My neighbor, who I’m good friends with, invited me to hunt his 500 acre family farm a week before thanksgiving.

Seems like it would be a fun time. Anyone hunted there before? It’s farm type country about 30 min from Madison, WI

I have not, but have a friend from Wisconsin. Says it’s a short season and they “drive” the deer in one direction. Who knows, maybe he’s doing it wrong.

YOLO! But yeah, figure out their hunting methods first...

I'd jump at the opportunity for the experience if nothing else.

I have a friend who hunted there about 10 years ago and brought home a true bruiser, jump on it

I am familiar with the area, having just flown back from a work weekend/grouse hunt last night.

I can tell you for certain that the deer are much larger animals as compared to the Hill Country deer I've been looking at. 500 acres up there is a very big parcel, probably with plenty of corn fields and woodlots. There are beaucoup deer in that whole area. If you get north of Madison, there is quite a bit of marsh and the water is very high this year, which should help in pushing the critters out of the jungle and to the higher ground. The hunting pressure can be high, so finding a buck older than 1.5 years old may be a challenge but less so on such a large piece of property. If you find a mature buck, live weight in excess of 300 lbs is not unheard of.

If you can manage it, you should go. The rifle season lasts only 9 days, so it gets intense, especially the first weekend

Tags are very reasonable. Dont know if its still going but first time hunters get a price break. I have kin that have invited me to hunt. Plan on going next year.

I would go in a heartbeat,

Go. Don't even hesitate anymore. I would go no questions asked instantly. Getting to see the country there would make it worth it in its own right.

Having lived in Minnesota, I'd hunt up there any chance I got. I didn't hunt while I was there but I'm going back sometime. Not all hunts are driven, but it is a tactic they use. Watch the hunting beast. They hunt in Minnesota/Wisconsin I believe.

trying to set it up. its not a question of motivation.


They have killed some decent bucks in the past, nothing huge, but nice. Would be cool to hunt in the corn belt for big bodied deer.


They have 500 acres with a big creek ( what we would call a river ) and then up the road another 100 acres that is so beautiful it looks like something out of a painting.

Go and experience something different......they do no deer management what so ever but if a buck makes it past 3 they are huge. Be prepared for extremely cold weather or pretty nice it can go either way quickly this time of year.

Sounds like it would be awesome hunt along with getting to hunt a different way, those few days of hunting I'm sure sounds like opening day of dove down here.

Go, have fun. Have a friend that lives in La Crosse he hunts every year and has pretty good luck. Watch the weather,

And try some Spotted Cow, you'll understand when you get up there. . .

couldn't be worse than when we hunted next to a big paper company lease in East Texas....

Would he care if I tagged along

we used to hunt a huge dairy farm in the rice lake area. if they drive deer it is something you will very easily get addicted to, with the right bunch of folks it is a big social event and it is steeped in tradition and camaraderie. not to mention a lot of shooting and some big deer hanging on the gamepole.
if they dont do deer drives and the flavor of the day is stump sitting (the folks we hinted with never used tree stands) then you are still in for a treat. the north woods that time of year are like a post card.