Let 'em shed, let 'em shed, let 'em shed

Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the archery season was so not delightful, and since there's no legal time left, let 'em shed, let 'em shed, let 'em shed. Dad and I checked the hot spot again this morning. Nothing. Twenty - eight below zero @ 8:00am. The cameras have a bit of a struggle in weather like this, but I still managed to get 184 pictures in 3 nights. To my surprise, the buck activity has lessened. I didn't get any pictures of any of the bucks off of next year's hit list. Either the batteries were dying because of the cold and were missing some pictures, or the bucks are over on the pile of year old sunflowers. I may have to adjust the placement of the camera.

The antlers are dropping, though. Not as many as expected, but there's three bucks now that have dropped. The first was a yearling, then a 3 year old, now a 2 year old 8 point. None of the bigger bucks as far as we know. It's supposed to stay chilly for the next few days. When I say chilly, I mean lows in the 20s below and a high of 1 degree on sunday. No snowfall in the forecast for a few days, so if we pick up one of the bigger deer on the camera with no antlers, it would be possible to venture into some of the beds, but then again, it might be smart to wait it out and not spook 'em out of the area.

In two months it'll be a free for all. I don't think there are too many bucks that carry their antlers into March around here, so I'm not really worried about that slim minority. With the rutting activity non-existent, we have to focus on the feeding and bedding areas. As long as the deer aren't messed with too drastically, and we don't get too much more snow, we should be able to locate a few antlers this spring.

2010 Hit List - A Work In Progress

Well, rifle season and muzzleloader season came and went. I only heard of one nice buck being taken around The Hill by muzzleloader and that was East of Orville's (a good 2.2 miles from the cabin). I've yet to see a picture of it either. There's only 9 days left of the 2009 archery season, and the likelihood of anyone shooting a nice buck (that keeps his antlers on his head) is pretty slim. Out of our original top seven, there have been two confirmed dead (Crazy 8 & Wide 9). Out of the other 5, Ive gotten pictures of two of them after muzzleloader season. I got a picture of a heavy short 8 point that was bleeding by his ear on November 21st that I'm going to call the scabby 8. I just got a picture of him two nights ago. He's about a 120" 5 year old. He'll go on the list for 2010. I also got pictures of a 10 point that looks a lot like a deer I got some pictures of this late summer out by John's pond, but he doesn't have the distinct split G2 on his right antler, so I'm guessing they're brothers. He's a four year old that would go about 125. Last year's hitlist was made up of bucks that I got pictures of out of velvet - mostly because of the very different ranges bucks occupy from summer to fall and even fall to winter. In fact, all of the "top seven" pictures were taken from October 21st through November 1st. There were two bucks that should've been on the list that we had velvet pictures of, but once fall came, they dissappeared. The buck that already dropped his antlers could very well be one of those two bucks, I still need to go check that out. So if I was to rank the survivors with the "would be's" for 2010, I would have a list that looked something like this:

1. The Clown (Oct 22/Jan 30 [shed])

2. Mr. 140 (Dec 23/Jan 7 [shed])

3. Hanger (Oct 31) - CONFIRMED DEAD

4. Wide Web (June 19)

5. No Name 10 (Dec 28)

6. Pond Buck (Sept 1) - CONFIRMED DEAD

7. Sky Scraper (Jan 25)

8. Scabby 8 (Jan 18/Feb 1 [shed])

9. Bullwinkle (Jan 22)

10. Inside Crab 10 (Jan 24/Feb 4 [shed])

I'm really just hoping for confirmation from the sheds, and to try and get two other bucks photos to be satisfied: The Clown and Hanger. They're both older bucks, and to figure them out will be the most difficult. Wolves do not simplify the matter.

Early too Cold, Early to Drop

I got word on friday (11th) that sometime a few days before that, probably the 9th, a guy picked up a fresh set of sheds! I thought last year's December 14th was a freak, but I guess. We have had subzero temperatures for over two weeks, today finally it was above, and tomorrow they're saying a high in the 20s. That's still cold, but it'll feel like spring after all this crap. I think i'm going to go for it tomorrow morning, it should be good. I've got a good spot and even though the wind is marginal, I think I'll get a chance at a doe. I guess we'll find out soon.

Winter Solstice

The shortest day of the year is coming up. Well, we all know it's still 24 hours long, but we'll only have 8 hours and 15 minutes between sunrise and sunset on the 21st of December, then the crescendo of photoperiodism begins again. This week has been brutally cold for this early in the winter (late in the fall) we are. We've been sitting around zero degrees for about 4 days now. We can expect another 3 more days until the wind switches to the SW and eventually to the SE, which will bring us some slightly warmer highs (upper teens). Survival is number one right now. Food, food, food - is all that is on the deer's agenda. We've got four days left of muzzleloader and then another 17 days of archery before I have to absolutely surrender. I sat Monday morning and it was absolutely frigid. When I got back to my truck and 10am, the temperature was 6 degrees without the windchill. You can bet it hit zero as the sun began to come up. There had been a few deer moving on the cameras. I think they'll begin to browse more and move less. I saw 7 deer by moonlight out in a winter wheat field. So that at least tells me there's not enough snow to keep them from kicking down to it.

It's predominantly been a NW wind, which is great for the stand I've been sitting in, but it's supposed to shift around as we get into the weekend. Dad wants to try sitting for a few hours. We both would like to take out a few does, so if we get the chance, it's going to be a cold gut job. Bill Winke said it best a few days back when he said, "... the bucks are still licking their wounds from the rut." I think that's exactly what's been going on the last week of November/first week of December. That's all going to change as food becomes priority. They may not offer much for daylight movement, but it'll at least help me figure out which bucks survived the hunting season by picking them up on the cameras, which don't enjoy running when it's this cold. I'm helping dad mount Crazy 8 european style. I just got him all boiled up and scraped clean. I used Basic White and I think it's going to look great. It'll be good to have another mount to keep my Pope & Young company.

I'm excited to see what's on the cameras this weekend.

The Overlap

It's the 2nd of December. The rut is pretty much out of commission or so you'd think. I have pictures of bucks following does on the 1st of November (the very first signs). The weather put a lot of daytime action on hold. However, the cameras suggested that there was still plenty of movement during the nighttime. I took three of my cameras down out of some great locations, mostly because I didn't want them stolen. As soon as I could, I put them back up and the action picked up where it left off. I had pictures of bucks from the 15th through the 25th following does. I just had a couple bucks checking a scrape line on the 28th. We are already 28 days past the 1st of November. Those does that came into heat early and were missed, therefore missing their cycle, should be about to come back into heat. Yesterday we got about 4 inches of snow dumped on us in one day. That may not effect the rutting activity, but it will definately effect the location of the deer's bedding and feeding. There are areas where we hunt that definately hold more deer come march. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume those deer begin to move into those wintering areas as we get more and more snow and as the crops (which are nearly nonexistent) are burried. We have our first legitimate cold front moving in also. We're supposed to have highs in the 20s tomorrow with north to northwest winds. This is the weather we should've had almost a month ago. Anyway, every year it seems that when we get a pile of snow it takes the deer a while to acclimate. I hunted yesterday afternoon and as I drove in to where I park and even my entire walk to the stand, I did not cross one fresh track through the snow. So they bedded up. I moved a camera and I anticipate catching them moving this morning, and throughout the day today and tomorrow. Tomorrow might be a great day to put in some time. It seems like the two ruts may just overlap into one really long, slow rut.

I need to shoot two more does.