wooly

Well, antler season is winding down for me so I needed something else to play 'hide-n- seek' with throughout the summer months. I've always been a bit of a scavenger in regaurd to what some folks (and critters) leave littered throughout the woods, so it only seemed natural that eventually some common woodland dump sites would start to reveal some new treasures for me. I've actually been at this for a couple years now, but only recently started bringing any "trophies" home to clean up and start an actual collection of. My latest hobby is bottle collecting.... Obviously it's kind of like treasure hunting with a better chance of coming home with more misquito bites and tics than it's worth, but it sure beats watching "Chasin' Tail" all summer long,lol. The biggest payoff for me to this point has been researching the history behind these old throw away relics, and some of them are just pretty darn interesting to look at and think back to a different time not too terribly long ago. Anyhow, just thought I'd share my 3 most worthy recent finds and see if anyone else is into digging up this kind of stuff without the metal detecters. This first one is my Certo bottle find, or my 1/2 cup bottle as I call it. My next find for 2013 was this Schenleys whiskey bottle I thought was pretty cool. I don't think it's very old, but who knows.... I haven't found any information on it yet. It says: "Federal Law Forbids Sale Or Re-Use Of This Bottle" ... and my most recent find was this nice blue glass Great Bear Springs Company 5L water bottle. Unfortunately, this one has a hole in the back of it. I'm hoping to find one just like it still in one piece. It's tough to read in the pic, it says: "Great Bear Spring Company" "Five Pints" "This Bottle Is Loaned And Never To Be Sold"

Cruising down the 219 today I saw a group of 3 deer just off the shoulder. One of them had a skinny set of 8 inch forked velvety antlers! It actually looked like he had already hit his peak antler growth which was kinda cool to see.

Kinda tough to tell from that pic. If there are claw marks on the trunk, hair, or muddy bark where he has rubbed, I would say the culprit is obviously a bear. Without any dead giveaway sign, it could be from a big ol' pileated woodpecker.

Shoulda had a V-8!

Even 'big woods' have noticeable terrain features. Often times ridges are the most commonly traveled and most obvious funnels even if they don't narrow down into the typical pinch points we seek out. Soft edges are another feature that is easily overlooked to an untrained eye, but they are there. Any place two different types of timber or vegetation come together can be a good place to start. If they gradually over lap, all the better IMO. A narrow edge doesn't always offer up many options when it comes to playing the wind. Elevation is something else you'll want to pay attention to. Look up some maps, and take note of when deer use the different zones at different times of the year. Wind direction and thermals throughout the season, and even throughout the course of the day will affect how and where deer travel certain areas, especially durring the rut when they are scent checking the local does. Also take into account the local hunting pressure, stand locations, and where hunters are entering from.

Cool! Glad you had the cam handy. Must be making a trip to town to pick up some bird seed. 4'th pic almost looks like he has a white throat patch.

The only thing that freaks me out in a swamp are the leaches. I've seen them stuck to everything from snakes, to frogs, turtles, fish, and ducks. Never had one latch on to me, but I've had a few hitch hikers on my boots and pant legs. I like sloshing around in the swamps here in the summer to photograph the critters and insect life that's so abundant there, but I'm constantly double and triple checking myself for the little suckers!

Now that's a crazy funky antler! Cool find Lawdwaz, looks like he may have a split brow next year to boot!

Thanks Red, slowly but surely I'm getting there...... 10 more to go now! 4-21-13 Today I shot up to my sisters to do some hiking. I'm still not real farmiliar with the area but every hike I learn something new. I started out today in some blackberry thickets that caught my attention last time I was there. No sheds around, but my first find was this "ugly buckling". Up and down the ridges I went after that.Through a ton of mature pines and then on to the open hardwoods. I'd hiked for 6 hrs and wasn't feeling like today was my day. Slightly disgusted at this point, I hopped on an old logging road just for the ease of hiking. Wouldn't ya know it.... right smack dab center of the road I spotted an antler! I was rewarded with a nice easy one after all that hard work! I spent some time looking for the mate but it was nowhere to be found. I would have to be happy with one more horn today! Also found another dead doe. Antlers- 32 Sets- 5 Dead bucks- 15 Dead doe/fawns- 17

A little bigger than a quarter. A beefier version of a robin egg basicly. Glad you guys could appreciate this find!

That explains things....... I've been looking for those! I've never seen one here with antlers in April.

Nice ending.... the score, and both teams taking center ice! Classy!

