Leap of Faith

There is nothing more graceful than a running deer.  Actually, they leap more than run and are capable of vaulting over obstacles up to 8 feet from a standing position.  With a running start, they are capable of soaring over fences as high as 10 to 12 feet; although 8-foot fences are generally an effective deterrence.  They are also capable of horizontal leaps (forward motion) spanning up to 30 feet.  Which is quite remarkable.  

When I uploaded this photo from a trail camera recently a couple of things occurred to me.  If a hunter was in the stand pictured would the deer run towards the hunter?  And would the hunter be able to get-off a shot and knock one down?  The animal furthest away is roughly 40 yards distant and hauling ass.

I have personally been witness to the unpredictability of the direction startled deer will move and as a general rule they do not run towards hunters; unless, the wind in in the hunter's favor.  If upwind it is possible a hunter will remain undetected; the deer will not smell or 'wind' him. 

Although in the image here a deer running head-on at the hunter (likely caught unaware) and and closing the distance rapidly it is a leap of faith and the deer has the advantage. 

For the hunter this is a low probability shot situation and also would be a leap of faith to take a shot with a high probability of wounding.

I would pass; and await for a broadside shot at an unsuspecting whitetail standing or strolling.    

You? 

Winter Hunter Returns

Beginning last month and through February this constellation can be found traversing the southern night sky.  

Orion - a familiar image situated on the celestial equator - is one of the most recognizable constellations in the night sky.  Finding Orion's Belt is the easiest way to locate the Orion Constellation. Orion's Belt is formed by three bright stars; Alnilam, Mintaka and Alnitak. 

Named for Orion 'The Hunter' of Greek mythology the constellation's brightest stars are blue-white Rigel and red Betelgeuse. The most noticeable part of Orion is Orion’s Belt – with the alignment of three stars sure to catch your eye.  Hanging from The Hunter’s belt is a sword identified as three fainter stars. The central star of the sword is actually not a star at all – it is the Great Orion Nebula.

In the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere this time of year Orion appears to be lying on his side – with the Belt stars pointing upward – when he rises in the eastern sky.

click on the image for a closer look

This photo was taken a couple weeks ago with my iPhone 14 Pro at midnight, from the porch, looking south.  The unusual brightness is the timing of the photo with the December Cold Full Moon.  A larger and brighter Super Moon.

As the story goes - Orion hunted along the river Eridanus along with his ever-present dogs – Canis Major and Canis Minor.  With his dogs Orion stalked various celestial animals including Lepus the rabbit, and Taurus the bull. In the mythology of the ancient Greeks Orion was in love with Merope - one of the Seven Sisters forming the constellation Pleiades.  Alas, Merope spurned Orion’s advances. Tragically, the heartbroken Orion met his end when he was stung by Scorpious the scorpion.

Nevertheless, the gods were kind and they consequently fixed Orion permanently in the heavens with his two dogs. The creatures he hunted were placed in the sky as constellations as well. With foresight the gods exiled Scorpius to the opposite side of the heavens so that Orion would forever be safe from harm. 

Visibility peaks this month and January.  Raising a toast to cold, clear skies and star gazing.   

Cheers!

Deer Camp

Including myself we hosted six hunters here for the gun deer opener and successfully added eight whitetails (four of each sex) to the camp meat poles.  For various reasons the number of  hunters has skinnied-down recently yet the kill count stays about the same.

 

Anyway, the trail cameras continued through the entirety of the ruckus and I thought it would be fun to share some photos of their comings and goings.

 

 

Including these of one of the guys heading out to his stand before sunrise who was tailed by a fox.

 

This weekend we're hosting my business partner, some of her family and anyone else that wants to join the fun for the December antlerless hunt.

  

Thirtieth Anniversary

This year’s Deer Camp is the 30th Anniversary Edition.  That’s not nearly as long as my neighbors multi-generational traditions but as a latecomer to big game hunting it’s fine by me.

Brandy from the land of my birth

Anyway, another tradition is the food. I’m going to overlook something I’m sure; but over four days I dined on something on the order of five varieties of sardines, two kinds of liver pate and two iterations of homemade smoked Hungarian sausage (old family recipe). 

 

Bobby’s homemade smoked Hungarian sausage

This was followed by venison chili dogs and Lawyer's gourmet venison bolognese.  

 

My infamous homemade navy bean soup built upon a foundation of Marchant’s smoked pork hocks.

Jägermeister. Ja!

