Turning towards the north, I caught movement in the dense tree line where it gave way to the tawny grass of the clearing I guarded. It was a whitetail buck carefully inspecting the area surrounding the fresh grain that lay in a neat line from the feeder to the old logging road in the middle of the little sward. As the wary animal carefully scrutinized the scene seeking any sign of danger, it suspiciously glanced up at the tower that served as my ambush site. I froze in place, not even blinking, for fear of alerting the buck to my presence.

It turned its attention back to the beckoning grain and then moved cautiously into the open, licking its lips in anticipation of the nutritious, heat-giving tidbits that it would soon be chewing. As the buck tentatively moved towards the center of the arena, I raised my weapon and focused it upon the unsuspecting creature and moved my gloved index-finger to the trigger. The buck stopped, standing perfectly broadside to my position. It once again examined its surroundings sensing that peril was near. I slowly increased the pressure of my trigger-finger taking the shot. Then I shot again! And again! Once more, the buck started to move towards its eagerly awaited supper, completely unaware that it was being shot by my weapon, a Sony DSC-H7 digital camera.

It was the Annual ACF Iceman Hunt at Palmquist Farm in northern Wisconsin and I was having a grand old time. Last year and the year before that, this buck’s visit, and perhaps the buck, would have been terminated after the first shot, which would have loosed an arrow instead of capturing an image. As I continued to photograph this handsome whitetail specimen, it went about its daily business of seeking sustenance and just plain surviving. This method of hunting, to me, is much more entertaining and exciting than shooting a buck with my crossbow.

I had called Jim Palmquist a week or so earlier and touched base with him about my idea for this year’s hunt. The Palmquist hunting operation has approximately a thousand acres of thick timber and dense tamarack swamps behind high fence and is populated by some very respectable whitetail bucks. In past years, I had been privileged enough to take two of those bucks with the crossbow. Although each was a handsome example of a mature whitetail, I was less than satisfied with the quality of the cuisine, once I got them onto the kitchen table.

Knowing that Jim and Helen really need help managing their doe numbers, I asked permission to take a couple of does this year, since I prefer shooting the bucks there with the camera. Jim readily agreed to my proposal and then sweetened the pot by informing me that they had a couple young bucks that were pure white and one that was a piebald. If I was lucky enough to be in the right stand at the right time, perhaps I would be able to get photos of those particular animals. The prospect of that occurring stoked my already eager anticipation and spawned vivid daydreams of dramatic white-buck portraits.

Jim Haase, an ACF member from Oak Creek, Wisconsin was my hunting partner for this year’s venture to Palmquist Farm. He proved to be a great companion by spicing up the hunt with his lively, intelligent conversation and entertaining stories that he has amassed over a very interesting lifetime. Haase is retired, but started his own business after retirement out of boredom and also to help fund his hunting adventures. He is a Viet Nam Vet, an active volunteer for the V.A., and has hunted big game all over the continent. The pleasure he expressed over finding every aspect of Palmquist Farm just as I had described it to him, if not better, was just one more reason for the Palmquists and me to be pleased that he was there with us. His pleasant, positive attitude made him great to be around.

Monday, the first day of the hunt, dawned cold and overcast. I joked with Haase that although it was really cold, it seemed odd to have an Iceman Hunt without any snow. There were traces here and there from an earlier dusting, but it certainly was not what it had been in previous years. Spotting deer movement at long distances is one of the biggest advantages I enjoy from having the snow cover, but the forecast didn’t look too promising for the next three days.

The day ended with no deer on the meat pole. Jim had seen a nice shooter buck, but it wouldn’t come within range of his crossbow. I managed to take a bunch of photographs of smaller, antlerless whitetails, but was not treated to a visit from a senior member of the herd. Throughout the day, however, with no telephone, no emails or no unannounced, drop-in company, I relaxed my mind while enjoying the beauty and critters of the deep, Wisconsin forest, catching up on the back issues of Readers Digest and savoring Helen’s hearty sandwiches and gourmet cookies.

