Hitlist on Crutches

2011 isn't starting out the best, but I still have a feeling it's going to finish strong. With seven of some of our best bucks still MIA, this season could just prove to be one of the best for the Haaby hunting camp. Things are starting to tilt in our favor. This is proably the second driest year in the last 50 years and that makes for more deer bedding on our property, as it is usually wet. That's great, but even better than that, we've had two great crops directly to our northeast and southeast that haven't been farmed into anything for years and years. We have sunflowers to the southeast and soybeans to the northeast. I know that by the time rifle season comes, both crops will be gone, but does and fawns will be in the area and used to those crops. Bucks know where to find does. It should make for a great season. I would say the biggest weakness to this preseason hitlist is how much ground is covered by these six bucks. From west to east, these buck sightings are almost 6 miles... as the crow flies! So my cameras are covering a very large area. I hope to pinpoint a few more deer quickly so that I can continue to move my cameras to figure out some of the rest of these deer. I've been trying to think of ways to capitalize on the drought this summer, but after checking the gravel pit and seeing hardly any tracks, I'm confused to where these deer are watering. The ditches are dry. Bone dry. So it dawned on me the other day that I know of a natural spring or a flow well tucked back up on the south edge of the cedars that I need to go investigate. This is an area I've wanted to hunt anyways, so I may head in there opening weekend to either hunt or just hang a camera and/or stand. The beans are still in transition and not quite ripe enough for the deer to go back to yet.
I stopped and looked at the clover I planted up near the landing and it's still hanging in there. This drought has been hard an everything. I'm thinking this will be another great vantage point to watch a large area to see if any deer are transitioning through it in the mornings. It's supposed to shift to some rain and thunderstorms throughout this week, so that could get deer moving around a bit more. September is a tricky time of year to bowhunt because deer, especially bucks, are trying to make up their minds where they want to call home. On top of that, food is now the biggest priority and finding a food source where deer haven't been pressured yet may be tough.
I'm having a hard time deciding between getting two more Cuddeback Captures or getting a Bushnell Trophy Cam HD that shoots nighttime video in 1080p. How sweet would that be over a scrape? Well, The next blog I post will probably be sit number one of the year, unless I get another new hitlist buck. 2011 season, here we come.