Snow Again

It's been a long winter and it's far from over.  We got about 5" of new snow last night with some more forecast for tonight.

We got down the driveway and then I came back with the tractor and plowed it. 

 I stopped by the water hydrant and searched for the meter pit.  When I shot the doe a couple weeks ago, I found the hose hydrant in the barn was not flowing any water (high 50's that day).  We think it's frozen and can't be sure whether the pipe is broken.

So, we've been shutting the water off in this meter pit until we're sure.  Makes it fun finding the pit again under the snow. 

The snow slid off the dining room roof and made this 3' pile. 

Icicles everywhere - some of them 4' long. 

After plowing the driveway, I went for a walk to check the cameras. 

It wasn't easy - the snow was easily a foot in most places.  I could have used some of those snow shoes that Tom Balough has been using up at Fort Drum. 

There weren't very many fresh track in the snow.  I think they've just stayed in bed. 

These are my tracks and it was hard work. 

I made the camera loop on foot and it was an aerobic workout. 

There were a couple spots where the deer had been digging down to find the few remaining green shoots. 

Only one buck on camera - this little forkhorn.  I was hoping to do a little shed antler hunting but the snow is too thick. 

The does were moving in between snow storms. 

This was the only shot on the camera at the turnip field. 

9F at 8:00am. 

There was a lot of traffic to the gut pile from the doe.  This is a fox in daylight.

There were many low quality photos of coyotes at night. 

Nice shot of a red fox. 

The snow did melt off for a short time a couple weeks ago. 

Looking winded. 

Lone cardinal visitor to the bird feeder.

Congrats Brady!

Our friend Chris and his 8 year old son, Brady, were out recently for a late season hunt (not at our farm).

Brady took a doe with his crossbow.  The next generation of hunters at work.  Well done Brady! 

We're in Chicago this weekend so no farm visit.  This is Eric's new garage.  It gets a stucco finish but that has to wait for a thaw. 

Our grandson Tommy is changing so much now. 

Here we are Face-timing with his cousin Lucy. 

We decided to head to the Field Museum for an outing. 

The boys hanging out. 

Tommy and the girls at the famous T- Rex named Sue. 

We spent extra time in the African antelope section studying anatomy.  May come in handy later this year.

Season Finale - Really This Time!

And I shot a doe.

Here I am on the way out to the stand.  It got up to almost 60F and the snow was melting off the fields.  The wind was from the south so I decided to hunt the barn stand. 

Poop of the week - a buck bomb in the field I was hunting.  After two months of snow and frigid temps, this was the first real nice night in weeks.  It was the second to last night of the season and I made my mind up not to worry about a buck.  Normally, I spend my time surrounded by does waiting for the buck to show up. I planned to watch the Super Bowl rather than hunt the last night of the season.

There was still some snow in the field but it was mostly clear. 

Six does came out well before sunset and gradually worked there way closer to me. I picked the largest one and took a shot when she was about 25 yards out. 

I got a nice pass-thru shot.  She was quartering a little toward me and the shot went in near the shoulder.  There was good blood on the arrow and a decent blood trail in the field.  It stopped after about 30 yards.  I just followed the prints into the tree-line but still didn't have any blood.  

It didn't take long.  I found her about 20 yards into the woods almost directly behind one of my trailcams on the field edge.  That's the exit wound. 

You can see the barn stand in the background to get an idea where she ended up. 

The trailcam caught me dragging her out to the field. 

It was nice to do the field-dressing while there was still some light left. 

I used my new knife that I got for Christmas - sharpest edge that I've ever used. 

By the time that I was done, it was getting dark.  The camera clock is an hour off. 

On the way back to the barn. 

Since it was so warm, I put some ice on her.  A cold front was coming thru over night with snow expected late in the day. 

Field dressed at 84 pounds - wonder how much she's lost since November.  Usually healthy adult does go about 100 to 120 field dressed on this property (in the Fall). Van is going to run the deer to the Amish processor for me on Monday.

This is my fancy new knife.  It must be good since it came with a hat. 

I left the gut pile in the field in front of the trailcam.

First visitor was a crow. 

Over night, the power went off from 3:30 to 8:00am.  I got up and fired the wood stove up again. 

My TC Encore is back from the factory and I reassembled the scope.  I had planned to sight it back in but it was pouring rain and 40F. 

The lifetime warranty worked perfectly.  TC (Smith and Wesson) covered freight both ways and replaced these parts free of charge. 

We lost a branch on this maple sometime in the last week. 

There is still ice in the pond and the snow depends on how much shade. 

At a break in the rain, I went for a walk and checked cameras.  Another example of the tree damage from the bucks.  There is about a 3" trunk on this tree and every year an new sprout gets rubbed to death. 

Some photos on the trailcams from last week.  This high camera isn't working out very well.  I relocated it. 

This was the only shot on it. 

 It was cold last week.

Poor quality photo but a field full of deer. 

No bucks on camera this week. 

At first I thought this was an owl pouncing.  On closer examination, it is an airborne deer fleeing the field.