Day two dawned sunny, with a fresh dusting of unpredicted snow. It was a lot colder than the day before and with a gusty wind that was blowing at over 30 m.p.h.. A point of interest here may be that we discussed whether going out even made sense with such high winds. We have all heard that deer don’t move in the wind. However, we were there to hunt, so we decided to head out at daylight and see exactly what the deer would do with such a roar going on. It turned out that those who say that deer don’t move in the wind are gusting as badly as the wind. All day long, before the wind died down in the late afternoon, the deer traffic was heavy and steady in spite of the gale. I guess the correct statement would be that when its windy, the hunters don’t like to go out. The deer, it turns out, still have to eat and perhaps the cold wind-chill requires that they eat even more to keep their furnaces stoked. At any rate, we saw plenty of deer throughout the course of the day.

There were some minor problems that had to be dealt with, however. We arrived at our stands shortly before 8:00 a.m.. I dug my bottles of green tea out of my backpack placing them out of the way on the floor and then wasted away the morning with my cameras, Readers Digests and sightseeing. At ten a.m., the time I like to eat my first sandwich of the day, deer moved out of the woods keeping me occupied with my camera for the next twenty minutes. When I was once again alone, I bit into my sandwich and began to enjoy every chew with gusto. When I went to wash it down with a swallow of green tea, I discovered that the tea in the plastic bottles had frozen solid. That, my friends, is one of the fringe benefits of the Iceman Hunt – iced tea. For the next two days, I placed two bottles in the kangaroo pocket of my hooded sweatshirt, two layers beneath my outerwear, thereby keeping the liquid from turning solid.

Tuesday was a great photo day because of the bright sunlight and the fact that the first deer to appear was one of the white bucks accompanied by the piebald buck. These particular bucks are yearlings, so the headgear was not that outstanding, but the beauty of the animals was still worthy of photo after photo in the endless search for that one special shot. Later in the morning, the other white buck paid me its first visit of the day and by the time darkness approached, I had gotten to know the colorful threesome quite well from their frequent visits to my "Outdoor Studio of the Grain". I was also visited by a handful of smaller whitetail bucks and a few does, one of which I dropped with a well placed shot from my Barnett Revolution.

Haase saw deer most of the day also, although anything that he was interested in shooting stayed well out of crossbow range. Still seeing the animals in the surrounding fields helped to pass the time and keep his interest peaked. One of the things that I really respect about Jim is his understanding that a trip to Palmquist Farm is a hunt that comes with no guarantees. A lot of folks think that a shooting preserve is a sure thing, but that just isn’t the case. A hunter’s luck and his ability to sit quietly for long periods of time, while enduring the brutal cold are key factors to his success on this particular hunt, especially with a crossbow. There are NO guarantees in this game.

The third day dawned overcast and still very cold. We moved back to the stands we had sat in on the first day of our hunt and I was treated to a steady flow of assorted whitetails, which provided me with ample opportunities to practice my stealth and hone my picture-taking skills. I poleaxed another doe with the Barnett Revolution on Wednesday removing one more breeder from the herd and thereby assisting Jim with his management program. The best part about my efforts, however, was that I was taking home high-quality venison that would be tasty, tender and nutritious for my family and guests to share during our special times around the Hendricks’ kitchen table.

Jim failed to bring down a whitetail on the third day, but was optimistic and philosophical about his overall hunting experience at Palmquist Farm. It was a real pleasure for me to spend time with him and I do hope that we will share another campfire together again very soon. The three days of hunting passed by all too quickly, but both of us had things to do so a return to the real world was mandatory.

A special thanks goes out to Jim Haase for bringing his special kind of charm to this year’s Iceman Hunt. And to Helen and Jim Palmquist, thank you for your warm and genteel hospitality, the sumptuous cuisine and the cozy accommodations. All of which is above and beyond the normal call of duty, but just what I have come to expect as standard criterion around Palmquist Farm.

Next year at the ACF Iceman Hunt, I would like to invite all of you hunters that share the passion of photography with me. I purpose a photo contest over the course of the three-day hunt that will culminate with the best photo taken ending up on the cover of the 2009 Winter Issue of the Horizontal Bowhunter Magazine. As editor of the magazine, I will disqualify myself from the competition and instead, serve as judge for the contest. This is a great opportunity to get some really neat photographs of wildlife and especially of whitetail deer. It is also a great opportunity to see and maybe even take a big whitetail buck. And of course, Jim Palmquist can always use help managing his doe count if, like me, you appreciate quality cuisine.

For more information about the 2008 Iceman Hunt, check out the Upcoming Hunt pages of this issue or give us a call at 320-634-3660. We would love to have you come and join us regardless of what you shoot.