Outdoorsman Thread

[djknife13]

Nice work Phil. ____Dave

[Doc B]

Well ol' Bambi decided to quit being nocturnal and ended up hangin' in the old oak tree this afternoon.
Doc B, there should be a few cookings of good fried venison on this one.
2020-02-18.jpg
Treefarmer

Congrats TF!!!

[jmh58]

Nice buck Philip!!! Congrats...

[Old Hunter]

Congratulations on the nice buck Phil! OH

[doglegg]

Philip, your persistence paid off. Congrats.

[treefarmer]

Thanks for the comments, fellers!
Adding a bit more to this tale, I'd seen this deer on camera several times earlier and one evening I believe I saw him chasing a doe back in the small patch of pines that are a mangled mess from the hurricane a year ago. I use to be able to control burn that area and you could see all the way to a canal on the south side of that 5 acre patch of planted pines. Not so any more, downed trees and an unchecked growth of Broom Sedge makes it almost impossible to spot a deer unless it is moving fast enough to be jumping the downed pines. All that to say I spotted a doe jumping over the downed pines and in a few minutes a buck came the same way, trailing the doe. When he got to a fence she had jumped, he trotted back and forth trying to figure out what direction she had gone into some very thick natural woods, kinda' like a hound figuring out a track. He never presented me a standing shot that afternoon.
Each week on Wednesdays I try to check the game cameras. We see him at night with both brow tines showing. Next he is in the same spot and following a doe on Valentine's Day at 7:30 in the morning and then I thought he was at a feeder the next night. But looking close, I realized this is a different buck with the opposite brow tine broken and only 3 points on the right side.
Here are a few of the pictures to support what I've been babbling about:

This is the deer I killed last Tuesday afternoon, here he is in the Rye grain food plot.

This is the doe he was trailing on Valentine's Day.

According to the time stamp he is close behind her.

At 1st I thought this was the same deer but his right side is different.

Tractor wouldn't start, too wet for the pickup truck so we pulled him and floated him behind the cart. Getting too old to pick these things anymore.

Hope y'all enjoyed lookin'.
Treefarmer

[garddogg56]

Very good TF.Nice one.

[treefarmer]

Look at what showed up this morning at our place:

We assign too much intelligence to some critters. Some one is sure to say, "They know when the season is over" blah, blah blah. During the rut they do all sorts of things that make them unpredictable but sooner or later they need to eat. The does eat in the green patch and also at the corn feeder. The buck is being "smart" (here we go again), he's likely to find the girls and a bite to eat in the same vicinity. Just being there at the right time makes it happen. Where he is in the picture is a bit far for me to be confident with my M/L.
Real rifle season was over Sunday afternoon and we have one week of primitive weapon season and the rut is still on. I hadn't messed with my M/L rifle in over a year, took a while to find all my junk, I had misplaced my powder measure so I go and buy another one and sure as shootin' within 15 minutes after I had opened the package, I found my old one! That all happened yesterday afternoon after my noon nap. I finally got my stuff together, measured a few vials of powder and went out to the shop porch and let one fly downrange to a milk jug about 85 yards away. I usually work on my rifles each year and make sure they are zeroed prior to the season. Well yesterday I wanted to go sit at the lease and the furthest shot would be no more than about the 85 yards. I figured if I could blow up a milk jug filled with water, I could bust ol' buck if he showed up.
So I drove over to the lease and had to negotiate a very slick clay logging road. We had over an inch of rain the day before. Parked my old Ford and got into the stand at about 4:30. Around 5:30 a big doe came to a corn pile in a middle between pine rows in the edge of the old clay pit. A few minutes later, another smaller deer joined the first one. All of a sudden the big doe takes off running away from the corn, then the smaller one does the same, no flags waving just getting out of the way. When the first one spooked, I wondered what had I done, then the second did the same, I figured something was about to happen. In a couple of minutes a little fork horn showed up, looking all around, staring at me, never would turn side ways so I shot at him and when the smoke cleared there was a white belly laying in the pine middle.
For the last 4 or 5 years I have loaded deer at the clay pit by dragging the deer to the top of the bank, backing the truck against the bank and simply pulling the deer into the bed of the truck. I had never had to do this maneuver when the pit was so wet. I was successful and got him home. But prior to loading the deer I had a little episode with the deer. I had called Miss Joy and told her I had got one and would be home after I got him loaded. She was suggesting I get some young feller to help with the task. I told her I've done it before, shouldn't be a problem.
My plan included dragging the deer for a ways as I went to get the truck. To make it easier I would grab him by an antler and drag him out as far as I could on the way to get the truck. So I grabbed on and took a big confident step and promptly fell to the ground or should I say, I fell to the clay. A vine had caught the other antler and when I pulled it threw me off balance, I landed on my right side and on top of my binoculars. My upper right chest is a bit sore still tonight.
Got him home, skinned and dressed him and he is still hanging in the oak tree inside of a fly bag, the weather is cooperating for a change. I'll have to quarter him and put him in a cooler in a day or so.
Here are a few pictures to support our little safari story:

