2013 - Six points or bigger… Put your rack in the shack

November 19, 2013 • Voyageur Press

Walk into the Janke deer shack located near Alborn, Minnesota and it is quite apparent they have a fun family tradition when it comes to the deer hunt every November.

Beautiful bucks hang from the wall, mixed in with photo memories preserved from years past. The slogan at the shack—six points or bigger, you can hang your horns in the shack. “Otherwise, they go on the wall of shame,” said Adam Janke who shot the biggest buck this season. “The porch is where all the spikes, forks, and fives are.”

Adam shot a deer that will join with the other 75 already hanging on the way. 

Adam shared that he doesn’t actually carry a gun on opening weekend. He sits with the younger of his two children, Lindsay and Joey. “I’d rather have them shoot a deer,” said Adam, “but I had Monday off so I went out and looked for signs of blood from a doe that Joey had shot and missed on Sunday.”

After lunch, Adam went to what he calls “Suzie’s Stand.” I sat there for three hours and froze my butt off. Just about got up to walk in and I heard a grunt call behind me,” recalls Adam who made grunt calls back for about 45 minutes. “He came in right to my left and the kids were on the field with the scope rifles and I actually shot that 10-pointer with my original open-site 30-30 gun with no scope.” 

Adam’s dad, Willie Janke, noted that this was the first time Adam grunted a deer in. Adam added, “When I was 12 years old, my dad gave me my Model 94 30-30. There is no safety on it and I will not let my kids use that gun. It is the most dangerous gun you can use, but we were taught right at an early age.” Adam noted that his children would most likely be fine hunting with the gun, “but we have safeties on guns now.”

“I shot my first deer when I was 12 with that gun and now this 10-pointer is with the same gun,” Adam beamed.

The 10-pointer isn’t the biggest deer or the most points shot at camp. Adam has a 14-pointer hanging on the wall.

The “Suzie Stand” has turned out to be a popular location for many of the hunters at the shack. Adam shared the story behind naming the stand after his wife, Suzie Janke. 

“Suzie took her firearms safety when Joey turned ten because he could legally hunt and she could sit with him. After she sat with him the first day, she sat in the stand I built for her alone the next day. A 10-point buck that would have been a head mount walked out and she couldn’t bring herself to shoot it.”

“It will always be ‘Suzie’s Stand’ because that is why we built it. Suzie couldn’t kill a fly. She can cook, but she can’t kill.”

“Suzie’s Stand” is the place to shoot deer this season. Adam’s oldest son Drew shot an 8-pointer in the same spot. “The ‘Suzie Stand’ is going to become an enclosed all day stand starting next year. Suzie won’t be allowed to hunt there, but it is still going to be ‘Suzie’s Stand.’ Every year there is a buck spotted on opening morning at that stand and every year there is a buck shot out of that stand.”

The current hunting property was actually purchased by Adam’s father and his brother Ellwyn. “Ellwyn passed away ten years ago,” said Willie. “We purchased this in 1988, 25 years ago. We bought it in March and started building in July.”

Willie recalls cutting all the balsams on his land and having his cousin Steve Baublitz saw the lumber. “It cost us $150 for all the lumber to build this place except for the plywood on the roof,” added Willie. “We also ended up getting some windows for free. It cost us more for the tongue and groove inside than it did to build the rest.”

The hunting at the current shack has grown over the years. What started out as a group of eight or nine guys, has now grown to include 20-plus. “With children and grandchildren and friends...” Adam shared.

The shack can sleep 13 upstairs and a few coaches are available downstairs. There are also a couple of campers available. “There were 19 people that stayed overnight here last Saturday,” noted Willie.

Willie talked about the bragging rights at the shack. “It is pretty much horn hunting and not a lot of does shot,” he shared. “In the past few years with the herd being down, we’ve taken some does and some fawns to make sausage.”

Adam claims the most points in the shack at 14. Troy Janke shot the heaviest deer at 234 pounds, Drew has won slightly less at 232 and a couple more over 230.

The family tradition has grown to include friends and other gatherings. “We do a deer feed with our cousins (the Lind Shack) next door each year,” Willie explained. “Every other year we rotate the barbecue on the second Saturday between the two shacks.” The Jankes hosted this year.

The hunting season isn’t the only time the shack is used. “We do a wheeler ride/shoot out in October,” added Willie. “We shoot clay pigeons and sit in our deer rifles.”

Adam added that they have a snowmobile ride on President’s Weekend. “We stay out here at the shack, ride to Floodwood, over to Cotton and back.”

Adam concluded by looking over at his children and nephews playing a game of cards in the shack and shared, “This is what it is all about. Spending time with family, enjoying the hunting tradition.”

There is a facebook photo that Adam shared that says it all. It is a picture of him and his daughter Lindsay. “That is me spending time with my daughter in the deer stand. She’s taken three deer, but that day we sat all afternoon. When you spend that much time with a 15-year-old girl it sometimes gets interesting.”

“The girls like to take those pictures with their tongues sticking out and we were just goofing around and having fun. I took my phone, put it up and I knew she was going to make a face, so I made a face like I thought she would and it turned out perfect.”

Just one more memory... and they didn’t have to shoot a deer that day.