wooly

Thanks guys! I enjoy this too much to make a job of it moog. It's easy to see past my screw ups and imperfections when there's nothing on the line. My editing style and knowledge are too basic, and I'd rather shoot with no added pressure or expectations. I'm always on the move stones unless I'm shooting deer at dusk. Most anything I find while hiking through preferred areas at specific times of year. I really don't have the patience to wait for critters to show up so I'm almost always active and look for them where I think they'll be. The only exception is once I find what I'm looking for sometimes I have a hard time walking away from it. I've gotten so wrapped up in taking pics that I looked up and couldn't remember where I was,lol Once I find what I'm after I just try to keep up with it... or at least one step ahead of it by predicting what it will do next. Ha- I also wouldn't be able to get away with that if I was on someones payroll! OSHA regs and all,lol....

Used to use one before I crawled into a blind and switched to a tripod rest. They wont do much good in there! Was a convenient and comfortable rest to balance the gun without it rolling off my knee cap all the time. Cuts down on a lot of unnecessary movement that's for sure.

Something about these things that gets me all kinds of excited! Went looking for a few today but couldn't find any. I like to move/handle them even if they're not any where near a road. Almost like taming a lion to me,lol

Been hearing reports of nesting snappers so I shot out to look for a few this evening. No luck with them, but I did find a couple green herons hunting frogs down in the crick. These things normally give me fits trying to get close enough to them. Today they acted like I was invisible! Must have been drunk on frog slime,lol

Unless it happens within the last 20 years.... history will soon be history. Instead, these meaningful and important dates to our country will be replaced with new ones... like the anniversary of when you could pee in whatever bathroom you choose.

Happy B-day CC! Now that you've made it "over the hill" you can coast the rest of the way down! Have a good one!

Technically he was only hopping along in these shots, but I got lucky and the poses are a bit deceiving! I wont tell no one if you guys don't,lol

Sweet- I'm not smart enough to argue with any of that,lol! Thanks for the help! Redtail it is!

Thanks again guys! I'll have to drop a few of these over on one of the photography sites I visit to see what they think. Those guys over there eat, sleep, breath, and shiite birds! I'm talking birds from the past.... modern day birds.., tropical birds.., pet birds.., birds of the future that scientists don't even have names for yet....,lol

Thanks guys! TF- I'm terrible at bird ID's. Hopefully someone else can answer that. I thought it was a red tail, but I think ALL hawks are red tails,lol

WTH- that dude looks guilty as they get! Probably too full to fly,lol I guess ducks are very tastey to raptors this time of year!

Sweet! Good thing no gators to help our coyotes along,lol Cool shots!

I took a walk down to the creek to get some shots of some wild flowers today. Hiking along when a momma wood duck and her kids went scurrying across the water. The babies made it safe to the creek bank and hid underneath. Momma however put on the "lame duck act" and began splashing around trying to lure me downstream with her. Out of nowhere from behind me this hawk came ripping past my head and nailed her right in the deepest section of the pool! I had my short lens on so I had to make a quick change before I could do anything. I could hear all kinds of splashing going on but now I couldn't see over a mound of creek rocks. When I finally got situated and peaked over the rise, I saw momma duck swim under the creek bank on the other side and this hawk swimming for the other shore! Momma took a solid hit and there were feathers floating everywhere. She curled up in a hole and didn't come back out while I was there. Not sure if she made it or not. Mr. Hawk didn't stick around long once he dried out from his high speed plunge! Very cool to see such an attack so close!

Hope this doesn't sound too selfish, but summer time is ME time! Most of my free time now will be spent in the woods solo. Moving blinds and stands around, exploring new areas, observing and photographing deer at the fields, general nature hikes and random photo shoots, drinking beer..., stuff like that,lol. Most anything I do now alone in the field will benefit myself and anyone who tags along with me this fall.(even though it may not appear that way on the surface) It's nice to have all the pressure of "hunting season" finally be lifted, and now it's time to just get out there and enjoy the activities and encounters I appreciate most for what they truly are..... relaxing, and just as rewarding as any hunt!

Found this juvenielle crow today trying to figure out how to put some air under his wings. They nest high in the tall pines every spring, but this is the first time I've ever come across one at ground level. Apparently he bailed from the nest just a little too soon as he wasn't accumulating many frequent flyer miles. He's not the most exciting critter to ever step in front of the lens, but shooting "black" subjects in bright light has always been a challenge for me. .... and here's a couple random filler pics to get my 10 shots in.

3 inches of rain would barely come up to my ankles.. Where's the danger in THAT,lol JK- be safe everybody in the flood zones. Might be a good night to catch some Zzzzz's on the air mattress!

It was a good day to hang out in the treetops to catch a breeze! Nice set of the "hot poser"! I was going to ask if you had some place special you stored all your images at,lol I found them! Great images and galleries throughout!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Elmo, I'm not surprised you found the chucks there. The real shocker is you found the last little patch of GRASS in NYC! They'll move on as soon as they mow that down!

I've seen strutter like that one time here localy many years ago before I started carrying a camera. A few weeks later I saw it in the same yard so I just passed it off as a domestic bird. Reminds me of these two from Hidden Valley.

Yep- I got that. Here's a link to his channel if you get bored later and looking for some interesting vids to browse. https://www.youtube.com/user/Paleoman52/featured

The guy (Ken Wallace) who keeps finding these rattlers in the park is a friend of mine. He's also an incredible flintnapper, shed hunter, and very knowledgeable guy about many things in nature. No surprise to me at least that this is his second rattler find in as many years here! He has a you tube channel that documents a lot of his time spent in the park and many of his encounters, along with some great knapping, and I believe some caching videos. I would love to have an opportunity to shoot one of those suckers with the camera just once!

Only 4 more months till deer season! What a relief it will be to finally hunt those STUPID animals again,lol

I wonder if we have a mutual friend.... I was talking to one guy who probably took a pop at one a little farther than he should have. Hit the damn bird and watched him bounce 10ft in the air 3x's like a basketball before landing in a blowdown. Three other birds gathered around to watch him die. When the guy crawled out of his blind, FOUR birds took to the air. The guy was pretty determined to find the one he hit with so much blood on the ground so he searched for well over an hour. He went back to the blind to collect his thoughts and got back on the trail of the bird he suspected he hit. A few hundred yards downhill, he discovered a bird laying on the ground out in the wide open timber. To him it looked like a nesting hen the way it was laying there so he held his fire on a follow up shot since he couldn't see it's head. When he got closer to the bird it picked it's head up and took to the air again straight through a set of posted signs he can't get access to the other side of. When the guy went to look where the bird was laying, he found spots of blood that proved indeed it was the same bird he shot almost 2 hours before. Poor guy was ready to give up hunting over it till I talked him out of it!

Ahhhhh..., now THAT explains the Genny Creme Ale in a recent thread! The new guns are cutting into the beer budget! Can you get an x-tra full turkey choke for that hand canon,lol