Deer camp to you.

[Rob W.]

What is deer camp? What does it mean to you? What are the crazy some of the crazy stories told, the food, the locations, the pictures, or the memories?  

[ron w]

Hunted for many years from a camp that was formed in 1922 in the southern Adirondacks. It's right on the edge of the Siamese Ponds Wilderness area. Many a good meal, many a great day in the big woods.....even a few deer taken. I hunted from there with a bow also and had many great days in the mountains. Tough country, few deer, but great times, spent over 40 years in them hills. Now I stay closer to home and I see more deer most years.

[m midd]

Early morning campfire, hot coffee and anticipation of the day to come.

[RedShaft]

I wish I had a deer camp. When u guys post pics and stories I reall enjoy them.

[Homebru]

Deer camp is the guys.  Dad.  Les.  Len.  Young Len.  Dang, I miss them all.

Memory?  Terry walking in to camp with a deer over his shoulder, him covered in blood.

But deer camp is the guys.
homebru

[KSshrewman]

Deer Camp is for sure Good Friends. The Experience.  Cold Mornings.  Campfires.  Moonshine.  The Sound of a Running Creek. The Colors of Fall.  Longbows.  The Memories.

 

 

[cmh]

Have never experienced it other than thru the members here.... Have always only had farm ground to hunt and never been part of a group that hunts together..... Maybe one of these days  

[mt1761]

I'm a little different.  My dad didn't raise me deer hunting, but my wife's dad has managed a 4200 acre lease for 35 years.  
He doesn't hunt anymore, but I shot my first deer on his lease with his gun (Marlin 30-30) when I was 28.  
   It is great living out your childhood as an adult.  Now I have a 4 year old son to live it out with me.

[Ron LaClair]

 Nestled in a secluded valley, far off the beaten path, on the banks a of a small stream, is a little cabin called Shrew Haven.

Originally built in 1936, this rustic pine cabin was only recently moved to it's current location. The original intent was just to have a hunting camp, a place to hang your hat and bow.

But Shrew Haven has become more than that... much more.

Shrew Haven has revealed itself an enchanting environment, where the bow hunting experience is enhanced ten fold. It is a place of peace and tranquility; a place where a person can recharge their spirit, feed their soul, and share wonderful times with fellow bow hunters.

In today's modern world we have created for ourselves an unnatural environment; but God created man to be part of nature. And although we may survive in our big city's and urban neighborhoods, we need the wilderness to help keep us mentally healthy.

Shrew Haven is an Oasis, where we must return as often as we can, to drink deep of it's healing waters, and thus be sustained 'til we come to this place again.


 

   

   

[Jon Stewart]

Our place is simply the called, "The Camp". Having been retired for almost 15 years I have spent a lot of time up there sprucing things up, running the backhoe clearing up some old stumps and getting small areas ready for food plots.

The cabin is a one room shack with a couple of bunk beds.  I have another building with running water and a shower.

My son and I have put on a memorial archery shoot to honor my father for the past three years which is held on the weekend that is the closest to the  16th of July .  We put out 20 2 D and 3D targets.  We had around 40 archers at the last weekend during the memorial.

I have an area where I have a hunting shack on a small field where I sit on opening day of gun season.  It is a place that I call my field of dreams.  I sit in it, choose not to shoot anything but dream of a big buck walking out and me taking aim.  When I sit there I think if my dad and what he has done for me and my family, raising 6 kids on one income, sending all of us  to a Catholic school and at night and on weekends running his small archery shop. This was back in the 50's and 60's when archery was pretty simple and not so many gizmos and gadgets.

I run the grandkids around (they live on the property) in my Polaris ranger telling them what needs to be done to make the camp better.  I tell them that "the camp" will be theirs one day so they need to help keep it up and make it better.

[awbowman]

Deer camp is to me about people and comradery.  Especially if it involves new friends..... oh and good food. It has very little to do with killing a deer.

[STICKBENDER98]

Its all been said above, spending time with friends and family reliving old memories, and creating new ones.  KSshrewman, and Ron thank you for sharing the pictures of your camps, it gets me pumped up and ready to hit the woods again.  Fall can't get here quick enough!

[Stalker58]

Ron, sounds, awesome. A special place.
awbowman, Well said!

[MnFn]

I searched for a photo of the 1950 Rollohome that I use for camp, but must have deleted them. It is painted camo, (by previous owner) and sits under a hay shed to keep the snow off the roof.

A great investment of $300. I have used it for about ten years now. It has made some great memories possible.

 

[Wallydog]

I was very fortunate to hunt the Chequamagon (she-wam-again) for over 20 yrs both with bow and rifle at my best friends deer camp. I got about 1 million stories as I am a born southerner living in the north and hunting with cheeseheads and yoopers. What a mix of cultures and ideas that was. I learned some from them and visa versa. They like to cook venison in skillets while ice fishing..great idea. Id bring homemade  ham/bean soup and fried cornbread...the 239 kind cause one more would be 240..two farty. They liked that too. I like to froze to death the first year as -11 and 20mph winds I had never felt and didnt know existed. We killed a lot of deer and I got to help them with their kids' first hunt as I like kids and whatnot. Went to my first chicken shattin drawing too. You place a chicken in a cage.. place a 10 spot on one of the squares inside the cage on the floor... and if the chicken does his business on your square you win a 30-30..pronounced turty turty rifle. They also sold womens underwear with the name of the bar across the backside...kid you not. I almost bought a pair for my missus but decided against it..lol. Hunted with all kinds of men from all over the north of Wisconsin. One man who has passed on spent his last year with us. He had diabetes so bad he couldnt hunt but close behind the cabin and only for a short time. He gave me some doe in heat scent wafers and asked me to use them as his daughter had given them to him as a present. I said sure but finally decided they would be worthless. I set them out right under my stand as an after-thought that next mornin. Wadnt a half hour later I noticed a movement under my stand but thought it was a squirrel....nope..10 pointer and he nailed me and I shot at him 3 times as he ran away. No hits. Went back that afternoon and killed a nice fork that came to the same scent wafers that I had smartly place 20 yds in front of my stand as I had learned the lesson of the previous mornin. The guy was as happy as if he killed it himself. He died 3 weeks later. That camp is still there. There are no deer to speak of around as the wolf/bear/bobcat/coyotes and cold winters take a huge toll on fawns and yearlings. There has been no deer killed in 3 yrs at that camp and only 2 seen.

[Brian Halbleib]

Great thread. Over the years, deer camp has been everything from an old, cheap Coleman tent, to a fancy canvas wall tent with stove, or a stationary travel trailer in a campground and places as simple as a friend's home.

I started building a new chapter of my deer camp story this spring on a farm in Ohio that I purchased last year. It has been great seeing it come together and I cannot wait to see all the additions, updates and great experiences to come in the future.

   

   

   

   

[KSshrewman]

Beautiful country Brian.  

[Wallydog]

Better get a meat pole up Brian. Bad luck not to have one you know.  

[Sam McMichael]

It is the camaraderie. Without the guys, it is just another outing in the woods. But the meals, the  beverages, the lies.. er..stories just would not be meaningful without the buddies.

[ron w]

Originally posted by Sam McMichael:
It is the camaraderie. Without the guys, it is just another outing in the woods. But the meals, the  beverages, the lies.. er..stories just would not be meaningful without the buddies.

What lies..........