[Bushnell Trophy Cam (last few weeks)]

picked these up with Trophy cams in late April / early May.

[Almost a perfect shot...]

very sweet picture; just beautiful.

[1st day Tom Turkey]

thanks all, that hunt happened so fast almost like watching an edited TV show, and though we sometimes wonder why that kinda stuff never happens to us, this time it actually did for me. I'm gonna have to be patient in the future as this one might have spoiled me.

[woods and water]

collected these in recent weeks. ( P41, S600, Pana Fx48 + Fs7 )

[Storey of my life]

now that's just going way over the line. hide the remote.

[1st day Tom Turkey]

This was my first turkey hunting attempt this year as the season opened in mid week. I went to familiar ground behind my home but hadn’t heard or seen a bird for the better part of the first hour of daylight and I was already getting impatient. While running through thoughts of what to try next and already plotting to hunt another woodlot on Sunday, out of nowhere a loud “gobble” erupted, breaking the morning’s silence. The “Tom” was about 70 yards away when his call rang out and I believe he was searching for the source of turkey vocalizations I had created 10 minutes earlier.

The bird was coming from the back right side of my camouflage blind and he continued to close the distance stopping at 50 yards to my right. It was there that I let out some very soft / low volume clucks and purr sounds by using a slate friction call. When I saw him turn his head in my direction I shut up and put the call down. The gobbler now started to move towards my setup at a fast pace and I scrambled to get ready for a possible shot opportunity. His fast walk became a run as he made his way right across the front of my blind window, passing less than 10 yards away and rushing my decoy setup.

As the “Tom“ went into strut mode at 15 yards standing right among my decoys, I was then able to come to full draw and looked for a good shot. He was puffed up and showing me his rear for a while, and I didn't see a shot angle that I liked. Now having been at full draw for a while, my bow arm started to get shaky, and it was then that the gobbler finally relaxed the strut pose and presented a good angled shot opportunity. I knew I was not as steady as I would like to be but I then decided to take the shot. The lighted nock on the back of the arrow clearly signaled that the broadhead tipped projectile had struck the bird right of center. While the shot was not as well placed as I would have hoped I was able to recover my bird about 40 yards from my blind setup.

This was my first ever first day / first hour successful hunt and it reminds me of a first day deer hunt where my brother had arrowed a buck also in the first hour. All I can say is “you can’t complain about a hunt like that”, and while it most likely will never happen again, having done it once will provide a lasting memory and a story that will certainly be told more than one time.

[class in session]

these are cropped quite a bit to bring in the little ones who appear to be very good students.

[Heavy Draw Weight]

I started buying compounds in my early 30's. Bought an 80 lber ( I weighed 140 lbs at the time) and could draw it like you see others do; hand up and making a big movement. Didn't like that for covert hunting and went to a 70 lber which I kept at around 65 lbs.

When I was in my early 40's I woke up and bought a 60 lb compound and have since stayed with that weight now for the last 12 years. I can still pull 70 lbs at 53 years old but why bother?

I don't want to be the guy we all see on TV making all kinds of movement lifting his bow up when he draws it back. Sit flat on the floor and hold your bow out in front of you with your bow arm parrallel to the ground. If you can't draw it without lifting up your bow arm you are overbowed.

As far as Doc's question; I beieve there are lots of factors in play here as to the cause of injury to any individual; overbowing is certainly one of them.

[3D deer?]

it was an overcast early evening here in NY on 4-26 @ 6:32 pm when the flash fired on this deer causing what to my eye looks like a 3D effect on the picture. (Pana FX48)

[twosomes]

two ducks at at time here:

[kerplunk!]

Another awesome picture!..Do you ever get any poor ones?

yes, loads of em, but when you get thousands of pictures the odds of getting some good ones does increase a bit.

[kerplunk!]

camera caught this drake doing the ole cannonball.

[camera]

don't feel so bad; I've made every mistake possible through the years. (card, batteries, in playback mode, in video mode, etc) Yes, the best way to go about avoiding mistakes is to have a routine that you repeat, and yes having someone with you will cause you to deviate from that routine. best to go about your routine by yourself. good luck.

[Uncle Ted being investigated by Secret Service]

players on both sides insulting their opposition is the norm. for anyone to cry foul here they can add themselves to the long list of hypocrites that cry when it's their side under fire.

investigating Nugent here would be another huge hypocrisy as Maher can say whatever he wants about the other side.

["homebrewing" on the creek]

picked these up with a Sony S600 and Panasonic homebrew cams. we sure could use some rain here in the east.

[not pretty]

For me there is always a little sadness when killing a critter. Wether it is a buck, or a chipmunk. When you are a kid, you know so little about LIFE, all life. I remember doing the same thing, and it bothering me. I have no problem with people shooting varmints, I do it myself. Although now only ones that need thinning out at home. Like porcupines, no challenge in that. Chips, around the camp, they can cause a lot of damage to wires on vehicles. I had a buddy that would go out to South Dakota just to shoot at praire dogs at hundreds of yards. It sounded like fun actually. The farmers want the things shot, so they are happy to have someone do it. Just some random thoughts on the subject..

very well said; I feel the same way when I choose to kill a wild animal for whatever reason it might be.

my answer to the original question is yes, mother would love that opossum since it was she who endowed it with those "good' looks.

[not pretty]

Most definitely possum. It does have a hairless tail. That hair you see in the pic is just at the base. Unless the hairless TALE you are talking about is a book.

"hairless tale" ? I believe I read that one in the Penthouse forum

[New York Crossbow Hunters..]

You must not be hunting them with a spotlight then..lol... sorry I thought you were joking because that sounds so ridiculous. I'll shoot with you all day long at 20 yards with my recurve and I have never lost a bowshot deer and I've shot them all in the evening... I don't think I know one trad bow hunter that isn't as good a shot at 20 yards as most compound shooters.

The ole "never lost a deer with a recurve" guy, and could also shoot as good as a compound shooter at 20 yards. Yep, that sounds about right.

[not pretty]

could a mother even love this face?

[trophy cam creek]

give this Bushnell trophy cam some good light and it continues to impress. it's a replacement cam they sent me for a defective 2010 model. they upgraded the return to a viewsceen cam and next time I check it I'm gonna try and remember the model number.

got these with the TC over the last 2 weeks:

[alien bird?]

"take me to your leader"

[animated heron?]

many of you guys know what I'm talking about when you sometimes get a picture that has an animated look to it. Picked up this heron pic last week and it looks that way to my eye. (Panasonic Fx48 homebrew)

[quacky quacker]

what a character:

[Panasonic "Homebrew"]

thanks, the camera is the FX48 and I don't use a slave flash, however the flash on this camera is kinda weak and the subject needs to be fairly close to get a good exposure.

[hawk attack]

ducks were going about their buisness when the hawks suddenly swopped in. hard to tell if the bird in the back was successful in grabbing something. the 2nd picture was captured 6 seconds after the 1st.