The Trouble With Dogs

The thing about having a couple of Labs in the household is there's never a dull moment.

They're always getting into something or creating mischief or mayhem.

Take today for instance.

We went out for our mid-morning walk to get some fresh air and exercise and fetch the SD Cards from the trail cameras. 

Sister decided she wanted to investigate one of the rock piles on the return leg.  She's never done this before and before I could call her off she was on the pile and poking about.  The thing about the rock piles is they're not only rocks but an accumulation of junk.  Back in the old days everyone tossed their junk on the nearest rock pile.  The Frau has a nice collection of antique bottles she excavated from the rock piles just like an archaeologist might find.  But mostly it's barbed wire, broken tools, rusty cans and busted glass.

The blonde dog promptly sliced her paw.  And there was blood everywhere.  On the trail, in the garage, the back hall, the kitchen and the car.  I got her taped-up sufficiently for the ride to the vet where she was treated.

Antibiotics and a daily change of the dressing for the next couple of weeks... 

Counting Crows

It's the return of the science experiment.

Who eats a deer carcass in the woods?

I took the remains of a couple of whitetails (bones and hide) and dumped them on the trail in front of one of the trail cameras.  The point of this is to scientifically chronicle who eats carrion in the woods.

So far - crows.

And lots of them...

Squirrel Attacks Lab

A pal of mine emailed me these pictures.  Since they're from the Internet they must be true. 

A Labrador retriever has baby squirrel pinned down... and Mother sees it from above.

Mom swings into action and attacks.

Dog gets it from Mom and baby gets away.

Mother consoles baby and the look at the dog's face is priceless...

German Engineering

It slices, dices, chops and peels.

Check this out...

Happy Thanksgiving

No, I have not vanished.  I've just been incredibly busy.  Like today.  Making Thanksgiving dinner and grinding venison trimmings for the freezer.

The Frau, her sister and Brother-in-law hung lights on the gutters for Christmas.

Almost 70 degrees on Thanksgiving.  Amazing!

The lights look pretty nice...

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Busiest Day Yet

Following the mowing, the erection and removal of a blind, the dogs, the replacement of the camera, the swapping-out of memory cards, more of the dogs and me.

You'd think the stink of our meddling ways would have chased all the deer away by now.

Not so.

The 1st of November was the busiest day yet.

Check-out this array of deer activity stretched over the span of a day.  From dawn to dusk...

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The Elusive Buck

Been out wih my bow and haven't seen any antlers within shooting distance.

If this fellah stumbles my way he might just end-up as dinner.

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Not the best pictures in the world - and certainly way after shooting time.

The bucks have gone nocturnal.

Probably a sign the corn piles on the neighboring properties have come out.

Deer aren't stupid.  If you can bed-down and feast on cracked corn bait after legal shooting hours it doesn't get any better than that.  I can only hope that someones libido trips them-up.

October 27th has been a busy day for deer traffic...

The Elusive Doe Returns?

Unless they have antlers or some other identifying characteristics I cannot tell one deer from the next.

So maybe this deer is the same deer from earlier in the day?

Hard to say.  Based upon patterns probably a good chance.

Notice how she's giving that rub a big, ol' sniff.

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The buck's calling car you know...

The Elusive Doe

A nice series of photos of a doe passing through the morning after I departed this hunting spot the evening before.

Should have gotten up before dawn, eh....

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Taking The Hunt To The Action

And action there has been (when you see the next round of pictures)

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Bagged the blind and have decided to hunt from the shelter of a lone spruce tree.  I can hide from the wind (sort-of), draw my bow basically unseen and shoot through the branches.

This was a good afternoon hunt.  Not too cold.  Flocks of sandhill cranes flying low overhead.  Chickadees keeping-up a constant chicka-dee-dee-dee.

As you can see I have run out of daylight.

Renewable Energy

A dump truck load of firewood arrived the other day. 

Split, seasoned hardwood ready for stacking.  Fuel for the high efficiency, EPA-certified, low emission, sealed wood-burning system.  Our primary heat source during the heating season.

Sure, there's also a high efficiency heat pump backed-up by a high-efficiency furnace.  But firewood keeps the propane usage under control.  While not free - firewood is exceedingly cheaper than propane.

It also happens to be the original source of sustainable energy.  People have been warming themselves at the fire for as long as, well, someone tamed the use of fire.

Please Move the Deer Crossing

Yes.

This really happened.

I am not making this up.  Listen to this caller...
 

The Hunter Returns

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First Snow

Snowed last night.

Just a dusting.  And it sure is pretty...

Taking The Hunt To The Action

A few days later more action at the location now gaining a reputation for being the whitetail equivalent of Grand Central Station.

This doe materializes from the left of the camera (south)

And is joined by another doe

And their suitor

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That's a good sign to see bucks chasing does.

Apparently the blind and all of the extracurricular activity on my part hasn't scared the deer away.

Taking The Hunt To The Action

And action there is for sure.

The day following all of the mowing, the placement of a new camera, the siting of a ground blind, the dogs running all-around, topped by me leaving my human scent all over the place - we had this...

A deer materializes

Moves-off into the meadow and is followed by two more deer

Who separate

And are followed by a young buck who isn't at all shy about the camera

And they continue on their way

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That's a nice series of shots taken of four different deer.

Taking The Hunt To The Action

It wasn't long before Mr. Buck emerged from the thicket to visit his rub.  Or add his calling card to the male deer bulletin board. 

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And all of this within hours of all the commotion of me, dogs, tractor and so-forth.

It's all probably an aberration.

Or is it?

Taking The Hunt To The Action

There appears to be plenty of deer hanging around where the trail camera got trashed.

No wonder.

On the birch tree immediately in the foreground (with Girlfriend in the background) is a fresh rub. 

A male whitetail's calling card.

So I not only moved a fresh, working camera to this site, I also set-up a ground blind behind a big white spruce but within bow shot of the trail leading out of the thicket to the right and to the big, open meadow.

I also ordered two more replacement trail cameras - which arrived within a couple of days.

Bothered by all of the tall grass and weeds that could interfere with the flight of an arrow I returned with the tractor and mowed some shooting lanes.

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I took a chance on this.  A camera.  A ground blind.  Dogs.  Mowing.  Lots of human activity.

I've probably scared all the deer away by messing with their turf.