wooly

Yup, pretty much a dead end quad access road now that connects greenfields to woodlot ladder stands.

I put 2 cams out on some old logging roads for some gobbler shots. Instead I got a bunch of bucks that look like this guy with some good nubbs already.

Few things I don't like to be in front of..... moving vehicles, a jury of my peers, and cameras... I need to work harder at avoiding all the above. Here's me bird watching,lol

Thanks folks! Time to find something besides antlers to take pictures of! Here's the seasons horn total. Thanks for following along on my hikes everybody! Lefties... Righties... Sets... ...and the whole antler army together..

Lol, shots look like they worked pretty good to me, I'm thinking the tracking may be the bigger problem. A lot of these bucks turned up in some pretty nasty thickets. Add a little foliage to the mix and it's probably easiest to just go shoot yourself another one. It does give you a good idea of where these bucks run to die...info that has come in handy on some of my own recover efforts.

Very cool shot! I like that look! What post processing are you using?

Last antlered bucks I saw this season was around March 15'th give or take a day or two.....3 of them still with both sides.

Thanks guys! Season's just about over for me. I'll continue to get off the beaten path and maybe find a few more but it's time to move on to other things. Obviously I wont be doing any complaining about the way this season has gone for me... and the weather wasn't bad either! So I'm getting rolling on my season ending pics and thought I'd start with the skulls and deadheads. Picked up 15 skulls, I believe only 4 were fresh and and the other 11 oldies. Five other fresh dead buck finds already had their hats removed by someone else before I got to them. I got a little bit of cleaning to do on some of them yet but I don't get too carried away...just skin the heads and let the elements take care of the rest. I didn't take home as many non antler items as I usually do. Only brought home 7 broadhead tipped arrows and one foothold trap. Anyhow, here's my little tribute to the unrecovered bucks from the last 2 years. I like to get these outta the woods so no other antler pickers find all that bone laying around to turn them on to some of my spots. Some of my sheds this year were found only because I had to take another look around after finding all the skulls in some areas, so that's kinda my logic behind it too. .

...or if you're being chased by the Gene Simmons of the goose world,lol

Thanks guys, it aint over just yet! I've been running around the greenfields trying to find any leftovers the past couple days. No fresh sheds, but I did find a couple more additions to my collections. The old shed is VERY dry and cracked and light as a feather. First time I've ever found one in that condition. I had to check to make sure it was real,lol. #31!

One of the few times you're glad not to find a carcass at the end of the blood trail! Good chance you'll make a full recovery and sport some non typical growth on your left testicle next fall,lol

Thanks for looking and the comments everybody! This is the kinda stuff I enjoy as much as any whitetail encounter or antler find. Guess we don't always need to take something physical home with us for a day outdoors to be a success. I can't remember the last time I had a bad day in the sticks!

These guys have been giving me fits trying to get some pics of them the past 2yrs now. I finally caught up to one today while looking for antlers. After a long game of cat and mouse from tree to tree, he finally settled down and tolerated me being at the base of his tree and let me move around for a few other angles. Pretty cool experience for the day! Even when you see them taking flight/flying you certainly wont hear them!

Nice set erussell! Pretty cool to get them from a buck you passed up. I don't have much luck matching up sheds from deer I've seen durring season or got cam pics of. Most don't seem to stick around long enough to leave their antlers behind.

Thanks guys, I finally found #30 today! YAAAAAY ME!!! He's a pretty good one too... another mulie wannabe! This is one of the bucks I saw earlier in march with 2 of his buddies at the greenfield. I looked long and hard for more but this was it for the day.

Had another pretty productive couple hours in the sticks today. It didn't start out good when I found the tall and wide 4pt dead,I got a few cam shots of him from archery season. He had both horns back then and approximately 16"spread. Threw him in my pac and got a little liquid brain oooze all over everything but continued on with the quest for horns. Started into an area that's usually good for at least one horn a year and what do ya know...there it is! A nice tall 3 pt side but no mate in site. Looks like he dumped it while doing the Limbo under this stick. I wish they all fell where they're supposed to like that. Sure would make this shed hunting stuff a lot easier. While searching for the mate I came across another little old 6'er bone pile. I stuffed him in the pac with stinky brains and was determined to find 2 more horns and hit 30 at last. Not long after I get moving again, another horn forced me to take another ATL break! An oldie 5pt with heavy chew but a good solid horn anyhow. I killed the day in search of #30 but it wasn't meant to be.......at least not for today! the days finds.

Today I shot up to run the edge of some powerlines. It's pretty green and thick already but I gladly marched through it. By the end of a 100yd path on an inside corner I had 1 shed and 3 old skulls. Looks like if the deer don't fall dead under the wires they go unrecovered within 50yds of the edge. Only had a few hours to run around in here so hopefully I'll make it back for another look. Photobucket's loading slow for my dial up today so I'm skimping on the pics. Anyhow...meet horn #27!

Well, season ending pics were taken yesterday and I almost posted last night. Looks like I'll have to reschedule another shoot and include the latest forest floor veteran with the rest of the team,lol Took my coffee for a walk this morning when I found this green gobblin! Looks like a leftover St. Pattys Day party favor! Had some heavy chew at the base so I thought the critters ate it off but further inspection revealed another break off. #26- I'll take it! My goal this year was 30 antlers but I'm not sure I'll hit it. Critters are dragging out a lot of old bones here lately so I suppose there's still hope.

Excellent Dave! You sure do get a lot of tail,lol!

I got a little ahead of myself and never posted the ATL pic. Nothing at the fields erussel, that's where I started out hiking but ended up a good ways away poking around more orchards and thickets. Some day when the antler hunting is slow I'll have to go looking for all the phones and other crap I've lost over the years,lol. I wish someone could teach me how to find all that stuff...that's the 3'rd one I've lost in as many years!

#25's a slammer At the green fields again today...kinda slow. Then it happened where I least expected it... I lost my cell phone when I pulled the cam from my pouch. Didn't realize it till after runningg circles looking for the mate to this stud. I went back and looked, but I was lost and clueless. Good horn anyhow!

Now there's something you don't see every day! Safe to say now you know you have some competition for antlers in your area. I hear they're just as bad, if not worse then squills! No porkies around here, but have seen sign of them in another area I hike.

One more little freshy from the goldenrod along the cornfield today. The hillside was finally clear of snow and there it was where I had walked over many times already. I finally beat my old record with this little guy #24! Still only my 10'th freshy so far this year.

Super as always Dave! Great variety of critters!

You really need a hobby! That kind of organization would drive me nuts!