5/3/15

      I went out into the field today but I did not know how to register everything that had changed in the last few weeks. First of all, it was not 35 degrees right before the sun came up, today I went out in the afternoon in 80 degree weather. That means I could ditch the insulated coveralls and two coats for a pair of camo pants and long-sleeve t-shirt. Another major difference was the amount of greenery. No longer could you stare far into the depths of the colorless forest, today the light green leaves stopped any line of sight at the edge of the woods. As I sat down along a fence line with my turkey calls and shotgun (I was hoping to discover where the turkeys would roost for the night) I remembered two annoyances winter relieved us of: bugs and poison ivy, and I am afraid they both got me. After an hour and a half of listening to song birds, crows, pheasants and more I could sense rain in the air. I looked up and the sun was disappearing behind clouds. I pulled out my cell phone and the radar showed rain all around me. I did not see the point in getting wet today, my chances of seeing anything there were slim to none anyways. I walked back to the car keeping my eyes peered for any movement out of the ordinary but saw none, I could only smell a skunk who was in the area no doubt.
           Back at the car I decided to check the other side of the farm for anything. As I walked along the property line I saw some small animal sneak behind a bush, probably a turkey or opossum. A couple minutes later I saw another small animal digging something in the dirt 10 yards away. I knelt down and tried to get the camera out while it was distracted but when I looked up I saw that it was a raccoon as it hustled away. I walked a little further but did not see anything. Back at the car I began to put away my gear when I looked across the road just north of one of the houses and 6 deer were feeding in the field. As I crossed the road one by one they slowly ran up and across the hill towards safety.
        On the way home I saw another dozen deer and a turkey in the field. I hope to get out again soon but I only see one of the next ten days without storms in the forecast. We'll see though, the weather channel has not been to accurate lately!

After viewing the  pictures that I took of the six deer I realized that many if not all have antlers that are only 1-3 inches long. I have not seen to many bucks with growth this small.

Look closely at the middle deer and see the beginning of antlers on this buck.

This little thing decided to climb along my gun stock.