wooly

Nice documentary of your bucks through the year! I'm having a hard time seeing that first pic as the same buck though. Curious why you think he is?

I commend him for saying he'll continue till he kills one. What the hell's he supposed to do...slit his wrists over it? He's only 16. I suspect he's not an award winning author of outdoor stories and may have left out a few of what some may consider the important details. But hey, if you guys wanna pounce on the kid have at it.

Another great series Jennifer! Keep on clickin', I really enjoy your shots!

Not so sure what makes this story so unbelievable to some here. Simply sounds to me like a 16 year old who ran into a bit of misfortune this season but still got to feel all the excitement of the hunt without a kill. Instead of beating himself up over it he's looking forward to making his next encounter a sucessfull kill and recovery. I don't think he was happy to wound the buck, rather enjoyed everything that led up to the shot and had a blunder at the moment of truth he wishes he could do over with a better out come. Maybe I'm not reading deep enough.

Nah...at least on this side I know I'm staying outta trouble,lol.

He's a good survivor! Get ready to find them horns when they pop off and enjoy the new cam.

1-5-12 Finally got around to getting fresh batteries for the cams so went to hang them today. Wanted to put one on the corn field so away I went after 3 days stuck at home with the flu bug. When I got there debating what fence post to hang one on I saw this little fella in the stubble along the edge. #6 is a little freshie 2/3/4 pt...my first fresh snow shed of the year! I made a few passes looking for the mate when I noticed someone already had a cam hung on the field edge. I'd walked right by it about 5 x's. I don't like my picture taken so I deleted the pics of me and moved on like a ghost erasing my footprints in the snow behind me as I left. Turkey scratch style,lol.

Thanks guys! Burt- you would have to put an antler on the 18'th floor to get me up to the 17'th every day,lol! I'd probably take the elevator too so I wouldn't strain my lanky hiking legs. Glad you all enjoy the pics. I'll have to start snapping more of the other things I see out there.

Spent the day hiking the 2 mile block around home but couldn't get on any more sheds. This little guy was my only find for the day so I gave him a lift home and tossed him in the skull box.

I couldn't do it. I used to live near one of these farms and everybody in town knows what these deer look like better than their own extended family. Killing an escapee would do nothing for my hunting prowess(ego) or my reputation with the locals. That's probably most important to me. ... if the rut is close to full swing I'm waiting for a 300"er to hop the fence anyhow when it comes to shooting farm bucks!

Happy New Year guys and gals!

CTHunter- your guess is as good as mine but I suspect more bucks may shed earlier than we think. Last year I kept tabs on a winter bachelor group of bucks that didn't start dropping until Valentines Day, but there always seems to be a few bucks that drop unusually early every year around me. Maybe all them "candy apples" they were vacuuming up this fall have little nutritional value to support holding headgear any longer then need be. Just a thought.

Spent some time checking out some brushy fingers that jut out into the fields today. Nothing in there but an old leg hold trap I packed out. Between fields heading through the open timber I just about stepped on my first freshie of the season. A REAL nice hefty 5pt! I was a little dissapointed when I picked it up and saw the antler rats had already started chewing the tines. Guessing no snow and where this antler fell in the open woods made it vulnerable to the rodents quick. Searched for 3 hours for the mate but turned up nadda. I'll be back, but glad to get this one home before the snow hits tomorrow! Antler #5 for the season has a nice warm place to spend the winter!

Fantastic- those look great! You should try your hand at tattoos and custom cattle branding next!

