Thank You 6x5!

The 6x5 decided to pose for a few photos this last week. What's even better is that he came in with good daylight and stayed for almost an hour! He was in there four or five times in the last seven days, which means he's not too far away. After careful review of the pictures (and videos), it looks like he's approaching the camera from the east and most times he's returning to the east. Maybe he is staying close by and I need to be careful not to bump him. I need to get a set hung ASAPAQAP (as soon as possible as quietly as possible)! Ideal situation, I'd be able to slide down the river and slip up along the bank and right up into a tree. He seems to use the pinch fairly closely. If my cameras in ND don't produce, I can bet I'll bring one or two back to narrow in on the 6x5's pattern. Hopefully the bears don't kick him out when the acorns are ready, which is anytime now.
I also picked up on a nice little two year old near John's pond. I think he's a buck that I found a little antler from last spring, but it's hard to say. He's nice for a two year old in a crappy year of growth.

Big Day!

This last Thursday, the 15th of August, Zach and I went out for a quick trip around the countryside and we were able to check a few cameras. It was a big day because after checking the 6x5 area, there was over 1,000 images on there including a bunch of pictures of the 6x5!

He kind of surprised me in a good and bad way. He won't have any G5s, he lost a bit of tine length, but he definitely put on some more mass and stretched out those brows to just about 6", maybe more. He came in every day for three days, which is great, but the time and date got all messed up on the camera, so it's hard to know exactly what he was doing. I switched cameras in hopes of getting some better pictures, hopefully he comes back through.
After that, we checked a few more cameras and came up with another winner - Pencil showed up!

At first glance I told Zach that I thought it was just a random three year old, because he had a slightly roman nose. Well, at second glance, it was Pencil and he just hadn't finished his growth yet. The other side to this exciting story is that when we pulled up to my camera, we noticed another trail camera pointed in the same direction! What?!? We put my tshirt over it and pulled mine down. That was strange, but I get it. They saw a spot that was possibly bringing in deer, and they wanted to mooch a little. We pulled the Trophy Rock out of there and hopefully the deer will stay away too. The crappy part was as we checked the card, we saw Pencil, and then realized that the other guy also got some free information about a 6 year old deer! That makes me mad. Oh well. We got the pics we needed. He's going to have a cool set of brows as well a split and a sticker on his base. Definitely grossing P&Y, but I don't think he'll net enough to make it.
We checked the other cameras and got some more pics of young bucks at the Tweeten woods:

A few more of Blacknose at John's Island:

and the new set up was just does and fawns. I took down a couple cameras in order to bring some to ND in hopes of seeing something worth my time out there. Hopes are high! The doctor said I can start putting half-weight and then full weight next week (with crutches in case). I need to do my exercises and keep up with my weigh-bearing.

Velvitis

I'm still playing catch up with this blog since the triple fracture and dislocation of my ankle. But I am making progress in both areas. One key note that I don't think I mentioned was that I got drawn to hunt the UND property along the Forest River in North Dakota. That was cool, but I later learned that I would have to pay $215 for a non-resident ANTLERLESS tag! Then if I filled it, I would be eligible for a second either-sex tag for an additional $215! Luckily, in the process, I wrote a letter to the neighboring landowner and asked about hanging trail cameras, and even hunting his property, which they said, "Sure." to. So now I bought an either-sex over the county tag for $215 and I'm getting excited to hunt over there. Now the only thing slowing me down is my leg. I need it to heal well, so I probably won't be hunting there during the opening weekend. I need to get a camera over a food source quickly so I can take inventory of the deer that are in the area - before the beans start to yellow. So that's exciting.
It's been 6 weeks since I broke my leg and although it left me hardly moving initially, I've been able to get into the woods a few times over that last two weeks. Enough to move and check cameras a couple times. I've contracted the help of my friend Zach to do most of my walking and checking, but it's just so refreshing to be out in the woods. I knew I would miss it, but I am beginning to realize how much I enjoy flying down the gravel and having the music loud and feeling the cool breeze blow through my truck. I am definitely not wired to work indoors.
In these camera moves and pulls, we've been able to learn quite a bit over the last few weeks:
To my amazement, the 6x5, after disappearing like last year, strolled in front of the camera one time, just enough for three pictures - EXACTLY LIKE LAST YEAR!!!

