Last 2 days ... got some cool pic's and a rabbit !

[R.J.]

First off , Happy New year to all !

Had to work yesterday the 30th ... hooked up with Sandman for an evening hunt right after work ... but I bumped into some bedded deer on the way in ...

Got a quick shot of one crossing the corn field in front of me as it bounded towards Sandman ...



We got at it 1st thing this a.m. in one of my favorite spots ... the wind was from the East so I started the morning in a fence line over looking a corn stubble field .... by 7:15 am deer started to enter the field for a last minute snack before the headed to the swamp ...

As I mentioned earlier in the week , the 3rd rut is on in our area ! . A knarly rack buck was bound to stay with a young doe fawn ... I tried to lure him close enough for a shot , but he wouldn't leave the little doe ! Closest he came was 62 yards ( ranged )

I had to wait until 7:30 am and set my camera to 3200 ASA to get any photo's in the low light since it was foggy as well ...










He is disracted towards the swamp edge , but in ends up being 3 other does ...




The hot doe , scoots out of the field and he follows in a hurry !



The last 3 does feed out ...



When they got deeper into the swamp cover , I snuck around to my front stand to try to intercept them , but no luck ... I was supose to come down and push towards Sandman at approx 8:30 am , when I heard some rustleing in the grass about 12 yards out from my stand ...

A nice rabbit offered a shot , and my Exocet 200 was bang on ! ... a nice snack for New Years Eve !



I finished the push .... Sand man saw 4 deer cross the field , but out of range and moving fast ... I snapped a shot of Sandman in the stand as I crossed the field .... he blends in well to the dark hard woods ...



We hooked up with Greylag and Isis for our Excalibur breakfast club meeting .... we discuss curent events etc. and plan a couple of pushes on the conservation land .....

The deer didn't cooperate , on those drives ( getting between the posters ) .... we hiked out and parted company with Greylag and Isis ...

Sandman and I went for a drive to scout another property ... I manged to get a quick picture of a beauty Red Tail Hawk as he lifts from his perch ...



I got a cool picture of a porcupine feed pattern on the side of a tree ...



We hike in for an evening stand approx 3:00 pm...

Sandman heads in ... His tree will be silloeted on the skyline and mine will be backdropped by tall evergreens and cedars ...





We hunted approx 10 yards apart ... over looking 2 main trials in a funnel area ... I was hoping to get some action shots by hunting together .




Well , the wind and rain drove in ! .... we spent the best part of the evening , doing our best impressions of a kite ! , Sandman just about got his stand relocated when the tree twisted in the wind !

Both our locations over looked some beauty shooting lanes ... this is the spot where I missed an opportunity on a nice 8 point a few days ago ...



A fork horn buck ... made a brief appearance behind Sandman at approx 4:30 pm ... I tried to keep the camera out of the rain , and I snapped a couple of quick pictures , but he was in heavy cover and they didn't turn out ...

The only thing that came by after that was a fat black squirrel , that was heading for cover !

We fought the wind and rain and can honestly say

" We hunted to the last minuet on our last day of the season "

Again , Happy New year to all !

Best wishes to you and your families in 2007 !

[GaryL]

R.J. super pictures for sure! they tell a mighty great story of the days events

"Best wishes to you and your family in 2007"

[knobby]

nice pics !

what camera were ya usin?

[BUCKSHOT]

Guess your not as appealing as those sweet does, R.J.
Way to stick with the hunt, man that weather blew in quick up here at around 6:00 p.m. Quite the weather to finish up in for ya'.
Now what will you get up to?

[PRB]

Really enjoyed the pictures and story. Thanks

[R.J.]

Thanks guys ...

Buckshot wrote :

Guess your not as appealing as those sweet does, R.J.
Way to stick with the hunt, man that weather blew in quick up here at around 6:00 p.m. Quite the weather to finish up in for ya'.
Now what will you get up to?

Yep ... I tried some tending grunts to get him curious enough to walk withing range ( the wind was hard in my favor as well ) ... but all they would do is look my way then go about their buisness .... bottom line is she must have been emitting some sweeeeet perfume , because he wasn't even interested in any of the other does , but approached that particular doe ( looked like a yearling ) several times .

It was cool to just be able to get some pictures of the behavior ...

Now we spend time on the late goose season , and rabbits into Febuary !

GaryL wrote :

R.J. super pictures for sure! they tell a mighty great story of the days events

If I remember correctly ... your family did their share of " thinning the herd " in your area .... with some cool pictures as well ! Thanks for sharing !

knobby wrote :

what camera were ya usin?

A Pentax K100D digital and an Olympus Stylus500 pocket camera ...

[Grizzly-Papa]

Great pictures R.J.

What a tease that buck must have been for you!

Grizzly-Papa

[Sandman]

Great pics and story RJ~!

