Tillage!

Well last week, the farmers were out seeding. We have had lots of rain in the forecast and we've missed out on most of it. That's awesome because it allows the crops to get in their assigned places and for me to base the placement of my trail cameras on those crops. There will be beans all over the east side of The Hill and that will change a lot of the deer activity. Unfortunately, it might make more deer even more visible because of the homes along that road. It will be very interesting to find scrapes and travel routes to and from the crops. I have five Cuddebacks now and although I'm super pumped about that, certain times of year it would sure be nice to have three more. I know that's greedy, but the information gathered is so beneficial for a realistic perspective on the deer that use the hunt-able land around that area. I'm coming to the conclusion that there are at least three different deer herds that intersect and interact through the two mile radius from the cabin. It's been a good year all in all to learn more about how the deer use the area once fall is gone and winter comes. So, we've had a bit of rain, all the trees are near full bloom, and everything is green. I was able to get out and make a shooting lane that leads to a stump with a Trophy Rock on it. I've wanted this to be a mineral site for quite a while now and after last summer's pictures, I believe I'm going to get lots of great shots there. Hopefully not too many bears.

The Last Hurrah!

Mom, Dad and I went back out on Saturday to try to comb the perimeter of the Little Hill. We parked north of the landing and headed west through the cedars. After we had walked the 200 yards through them I heard mom yell, "I found one." So I figured I would head over her way. At the moment she first yelled, I was right by where dad found Scabby 8 (now Scabby 10) 's right side last year and I was about 30 yards or less from where mom found her first of this year (the 2 1/2 year old 3 point). We're learning a bunch about this little area. For some reason, the deer love how tangled up it is. They logged this area on the west end of the cedars probably 20 years ago and after they did that, the cedars that were along the edges blew over and created a tangled mess of a bedding area. Mom's shed was half way down in a hole full of water and I'm once again amazed that she spotted it. It was from the buck that I passed up on video out by John's creek on the 16th of November. I'm glad I passed him. His shed was picked up about 100 yards from the site of the last photo of him.

We took a breather and made our way south and west cutting across to the Little Hill. Once we got to there, I changed memory cards on the camera I have up and we discussed our strategy. While discussing I looked to the ground next to the log I was sitting on and found two small morel mushrooms. We decided to skirt the cedars/popple edge and see what kind of traffic we could come across. It wasn't far off the north side that once again mom yelled out, "Found one. Just a little one." That it was. A little yearling that I have a couple pictures of. He dropped his antlers by the 20th of December. Interesting for a yearling to drop that early. I guess that would suggest a stressed deer. There's a chance he may have been injured.

We made our way west and eventually all the way around the southwest side of the Little Hill until we were heading back east again. We never did find any other antlers, but we learned bits and pieces along the way. It seems that the only deer we didn't really focus on was the few that would have been living to the east end of the big woods. I'm sure that Splitbrow, Chippy, and that 3 year old 9 point I got pictures of were living to the east. It will remain to be seen, I suppose, because I'm pretty sure that's it for Sheddin' '11. The lawnmowers are out, it was 72 degrees today, the ticks are out and the 'squitos are on the way. I also want to make note of the date of the oak trees budding - May 17th. We'll see how the acorn crop does this year. I guess I have about two weeks until the other cameras should get put out. Bring on summer.

Finally - Some Antlers!

So there are a few updates since my last post. First of all, the shed that I found in my last post was in fact from the buck we call Whitey, but it turns out it's his left side from 2009. It looks identical. The beam was short and obviously it was faded, but I thought that since it was shed in December, it might have had a chance to bleach out. I'm hoping to confirm with a neighboring farmer that said he picked up an 8 point set. I'm guessing it's Whitey from 2010. So that's one update.
Secondly, I was out on Monday morning and decided to scout through John's piece by the creek. There was some sign, but not much. While I was trying to film a woodchuck, I glanced around a willow and there was the white backside of a small antler. No doubt at least one year old. The funny thing was that I walked right through here last spring. It's crazy how easily antlers can disappear.

