Even though I have been writing in this space for decades it still can be a surprise where subject inspiration comes from.   the credit goes to Sarah Nigbor. Last week she wrote a great piece about places in Pierce County and how they got their name. Immediately I started thinking about the places in my outdoor world that will never be found on a map and to my cronies and me, they are special.

The Duck Pond is the first place that came to mind. It’s not really a pond but rather it’s a back water slough as a part of the Pierce County Islands. In my younger years I spent a lot of time down there waiting for teal, mallards and any other ducks that didn’t fly into “the Magnet.” The Magnet is the corner of an island that pulls ducks in with an unseen force. It’s almost magical to watch ducks pile into the corner of that island. That magnetic pull also has a qualifier: it doesn’t work when you hunt there. I don’t duck hunt much anymore, so I am lucky to have a pile of great memories permanently attached to places.

In my lifetime I have had three Buck Trees. The OG Buck Tree is from my youth and the place where I saw my first archery buck. It’s also the place where I missed my first archery buck. Its location is in the deer hunting grounds of my youth, 120 miles down the Mississippi River, and yes, I both saw and missed my first archery buck on the same afternoon hunt with the same buck.

The second Buck Tree is located just across the border in St. Croix County. The first time that I ever sat in it I bagged a buck so it will always be hallowed ground for me. It’s been a while since I’ve been there but someday, I’ll hunt it again just to rekindle the memories of that fine buck I harvested from it.

The third Buck Tree is here in Pierce County; well, it used to be. The tree died and tipped over. I bagged my biggest buck ever from that spot and I still mourn the loss of that tree. A replacement stand is nearby but it’s a pale imitation at best. The original of everything is always better.

Picnic Point is a place that holds both dreams and nightmares. It’s a musky spot 267 miles away on Lake Vermilion. Within eyesight of that spot I saw the biggest fish of my life and I lost the biggest one as well. Even if I do finally catch a monster from that spot, the giganotosaurus musky that I lost will always haunt me.

Elk Ridge is a spot only 1,009 miles away in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I’ve never bagged my own elk from that ridge, but I have packed out several elk for my brothers. There is a high point of the ridge where you can see the Hell Hole Point to the west, the Tree Stand Wallow to the south, the Elk Flats to the north and camp is in the rear view mirror to the east. You won’t find those places on a map. I hold them in my heart. 

The spot that has the very best name was labeled by Ted, which is funny because that’s not his given name. While out fishing down near Red Wing we found a walleye hot spot that Ted proclaimed to be “The Governor’s Hole.” He explained that if the Governor of Wisconsin ever asked us to take him fishing for the opener, that spot is where we would take him. Since we have not yet received a call, the Governor’s Hole remains a guarded secret.

I could fill a couple of newspaper sections with all of the outdoor spots that have names but are not identified on a map. That could be why to my outdoor cronies and me, they are all considered hallowed ground. 

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