Raw beef and onions on marble rye and a half a dozen kinds of cheese, sourdough bread, French baguettes and washed it down with adult beverages from the peninsula stretching all the way to Europe.  

The humble hard boiled egg is the perfect deer stand snack you can fit in the pocket of your parka.

Thanks guys for another hunt in the record books…..

Thirtieth Anniversary

 

Yes; 30 years of chasing deer.  Can you believe it?  The Deer Camp is celebrating a Thirtieth Anniversary.

Even the bear is getting in the game. 

The operative question is how does a person go about calculating the precise number of deer that have been killed and eaten  over those three decades? 

Patron Saint

In the Roman Catholic tradition of the Christian faith there is Saint Hubert.  Hubertus or Hubert was the first bishop of Liège in 708 AD. A patron of metalworkers, mathematicians and opticians he is considered the patron saint of hunters, archers and hunting dogs.

Born into nobility in 656 Hubert was raised in the Catholic faith yet was not particularly devout.  His interests were primarily mastery of those skills and weapons of the time that would benefit his interest in hunting and as a mounted soldier.  Moreover, as a member of the privileged class seeking other worldly pleasures.    

Hubert married a woman named Floribonne who tragically died after the birth of their son Floribert.  Hubert was grief-stricken, confused and so angry with God that he turned from the faith that his wife had sought to rekindle to focus on secular pursuits.  

His devotion was to the hunt and not to God. 

Prague

One day while hunting there appeared before Hubert a magnificent stag.  And as Hubert drew his bow for the kill there appeared between the animal's antlers a radiant glowing cross and a voice spoke to him:  Hubert, unless you turn to the Lord, and lead a holy life, you shall quickly go down to hell.

As a consequence, Hubert renounced all claim to titles and wealth, turning everything over to his younger brother including the custody of his son.  Hubert became a student under Lambert of Maastricht and was eventually ordained a priest.

Hubert evangelized the Ardennes Forest region - inspiring Christians and converting pagans.  His title became Apostle of the Ardennes.  Following Lambert's death Hubert was appointed bishop of Maastricht and later first bishop of Liège.  

Hubert died of natural causes in 727.  His legacy of hunting ethics and fair chase continues to this day in the rigorous and extensive hunter education courses of many European countries.

And if you look carefully, on every bottle of Jägermeister you will find this... 

Bushwhacking

Recent cool weather has been a welcome relief on multiple levels; including the chores list.

This is an odd-numbered year which means that several wildlife openings and the ancestral campsite receive a haircut.  Actually a close clipping with the Rhino mower hitched to the back of the tractor and connected to the Power Take Off (PTO).

At 540 RPM, sharp blades and with a five foot cutting deck you can take town brush (slowly) almost up to an inch in diameter. 

Yesterday I finished the larger of the meadows - a six acre one located on the northeast corner of the property that also sports a deer hunting tower - Clayton 2.0.  With a commanding view for hundreds of yards and a haircut no whitetail is gonna be able to sneak past a hunter with a straight-shooting deer rifle.

Anyway, it's done.  All the tall grass, emergent willow and dogwood have been brushed-out.  My casual observation is that there is an incredible amount of ash seedlings in the turf along with all sorta native wildflowers and grasses that have migrated more than a quarter mile to establish themselves.  A mowing won't hurt them.  Finally, over the last three clippings I've spared about twenty tamarack and oaks that have taken-up residence in the turf.  The oaks aren't as likely to survive the bunnies and deer unless I install a collar (tree tube) around them.  It's a low priority chore; time will tell.

In case you're wondering wildlife opening are important in that they create additional "edge habitat" important for a diverse collection off wildlife.  100% open isn't any better than 100% forest.  Variety is the key. 

Final result...

Panorama southeast

View north

Deer stand  

Volunteer swamp white oak 

 

 

You Are What You Eat

I recently made a run to Miesfeld's in Sheboygan to fetch the last batch of venison from the 2024 deer season.  It took a while for everything to be processed; yet it's completed. 

Garlic summer sausage, snack sticks, wieners and bacon.  Yes, there is such a thing as deer bacon.  

I had previously taken an additional batch of venison to Marchant's Meats in Sturgeon Bay to have brats and regular summer made.  Much faster turn-around.  And by the time you read this all but the shares belonging to a couple of hunters will have been distributed and likely found its way to a summer grilling session. 

