Velvetine Rabbit...here we come!

I made it out into the woods today and had a whole list of things to do, from hanging stands to moving cameras. Steph was at home finishing up her last week's worth of homework for her Master of Science in  Special Education. I'm so proud of her. She's put in so much hard work to earn it. She's very much looking forward to August and her month of freedom!
So this morning I had Zach Johnson's help and that was much appreciated, as I tried to film some of the parts of the day for Midwest Whitetail - Minnesota. We started off the morning by taking down the camera I had north of Pete's that I set up on that new mineral lick. As we got to the camera I noticed that it was unmistably crooked on the tree from the swat of a bear. It only had a couple pictures on it. I know that once deer start using that area more this fall, they're put it into their memory for next spring. We took that camera down and put it up to the east of my permanent stand in an attempt to catch deer heading to and from their beds as they use the soybeans out by the road. We put up a stand on the oak ridge for early season hoping to have Steph shoot one of the does that frequent that area in the morning. It looked great up in the tree. I'm super pumped for a morning with a south wind. After that we drove to the gravel pit and took that camera down, which had over 600 pictures on it. Nothing magnificent. Just a few young bucks:

We moved that camera down the hill and across the soybeans on the east side of the road. I am very pumped about this spot. I think that by the end of August, I will have shooter or two on that camera. After that, we headed out to the south end of everything. The camera in the Tweeten Island's batteries were dead after about 17 pictures. So that sucked. We moved on and drove out to the south point near John's pond and checked that camera, which had 40 some photos with a decent two year old on it. We cleared a few branches for a shooting lane. We ran into the landowner out there. He talked about wanting to set up a few more stands out on his west end. It kind of sounded like he was unsure if he wanted me in there bowhunting this fall, which would really bite the big one. I'm hopeful that he'll still allow it if he knows it's just me. Hopefully. After that, we drove over to the John's Island and sure enough, the camera was sideways on the tree. I don't know what's a worse feeling, knowing a bear is messing with me, or not knowing at what point during the 16 days he spun the camera. Turns out I still got some pictures of a decent up-and-comer:

Then we headed back to the cabin to eat some sausage that mom boiled. On our way out, I tried using some pre-orbital gland on some licking branches at the top of the hill, where there's been a scrape for several years. I read about it in an article of Deer & Deer Hunting. It's bottled in the hills of West Virginia by a company called Smokey's Deer Lure and he has a lot more scents available. I'm curious to use this in a month or so and again in October.
The last errand we ran was to go get Zach's camera from a piece of private land up near the Pinecreek International Airport and set it up in a spot that we'll hopefully get some pictures of the same bachelor group as last August. Curly, Whitey, Contender, possibly Skyscraper and a few other up-and-comers should show themselves in a few weeks. The only downside to this is that Zach's camera is an older Moultrie and it the photo quality is significantly poorer than the Cuddebacks I'm used to.
All in all it was a great day. We weren't able to hang the two stands and set up the ground blind like I wanted to, but I'm sure there will be time for that yet. The deer will definitely hit these mineral sites in the next three weeks. I can't wait to see who shows up. The beans are also looking fabulous!

We also saw the biggest spider I've ever seen up here. The body was bigger than the size of a quarter. For real. I learned that it is known as a "Feather Legged Spider".

The Ides of July...Already

It's the 14th of July and I can say for sure that these bucks are way behind on antler development. I can't quite confirm whether or not they'll pack it on in double time or if they'll just be weak this year. There are plenty of soybeans and from here on out the health should pick up. There are a lot of bullflies, mosquitos, and ticks, which are never a good thing even for deer. Hopefully the next two weeks will turn up some of the bigger bucks in the area.

