The beginning of August

Welcome August.
We saw our first buck in velvet close to home while having coffee in the morning. He was walking amongst several does who just stared at him as he walked through the neighbor's field and woods.

Something alarmed the gals and they took off to the west while the buck took off to the east. They look hazy because of the smoke and some fog.

I have 4 o'clocks blooming all over the place. Each year, I collect the seeds and then randomly drop them into different areas.

Some of them have grown to nearly 5 feet tall and others are being entwined with morning glories.

It's a mess in this spot, but I am enjoying the mess. I may chop it all down after a frost and see what comes up again next year.

Thankfully, Little Richard has been busy helping with the yard work. I put him in some spots that seemed to be growing faster than the rest of the yard and he did a nice job overnight.

Mornings are still the best to go look at things in the garden. The past few mornings are cool with fog and smoke.

The bees are really busy in the pumpkin plants I planted ... ahem, sort of ... by accident in front of the house.

Actually, having them so close is nice. I can see how the bees work the flowers and I can watch the funky pumpkins grow!

These pumpkins are a cross between some gnarly bumpy pumpkins I had last year and the original whitish-yellow pumpkins I had. So it will be interesting to see how large they get. 

I have several other pumpkins in another spot in the pasture that I fenced off. 

I have tossed pumpkins in for the mules to eat the past few years and it seems that they eat them and then stomp the seeds into the ground.

Here are some more flowers to enjoy. All of them taken early in the morning with dew drops on them.

I sure do love the morning glories!

 

Well I'll be durned!!!

Thanksgiving is generally the 3rd week of November right??? The third Thursday of November.

Deer Gun season always starts on the Saturday before. 

So I was talking to the grand daughter last night and she informed me that I was wrong! What? WHUT?

Well I looked it up and indeed, Thanksgiving is on the 28th. Duh. I was wrong wrong wrong. However, I did get all of my outdoor work done for the gun season I thought was starting this weekend. It isn't, so hurray for me. I got everything done a week ahead of time. That includes most of the ingredients for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Maybe I was having a Miss Merry Moment! 💖

Well, that actually made me very happy in so many ways! I have another 7 days of being able to go out to the woods and play! [Um, hike...I mean. Hike. Yeah.]

The trail cams have really been capturing a lot of very cool bucks doing some fun things right in front of the trail cam. I'm glad I turned on the option for short videos. It really helps me study what the deer are doing.

Two different large bucks are walking right up to a little branch in front of the camera and rubbing their faces on it. Later in the night there is a doe that stands under the branch and smells it intently. 

Does that mean that the bucks are leaving a scent on that branch as a message to the ladies? Maybe. I am no deer expert. So I looked it up. Bucks do rub their faces on branches to mark their territory. They also lick the branches to leave markers for the ladies.

Until I had a camera that could take some video, I had no idea. I knew the 'marked' territory, but I thought it was just like dogs and coyotes did. By peeing on things. In a buck's case, maybe peeing and scraping his antlers on trees. 

I learn something every day!

So this buck does exactly that .. and later on, a doe comes up to check it out! 20 second video.

I think this is the way the way a white tail buck leaves an email on his dating app!

Well. I'll be durned!

Have a neat weekend.

Oh Deer...it is that time of the year

The leaves are gone from the trees and the foliage in the woods has died back making the spotting of deer easier.

This doe was feeding under one of the apple trees on the other side of the driveway. She and three others walked alongside the fence and up the driveway to investigate what my neighbor's woods had to have for munchies.

The photo below is part of the reason why electric fencing is awesome and awful. During the rut, the deer just tear it down.

The hot wire will be removed as none of the mules bother the fence any longer. This hot wire kept our elderly mule from jumping the wire fence and crossing into the neighbor's land. It is disconnected like all of our valley fencing is right now. 

 Then there was this guy yesterday morning who was scanning the meadow as does were busy eating around the apple trees.

At first I couldn't figure out what I was seeing. I thought it was bare branches of a dead tree and with the long lens I was able to see this magnificent buck. No matter how much I dislike what deer are to cars and crop damage, ...

there is nothing like seeing a buck like this.

He was built like a beef bull. Thick in the neck and everywhere else.

Eventually the chase was on. I don't know if any of the girls were actually ready for him. But they ran across the meadow and disappeared into the woods below.

I went back out in the evening and sat in the little tree stand I'd made this summer. For a long time nothing happened until I saw these does at the apple tree.

This doe seemed to be enjoying the afternoon sunlight.