In case you're wondering about the economics it works out like this:

Four deer skinned, cut and wrapped was $520; split six ways is $87 a hunter.  Everyone received a generous helping of steaks, chops and burger.  On top of that there was another generous selection of brats, wieners, snack sticks, summer sausage and bacon.  $560 total ($381 Miesfeld's and $179 Marchant's) split six ways is $93 a hunter.  All-in that comes to $180 a hunter.  And if you've been paying attention to the price of meat lately this is a decent deal; considering the overall yield.  (Note to self - take photos next time). 

I take payment by check or Zelle®.

Fun Fact:  Three additional deer were donated to the food pantry network of northeast Wisconsin thru DNR's deer donation program. 

Frozen Pheasant Hunt

Yesterday was a sunny, 17F day that by early afternoon appeared deceptively tropical.

Doggo had been following me around the house giving me the side eye and with only a couple days left to the pheasant season we gave it a try.

At least before my face froze and fingers went numb and confused.

Gusts up to 26 mph served-up a wind chill of 2F.

Ruby is seemingly oblivious….

Absolution

 

I scored this really cool Buddha at the family Christmas gift exchange last weekend.

It was only after taking this photo that there were a dozen and a half shot shells on the kitchen countertop after previously cleaning out a field jacket. 

Oops.  Buddhists abhor hunting.

Giving it some thought it occurred to me that Buddhists in medieval India, China and and Tibet, would have all hunted or fished. They would have had to in order to get by.  Hunting, fishing, agriculture are all practices that would cause suffering and death,

Buddha would understand….

Deer Camp

Comings and goings of various hunters during the November gun opener....

Starvation Averted

Picked-up four processed deer today and moved what felt like a bazillion pounds of steaks, roasts, backstraps, burger and scraps to the basement.

The auxiliary freezer is filled to the brim and two additional grocery bags of venison apportioned among the remaining two freezers.

Yikes!

 

Deer Camp

 From the newest deer stand there is moon over the swamp...

Deer Camp

From the newest deer stand - daylight in the swamp...

 

South Dakota Ringnecks

Got back home Monday late afternoon following a trip to South Dakota to chase pheasants with my new dog and nine of my buddies.  Most of the guys are long term hunting and fishing pals along with some new ones.

Here's a handful of photos from the festivities.

Drive west including an unplanned Minnesota blizzard.

 

Some photos from the field.

All the corn was off the fields so we exclusively hunted cattail sloughs, reed canary grass you could barely see over and other natural cover.  Ugh.

Add rain and wind and it was the toughest hunt in memory

A day's tally of dead birds.

Lounging around the house.

The Red Rocket (Ruby) is a natural.  She put-up her share of birds on her own and had several retrieves.  First trip out - I think she's a natural.

She shes got some aches and scrapes so if you're looking for a Pro Tip for a sore schnoz there is this... 

October Night Skies

In our part of the northern hemisphere the full moon appearance following the Harvest Moon is  generally known as the Hunter’s Moon.  Its appearance is typically in October - although it can also reveal itself in early November.  Last year it appeared on October 28. 

This full moon is also the third and largest of four consecutive super moons for 2024. It will appear about 6% larger and 16% brighter than a typical full moon.

Before European settlement Native Americans knew it as that time of year when people would hunt deer and other animals to lay-up stores of food for the winter. The Anishinaabe people knew it as the Falling Leaves Moon while the fall bird migration led the Cree to refer to it as the Migrating Moon  With the arrival of lower temperatures it has also been called the Ice Moon or Freezing Moon.  

The October full moon will be at its largest on October 17.  Nevertheless, If you are blessed with cold,clear viewing conditions it should appear full both tonight and tomorrow evening.

From October 2022 - Full Hunter Moon on the left, Jupiter on the right. 

Bonk!

Today was to be a soft opening before the South Dakota trip. 

After a year of training, five guys, sixteen birds and one dog at Woodfire Lodge in Brillion. Sure, it’s a canned hunt; but no better way to make all that hard work come together. 

Cancelled. 

Yesterday we spent an afternoon at the animal ER in Green Bay. 

The Red Rocket collided at full tilt with a steel fence post holding a bluebird box. 

Dog 1 - Nest box 0

Anyway, no broken bones. Close call with the right eye.  Sutures in the face. 

Any of you who’ve raised hunting dogs have been to this rodeo before.  This is one, tough working doggo. 

The debutante has to chill for ten days.  Stay-tuned for SD….

 

 

 

September Astronomy

 

Look who's back.

And just in time for hunting season.

Look for this distinctive constellation in the southern night sky....