April 2015

Here’s Ken’s recap of the 2010 photo of Ken and his eight point:  “We set out numerous trail cameras on our Ohio lease during the summer to try and gauge what type bucks we have roaming around. We then set up a hit list of potential shooter bucks. This 4 ½ year old buck was near the top of the hit list, even though it was only a 130” class eight point. My son and I had found his shed in the spring of 2009, the first year we had the lease, but never saw him the entire season. In 2010 I only saw him twice during the entire archery and regular gun season. Ohio had the extended gun season weekend in late December that year.  I asked my oldest son if he wanted to go out to the lease and hunt on the last day.  So we left our place in PA at midnight and got to the farm at 6 a.m., just in time to get to the stand.  We did not see much activity and broke for lunch and a short nap. We headed out at 2 p.m. for the evening hunt and the big eight came by with 4 does. My 12 gauge slug gun and Hornady SST bullets did their job.  The drag to get him out of the woods was pretty easy and we had him back at the local deer check station by 4:30pm. We got back to our place in PA at 11:00pm. All in all, not bad for a 23 hour excursion to get a buck that I specifically went after.”

Steve has hunted whitetails in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota and Alberta over the past 35 years. He currently has leases in both Wisconsin and Minnesota. He has also hunted elk and mule deer in Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado and Montana, and caribou in Alaska, all DIY. Prior to joining Base Camp as the Leasing Agent for Wisconsin, Steve scouted thousands of acres on his own and truly enjoys that aspect of the hunt almost as much as the hunt itself.

When Steve first started hunting whitetails in Wisconsin more than 35 years ago, bragging rights were not typically how big a buck you shot, but how many you got. On the rare occasion someone actually got a 2 ½ year old buck, they were the talk of the town. Thanks to QDM and a younger generation of hunters wanting the challenge of harvesting a mature whitetail, the quality and age structure has improved dramatically, especially over the past 15 years. Buffalo County tends to get all the press, but there are plenty of quality whitetails present throughout the state and getting better every year.

Steve passionately believes that the future of hunting is dependent on finding ways to engage the younger generation, which is one of the primary reasons he decided to join Base Camp Leasing as the Wisconsin Leasing Agent. Bringing together hunters with landowners is a big part of that and from which Steve hopes to bring his years of experience and honest assessments of properties to all parties involved. Steve can be reached at any time to answer your questions about a Wisconsin hunting lease at (715) 281-8914.