Well the last few hikes haven't turned up any more antlers, but there's still plenty new to see every time I head out including but not only 1/2doz golfballs, an old broadhead tipped arrow missing it's fletchings burried in the leaves, and plenty of old bones. Here's a few of the more interesting finds from the last few hikes. I did come across my 2'nd dead deer of this still early shed season. A dead doe that looked like she found her final resting place off a bean field in a drainage leading to the timber. Next up was a first for me. I found this little pink arrow with a flat nock end. Never found one of these before but I suspect it wont be the last one I find,lol Every now and then throughout my walkabouts something catches my eye that I spend a little time on photographing. When I came across these old wagon wheels, the shed hunting got put on hold for a little bit. Just something I liked about them. ..and lastly as I was watching a flock of about 20 winter turkeys scratch under a hemlock patch I caught movement off to my right one ridge over. A group of 3 yotes were bedded under a blowdown and began to move away from the birds. One yote broke off from the others and looked like he may be coming closer for some turkey dinner but he never came closer than 60 yds or so before turning to follow the others. I'm guessing they have a free meal waiting in the brush close by that they don't need to waste much energy on trying to catch. I'm not very wise to the way of the k-9's, but I'm looking forward to the challenge of getting a bit closer to them for some better shots. If they continue to use the dens they dug out under the blowdown, it shouldn't be a problem. Of course the turkeys roost on the opposite ridge so at the very least a set up here with the camera will get me some good shots of them. That's all for this installment, if I come across anything else in my wanderings I'll post them up.

Just thought I'd share with you all a gift I recently received from a good buddy here on the site (Skillet). This was totaly unexpected and VERY much appreciated. Still hard for me to believe someone I've never met in person would send me something I've only recently learned I need more of in my life. ...and they're waterproof, so I can toss them in my pac and take them along on my outdoors adventures! Gonna be some good quality quiet time in the outdoors this winter as I sit behind the camera waiting on Gods little critters to show themselves for some pics! Thank you once again Skillet, I can't say it enough!

The silence that falls over the woods after a kill can be deafening sometimes if we don't fill it with a replacement. I'm not one to hoot and hollar out loud, although I always celebrate in my mind. Most times any more my post kill ritual is a silent celebration and a time of reflecting on the life I've taken giving thanks to the critter and his creator for putting us all in the same place. Guess I gotta admit, although I'm happy on the outside, I'm saddened on the inside. Truth is, the woods and wildlife in it have saved my own life personally from troubled times. When I go to them and take the life of one of the critters that live there every day even when I'm not around...well, that just makes me appreciate them a little more then some folks may.

Absolutely killer shots Dave! Good luck on your first hunt with her! Bet Hawkie can't wait to sink them talons into something warm, fuzzy, and rare!

Thanks guys....I suppose this is good resistance training with all the thorns that try to hold ya back in here. Spent the day hiking through some more pricker thickets and rescued 2 more horns from the rodents. #3 and #4 for the season was a match set oldie 7pt with the tines chewed off the right antler. Got to these guys just in time. I'm hoping the snow holds off for a few more days. Gotta few more areas like this I need to get back to. The 2'nd antler is straight back from the one in the foreground about 10yds towards the top of the pic. ...outta the brush

Hiking, shed hunting, photographing, observing.

Well, since ML season ended Tuesday, that meant to me that opening day of shed season began Wednesday! I start out looking for dead/unrecovered deer and also like to poke around areas I shed hunted last season, but never got to do a thorough search hoping to find a few antlers I may have missed. So Wednesday 12-21-11 I find my first antler of the new season. A little oldie 3pt along a browse edge in the creekbottom. 12-22-11 Headto higher ground and searched some blowdowns and briar thickets where the dead deer like to run and die. No deadheads in here, but I did find antler #2.., another oldie 2pt. The weather has been ideal for some early shedding hikes. It almost feels like spring out there now...well, except for not many freshies laying around out there yet. Near the end of my hike, I stumbled upon the first dead buck of the year. Unfortunately someone else had beat me to him and stole his hat before I could. Tomorrow we do it all over again. Good post season entertainment until some freshies start hitting the ground.

May want to go with a food plot set up this time of year. Tractor Supply sells "Throw and Grow Winter Ready Corn" Never had much luck with the plots, but the deer will devour the seed in no time flat,lol One serious thought- you have burst mode...use it! Don't sweat the blank pics and battery life you sacrifice if you really want to get the most from your cam.

I've never had a buck or doe officialy aged. Never had a buck scored. Never weighed any of my deer. What am I missing? Usually just guesstimate all the above and add 2yrs/10inches/or20lbs for internet shrinkage.

Congrats Dave- baby girls are precious! Glad everyones doing good!