Thanks again~! I had alot of fun and learned a little more~!

The evening stand sure left an impression on me as I woke up around 3 am after having a dream about mother nature repositioning my stand for me......Glad we use safety harnessess~!

Happy New Year to all~!

Regards,
Robin

[R.J.]

double post

[R.J.]

Grizzly-papa wrote :

What a tease that buck must have been for you !

Yep .... it is cool to see them and it makes the morning fly by fast when you are whatching deer , with the chance of getting a shot !

Sandman : .... no problem ... glad you could get out ... the wind was a real challenge for sure !

[Skeeter]

Thanks again for the awesome pics, we will all miss the deer pics and stories. Hope you keep up with the goose and rabbits.
No coyotes?? I saw as many of them as deer this year outside the London area!

[chris4570]

[color=greenI had to wait until 7:30 am and set my camera to 3200 ASA to get any photo's in the low light since it was foggy as well ...

Is that was causes your photos to be grainy? The change in "film speed"? Just wondering, because the photos I took of the deer the other day were less sharp than I would have liked, had the camera on auto, with a high ISO setting.. Trying to figure this out, as there is no film, so what changes that causes the graininess? Light receptors?

[wabi]

Great pics, and the rabbit should count for something! After all it does have long ears and a white tail.

[groundpounder]

Great pics as always R.J. but I didn't see a new "mount" on your xbow. But through your pics we can really see your love for the outdoors. Thanks again for sharing.

[R.J.]

Skeeter wrote :

Hope you keep up with the goose and rabbits.
No coyotes??

Geese and rabbits yes ... and maybe coyotes , but usually only when a landowner complains ... CH and I will be putting in some time on them now , since the farm beside his father in law has requested it ...

Wabi wrote :

and the rabbit should count for something! After all it does have long ears and a white tail.

I was thinking the same thing at the time ... he sure tasted good yesterday .... cooked him up in a pan similar to the way I do the Pheasants ...

Chris4570 wrote :

Is that was causes your photos to be grainy? The change in "film speed"?

2 things that I know of will cause grainy pictures ... high ASA settings and Zoom .

I use to shoot my 35mm camera on auto all the time ... with 800 film and could always get good low light shots ...

I can't do the same with my new digital ? ... I have to switch to 1600 or 3200 ASA to get pictures in low light ? .... I'm still trying to figure it out ?

I have not been able to get a good answer from the tech rep at Future Shop .... the owners manual is a little foggy on the subject as well ... Next step is to stop by Henry's camera next week ... there is a guy there that knows all the ins and outs ...

I shot these pictures with my 175-500 lens , set at 800 ASA , no flash setting . Full 500mm zoom with the Pheasant at approx 6 feet away and the duck approx 4 feet away ( the sun was high and bright ).... the clairity is perfect ( or looks good by my eye ) !




This picture was taken with my 75-300mm lens , set at 800 ASA , no flash setting , approx 150mm zoom to get the framing , with the deer at approx 25-30 yards ( overcast day ) , and the pictures look so so ... detail isn't great . ( or at least that is what my eye sees )



This picture was taken with my 75-300mm lens , set at 3200 ASA , no flash setting , approx 250-300mm zoom with the buck at a ranged 62 yards and the doe was closer ( it was the only way I could get a picture in the morning low light approx 7:30 am with fog/mist on top of it , at 7:15 am I couldn't get a good picture at 300 mm zoom ) and the pictures look brutal ... detail isn't great and grainy .... I tried 400 , 800 , 1600 then 3200 .... a real hassle when you are trying to limit your movement and get some pictures undetected .



All of the photo's in this thread were taken with my 35mm Pentax PZ10 , 400-800 ASA film , auto focus , with 75-300 mm lens , and my 175-500mm lens and the clairity is great .
Except for the last one with me and the deer and the snowshoes etc. ( it was taken with a $25 digital )

http://www.excaliburcrossbow.com/phpBB2 ... ght=scrape

The pictures you took the other day look great ! , that is why I asked the details of the camera ... the clairity looked great ( at least to my eyes ) .

Bottom line is , I still don't understand the full capaibilty of my digital ... the guy at Future Shop said it may have something to do with the fact that I am shooting my 35mm lenes on my digital camera ( although they are supose to be compatible ? he says I will lose some detail ? ) I'm either going to take a course or read the manual again ... because in my opinion I use to get way better picture with my 35mm Pentax in low light ... and trust me , I have taken enough pictures to know !

Still it's nice to get any pictures that cronical my time in the field , no matter how they turn out ...

Earlier in the season I even tired to adjust color etc. in Photoshop but I thought they were lacking as well .... so my best shots are the ones that come right off the camera untouched ...

Anyway ... hope to get some good advise from the guy at Henry's camera store in Cambridge .

Keep shooting pictures and we can compare notes ...