CAMP RIPLEY Hunting here really is a believe-it-or-not story.
Two times a year, both in October, more than 2,000 archers are allowed into this 53,000-acre compound to hunt for deer.
Other, special deer hunts are also held in autumn, one for youth archers and others for veterans or active-duty military. A spring turkey hunt or two is also offered, again usually for those who are in the military, or have been.
But the big archery hunts are doled out by lottery, and no military experience is required. Some archers apply every year, and most are happy if they're picked every other autumn, or two out of three.
This year, during the second two-day hunt, my two sons and I won permits as a group -- meaning we applied together knowing we would either each be given a permit, or none would. What follows is an annotated diary of that hunt.
Friday, Oct. 26
Ripley is a camping experience as well as a bow-hunting one, so my pickup camper needed to be loaded. Clothes. Boots. Food. Water. Bows, arrows, broadheads, a portable practice target, mechanical releases, portable stands, climbing sticks, safety harnesses. The list seemed endless.
Also I was having trouble with my bow. The screws holding my quiver onto the bow needed tightening, and my sight had worked itself loose. I put a wrench to work before throwing about 30 arrows at a target. Then I called it good.
We would be pulling an old trailer of mine to carry gear and (possibly) deer carcasses. Painted camouflage and only theoretically enclosed, the rig appears a wreck. "That thing gives us a real red-neck look," said Cole, my 12-year-old.
We departed, finally, about 6 p.m., or about six hours after many of the 2,000 or so hunters began lining up at Ripley's gate.
For many veterans of this hunt, arriving early is part of the Ripley "experience." It's also good strategy, because those who arrive first are placed at the head of a long double line that, beginning at 6 a.m. the morning of the hunt, begins snaking its way northward, into the portion of the camp open to archers.
The Ripley hunt has been held many years, organized by the Department of Natural Resources in conjunction with the Minnesota Department of Military Affairs.
At one time it was a 30-day event, with hunters, essentially, being allowed to come and go as they please. Even civilians could access the base back then, some of the prostitute variety.
That's far from the case today. Guards are posted at all entrances, and hunters wishing access must show a special DNR permit as well as identification.
When we arrived, about 10 p.m., we were greeted by a tired man in a pickup, blue light flashing.
"You going to park that thing in line?" he asked. I said we were, and he directed us into the woods, along a dusty road.
When I finally shut off the truck's engine I had a motorhome in front of me, a couple of tent campers scattered in a field to my left, and the Mississippi River to my right.
Outside, the night was chilly and windy. Inside, I turned on the heater, organized clothing and gear for the morning and got the boys tucked in.
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