Sit # 9 - Last Camera Check Before The Cruising Begins

On Wednesday the 10th, I sat in the morning again trying to see if HighRise would show his pretty face - and rack. He did no such thing. I drove around the section to see if I could see anywhere that a deer had crossed a ditch or left a track and there really was only one or two places, so my guess is that he's not even within a half mile of that spot. I did have an easy shot at a huge raccoon but let him go. I also had a fox come by at about 15 yards.
The snow is pretty much gone from our big storm 12 days ago. I was able to get out today to move some cameras around and check the battery life before the pre-rut kicks into gear in less than a week. I picked up on several young bucks north of John's.

I also picked up on two different two year olds north of Pete's.

I took the camera from where I've been trying to encounter HighRise and moved it northwest of the bus, which may have been a mistake. This storm knocked down a million trees and getting back to my stand was a battle. I lost my way right away and had to navigate from my phone. Once I got to the logging road, it was covered up with fallen trees. It's hardly going to make for a travel corridor with all of those blowdowns. I set the camera up anyway and tried to at least make a stretch that the deer might want to use. If I don't have much for traffic by the 27th, I'm going to put it over a scrape.
Last, but not least, I check the Bushnell in between the gravel pits and was pleased to see lots of videos, including three different bucks:
A chunky 3 year old 8 point. He looks like Scabby the way his beams curl so tight. I might even call him Scabby Junior.

Then there was another mature deer, probably 4 years old who is a clean 8 point with longer beams he'd probably score in that 125 area.

Lastly, there was a huge bodied buck, I would guess 5 or 6 years old. It took me a little while to figure out what was going on with his rack, but I realized that he's a mainframe 10 point that has already broken off his right G2. He could have an extra point or two, but he's a really nice deer for that area.

I hope to get some more clear pictures of him as time goes on. I may even retrieve my camera from NW of the bus and try to get a better picture of these deer. The videos are great, but they're always fuzzy. I put my Wildviews over scrapes. I put one on the top of the hill by the cabin and the other down by the river on the pinch. It should be interesting. Hopefully the batteries hold up.