Ryan Rothstein

I wish I knew where the year 2024 has gone up until now, but just like that, another deer season is barreling right at us in Minnesota.
The excitement is palpable by now, and leaves are already hinting at their fall colors. Before we know it, we’ll be in the thick of the whitetail rut and daydreaming about giant bucks bird-dogging does. But there’s a lot of season between now and then.

Right now, my strategy is to home in on a buck that I’d like to chase this season. Although I have several bucks I know made it through last winter, they’ve been MIA for the most part this year. While the fatalist in me wants to start panicking, I’ve been around the block enough times by now to know that things will change so drastically in the next month and a half that patterns are going to change weekly if not almost daily by the time September arrives. 

As unbelievable as it seems, the calendar has already flipped to August. Naturally, as is tradition, I’m way behind on my offseason chores. Overall, I feel a lot better than I have the past couple of years, but I can’t deny I’d love to be farther ahead than I am. 
Though food plots are all buttoned up, there are still a few stands to trim, lots of target practice to fit in, and public land to scout.

I don’t normally start becoming antsy about getting trail cameras out quite yet, but with the number of local bucks that made it through last season, I’ve been itching more than normal to see what’s out there.
Full disclosure: I have a few cameras set up broadly to cover ground and see what’s around. Typically, I wait until at least Aug. 1 for that, but there’s nothing wrong with getting some early intel. 
And anyway, with Minnesota having a mid-September archery opener, it’s good to gather as much pre-season information as possible if you’re looking to punch your buck tag early.

I never used to get too jazzed about spring. When I was a kid, I remember wishing away the seasons that weren’t fall, because any time that I couldn’t deer hunt was time wasted. Life sure was simpler back then.
These days, I’ve grown to appreciate the nuances that come with spring, particularly those that signal an end to winter and the beginning of a new growing season. Things as small as the first bloodroot blooming modestly on the forest floor cause me to smile and stop to appreciate how such a delicate plant could possibly be so stubbornly tough.