This deer is going to get under my skin. His G2s are a little shorter this year. He's got more mass, his brows are very nice and I think he'll be a 6x6.
About an hour or two after 6x5 went through, a lone buck walked through that was another really nice buck. He has the same frame as what Twigs had (not saying it was him), but there's also a freak chance that it was that stud 8 point yearling from last year. Either way, I'd like some more pictures of these deer.

Then after having battery issues in John's Island, I was able to get pictures of Blacknose.

He's not as impressive as I hoped he'd be this year. His right G2 split, he's got a sticker off his left brow, and his tine length is about the same. He did gain some mass and his brows are a bit longer. Their growth is so far behind last years, that these deer are going to need to grow right up until the very end of August. He should gross over 150" but now he's got about 5" of deductions so he'll net around 145".
Then a buck showed up that blew my mind! A scraggly wide, short-tined 8 point that I was certain Zach killed last year! NOPE.

Turns out Zach shot his twin brother. So now we still have a lame 4 year old 8 that needs to be killed.
Just a few days ago, I got pictures of another sad 4 year old. The buck that dad passed up, that I found the right shed to this January is a weak and homely deer. Another that needs to be shot.

Up at the gravel pit I got pics of the 4 year old I'm going to call Droopy. He's got a droptine or a turndown beam on his right side, like he did when he was 2. This is an interesting deer, that I don't really know where he goes during the fall.

I'm still hoping that the other four year old comes in for a few pics before I pull that camera.
The Tweeten woods has been pretty good at producing pictures, but all the deer are 2 and 3 years old.

Still no pictures of Pencil.
I set up a camera near the point by John's pond and I got permission on the east side of the river to try to find HighRise. Both of these spots should reveal something interesting. Otherwise, I'm hoping for some good news from the doctor at Monday's appointment. I'm hoping to be able to put weight on my foot soon so I can start getting used to that. I need to do my exercises.

A BREAK in the Action!

Even though this summer was shaping up to be a very busy one, which I was afraid might keep me out of The Woods a bit, little did I know that our trip to Family Camp at Bluewater would be a life changing one for me. On Thursday, the 4th of July, right after the canteen bell (3:00pm), I decided to go off the Blob one more time before I went to get canteen. For some dumb reason I thought I could harness the power of the blob and send myself into orbit by superman-ing off the blob. Boy was I wrong! Long story-short, my right leg fractured in three places and my ankle dislocated. I don't know how I could have fit any more thoughts in my head during mid-flight to the water's reality. I was dismayed, angry, scared, but mostly ticked! I popped out of the water and called for help and was back-boarded out of the water and brought right into Deer River ER.

I had surgery that night and the reality of my summer scouting ending began to sink in.

So I had a soft cast for the first 8 days, then I moved into a hard cast for about 9 days. Now i've been in a walking boot for about 2+ weeks. I have an appointment on August 12th for some Xrays and hopefully they tell me I can begin to put some weight on it soon. Luckily, I 've had the help of my friend Zach to move cameras and get the scouting back under way, but it is definitely not the same. I just miss being able to check on my cameras and see if there's any new bucks in the area, but since I've been laid up for so long, I'm basically falling back on old spots in hopes for deer to repeat their old habits.
I have asked for some permission from a few neighbors to be a little more aggressive with cameras, but I haven't had much luck yet.
I'm on the mend. I hope to hunt the first two weeks from the ground and then begin to climb into stands by October 1. I also have a ND tag in my back pocket, so that'll be interesting!