Finally got home

Ready to raise him up

They went into the clay when I landed on them, good thing I left the rifle in the stand.

1st time I ever used this old #43 with the 1945-'55 stamp.

Enough hunting tales for tonight.
Treefarmer

[Quick Steel]

Very interesting details supported with photos. Enjoyed very much.Thanks.

[TripleF]

Knice harvest Philip!! Funny that you fell after telling Miss Joy you'd be fine, but truth was it was the vine that tripped you.

Glad you're ok.

[Steve Warden]

Thanks for sharing, treefarmer!
Glad the was no serious injury.

[treefarmer]

Thanks for the kind words, fellers!
I noticed I posted the wrong pattern number for the old Queen single blade folding hunter, it is a 44, not at 43.
Treefarmer

[djknife13]

Good for you Phil. Glad you are OK. Funny how these things sneak up on when we figure "Hey, I got this".____Dave

[Dinadan]

Great story, Treefarmer. Nice photo of the buck and the white beard, by the way.

[Unk]

Nice little buck, Phillip.

[TPK]

Two good stories there Philip! Congrats! If ya get a chance some time, show us that cart. Looks like it's a pretty cool toy! Do the dogs get to ride in that one with you sometimes?

[steve99f]

Snap these while walking around Bake Oven Knob, a spot on Blue Mountain and the local Appalachin Trail access. A little too cold that day to spend much time composing, mostly a hit and run.

About 1400 to 1500 ft elevation.

[Doc B]

Congrats, again, TF !!!

[doglegg]

Philip, you did good on both accounts.

Lovely pics Steve. Bet it was an impressive view.

[dlr110]

This is a picture from last night in Alaska during one of the few really clear nights. My brother took it from inside the lodge and then put the effects in it on the computer. It's not much of a picture to look at, but the point is how many of us that live in or around the cities get to see that many stars at night.

ENLARGE TO SEE FULL VIEW

[Doc B]

Beautiful picture David! I didn't really realize the Milky Way, was something you could actually see...until I got some property out of the city. I'm sure I don't see as many, as Alaska...but nothing beats a nice clear night, looking up at the stars, Milk Way, satellites and shooting stars!

[Steve Warden]

A shout out to Steve and David - great pics!

[dlr110]

Beautiful picture David! I didn't really realize the Milky Way, was something you could actually see...until I got some property out of the city. I'm sure I don't see as many, as Alaska...but nothing beats a nice clear night, looking up at the stars, Milk Way, satellites and shooting stars!

AMEN !!!!

[dlr110]

Okay folks, here is one that was very hard for me to watch, seeing that from childhood I have been deathly afraid of any snake. Once I couldn't sleep for a week onboard a navy ship, because someone found a snake that was with some equipment when it was brought aboard. The best snake is the one that is two counties over. Watch at your pleasure or displeasure as the case may be.
.
https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/02/28/dia ... der-house/

[Mumbleypeg]

No rattlesnakes here - at least none that I’ve ever seen. Plenty of copperheads and a few cottonmouths though. I don’t worry much about the ones I can see. It’s the ones I don’t that worry me.

Ken