Next, Mom went out on Wednesday afternoon without telling me. I text dad about going out on Thursday (the three of us) and he text me back "maybe". In a matter of a minute later he text me again with a picture text. A nice antler appeared on my screen and at first I thought it might be from Mr. 140. It had some chews on the tip of the G4 and the mainbeam. At this point I figured mom and dad were both out there and dad just text it to me. We were on our way in to the band concert and man was I jealous. I learned that it was mom and she was out there on her own.  After the band concert we stopped by their place and examined the antler. It measured 57" and was definitely at least one year old and was not from Mr. 140. Two theories arose from this shed. Mom found it not far from the gravel pit by the border. Either I made the mistake in 2008 in assuming the buck that crossed the shack field in December was the same buck I got in January at the Cedar Stump, or we had two different bucks. The shed mom found was definitely NOT from the buck at the Cedar Stump, but it looked an awful lot like the buck that crossed the shack field behind the decoy. Hard to say. Regardless, it is a great find and better for her to have it than those stupid squirrels.

Lastly, Yesterday, Thursday, Mom, Dad, and I parked on the crossing by Pete's and walked North. Our objective was to walk the south facing edges of the clearing they did last winter. It would certainly allow new sunlight in and new vegetation to browse on. I knew it would also be a very valuable lesson in where the deer spent the fall/winter of 2010-2011. It was very slow to begin with until we reached the spruce peninsula that extends south from the three corner SW of the bus. That point had several trails running out of it across to the next point. Since the contour of their clearing was quite irregular, it created pockets or horseshoe-type openings within the bigger opening. If you connected the points by straight lines, you typically found most of your sign in these pockets. Good to note for the end of October/early November 2011. As we approached the second point of tamaracks, the trails got a lot heavier. I came into the point from one of the horseshoes and decided to make my way to the outside of the point again. When I did, I got around a few trees and right there in front of me was laying the unmistakable 3 point side of Pencil 7. The shed still had beautiful color. I'm 99% sure that a neighboring hunter has the other side. He said he found it 'under a cedar tree'. Not to be specific. Haha. I snapped some photos and got a quick video (in which I say the wrong date) and picked it up. That finally got the excitement bubbling in mom and dad. That second point turned out to be just as good as the first, if not better.
Here's the story of Pencil 7 (formerly Pencil 8):
2008 (yearling) :

2009 (2.5 years) :

And in 2010 (3.5 years) :

We took a breather and decided to keep doing what we were doing, because it was working. We continued to skirt the edge and by the time I connected with Mom and Dad again, Dad was standing over another antler. It was an antler that looked familiar. It suddenly came to me that it was the left side of a buck we began to know well...WideWeb. This deer was and remains a mystery. We had just a few photos of him in 2008 (3.5 years):

And then in the spring of 2009 (4.5) :

After June 2009 he totally disappeared. There's thought that he may have reappeared two miles west in 2010. I'm not convinced, but with that much time in between, we will probably never know for sure. Good to find evidence of his existence anyhow. The shed dad picked up measured 49 3/8", which would have put him at about 117" gross in 2008.

After we made it all the way down the edge of the scrubby cedars to the road, we took another breather and headed back attempting to parallel our first expedition to the north. That was harder than it seemed, especially with no snow. After we got out of the cedars and back into the willows, I walked right into another nice antler. It was a 4 point that I didn't recognize. I was stumped for a good minute. I got some photos and while I was taking a video, I realized which buck it was. We don't have a name for him yet as there are really no unique characteristics yet. I found his shed in 2010 from his 2009 rack. He was a two year old then and this would be his 3 year old right side. In the video, I guessed him two be four because of his mass, but after I picked it up I realized he was just a 3 year old 8 point.

It's so neat to find the same bucks antlers in consecutive years. Hopefully I can get a shot at either of these bucks this coming year. They both should be around Pope & Young. The heavier 4 point I found measured 48 3/8". That would put him grossing about 115" as a 3 year old. My hopes were high. The three sheds we found were actually fairly close together.

That was a good area to go back to and spend more time. Since we were still so far from the vehicle we kinda wanted to get out of there. It was a long walk that was not very easy walking, but it was so worth it. If I can, I'm going to get back out there before the weekend is over.