Living the Good Life

The only thing my Labs like more than water is snow.

What with all of the white stuff on the ground they've been having a ball.  After the guys left deer camp they were able to resume something of a normal routine - with a daily romp.  Not ranging too far as there still is deer hunting to be enjoyed every day - but enough to tear it up in the snow.

As far as they're concerned life is good.

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And I have crushed dogs dozing in front of the fire every evening...

What's Happening at the Active Scrape?

By all accounts recorded by the camera not much.

A flock of turkeys, some deer hunters and the last pic of this buck taken more than a week ago.

I wonder if someone killed it?

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The White Stuff

Winter is officially here - the guy that plows the driveway made his first visit this week.

That overnight storm raised a wee bit of mischief with the trail cameras.  Three of the four were covered in an icy glaze.

One of them I had some trouble locating because it blended in so well with the snow-covered tree.

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They're all operational now and patiently keeping watch.

Peninsula Sunset

Thanksgiving day sunset from my deer stand...

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Happy Thanksgiving

I've got a great deal to be thankful for.  Things like my family, my friends, the satisfaction of the day job and the great outdoors.

The gang here at The Platz extends their best wishes to you on this Thanksgiving holiday.  Gobble, gobble gobble...

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Woods Wipe

I always ask the guys coming to deer camp to bring some toilet paper.  This maintains the domestic tranquility when The Frau inquires as to where the big bale of double rolls disappear by means of my defecating pals.

They've all returned home today and I found a couple of rolls of this:

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Blaze orange ass-wipe.  The labeling tells me this is for The Poo-Fessional Hunter for When It's Time to Unload.  It's Leafy Soft just Stop Drop and Unroll.

It appears it's available online in either stylish transition cammo or blaze orange.

Get Ready, Get Set...

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Wisconsin's gun deer season opens tomorrow morning.  Been busy prepping for the arrival of the guys today and the frenzy that is to follow...

Making the Rounds

Making the rounds of the trail camera circuit.

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Camera Operational

For the longest time this camera wasn't operational.  The problem was diagnosed as bad SD cards.

Fresh card - fresh pictures.

I even threw a rotten pumpkin in front of the camera to see if it would attract anything...

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Cold and Wet

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Cold, wet hunter returning home empty handed.

The Running of the Bulls

The only thing the girls like more than trail running is running with the ATV.  I take that back.  If there is standing water all over the place with flooded trails and mud and the ATV they like that more.  Throw a fallen branch into the mix and you have Labrador retriever heaven.

If it's a long enough branch or stick they'll both latch onto it and run in tandem - like a harnessed team of draft animals.

Mostly it's just chaotic - The Running of the Bulls...







And a treat to follow...

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Where's Waldo?

Waldo the whitetail that is.

As the days grow shorter deer grow a winter coat that consists of coarser guard hairs for added insulation when the snows arrive with the colder temperatures.  The coloration also changes from the reddish coat of summer to the dull gray-brown that is now common.

In the picture below is an adult male whitetail and he's blending-in perfectly with the fall foliage - his camouflage doing a remarkable job of concealment.

With the exception of his little forked antlers giving away his location.

Smokey Joe had a close encounter with this animal last weekend just missing an opportunity to take him with a bow.

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Gemini Deer

Gemini (♊) - or twin - the third astrological sign of the Zodiac has absolutely nothing to do with whitetail deer roaming my woods.

Twin fawns - no spots - still smallish but on their way to becoming fully grown....

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Trail Camera Photography Tip

My pal Smokey Joe is a technology guy so I asked him about a vexing issue I was experiencing.

Seems as I was making the rounds of the four trail cameras swapping out SD cards I noticed that periodically a camera would flash an alert NO SD CARD.  And I would have just installed a freshly erased and formatted SD card.

Or I would return home and place an SD card in a card reader and there would be nothing on it.  In fact the card reader would indicate there wasn't even a card in the clot.  Nothing!
 
A wholly frustrating experience that was slow to arrive and increasingly problematic.

So I asked Smokey - Is it possible for an SD care to wear out?  I've been experiencing issues where the cameras are indicating there isn't an SD card installed when in-fact there is one and sometimes the card reader tells me there's nothing in the reader.  What gives?

