What is the best way to get an old hunter excited? Show him trail cam photos of Big Big Bucks.
Suddenly he is leaning in close with his glasses on peering over your shoulder ooohhhhing and ahhhhhing and breathing heavy.
No worries, it is an old hunter thing. Seeing Big antlers is like seeing an old Muscle Car. It makes them breath fast and the memory clicks back to that age when they were young and indestructible.
"I need someone to get that old deer stand out back." He says out loud. "Look at that. You can put it up on the Hickory tree." His mind is clicking and whirring. I think I can actually hear it.
Those days of old. He was a marksman and a sure shot.
The buck above has 5 pts on his left side and 4 pts on the other, the antlers are mismatched and unique.
I have a lot of photos of deer in this spot. This would not be a spot I thought I would find a lot of deer traffic. In the last 4 days had about 300 shots of Spike bucks, does, and fawns walking through and pausing to pose for the camera.
This includes, a skunk, raccoon, squirrels, rabbits, 'possum, coyotes, turkeys, and a huge surprise....
....A Pileated Woodpecker!
I keep wishing this camera shot in color, but for whatever reason it doesn't any more.
This Moutrie camera was really worth it. I've had it up in the woods since 2016. It just keeps on clicking.
My goal? I'd love to have a 'trophy photo' of one of these guys. One from my camera in hand.
I don't dislike venison. Meat from deer hunting has always been an excellent addition to our freezer.
Meanwhile, I can enjoy seeing what happens in the forest when I am not around.
What I found terribly interesting is that the Moultrie records the pressure along with temp and time. I just noticed that the ones with the most activity has a pressure of 28.7ish inHg.
So...
something I did not know but have learned by watching is obvious to some. The barometric pressure does have an influence on the movement of deer.
If you already knew this, just say Duh and smile. I knew that deer move before weather fronts, I just never thought about it.
Nice Bucks! Yes they would excite a hunter! Interesting about the pressures. We have only does and fawns here the Buck is elusive!
ReplyDeleteThey are plentiful around here right now. I had photos of young deer doing a mock head butt last year. Critters are so interesting.
DeleteVery nice!! We don't have buck anywhere near that size crossing our property. Sadly, we have one active neighbor that will shoot anything that moves. Even the itty bitty one year olds. Grrr!!! He bends the law, and brags about "not being proud" {insert head exploding emoji} makes me want to vomit. Reality is, you can't fix stupid!!
ReplyDeleteNo doubt Rich has great memories of hunting. You too? If only we could turn back the hands of time, just long enough to feel the sweet parts.
Interesting about the barometric pressure. Makes sense.
At this point I enjoy photographing them more than hunting with a gun. I like to eat venison, but I love watching them too. Rich's last hunt provided us with a trophy buck. That was memorable as he'd just recovered from a summer of cancer treatment.
DeleteI have seen the 10 pt and 12 pt buck wander through a few times in the past 3 years, so I just get excited to see them on camera.
We've let hunters hunt our land twice and both times they were that same type of hunter you complain about. Shoot anything that moves.
Nice bucks! I don't mind deer meat but my favourite is elk. We have lots of deer on our property and the occasional moose and elk wander through. The latest intruder is a very large racoon.
ReplyDeleteWe have a bit of everything. Today a nice hunter stopped by to visit and brought my husband some wonderful venison. Since he knows we like venison, he will bring by some steaks and roasts. How nice of him to visit an old hunter and bring him so much cheer!
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