We are super excited to bring you a guest blog by Joey Klegstad! Joey is a legit outdoorsman from our home state of Minnesota! Check him out on Instagram and follow his adventures!

The whitetail season got off to a late start for me this year. With an archery bear hunt, and a BWCA trip already planned, my first day in the woods wasn’t until October 13th. It was a cool day but not so cool that you had to have your jacket zipped up. Being the first afternoon out, I hadn’t really gotten in the “mood” if you know what I mean. About 3:30 I looked up from my phone to see a very respectable 8 point standing 12 yds in front of me. With his head down I drew, my jacket clinking across my safety harness and poof just like that he was gone. Frustrated, bummed, and actually a bit relieved, that moment stuck with me for the better part of a couple weeks. It’s been 2 years since I’ve harvested a deer and although I like harvesting a deer, I like what comes after a whole lot more. Breaking it down, packaging it and planning different meals with friends and family is so gratifying. Relief was a weird feeling for someone so interested in harvesting. The relief came from the knowledge that 2 hours into my 2018 whitetail season I wasn’t done. You see there’s a whole lot more to it than walking out, shooting and celebrating.

A couple of weeks later anticipation was high, the rut right around the corner and I find myself in a new spot with a little more space to see. A 5 point buck steps out about 100yds to the west and he seemed intensely concentrated on something to his left out of my sight. Within seconds I understand what’s going on. Crash, snap, crack, rustle. The woods erupt as a 6 point buck clashes with the 5 point. Both small but nevertheless an absolutely incredible experience to have in the field. Both bucks walk within 40 yards but with the antler point restriction in the 300 zone, neither are legal for me to harvest. I’m left with only the incredible experience. I will never forget it.

Rifle season to the north is spent each year with my dad. He was able to harvest a great 8 point buck on the 4th day of the season. I was extremely thankful I was there to help him drag it a 1/3 mile back to the truck. After 7 days in the field, all I had was a close encounter with a buck, a yearling, and a glimpse of a fisher bouncing across the trail. Family and tradition are still a very good reason to make the trip north each and every year.

Back to archery. I was now hunting broadside deer, hoping only for a full freezer. I enjoyed the late November warm spell that had moved in. I watched a couple fawns tagging along behind a doe pop out from a thicket right in front of me. They turned tail and hustled back to where they came from and I thought to myself “why were they in such a hurry?” Brrrrrrppp, a grunt from about 60yds to my left echoed through the pines. That’s why they took off in such a hurry! A doe whistled out into the field followed by a 6 point buck. The doe circled behind me and the buck walked right through my shooting lane at 25 yds and again at 20 yds. Brrrrrrppp, he was grunting the whole way. BRRRRRRAAAAPPPP! I hear a much deeper grunt from behind me, deer start to scatter, but I’m never able to get a look at the “big guy”. Hearing 2 bucks within seconds and watching one while grunting.. How could anyone say that was an unsuccessful hunt?

A few weeks later, a bent broadhead, and running out of blood after a 500 yard track on a nice mature doe, I was lead to believe that she was going to be just fine. I hit her right on the edge of the shoulder. My mechanical broadhead had failed.. A failure I thought impossible after harvesting a black bear with the same broadhead on opening day of the fall season in Minnesota. With only a few evenings left to hunt, the deer seemed to be aware of my every move. They would only show up while I wasn’t there and stopping just short when I was. Multiple times I had the wind right and the sixth sense of the deer kicked in to save them from my table.

When asked if I had a successful whitetail season, I hesitate..... did I? What does success mean to you? If your definition is meat in the freezer, then no I was not successful. However if your definition includes time in the field, new experiences, and the opportunity to learn more about the animal that my mind seems to always be chasing, I think the answer is crystal clear. It’s simply a matter of perspective.

- Joey