Sit # 12 & 13 - Some Hope Restored

I went up to check a camera and place some bait out for the bear on Thursday the 13th. I hiked in north of the road up to the "Shed Stand" and checked my brand new Bushnell Trophy Cam HD. It had a bunch of video and the very first deer was a buck that I haven't seen hide nor hair of since June 16th - SPLITBROW! I kept scrolling through the videos and a day or two later was Pencil!

Both bucks have been very hit and miss this year. According to my old guesses, I suggested that Splitbrow would be five this year. That is till possible, but if so, he didn't grow at all. If anything, I think he may have shrunk up in height. Pencil looks good - just super thin as usual. He decided to be an 8 again this year. His G3 on his right mainbeam is very short, but then again, he decided not to grow one at all last year and was therefore a big 7 point. He's right in the area where I've picked up his sheds from the last two years.
I sat Saturday morning in the ground blind overlooking a watering hole in the gravel pit. It's kind of an odd set up, but sometimes it takes unorthodox measure to locate the deer. At about 10 minutes before legal light I had a nice big doe come in for a drink. She came from the opposite side that I anticipated action to come from. She didn't stay long and I was hoping she'd wade through the water and offer me a shot right at legal light. Nope. She turned around and went back to where she came from. I climbed out of there after filming a seasonal update for Midwest Whitetail Minnesota. I checked a few cameras and ran some errands around the woods. While checking one of my Cuddbacks, I broke the cover right off it. It was really gummed up with sap and I don't blame them at all. It just means I have to figure out a way to secure it to the camera so that it stays water tight. I got more pictures, but nothing new and nothing indicating rut behavior yet. We're on the verge. The two bucks in the Lake Bottom have started sparring a bit more and have been rubbing a bit. That tells me that their glands have begun secreting and it's only about a week away from beginning to scrape and seek out doe populations (23-30). Then comes the chase phase the following week (31-6) and eventually the breeding phase (7-14).

Dad and I put in one last sit for the bear and had the bigger buck come in from the north and wind us. I had been watching pretty intently to the east to see where they were coming from. At about 6:40, I hear him blow to the NNE of us. I turned around and saw his flagging tail and one jump through the cattails. It was a nice buck that's for sure. I hope we didn't bust him too badly. I'm hoping that he just got wind of my truck and that he'll be back during daylight hours.
This fall has been one of struggle so far. Getting a camera stolen, breaking one myself, having a bear break one, losing permission on one of the sweetest pieces of land, photography consuming our free time. It's just been difficult. I know that things will slow down and the wind will cooperate, but I just need to be patient. There is hope for 2011.