He's Back!

Over the course of 365 days, a lot of things change in the whitetail woods. As soon as the last patches of snow dissolve into the mud, the prevailing landscape transformers into a lush green carpet. As the time progresses, the greens turn to vibrant yellows, oranges, and reds. The leaves will eventually vacate their limbs and blanket the fields and forest floors. The first flakes of winter will follow, and the cycle is complete. The deer follow a similar pattern, a pattern that we as hunters pay close attention to. It was roughly a year ago that I scouted a property for the first time. I set up a camera, threw out a couple bags of corn, a bag of Big and J attractant, and hoped for the best. Two weeks later I pulled the camera card and began what has become a year long obsession with a buck I named, "The 9".

The 9 in June 2015

If you followed this blog last year, you know about much of my history with The 9. We had several encounters last year, with him having the upper hand in all of them. The last meeting we shared was in late January with two days left in the season. It was a bitter cold evening and as he made his way towards my stand, I began to imagine a story book ending to my 2015 season. The 9 had an alternate ending in mind, and veered off to the left 45 yards away, never to be seen again. I maintained a trail camera at the property through out the winter. The last pictures I have of The 9 were a couple of random nocturnal shots from February 21, still carrying both antlers. I searched extensively for his sheds on both my property and a joining wood lots to no avail.


Battle scar from last season

As spring time rolled around I decided to place some mineral sites around the property. In just under a month I had a few hundred pictures, but none were of my old friend. I assumed he was hit by a car, or just moved on to another property. Either way, he was gone. Two weeks ago I started my corn regiment in hopes to keep the herd on my property. I was pretty excited to browse the last couple weeks of activity. After picking off a few ticks, I popped the SD card in my phone reader and began to check my inventory. Seventy pictures in, and BAM! He's Back! The 9 was enjoying a corn dinner, sporting what could hopefully grow into a very impressive rack. He posed broadside to show off his battle scar from last season when my Easton Axis grazed his left side on what proved to be a too severe quartering to shot. With each picture I scrolled through, my anticipation for the upcoming archery season soared.

The 9 June 2016

So much has changed over the last year. The 9 is battle tested, bigger, and undoubtedly smarter. He has two more months to grow, and I have two months to scout him. I am looking forward to getting reacquainted with The 9 over the Summer, and ultimately chasing him come the Fall. One thing that did not change is 365 days later, I will be the same hunter, pursuing the same deer.