Bobcat Delivery Service

 Chris and some of the Garden Path crew kindly agreed to deliver the new Bobcat to the farm while I'm out of town.

Rick, Chris and Rob.  I told them that they are welcome to take the Ranger for a tour while they're there.  

 Brad in the middle this time.  I kind of knew what they might run into.

 And these guys aren't going to just turn around when they encounter a few obstacles.

 So, in addition to an act of kindness delivering my new machine, I also got my trails cleared.

 These guys are good.  Thanks Chris, Brad, Rob and Rick.

I've been having another issue with the breech open interlock on my Encore.  I decided to try a new breech plug.  They kindly sent me one but, of course, it was the wrong one.  Going to try again.

Unbelieveable - Look What She Did Now!

 I just got home from the gym, was having a cup of coffee, and Joan said I had to come outside to meet with Chris - our friend and landscaper.  Look what he had in tow.

 It has enclosed cab, heat, a/c, bucket, forks and leaf spring suspension on the track drive.

 I got to take it for a spin in the road.  Here I am getting instructions thru the window from the Bobcat guy.

It is really too cool.  I'm not sure what kind of trouble I can get into with this but I'm sure I'll find out.  I'll try not to disturb the muzzleloader hunters - that weekend will be my first chance to play.  Chris is going to deliver it to the farm this week.  Two weeks to think about it before I can do any real damage.  Thanks honey!

On a separate note, somebody just told me about this blog.  Looks interesting Blue Jay Barrens

I hope that your Christmas is as merry as mine!

Gun Week Adventures - Part 2

 This post is picking up where the last one left off.  It contains some blood and guts so you might want to skip it if you're not inclined.

This photo is of another foggy/rainy day which it seems like we had all week.

 When I dropped my buck at the taxidermist, this mount was drying (almost finished).  It is the buck taken at my farm last year by Leo.

Joan and I have been discussing whether we need a playhouse at the farm for the grandkids.  We stopped by the local Amish store and saw this one.  I think this is about what Joan had in mind.

 Here's a more unisex version that might fit in with farm décor.  Anyway, it's under consideration.

 I decided to cape out my buck myself so this is the start of the process.

 I "tubed" it out down to the neck joint at the skull.

 I once dropped a buck on the concrete and broke one of the antler tines.  I wanted to avoid that this time.

 So I strung up the rack to the tractor.

 Then I went about separating at the joint.

 And, presto, it worked just fine.

 Then I turned the carcass around and finished the skinning.

 I wrapped it in cheesecloth and loaded it up for the run over to the Amish processor.

 I've used this transportation method before.  Not quite as easy as a pickup truck but definitely workable.  I had hoped to get a doe right away (to make one trip to the processor).  But they went into hiding when they knew I was looking for them

A couple nights later I went ahead and took one.  This was a good shot (with my old muzzleloader) that dropped her where she stood.

 It was an easy field recovery with the tractor bucket.  I hung her up and did the field dressing vertically.  My friend Bob showed me this method in Texas.

 No fuss, no muss.  Done quickly.  All the guts in the bucket.

 This was a medium sized doe.  We've seen them as small as 50 pounds and as large as 130 (field dressed).

 I ran her over to the Amish processor and his driveway was almost washed out because the creek was running so high.  He's got his buggies all stored under roof.

Unfortunately, I left the gut bucket outside the barn door overnight.  When Dave went out to hunt in the morning, he found it this way.  I assume that it was coyotes or dogs.  I got the mess cleaned up and deposited out in the woods.  If I get time, I'm going to check the security cameras to see if I can see the culprit.

In order to try to drive something out for Dave to shoot, I went for a walk on Sunday morning.  There was absolutely no evidence of the gut pile where I field dressed the buck on Wednesday morning.  Either the coyotes where efficient or the creek ran a lot harder during all the rain. 

There was lots of good buck sign.  Dave ended up not getting a shot at a buck - he'll be back for blackpowder season and I understand some of the Florida contingent is coming up.  I'll be looking forward to it.

Gun Week Adventures - Part 1

 Here's the teaser shot - I did have some success.  But, as always, I had drama and misadventures.

 We had a new addition in deer camp this year.  This is Tommy (T3) - my grandson.

 Eric, Jeni and Tommy stayed over after Thanksgiving to participate in a couple days of gun season.  Tommy can be rather adventurous.

 I guess he was interested in the Christmas tree.

He got the hang of deer camp - eating, drinking and frolicking.

 Working on some new teeth so he has a bit of the slobber going on.

 Anyway, on opening morning Eric went to the barn stand with both a camera and a gun.  He just took pictures because there were no deer.

