Easterly

A friend and I headed back out east parallelling the Canadian border. We headed out to the place we set up a Trophy Rock back in January. We visited it in February again and applied some more molasses. This would be our third visit and this time we brought a Cuddeback Capture. It's still about 2 weeks premature as far as deer really hitting the mineral site, but it's better to be safe in case a straggler passes by the camera. There's no shortage of buck sign throughout the ridge and cutovers. There's lots of swamp surrounding the ridge for bucks to grow old in, so really it's more of a bowhunting paradise. Hunting the edges of the swamp during the rut, and the popple ridges in the evening

for browsing monsters.

We found a few interesting sights along the way, including some very large poop - probably moose, but possibly elk. Both are extremely rare. Moose have been thinned out and scattered farther west and it's rare to see one around here anymore. Elk have become more freakishly locatable. There are more running long distances in search of food. Someone found a fresh elk shed only 8 miles away from here last year, so it's possible.

We also saw a tree that I thought had been hit by lightning. Upon a closer look, it shattered due to high winds. The tree was dried out, and the wind bent it just right and it must have just exploded! There was a about a 5 foot piece that had pierced the ground and was still stuck there. There was also debris about 40 yards away from the tree. Unbelievable.

We'll have to stay tuned for what pictures will come from the East.