First visit in awhile

Joan and I drove out to the farm on Saturday morning.  It had been 18 degrees over night and the frost was just burning off the ground as we arrived.  When we pulled in, I saw a big bodied deer run out of the field at the driveway stand and there were 4 deer in the pond field including the "high 8" buck.  It's pretty unusual to see that many deer out in broad daylight.  I'm guessing that they were hungry after the overnight freeze and they waited for the frost to melt before chowing down.

I checked the cameras and I've already posted the buck highlights in a previous post.  Here's a few other critters that showed up.

 This coyote passed by at 11:12pm.

And this appears to be another one tracking it 6 minutes later.

This turkey might be what the coyotes were actually looking for.

The usual selection of neigbors dogs and another coyote.

I hunted on Saturday evening.  I first did my laundry to insure that I was scent-free.  The burnt cinnamon scented candle that my wife lit in the cabin may have defeated that attempt.  Anyway, I went to the driveway stand and spotted 3 young bucks in the pond field as I walked out.  I got into stand and deer started pouring into the main field.  I had several does and two young bucks go by the driveway stand but I spied 16 total deer that evening.  The highlight was the "high 8" buck running around in the main field for almost an hour before dark.

It was just one of those special afternoons.  Sunny but almost no wind.  It had gotten above freezing while the sun was out but it was going to be quite cold overnight.  The deer seemed to want to get in the fields and eat before the clover froze again.  And then the full moon started to rise.

 It was a pretty neat night.

Chloe jumps up on the couch and climbs up to say hi to Rudy every time we come to the farm.  Rudy is the one mount that she can reach.  Joan always decorates for the season.

On Sunday morning it was 22 degrees and not a thing was moving.  The fields were covered with a heavy frost/freeze and I don't think the deer are interested until it melts.

I sighted in both muzzleloaders.  This is my old TC and I was using a new bullet.  Shooting from 100 yards witha 3x scope and the first shot was the low/left one.  I made an adjustment to the scope and then put two bullets almost thru the same hole in the 10 ring.  Good enough.

Here's my newer TC Encore with the Nikon 3x9 scope.  I'm trying powerbelts this year.  I started left and low and ended up center and high when I ran out of time.  Needs more work.

And a few "checking the camera" photos that I know my readership really treasures. The 42 degrees is a lie - it was cold.

Three Weeks of Camera Action

Joan and I went to Florida for Thanksgiving followed by a scuba diving trip in the Keys followed by my niece, Kristen, getting married in Islamorada.  As a result, nobody was at the farm for the peak of the rut and the one week Ohio gun season.  The cameras had a lot of activity on them and I had a hard time sorting it down to these 50 shots.

This is the "backward buck".  I'm afraid that he's no longer king of the hill.  He still has 11 points left but at least 3 points have been broken off.  I think that some young stud has been beating him up.

This is the "high 8".  Only right now, he's only seven - one brow tine is missing.  The buck that I shot earlier in archery season (and never recovered) had to be related to this guy.  He had a similiar rack, not quite so big, and smaller but intact brow tines. This big guy was in the main field before sundown yesterday.

You'll notice that the next 15 pictures or so were all taken in daylight.  It's very unusual to have this much daylight buck activity.  These fight shots indicate that the rut was in process.

Notice the antlers on the left edge of the frame.

 This is the "mutant buck".  His left antler doesn't match his right - it's just a 2 point fork.  I've seen alot of this buck this year.

The mutant again.

The mutant once again.

Only a minute later but a different buck.

The high 8 (but really a 7 now).

The mutant.

Compact hat on this guy.  But a nice 10 point.

Lost the fight.

Some of the ladies that all these guys have been fighting over.


Many more photos to choose from - I figured that this was enough.