I went out for a drive after a BBQ lunch after church. I went out and pulled down three cameras and two stands in preparation for the upcoming archery season (that is if the Minnesota Government ever gives in and reconvenes after this 'Shut Down' that we're presently in. You aren't able to purchase hunting/fishing licenses right now among many other things. Anyway, I pulled down the three cameras from the Little Hill, northwest of the landing, and southeast of the landing. I moved all these out to the fields south of The Hill. I put one in Tweeten's Island, one in the southern point by John's Pond, and one in John's Island. Each of these cameras is nearly a mile from each other and all are 3/4 of a mile from the road. This is perfect. There are beans on either side of all three cameras. With a little encouragement, we'll have plenty of pictures in the next 6-8 weeks. This will be the time to see just how much the big boys are behind.
I've got my new Hoyt Alphamax all set up and ready to play some music.  I just got the Fuse Pilot M-Series 3 pin sight set up on Steph's Hoyt. We'll be shooting in no time.
On the drive home, there were at least a dozen deer right by the hill in the northern-most beans. That was super encouraging. It lets me know that my other two cameras may need to be adjusted as well. After I turned west by Orville's mailbox, I saw a lone bigger deer out south a half mile. I brought up my binoculars and decided to pull out the spotting scope. I could definitely see antlers, but he was barely beginning his G2s. On July 10th! I think it was the buck that I picked up the heavier four point shed from this spring. That would mean he is a four year old this year. When Crazy 8 was a four year old on July 16th, he was 80% grown! I don't know what to make of it. It's strange. That buck should've been a 130's deer this year. He'll be lucky if he has time to make 120. I'll keep watching I guess. After he walked west I decided to cut him off on my way up to the Tweeten woods. When I got up there I snuck up on a doe and her two fawns playing. It was pretty neat to watch and capture on video. Eventually this four year old buck came into view. He didn't stay very long and then headed south into the willows. It will be very interesting to see what shows up this year. That site should show Scabby 10, Splitbrow, Pencil, Chippy, Wide Heavy 8, and possibly Mr 140. All of these bucks will be on the Hitlist for 2011 as they will all be 4 1/2 or older.
I'm not really sure who will show up in the southern point area. It could be a crossover area, or it could reveal something totally different. I think Bullwinkle could show up there. John's Island should be home to a few. Hopefully Curly, Skyscraper, Whitey, The Contender, and a few other younger bucks could show there faces. Zach Johnson left the cabin after me, but passed me as I was filming the fawns. When he got out onto the highway, he said he saw a big bucks out towards the Swamp (I'm running out of cameras!). So I'm sure there will be another bachelor group out there again this year. I need to avoid the cranky neighbors and utilized the permissions I've been given to capitalize on these photo opportunities. The beans are ripe enough to eat. So watch the deer start to pour out there. They still are getting over a rough winter. Hopefully they'll lift the feed ban soon.

Good Riddance June

Well, ending with a 90 degree day (a heat index of over 100), June came and went. I checked three of my five cameras yesterday and replaced batteries. Sadly, out of nearly 1200 photos, I got hardly any buck pictures. I was flabbergasted. I got one fox, one bear, and one porcupine. I did manage to see the most pregnant doe ever on camera:

Where have all the bucks gone? Seems like they're all right by the cabin... or maybe just on top of the ridge. Mom and dad seem to keep getting pictures of bucks. Thankfully there are lots of soybeans planted. I'm sure July will turn out way better than June. Actually, when I was driving up to The Hill, I was able to confirm  more soybeans than I had previously estimated. This is great for overall herd health, but a little tougher when it comes to pinpointing bucks with the cameras. I'm still fairly confident I can get most, if not all the same bucks as last year, but I'm going to need to have no camera malfunctions, and so on. There are beans around the Tweeten Island, which was the same as last year. The only down fall is that beans were replanted in the fields where Skyscraper was sighted a whole bunch and again on the other side of the highway. I was hoping for wheat and that the deer would make their way to the east side of the creek. Not the case. For the most part, things will be a lot like last year, with the exception of the soybeans up north. This will prove to be an interesting task - figuring out points of entrance to the beans (where I have permission).
The week of June 20-24 (while I was at Bluewater) was almost all rain. The river's on it's way back up now, and we need it to dry up. We got what we needed for moisture, but now we need it to back off. It's supposed to be nice this week of Independence and that should be good for the beans. By the time I'm back from speaking at Bluewater (18-22) the pictures should be rolling in. Here's what the beans looked like when I was out:

Dad and I were drawn for the zone 12 bear hunt and we're both getting pretty excited about that. I also saw what looked to be sunflowers planted by Steve's stand. I can't even think of a time where sunflowers were planted there. It's been a long time since anything other than a grass has been planted in that 80. I've got my new Hoyt Alphamax 32, Fuse Pilot 5 pin Sight, Fuse 6" Axium Stabilizer, and my Fuse Whisker Biscuit Rest on the way. The only thing left is a quiver. I should be set up in a week and ready to kill. It'll be good to dial it in and shoot some arrows.
I also checked on the Frigid Forage Clover mix I broadcasted in early May. It's lookin' great: