wooly

I used to try any head I could get my hands on and some of them even found their way to the woods with me... with mixed results. Bottom line is, once you find a head you have confidence in, stick with it and it will do it's job on the business end, if you do yours on the senders side. That said, I shoot a head I doubt would get much support here, but it's what I feel most deadly with and you can't argue with dead deer. 75gr. Rocket Mini-Blasters for me as long as they keep making them.

I think that's how they got their start. Now with all the fruity flavors, I think they're being marketed towards recruiting new non smokers that think it's a safer alternative. I just like the fact that I can take a drag just about anywhere, and unless somebody sees me, nobody pays much attention to it. Think of the lives that will be saved by folks not falling asleep with an actual cigarette in their hands!

Oh, I'm done trying to quit. I'm just looking for a way to expand my smoking opportunities anywhere.., anytime,lol

Looks hungry.... I would have brought it home for dinner.

I picked up one of those e-cigs last week with some high nicotine flavored juice and haven't puffed on a conventional cigarette since. Anyone been using one of these things for any amount of time without their skin peeling off? I ain't gonna lie.., I'd still prefer to spark up a Marlboro, but this ain't so bad, and the non smokers around me don't seem to mind or even notice when I hit it.

We need another sub-category in this trail cam section for all the mountain lions, ET's, ghosts, tommy knockers, bigfeets, elves, and leprechaun catches,lol I bet it would be a real hit!

At least you got all the flags in at Cabelas before your luck took a dump. I'd hate to hear the grand opening was delayed because Red couldn't get his pole up!

That's what I'm calling this guy. Got a video of him last week carrying this club horn. It looked like it was ready to fall off as it swung in the breeze, but I see he's still got it one week later. Hope it holds on!

You sure do eat a lot for a skinny guy,lol ....but thanks for reminding me to thaw some meat out! Chili sounds good for tomorrow!

Oh man, that sounds like a lot of work.... I bet we could have just dragged a slimey old sheephead around the island a time or two and never even got our beers wet. I hear those things will eat anything that even smells like a dead fish..... just say the word so I know when to take a shower!

Sweet! That's one critter I've never seen in the wild. Nice shot of that regal raptor!

Take into consideration the water color as well if you're still torn between the two choices. Clear water- run the dipsies. Stained water - take your pick... or run one of each off opposite sides of the boat and let the fish choose. Of course that's much easier to do if you already have a secondary set of rods in the boat all set up for both options.

That's pretty crafty, I like it! $75 sounds like a fair asking price. $450 may be a little high unless it's got Betsy's signature on it!

That's awesome, and you even got the EXIF data logged- good for you getting out there with the camera again and paying attention to your cameras vitals! When I started out shooting a 200mm, I would get really frustrated going to photography forums and seeing the great long range close-ups everyone was taking with their 400,500, and 600mm prime lenses. I thought once I got my 300mm F5.6 that I could compete with the big boys, but boy was I ever wrong. Once I figured out how to get closer to the critters instead of stretching my lens is when I REALLY started enjoying nature photography and the results I was getting with budget gear! You've obviously got the passion for it, and I bet you'd do real well to jump right in with both feet now! Nice thing about cameras is you can hunt with one 365 days a year and all those encounters are valuable lessons once actual "hunting season" rolls around. Looking forward to more pics from you...... I want to see 5 different bucks from you by Monday, don't let me down,lol

Happy B-day Joe! Go easy on the squashed grapes!

Oh this is a touchy subject for me. I lost an entire pick up bed full of plumbing tools on the 990 one day on my way home from Amherst. Stupid tailgate dropped somewhere between the jobsite and home, and I had to reimburse work for some of their equipment that was on board at the time. All total, close to two grand in tools. I did however find a complete bow package laying in the ditch a few years ago, so things are starting to even out!

Oh man, that's great you want to get back into it Mark! That really sucks about your Canon gear getting lifted. Just goes to show how dumb thiefs can be,lol I wish I could recommend a package that you'd be happy with based on my own experience, but what it really boils down to is what your most comfortable and familiar with shooting. The D5100 will do everything you need it to do as far as wildlife photography goes and has plenty of megapixels for great detail. My only concern with that camera is the flip out display viewer.(I may be thinking about the D-5200) That just seems like it would be too delicate a feature for me to have bouncing around my neck while chasing critters through the sticks and over the hills. IMO the D-5000 would be a better option for that reason, and can be had for cheaper. For casual nature photography, either lens combo you mention will work but you'll need to learn it's limitations and strong points. At times you may also wish you had chose one over the other, but that's just the way it goes. There's a ton of sweet used options and great deals out there if you can find them. If price isn't a big concern, get the widest aperture lens you can afford. The summer woods aren't always an easy place to find your subjects first of all, and finding them someplace with adequate light for a slow lens can be more of a challenge than finding the critter itself. Nothing sucks more than a blurry pic of a once in a lifetime encounter because the lighting was bad.. You probably already know how deep you can get into this stuff. You just need to decide how deep you're willing to get into it! Since I'm already here, I'll leave you all with a couple shots from yesterday.

