck with tall forked G-2s walks right into my lap. Ugh! Still it’s just fun to see him. Next year?
Nathan fetches the two pack frames from the canoe and hikes in to help me out. We cut the buck in half and pack him the mile out to the river, where we hang him high in the shade of a white pine. Hopefully no critters will mess with him until we pack out at the end of the trip. The three of us paddle back to camp in a steady rain. Soaked to the skin in our fleece, we eagerly anticipate a dry, warm camp and a hot meal of real meat and potatoes.
My three partners hunt hard for the next three days, but the trip concludes with none of them seeing antlers. I’m not surprised. They are experienced whitetail hunters, but they are treestand hunters. Still-hunting BWCAW bucks is a whole new ball game. Even expert still-hunters will go through deerless droughts in the BWCAW. Some days when you zig, the deer zag. Expect to be beaten most of the time. But those that persevere and learn the art of still-hunting BWCAW bucks will know the true essence of REAL WILDERNESS HUNTING.
This trip fulfilled a 30-year dream to hunt, camp and paddle a buck out of the BWCAW. He was not my ultimate BWCAW dream buck. That buck still roams the rocky ridges of the BWCAW backcountry. Perhaps, someday, I will actually catch up to him. All I know for certain is that every November, until I take my last breath, I will be on his trail.