Antler Shedding

Looks like most of the bucks are still tenaciously hanging on to their antlers in my area. The small 8 pointer up in the mountain has loss one side but the 8 pointer and a couple of smaller bucks at the power line still have both sides. This week and next should see the majority of the bucks shed their antlers around here.

Day Break

Day break has always been one of my favorite time of the day. Not sure what triggered this sequence right at day break. I'm guessing another deer followed about the same path as the doe in the second and third pics and jumped the fence before the camera triggered. One of the big disadvantages of the Moultrie cameras is their slow trigger time.

 

Mountain Turkeys

Got some nice shots of one of the big Turkey flocks today. I actually got to see them driving up the road to check the camera. They had stayed in the area all day and had a large area scratched up looking for any left over acorns, seeds, or insects that might have ventured out of their winter hiding place during the warm weather. The first set of pics were taken a little after 7:30 this morning and then they were back at the camera around 2 o'clock this afternoon. Couple of pretty good size birds in the flock.

Snow Squall

I thought these were pretty neat pics a good size doe feeding through a brief snow squall. It's suppose to get in the mid 60's here the next couple of days so the snow is a distant memory :). 

Does

No big bucks or anything unusual on the cameras last week. Below is a group of does browsing through the small clearing in the mountain that I have my camera in. Some of the area old timers say that this area was once part of an old homestead and was a large garden years ago. There's a semi-circle of rocks that rings this area. These were picked off the garden to clear it for planting.

More Power Line Bucks

Got the big 8 pointer again on two different nights along with another pretty nice 8 pointer. They’re still pretty wary of the loud click this camera makes as you can see from the way they stare at it. I’ve tried different things to deaden and muffle the sound but nothing seems to help much.


Stephanie and Dustin of Antlers & Gills noted in an earlier post comment that they’re starting to shed hunt and the bucks would be shedding their antlers soon if they already haven’t. One thing I’ve noticed in my area is that many of the bucks keep their antlers longer than in other areas. I’ve gotten pics of some good size bucks in late February that hasn’t shed yet. Many people say their bucks usually shed in January and some cases as early as late December. That’s generally not the case in my area.

Five Things I Can’t Leave Home Without

Theresa aka TexWis Girl at The Run*A*Round Ranch tagged me to name five things I can’t leave home without. She was looking to get a guy point of view on this. I wasn’t sure when I first thought about this if I had five things I always take with me. But low and behold I actually do :).

1. Keys – While I’ve cut back on the number of keys on my key ring I still have too many. The newer auto keys are also waaay too big.

2. Wallet – Drivers license, plastic, lint, etc. It’s not like I actually have any money.

3. Pocket Knife – I’ve carried a knife since I was in elementary school. Luckily I went to elementary school back in the day when this was still considered normal.

4. Pocket Watch – I don’t wear jewelry and have carried a pocket watch for years. Really don’t need it since the addition of #5 but old habits die hard.

5. Cell Phone – I’m not much of a cell phone user but they’re handy for emergencies or for people that think they just have to talk to me immediately.

I was going to have clothes as the #1 but I figured that must be a given ;). LOL!! They do still frown upon running around naked in my part of Virginia.

More Mountain Bucks

Got these pics in the same location as the big 8 pointer I posted earlier. I’m betting this small 8 pointer is a brother or half brother to the big one going by how similar the racks are and the similar gray coloring on the muzzles. I’d guess there’s a year’s difference in their ages. Hopefully he’ll be getting up close to his big brothers size next year. The 3 pointer I’m not so sure about. Those are awfully long spikes to not have more than one little brow tine on them.

The Twilight Zone

For some reason these pics reminded me of the Twilight Zone. When I was first checking my memory card I thought wow these are kind of eerie. I think having the snow on the ground provided enough light to help illuminate the whole valley.