'Tis the Season

[Loose Canon]

Deer Season here in MO!

So I went hunting. Wore my deer suit for camoflage. Still picking buckshot out of my hind end!





A little cooler take:


And then there is this guy. Biggest dadburn deer I ever saw!

Bull Elk in a Deer Suit?!?!


Note: No animals were harmed on this hunt. I created a diversion by drawing everybody's fire!

[Loose Canon]

While I was at it, I "poached" this guy!

Red Tail

[Katy Noelle]

I just want to comment and say, "garsh! These are beautiful!" I wouldn't know how to critique. I'll leave that for someone else. Hope your hide heals.

[Donald]

Terry

That's a very, very impressive set. I take it that these are wild animals in a natural surrounding. Just enjoyable to look at, as well as being well presented by you. #2 & 3 (the 'looking at the camera' shots have perfect DoFs on them.

[Loose Canon]

Katy, Donald?

Thank you. I think I’m about to get all the buckshot, Katy! I can take getting shot, it’s when they want to field dress me that I’m in trouble!

Donald, these were indeed taken in the wild. Hunting season is kind of a funny time. The hunters are out in the woods scaring up anything that moves. If you are brave (read: stupid) enough to get out there, there are a lot of opportunities to catch the deer in places you might not ordinarily see them. I believe that they instinctively know they are being sought after and temporarily vacate their usual stomping grounds.

You have to already be out there and ready to hit the woods just before day break. Just light enough so you can’t really see that branch that is about to smack you in the face!

I found a pretty big herd of elk feeding in this field just as it got light enough to see and the frost was definitely on the pumpkin. One bull. Sometimes, if you scrape your foot on the ground, the bull will look up. He thinks it is another bull challenging his domain. I have to think he saw me, but kept going about his business. The cows/calves would have followed him out if he would have bolted.



I estimate the calf in this photo as a September born. Youngest one I saw that day.

[Katy Noelle]

Hi, Terry! Even more gorgeous shots! It's hunting season, here, too, of course. You are right when you say it's a funny time. Men, who, at the best of times, wouldn't wear anything brighter than tan are out, huddled in groups at the gas stations and diners, breath rising out of their mouths as they talk and laugh, dressed in the most OUTRAGEOUS getups you've ever seen. Bright red and black hunters check, mixed in with orange and black "camouflage". They're in their element, though. Hunting camp glee is in the air! In the meantime, I'm afraid to walk too far out into our field, in case someone ignored the "do not trespass" signs. I won't walk down the wooded road either - even though I own a bright, salmon/pink sweatshirt. This is where I would love to somehow catch the wood smoke in the air but, have yet to be successful.

There was a book that was published, around 15 years ago or so, that was B&W photography of Deer Camps in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. It was very beautiful and poetic but don't tell the "guys" in it that I said that. It wasn't about whether hunting is okay or not. It was about the right of passage that deer camp is. I've tried to find out more about it but, the best representation that I could find of it was on Amazon - the front and back cover. However, this link takes you to google which has a larger front cover. http://books.google.com/books?id=atm...page&q&f=false

If I could, though, I would turn our property into a wildlife refuge. They (the deer) could come and hide out here for a couple of weeks and I could shoot them with the camera. Alas, my husband (stolid Vermonter that he is) would scoff at the idea.

[Loose Canon]

One of the weekends I went out, Katy, was opening day of rifle season. And for the Youth hunt before that.

I hear ya knockin', Katy! You never see the likes of this many guys out there doing just what you described dressed in their International Orange Camo! In fact, I wore an IO vest and hat myself (though if the sun’s out I get better visibility with the glare off my chrome dome)! Sometimes you even see the Classic Coupe de `Flage! Beat up 1960's pickup truck painted by brush, by hand, in camouflage! Belches up clouds of smoke burning oil, but yet is painted camouflage! I love that one! But I get a bit nervous hearing rifle shots! Sometimes it sounds a bit like the OK Corral out there!

My granddaughter, nephew, and niece all went out. No one got one and I PO’d all of them by bagging these shots! Guess the Olde Manne still has a trick or two left up his sleeve! Since, they’ve all got one and grind the Olde Manne’s nose in it!

Rather than me going into a long discourse about hunting and the “right or wrong” of it, suffice it to say that I am all for it if done responsibly and respectfully. I realize that without hunting here there would be no wildlife as we know it because for one, we have eradicated a lot of the natural predators throwing off the balance. Plus, the revenue that hunters produce goes to the Dept. of Conservation. MO prides itself on having one of the best Conservation agencies in the country and I would have to agree with that assessment.

But more to the point? I don’t know how it is up there in the Northeast Kingdom, but here the MDC will help you set up your property exactly as you described Katy- a wildlife sanctuary. They will come in and assess your land, give recommendations for habitat, foodstuffs, etc. They will even supply you with seed or seedlings to plant that will attract certain varieties of wildlife. Help you stock your pond or lake, all kinds of cool stuff. I would bet that the Great State of Vermont might do the same thing.

Not to mention getting to wear the stylish colors!



Note: This shot was taken with a special custom P&S by my Lovely & Charming wifey-poo. The camera is one she had custom made because I cannot be photographed on film, digital, nor do I cast a relection in a mirror! Infrared will not work because I produce no heat.

[Maritimer1]

Terry, those are just gorgeous. Brave you to be in the woods during hunting season!

Myra

[Katy Noelle]

Hi, Terry! Well, first off: hahahahahahahaaa!

Secondly, yes, I was planting bulbs on opening day and was outside as dusk fell. Too many shots - were those for the dear?

Thirdly, around here, I think that the state does a really wonderful job of "managing" the proportions of wildlife - like you mentioned. Also, I know several families who financially rely on having that meat in the freezer. The tradition is so old - "sport" doesn't really play a part in it for many. Also, I believe that they offer services for "wildlife refuge" in a similar way. The beautiful pond that is just across the road from us is a preserve - the whole waterway and marsh below it, too. It's not the huge National Forest but it's a little preserved bit - beautiful!

Maybe, your wife should share some of her secrets about that special camera of hers in the forums and, just how old are you, anyway? I like that photo of you too - it takes me right out there!