An Outdoorsman's Journal

By Mark Walters

Hello friends

Kids And Mentors Outdoors (KAMO, www.kamokids.org) has helped young hunters harvest deer hundreds of times since 2008. This week I was at a camp near Burnett in Dodge County and was able to experience two young hunters who had a very active weekend as they hunted hard and at night, played hard.

Saturday, October 5 – High 76°, Low 42°

So here is the scoop, I was going to be hunting with 14-year-old Carsyn Thiede who I have hunted with for both turkey and deer in the past. It just happened to be homecoming weekend in Mayville and Carsyn, who is a freshma,n also had a volleyball tournament on Saturday, she did hunt on Sunday night.

My partner would be 15-year-old Joey Reifsneider who is Carsyn's cousin. Conner Thiede, who is 12, would be mentored by Kyle Zuelsdorf and his father Tyler. Kyle is very skilled at hunting deer in the Horicon Marsh which is tricky as you are in tall grass and have to watch the openings. Joey and I were hunting public land. It was rolling hills with tall grass and a forest on one side and soybeans and corn on the other, we were in a ground blind.

Daylight arrives, we watch the sun come up, see no deer and have no cares. I run my usual deer, turkey and coyote spotting contest with a point for each new sighting and life is good. At 7:30, I told Joey the next half hour can be good as the deer are moving to their beds. Five minutes later, I spot a real nice buck in the tall grass maybe 80 yards away, then I spot a smaller one a bit closer. Joey is trying to get a shot at the bigger one and decides there is too much cover between him and the deer and both deer are gone as quick as they appeared.

I told Joey just what I tell every kid when they pass or miss a deer, duck, turkey or a fish, "It’s good, it gets to live another day."

At 7:55 the smaller buck appears 60 yards away and has no clue we are there. Joey makes a perfect shot, the 6-pointer never knew what hit it, and life is good.

Conner, Kyle and Tyler are seeing a lot of deer but things are not working out as the deer are going from ag land to the marsh and the shot potential is fast. Both the morning hunt and the evening were hard for Conner, but he had a ton of action.

Tonight we had a first rate shing ding as Joey had shot his first buck. Joey's dad Chad and mom Jess joined us in the deer shack, and we had a blast. On a side note, I was using my Eskimo ice shack as a tent and in the wee hours of the night when I went to bed my shack had blown away. My cot was still in place with my sleeping bag and life was perfect.

Sunday, October 6 - High 75°, Low 46°

Joey would be trying to fill his antlerless tag. Conner would be with Kyle and his dad Tyler hoping to whack a buck or a doe. Joey and I did not see a deer this morning, and on a side note on last night’s hunt, Joey could have had a bunny shot at a good sized doe but it was four minutes after shooting hours.

So Conner, Kyle and Tyler are having action and had a group of what would be four bucks pass through one of the openings in the marsh, this type of hunting can be frustrating especially for a young hunter because the grass is taller than the deer and you literally have to pick the next opening the deer might pass through.

Good mentoring and bad luck for a 6-pointer ended with Conner Thiede whacking his first buck this morning and everyone was happy.

Youth hunts are really good for the future of this sport!

Sunset