This one across the meadow walked along quietly browsing. I can generally see them walking this route late in the day.

As the sun went down some little ones came out into my meadow.

Then a little buck came through browsing and sniffing the air. He walked along as if he owned the world then dipped into the woods.

This is the time of the year where I get to enjoy the movements of the deer. There are a LOT of deer this year. 

I don't hunt for venison but I never turn down the meat if someone gives some to us. I like it. If I did hunt though, I imagine I could feed the two of us well. When Rich hunted, our freezer was always stocked.

Right now? I'm happy photographing them and watching. 

Wild Life

My husband's vision isn't supposed to be THIS good! However, he notices anything out of place anywhere he can see out a window.

"Hey, what is that?" he said to me. 
Earlier this year we had a Turkey Vulture sit on a tree right next to where this hawk is.

I ran over to the Oly camera that had the monster zoom on it and walked out on the porch. This hawk was probably 200-300 yards away. [I cannot tell distance, but hubby can!]

Count me tickled and happy!

I got some lucky shots for sure.

Here is another shot of a doe approaching our fence line from the neighbor's land to the east. That land encompasses over 400 acres of woods where I usually do a lot of my close to home hiking.

Did she see or smell me? I don't think so. She jumped the fence and moseyed on through our summer pasture.

These quiet mornings are pretty nice. AND...
I have to sit still and be quiet. Which is a good thing for me to learn, as I am not very good at it.

Here is a photo of a nice buck we spotted on our Trail Cam:

He is nice enough that hubby wishes he still hunted. For the meat and for the nice rack this guy has. I'm happy enough to catch glimpses of him on the camera.

I'd be tickled pink and all sorts of colors to get him in my viewfinder on the camera.

On our other trail camera we often get a lot of deer taking naps or doing cute things like this:

The spot above seems to be a gathering place for deer to settle in. 

It is pouring cats and dogs outside so it looks like this Saturday will be an indoor day. 

Perhaps I should get out the lego people and some dragons and see what happens in the Still Life Department!

Deer Stories

There was Homer, Jethro, and Zelda.

Oh but there were so many more, but those were the three out of about a dozen Sunday morning that caught my eye and the focus of my camera.

While sitting in a tiny blind in the dark and waiting for the deer to may---beee show up and maybe NOT show up can be boring.

However I listened to the birdsong and peeked out as the day went slowly from dark to dim, to sunrise. I heard and saw both Robins and Bluebirds along with the constant cry from the pack of Crows that live nearby. 

A rabbit slowly came out of the brush and nibbled on some plants not far from me. 

Slowly some young deer came out of the woods and entered the meadow. It was a surprise as I'd just looked and they were not there and...then they were.

Pretty quickly there were about 6 deer in the meadow. Some obviously still not yearlings and some does. A couple of young ones played chase and then settled in to nibble in the meadow.

They all turned when a spike buck walked out of the woods. He ignored them and walked over to the neighbor's fence line and jumped it to graze I suppose on the fallen apples.

Soon the another spike buck appeared. I've been seeing them with regularity so I named one Homer and one Jethro.

Homer thinks he is a real stud.

When he started chasing the girls around he did this....

So some gals watched and others just ran off.

Zelda said, NO Way!

Eventually Homer decided to follow.

All in the pursuit of love, right?

Monday morning was a bit of a dud, but I did get to watch a squirrel do some interesting things. We all know they bury nuts right? They do, but this guy did something different.

I know squirrels bury their nuts, but I didn't know that they hid them too!

Here he is burying his nut

and then covering it up with oak leaves.

Isn't nature just amazing?

Meanwhile in the Forest

My Moultrie camera has been on this tree and the one behind it for over two years now. I found the Highway and rest area for all types of creatures.

I get a ton of activity in 3 short months. Most of it isn't fascinating, but some of it is hilarious and some of it is curious.

This doe likes her photo taken or is infatuated with the click of the camera. Often she or someone just like her will walk up to the camera and stare at it.

I read a lot of articles in hunting magazines regarding how to place a camera. I had terrible luck in following their directions. However after a few years of experimenting it seems I found some great spots. And obviously the animals aren't bothered at all by the cameras.

This fawn had a great playtime with this camera I had low on a stump.

The racoon love to chew on the camera and try to move it around. Most are slightly curious it seems. I leave the cameras in one location all of the time and rarely move them.

The deer share the same trails as the racoon, the skunk, the 'possum, coyote, and bobcat. I should have saved a fun and curious shot where two fawns were following a lumbering racoon. Tsk, I didn't!