 I went to the main hi-rise because there was finally evidence of deer using the turnips.  They've been munching the bulbs.

I had 3 does come in but I was waiting for a buck. Dave hunted the pond stand and didn't see much.

 For the evening hunt, I went to the driveway stand.  We had some rain/sleet going on during power hour.  That's us right under the intersection of the green, blue and pink.

Eric went to the pond stand and took the camera.  This is zoomed out.

 This is zoomed in.

Dave went to the valley due to high winds but he didn't see anything.

 Eric had several groups of does come thru the field.

 Eventually they started to accumulate.

He had 6 does out there at one point and his phone battery died.  He started to lose light.  That's when the large buck stepped out - but it only had one antler.  He wasn't sure what to do and couldn't get any advice due to the dead phone - so he passed.  It was the frequent visitor - the mutant buck.

Tuesday morning was uneventful other than frozen steps to the stands.  Eric and I bumped a doe on the walk in.  Eric and family left Tuesday mid day for the drive to Chicago.  This photo is the walk to the stand on Tuesday afternoon. The fog came in.

At 4:43, I decided to take a few pictures to show how bad the fog was.  This is toward the orchard and the barn from the main field hi-rise.

Then I turned the other way toward the driveway and took this shot. That's when I noticed the buck in the turnips.

He was there in the photo.  This is it blown up with him circled.  At first I could only see one rack and thought that it was the mutant. They I saw the second antler and decided to take the shot.  I got the scope up and had trouble finding him in all the gray fog.

 This is the same view taken the next morning.  There's a patch of green oats in the turnips and he was standing just past that patch.  Turned out to be 115 yards.  I thought I made a good shot.  He turned and ran but looked hurt.  He disappeared into the fog.  I reloaded, got down and used the last 30 minutes of light to look for blood - none.  Dave and I went out after dark with the Ranger and lights - nothing.  We decided to wait till morning (39 degrees).

 I went out to that stand Wednesday morning and when it got light, I went looking for sign.  I didn't find any in the field.  I walked bigger and bigger circles in the field.  Nothing.  I crossed the driveway and went into the tree line by the driveway stand.  I walked the edge all the way up to the front gate. I walked back a little deeper in the woods.  I found this directly behind the driveway stand.  I tracked the blood deeper in the woods and found where he bedded.  I followed the trail to the edge of the hill and looked over.  100 yards downhill thru the trees I saw a whitetail stand up and move 30 yards.  I couldn't see it clearly and it stopped behind trees. Only the hind end showed behind the trees and I was sure it had to be the buck even though I couldn't see the head.  I was afraid of it taking off running so I took a shot at it to break it down.  It went about 10 yards and went down.  I reloaded and then went down the slope to find him in a creek bed unable to get up.  I finished him from 30 yards.

 This was him where he dropped in the creek bottom.  Dave got a Ranger and came out to meet me.

 We field dressed him, took a few photos and then started the long uphill drag to the Ranger.

 Whew, finally made it.  So glad to have Dave to help.

 We got him hung up, cleaned out and did the inspection.  It's all still a bit of a mystery.  If you're squeamish, you might want to skip the rest of this paragraph.  He had bullet holes thru both hind legs in meat above the knees.  He had a broken leg and glancing shot in the front of one of the same legs.  And he had the finishing shot entering chest cavity high near spine.  The best theory is that the shot the night before went thru the back of both legs.  That's an incredibly bad shot but it is consistent with him leaving on 4 legs.  The meat wounds also wouldn't leave blood initially.  The broken bone and front of leg damage is probably the shot I took offhand, downhill, thru the woods at his back half.  It did break him down so he couldn't flee.  The only good shot was the finishing shot. I am not proud of the marksmanship or the overnight distress that he experienced.

He is a very nice buck with a 22" spread and a typical 8 point rack. He weighed in at 149 pounds field dressed.

Dave is a good hunting buddy and he refrained from ridiculing me for the poor shot. Maybe it was the fog?  Or maybe I just yanked it somehow.

He has nice tine length and main beam mass.  A couple of small stickers near the bases.

 Photo op.

A few shots to get a really good look at him.

 Here I am going to a mid-day hunt in the ladder stand.  No luck.

 On Wednesday evening, I took the camera to the barn stand while hunting for a doe.  I caught this owl landing on a pine branch about 100 yards from my stand.  I had no luck on the doe and Dave didn't have any success in the main field.  The black lab chasing deer didn't help.

 Thursday morning was a heavy frost.  I went to the pond stand looking for a doe.  Only wanted to make one trip to the processor.

As the sun came up, the frost became fog. Not much moving.

I did end up with 18 turkeys in the field - none of them had beards.  I will continue in another post with the rest of the week activities.