Red Fox

Got this beautiful Red Fox on camera two days in a row. I have a tree stand to the east of this camera trap and saw this fox regularly during hunting season. Usually only saw it at dusk or dawn.

Snow Storm

Finally got out to check my cameras after the big snow storm a couple of weeks ago and I got some good pics. I'll start out with some from the storm.

It started snowing the afternoon of 1/22. By dusk we had around 6" on the ground and there was a lot of deer movement.

That night the storm really raged as you can see from the pics. Deer movement continued until around midnight and then I didn't get any deer pics here until two days later. During bad storms like this one the deer will move into the dense cedar thickets and hold up. By morning we had around 18" of snow on the ground. By the afternoon of the 23rd we had around 22" total for the storm.

Sunshine finally on the 24th. Snow falling from the trees triggered the camera. I got some nice shots of a beautiful red fox I'll post later.

Sun Shine At Last

We lucked out and only got 22". Lot of folks further north in the valley got over 30". Hopefully we got some good trailcam pics during the storm. Be at least next weekend before I can check the cameras.

Snow Bulls Eye

Looks like I'm pretty much in the middle of the bulls eye. Got plenty of food, drinks, and firewood. All the snow removal equipment is fueled up, chained up, and ready to go. Looks like I'm ready to ride it out until the sun comes back out on Sunday.

It's also probably not good when Al Roker mentions you in his weather forecast. LOL!!!

The Old Oak Tree

      I am blessed to have several huge oak trees on my property. Sadly last June one of my favorites fall over after we had several days of heavy rain. The reason this one was a favorite was that I had a tree house in it when I was little and it was huge then. The property was originally my Great Grandparents and my parents and I lived with them for several years after I was born before Dad built a home on the property. So I've lived my whole life within a couple of 100 yards of this tree. I measured the circumstance and and calculated the diameter to a little over 4'. By counting the growth rings it was somewhere between 150 and 175 years old.

 

I had stopped sawing when I took this pictures because I had hit something in the tree and dulled the chain on my saw. After we got the tree apart we looked and saw I had hit a nail about a foot inside the tree. I counted the growth rings and the nail had been there around 45 years. This would have been about the time I had the tree house in it. Probably one I had hammered into it years ago. So 45 years later it came back and bite me and ruined my chain.

It's making a pretty good size pile of firewood. I probably have that much more to split.

The following are from back in June right after it fall. I wasn't home but our neighbors were and confirmed that it make a huge crash. 

I had my wife stand in front of the root ball to give you an idea of how big it was. As a disclaimer please ignore her hair. She had just washed it and fussed that it looked bad.

End of Year Deer

Random end of year deer.

Couple of does in the fog. Always enjoy the fog pics.

 Late evening does.

Still one big buck left after hunting season.