This seems to be a great spot for napping also. As well as family get togethers.

Predators also use these trails often.

Here there is a Bobcat and a coyote coming through a couple of hours apart.

Out of curiosity, I set up a camera that shows the driveway. It does a nice job of catching me going to get the mail. And at night I was surprised to see deer in the yard . 

Another time, there was a coyote that trotted towards the mule's fence and turned and ran. I assume because the mules came up and gave it the evil eye.

It will be interesting as winter moves in with snow and other weather what we will see.

I moved this camera back one more tree to catch more of the criss cross of trails and the log that so many deer like to nap near.

Shooting Deer.

I think sitting still is one of the hardest things I've ever done. It wasn't bad early inn the morning. I brought my mini thermos of fresh hot coffee and sat quietly sipping it while watching out the blind that my Kenosha friends had brought and placed near the apple tree that sits in the Merry Meadow.

Here was one of the views.

It doesn't look like much at all. But with a little bucket to sit on or the chair that Daryl left behind, it wasn't bad. The cold winds didn't get to me and I brought that nice hot coffee.

I mean, what else is a tripod really for? I did find out that using a tripod was pretty useless when trying to 'shoot' deer. They don't stand still.

I 'shot' this doe through the screen on the side of the blind along the mule's summer pasture.

The electric fence is disconnected along this section of the pasture, as this portion of the land is in 'rest' mode. Also since the fence separates us from the neighbor's land ... we never let our mules out there during gun season. I sometimes have my reservations about the type of people that the neighbor's brother lets out on that land to hunt. [It is just safe to say that not all of those who walk that land in those 9 days are conscientious hunters.]

Here is the morning Doe smelling the air. She did a lot of head bobbing.

Then she moved a bit and I got a few more shots of her before she moved on.

I either moved in the blind and she saw me or that gust of wind that came from behind the blind gave away my smell. Either way, she turned and flagged her tail as she ran off.

I considered the outing a success because I got to take some nice photos of this one doe. But the little wildlife bug hit me and I decided to go back for an hour in the evening.

However I needed to dress just a bit warmer.

I walked out slowly to the blind at 3PM. A doe jumped up from the thicket of Buckthorn and ran north.
Oh darn.

I sat in the blind and listened to the wind gusts above me. It blew harder on the top of the ridge and the Meadow was half way between the ridge top and the valley floor.

I'd swapped to my long lens a Tamaron 18 to 200mm lens. It wasn't as sharp and clear as the 85mm prime lens I'd used in the morning and poor light is not its friend. It is a lot slower to focus, however I thought I'd give it a go anyway. Perhaps I could get a 'closer' shot with it.
Of course in my mind I was mulling over that used Nikon lens I'd seen, the 70-300 lens.
Oh sigh.
Now that I was enjoying sitting still and watching wildlife, perhaps I could do with a 'longer' lens.

And then the cheapo in me said "Wait, see what you can do with what you have."

My friend had mentioned a teleconverter. Okay.
Sigh again.

I finally pulled out my mini notebook and started to write. Just words. Things that were on my mind and bothering me. The call from the nurse who said my MIL was being evaluated for Assisted Living, was she a danger to herself alone? MIL had refused to shower or bath for months. I'd notified them in August when the Guardian took over.
I write: "Sitting alone in the blind right now is more satisfying than fielding calls about my MIL or trying to get my husband to get out of bed and move his body. 

Note: Let him win at Backgammon. He gets upset if he doesn't."

I put the little notebook down and just let my mind wander and decide that being in the blind just a few hundred yards from the house was a good thing. I didn't have to sit and watch my husband lean towards the screen and watch endless hours of Netflix.

"My feet are a bit cold. Next time I need wool socks in my boots. My hands oddly are warm. Strange right? 1/2 hour to go until chore time."

Oh! A doe!

She picks her way around and around. I wonder if she can hear the soft snap snap of the camera.

She moves off.

4:25.
Time to pack up.

The light is fading fast and there isn't enough light to take a good photo now. I stand up and stretch only to come to a standstill.

A large buck is walking across the middle of the Meadow.

Oh .. Wow!

It would have been nice if he'd have followed the doe up to the apple tree so I could've gotten a good photo of him.

I watch him walk off. Then I walk up the little trail past the oak tree and then back down towards the little house.

Shooting Deer with the camera had been nice. Quiet time was nice.

And darkness falls into a cold November night.