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.