Sit # 6 - Close Call

With a stiff SE wind this morning, I ventured up to one of my new spots in the Lake Bottom - the same spot where the bear broke my camera. Last I knew, I had a few pictures of HighRise out of velvet on September 12th and one video of a new 8 point that I thought was also a 120" 3 year old. I took the camera down from Haglund's north of town and moved it back out to the Lake Bottom on Tuesday during my lunch hour and had no idea what was on it until after my sit this morning. I got in nice and early and hung my stand (a little too close the anticipated action) in the dark and settled in. I need to say that it is absolutely unbelievable to have overnight lows of 60 degrees on the 6th of October. So, I was very comfortable as I waiting the cracking of daylight. At about 7:30 I had a pine martin scurry behind me scent checking his way through the tall grass. Then at about 8:05 or so, as I was re-judging the two bucks size on my iPhone, I heard a loud stick break about 30 yards to the southwest of me. I turned the camera on fully anticipating one of these two bucks to stroll through and really make me think hard. All of a sudden a black blob appeared as loud as could be through the tall grass. Granted there were a lot of dead branches all over the ground, but this bear was not being his sneaky self. I got the camera on him for a short bit, but before I could reach for my bow, he sniffed enough to know there was nothing there to eat and so he turned to leave. I realized I wanted to shoot the bear and so I left the camera and reached for my bow. He slipped away through some thick nasty brush and tall grass until I couldn't see or hear any sign of him. From that 30 second encounter, I guessed him to be around 250 or so. After I got home and checked the camera and watched the little video that I got, I realize now that this bear was well over 250. I'd say closer to 325 if not more - dressed. So now I'm on a new mission. I'm going to start baiting this site and hopefully have a better outcome than I had this morning. If I can kill this bear soon, I'm pretty sure the spot will still be good for deer in the next month leading up to the rut. It's so crazy that the rut is only a month away.

So I got home and checked my memory cards and got a few more pictures of the nice high 8 and also the buck I call HighRise. It's now very obvious that HighRise is 3 years old and this other buck must be 4. His body is much bigger, his chest is deeper and his mass is very impressive. As an 8 point I think he would net about 123, which is great, but some angles he looks bigger an some angles he looks smaller. This truly would be a phenominal buck for Steph to kill. Either of these bucks would be a great trophy for her. Tall 8:

And HighRise:

I got my Bushnell Trophy Cam back from Trailcampro.com and let me tell you, the customer service was nothing short of fabulous. Thanks again, John. I set the camera up about 30 yards away from the "Shed Stand" - the stand I set up when I found that old dinosaur shed last week. it's on a heavy trail that's got an old licking branch in the frame. It should be really interesting. Only two weeks left until the cameras will get moved over scrapes. I will need to really place them selectively to optimize the results. It's a surefire way to get buck pictures, but I am always curious what's cruising on field edges at night, etc. Now the newest problem is THIEVES!