I found this woodcock nest while looking for antlers today. The bird actually sat tight on it with me directly above it before she took off and landed about 40yds away. Scared the crap outta me because she was so camoflaged, I couldn't tell what she was even with my face right over her.... she's lucky I didn't have any bacon with me,lol

Thanks crappyice! I still can't get over those little nubbs. I suppose I can stop trying to find anything smaller. 4-17-13 I shot down to an old favorite spot of mine today in Catt. county. I usually only do a hike or two a year through here since I moved away, but it always seems to hold some horns. It's not your typical prime shedding grounds, but it's a fun, easy hike around 40 some acres of swamp and goldenrod. My first antler of the day was spotted not 15 minutes into my hike. A cool little 4 pt with a big knob of a base! I ran around for another hour and a half before I finally spotted another antler. I almost dismissed this one as a dead weed untill I compared it to an actual dead weed near by and noticed the difference in color...... gotcha! I was satisfied at this point. That made #30 for the season, but I still had some time left so I kept marching around. A little further along down in a soupy section, I started seeing deer legs scattered around that eventually led me to this little 4pt. deadhead. He was cleaned up pretty good, but soon as I tipped him back to stuff him in my pack..... brain ooooze started leaking everywhere. Luckily I came prepared, and double bagged him for the trip home. Heading out.., I got to where I had left my bike under a little pine tree and when I looked up on the side of the hill, I spotted what looked like tines! Sure was! Antler #3 for the day as I was headed out! That was it for the day. I was glad I made the trip and had some nice weather for the bike and hike! Here's the days haul! Antlers- 31 Sets- 5 Dead bucks- 15 Dead doe/fawns- 16

It's deffinately been on the rise here. That's part of the reason I don't really enjoy it much anymore. I see more of my neighbors this time of year then I do all deer seasons combined. Ten years ago it was just the opposite. Not being in agg country, there's a lot of guys stepping on each others toes around the few fields we do have. Just not for me anymore.

Talk about deer in the headlights! I don't think you'd get that kind of reaction with a white flash model if they ran off a burst of stadium lights!

Geeze Paula, sounds like you need an exorcist not a mechanic. That dang thing's haunted,lol

Great job Pav Vila! Looks like you'll be able to hang an 18" beard from the mantel and plenty of room above for the fan....... good thinking!

Good grief man.... life is full of letdowns. A television show shouldn't be one of them,lol. I liked it, but I didn't waste weeks waiting for it..... maybe that's the difference.

Makes you wonder if these prehistoric monsters are just a freak few, or if they're making a comeback. The day may be coming when the bucks start hunting us if the latter is true!

Very cool find Sam! A friend on another site just posted one of these he'd found as well. The ol' saber-toothed bucks still roam the earth!

Joe- not to take anything away from sky's trail cam pics(he does an awesome job with them), but I believe he crops a lot of his shots. Get yourself a cam capable of taking some quality resolution pics and learn how to use a simple photo editing process. Tweak the sharpness, contrast, brightness, and colors.., then crop your shots into a nice composition and voila, you got yourself some better than average straight outta the camera pics! Of course you'll need a good quality pic to begin with, so you'll want to keep the direction of the light in mind when setting up your cams so the sun is behind it, shining on your target critter. Some production cams don't handle the highlights of water well when exposed to the sun. I think that's where the homebrews shine!

Thanks Burt and Sam! 4-13-13 Good news.... today I found an antler bigger than the last two combined,lol. I wasn't feeling very motivated so I just hopped across the creek for half a day. I've been through here quite a few times so I knew there wasn't anything big laying around. I decided to slow down a bit and see if I could find any little guys. My first find of the day was this weird little skull..... I think maybe a possum... or mink.... maybe a koala... I dunno! Then I got into some briars and found an old buck skeleton missing an antler. I figured this would be my best oppertunity to find a horn today so I sat there sifting through the bone pile looking for the missing piece. I couldn't find it though. On my way home now, I took my time through some spotty cover and just on the edge of a tangle of vines I saw a horn! A little busted fresh guy. Antlers- 28 Sets- 5 Dead bucks- 14 Dead doe/fawns- 16

I took another pic of the little buggers for better scale!

4-12-13 So I shoot down to the park today thinking of wet, shiney, glowing antlers. It didn't take long and I spotted tines and it looked like a good one in the flooding timber! Soon as I got to see the entire horn, I knew I already had one at home just like it from last year. I found last years freshie almost a mile away. I wasn't even warm to matching him up last year, but alas, they are together again! Not far from there I found another fresh dead 6pt still with some meat on his carcass. Just a lil guy but I mention all the fresh guys. This is where things get goofy! A little while further, I decided to take a break under an old apple tree and pour myself a cup of java from my thermos. As I'm pouring I look in the mud and see this silly mushroom next to a deer track. I was confused because it really looked like an antler burr so I reached over and picked it up. IT WAS AN ANTLER, but I already picked it up so I didn't get an ATL. The thing couldn't have been more than an inch tall and it was a shed! I laughed out loud at that point and sat there snickering for a while when I saw another mushroom not 2ft away. This time I was ready with the camera! A match set of button nubs!!! I couldn't believe what had just freakin' happened! Here's the ATL of the 2'nd one. Here's my record set together! Antlers- 27 Sets- 5 Dead bucks- 14 Dead doe/fawns- 16