You'll forget all about those stinky old bovines when you replace them with your heard of freaky racked, monster farm raised whitetails! I hear they're fetching near $10,000 a head!

See a lot of your action is coming from the far side of the plot. Any temptation to move that cam there? We can discuss it at the end of the dock when you come back to pick me up. I'll bring a cooler to sit on!

What cam did you get Red? I'm sure you'll get months out of those lithiums. Just keep an eye on the battery levels when they start to drop. When they start to fall to about 80% they will lose power fast. At least that's the way they worked in my Moultrie M-80.

Yup- that's my guess as well. Deer don't squat to poop and they don't squirt out fawns while standing. I see lots of doe peeing like that.

Yup

You guys ever watch those shows on Nat Geo about the African "big cats"? I'll bet most of us (myself included) find ourselves rooting for the lions, and leopards, and cheetahs to cleanly bring down their gazelle or impala most of the time. With such low percentage odds of catching dinner these animals face in the wild, it's seems half normal to want to see them come out victorious from time to time to ensure their survival. The local yote on the other hand doesn't get the home town support that we give his foreign predator friends. I'm guessing most of us would be rooting for the fawn in this case. I try to remain neutral when I see stuff like that no matter what critters are involved. I'm sure it happens more often than we think, but seldom do we ever get to see it, so naturally we side with the "under dog" in our minds, even if it is the deer.

Things sure are looking up since they legalized x-bows and medicinal marijuana!

Holy crap, did I ever have the experience of a lifetime today! I was hiking around the goldenrod after pulling my cameras this evening. I had just entered the woodline when all of a sudden this big doe comes racing in towards me and stops about 5ft (yes FEET) away! She never noticed me because she was focused on something going on behind her where she just came from. She couldn't have been there more than 5 seconds when I heard a fawn cry. She took off like a rocket towards the sound. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of what at first appeared to be 3 fawns chasing each other with momma closing the distance on them FAST! They all shot back out into the goldenrod I'd just come out of when I noticed they stopped a ways out under an apple tree. I could see mom standing there, but the grass was too tall to see much else. I put it in high gear and tried to get as close as I could for a possible photo opportunity of the fawns. As I was sneaking up on them, the big doe began stomping and blowing at her fawns under the tree. The fawn suddenly sounded like it was being slaughtered, screaming at the top of it's lungs. Momma doe lunged forward snorting repeatedly and then bounced back and stood her ground. About the 3'rd time she did this, I saw a coyote head shoot up out of the tall grass and strike at the old girl! I was now about 20yds away. Now I knew what was REALLY going on only yards away from me and I couldn't wait to get in on the action! I tried to sneak in just a little bit closer to see over the top of the grass, but I was crunching with every step. The doe turned around and spotted me before turning tail and bolting off like lightning. As my attention was stolen by her I snapped a few shots as she bounded away, then I heard one last bawl from under the tree. I saw what looked like one of the yotes tails do a barrel role before everything went silent. I knew they were in there, and I wanted nothing more than a picture or two of this crazy encounter, but I still couldn't see them so I inched my way closer hoping they were still where I expected them to be, perhaps guarding their kill. By the time I snuck in to the exact spot they were at, they had disappeared without a trace. I stood there surveying the field for a few minutes, when I finally spotted movement again in the grass heading up to the timber above me. The two yotes had a successful hunt, and were dragging the fawn off for dinner about 100yds away up into the woods. That was by far, the coolest, most WILD thing I have ever witnessed in the outdoors.... even though I didn't have the best seat in the house for the show and didn't get any pics of the action. I had goose bumps most of the way home it was so exhilarating and exciting! This is her at the kill site before the fawns final breath. It's one of 3 shots I got that doesn't do much to tell any of the story but the picture is still painted vividly in my mind. This was as wild as it gets for me! The fawn would have died whether I was there or not, so I felt no need to intervene. I don't hate coyotes because of this encounter neither. I'm just THRILLED to have had the experience not everyone will ever witness! Sorry I couldn't get any better pics, but I had to share this story anyhow!