Rifle Season - Day 9 (Sit #32)

After church and getting everything organized, I got out to the new stand by the pinch near the natural spring. I got there a little before three and hoped I could just catch a buck cruising from A to B on this heavy travel corridor. This heavy artery of a trail will see more rubs this week than in the entire pre-rut combined. Bucks travel these areas and in their frustration, beat up the trees and leave as much scent as possible until their testosterone levels finally begin to drop and they turn their attention towards food. I've got about a week or a little more until that happens.
Anyway, I sat until dark and saw zero deer. I did have a white rabbit fly by at about 70 yards and about a minute later saw a fisher on it's trail. Before I climbed down I got a text from a neighbor that had a great season. He shot a dandy in the middle of the week and his wife shot Scabby 9 Friday morning. She shot Scabby 9 right where I said he'd get killed - flying out of a thicket with a doe.
His buck:

Scabby 9:

That wrapped up the 9 day gun season on the west end of Roseau County. There still remains six days on the east side. I'm sure we'll see some big ones get taken in those last remaining days. I've said it before, and as much as my schedule will allow, I want to try to take advantage of bucks on their feet before they go completely nocturnal again. I have a few hunches left up my sleeve, but I need to capitalize. I may head west to the refuge if my cameras tell me to give up on The Hill.
As far as I know, Bullwinkle, Chippy (which I just got word was spotted the week before gun season), Pencil, Contender, the Wide Heavy 8, and Whitey are all still alive. So should PegLeg and Junky Brewster be. Gotta be in the tree. Gotta find the does.
Last night I went over to a neighbors house and checked out the deer they shot this season. What a great year they had. I also had the chance to look at some sheds that he picked up this spring when they were out in the fields getting ready to spray and plow. He picked up the left side of Splitbrow:

the right side of Scabby 9:

and the right side of Mr. 140:

ALL THREE OF MY HITLIST BUCKS!

The only shed I knew about was one from Pencil (to which I have the other side):

It was really interesting to see the growth from one year to the next on these sheds. I'm going to try to get over there soon to actually score each one along with the racks they shot this year. I think I enjoy finding these missing pieces to the puzzle I create for myself every season just as much as I enjoy sitting in the tree trying to kill one of these bucks. 2011 has turned out to be a great season for a lot of hunters. I'll maybe dedicate an entire post to bucks that were taken locally.