After explaining my routine of downloading any decent pictures, wiping the disk and formatting it Smokey Joe tells me - Yup.  SD cards do wear-out.  You shouldn't format the disks.  It will degrade them and shorten their useful life. 

Go figure.  The failed disks have been discarded and four more replacement disks introduced to the line-up.  

Good think they've come down in price.

Learn more about this here.

What's Happening on the Active Scrape?

Locating the trail camera over an active scrape has produced any number of deer pictures. A Couple of days ago I sweetened the deal by sprinkling some Doe In Rut deer urine nearby.

Smelly stuff.  Blech!

Will be checking it at the end of the week to see who's been visiting.

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Hunter Selfies

Last Sunday the girls and I made the rounds of the trail cameras and swapped-out the old SD cards with brand-new SD cards.  More about that later this week.

All I have to say iis it is wet, wet, wet.  Standing water everywhere.  Trail flooded, creek running full bore, mud season done come early this year.

Back at the ranch I downloaded photos from the working SD cards and behold - some selfies of some very wet bow hunters last weekend.

In descending order:  Smokey Joe, Braumeister (outfitted in a ghillie suit) and me...

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Elusive Buck

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The buck in the picture above was observed on a couple of occasions last weekend by both Braumeister and me.

A big eight pointer he's been frequently the area where an active scrape is located and rutting his stuff.

Brau observed him thrashing some trees with his antlers and generally acting life he was full of himself.  And I was lurking in a ground blind when I heard a grunt from my left.  Followed by another grunt.  Peeking thru a crack in the window I observed him doing the same thing.  So taking my grunt tube I grunted back.  I mentally willed him to step into the main trail within range of my bow.

Nothing doing.  Braumeister had the same experience a day earlier.

A totally elusive buck.  Nice one too...

Tools of the Trade

Deer hunter's tools of the trade.

Camouflage for concealment.  An estrus bleat call.  And a death-dealing crossbow...

The Rut - Part 3

From the trail camera situated over an active scrape are these photos.

A nice looking buck.  And some nice looking Labrador retrievers...

 

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Hunter's Helper

When out seeking deer this time of year the skilled hunter takes great pains to be scent free.  Showers  are taken with scent-free soap, clothing is laundered in scent-free detergeant.  Deer pee is used as an attractant.

I figure if a guy is going to drink beer it doesn't hurt to drink Doe In Heat lager from O'so Brewing company...

Learn more about O'so Brewery here.

The Rut - Part 2

From the trail camera that was located over an active scrape.

Some photos of Doe and a buck.  Look carefully at the first photo.  How many antlerless deer can you count?

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Day's End

Another crappy peninsula sunset...

 

The Rut - Part1

A week and a half ago the girls found an active scrape on the north end of the property.  It was conveniently located under a licking branch and alongside a wide, mowed trail.

What I did was relocate one of the trail cameras so that it was situated right over the scrape.  Hopeful that nobody would be spooked by the camera I kept my fingers crossed for pictures of whoever was visiting.

Here's the first batch of pictures.  On October 25th at spike buck and a doe...

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Got Mice?

One of the things about living in the country is all of the wildlife.  Hawks, deer, porcupine, cranes and so-forth.  Even rodents.

Take this mouse for instance.  

I was checking the fill gauge on the propane tank yesterday and found this little guy had moved and and started to build a winter nest under the domed cover.

I left him be but I did warn him that the propane delivery guy might not be as forgiving and that he might want to move to a winter residence that was more secure.  Like the Frau's potting shed...

Mr. Buck Strolls Through

A series of three photos taken of a buck strolling past a recently repositioned trail camera....

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A Nice Daily Routine

I scored a quality weekend with my girls.

I've been out several times bow hunting.  Seeing deer (always a good sign) but no shots taken yet.

In the intervening hours the girls have been getting some hunting in too.  Not a bad time to do some scouting as well.  

Found some active scrapes and plenty of rubs by doing so - and a good place to erect a ground blind.

It's a nice routine we got going...

Swamp Gas

Lest you not believe in the existence of swamp gas - it does exist.

It has a tendency to accumulate at the sun sets and the air grows colder.  Warmer and moisture-laden air condenses and forms a fog.

Swamp gas...