I finally shot a deer. Last Friday I took a day off of work to hunt and was rewarded with a nice doe. She weighed in around 175 pounds and is processed and frozen.
I am a fisherman at heart, as you already know, but I really enjoyed hunting deer on the Gunflint Trail. Fishing is often described as hours of boredom interrupted by minutes of sheer terror, yet nothing could be truer in the sport of hunting.
Every snap of a twig would get my heart racing, and it was such a pleasure to be in the woods. People tell me the same about fishing, “It is just great to be out here,” which translates to—I rarely catch fish but it sure beats being in the office today.
After hours of hiking snowmobile trails and navigating over rocky terrain while tracking any sign of life ,I finally saw a group of deer about 400 yards away. I could see them through the binoculars but not with my eyes alone. Should I pursue them or hope they meander my way? Considering the hours spent searching for them I decided to slowly make tracks in their direction.
The deer were grazing calmly with their little white tails waving at me which led me to believe they were not on to my presence. As I gained ground on the small herd of three they disappeared behind a small bluff.
I assumed they were long gone so I picked up the pace, climbed on top of the bluff and there they stood only 35 feet away. The deer were just as stunned as I was and we all stood motionless wondering what would happen next. I drew on the biggest and took a shot. The doe ran away so fast that I was certain I had missed.
The adrenaline running through my veins had me shaking with anticipation as I was about to discover that pulling the trigger was the easiest step of this arduous process called hunting. The blood trail led to my first Minnesota deer as I realized I was about a mile and a half from my truck.
Dragging this deer out of the woods would prove to be one of the most challenging endeavors of my life. I will not be complaining about the Northern Light portage ever again. Three hours later and 10 pounds lighter—me not the deer—I finally made it back to the truck. Ravens were circling above in disbelief as we drove away.
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction and I try to filter any questionable secondhand stories for my column, but this one is worth sharing. My friend was hunting grouse and deer last weekend with very little luck and noticed a flock of ravens circling above. As he stopped the car to investigate the commotion, a bloody deer leg landed on the hood of his car. After soiling himself he got out of the car and another bloody deer part landed on the road beside him. Convinced it was the apocalypse, he was relieved to discover that someone had discarded their deer remains and eagles were trying to fly away with the heavy parts. Being a superstitious man, he decided it was a sign from above and that hunting the Trail was not for him.
Cory Christianson has worked as a fishing guide on the Gunflint Trail since 2000. If you have any fishing or wildlife reports or stories to share, send an email to: christiansoncory@hotmail.com or call 218- 388-0315. You can also visit Cory’s website at Gunflintfishingguide.com.
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