Just after Christmas, and I have changed cards on the two cameras still out on the Far Ridge, and East Stands. Generally we pull them in right after December 15th because of the zero temperatures and tons of snow, but this winter has hardly started yet, so we'll leave them out as long as we can...Interestingly enough, there are plenty of day time feeders after season's end, but summer and pre-season, all these deer were 100% nocturnal. I have no idea why...nice little buck below...
This young lady has plenty of fat to walk her through the winter!
Our food plots have been savaged by these deer.
The buck below will be a taker in about 2 1/2 years...
Another overweight doe...
This wise old girl doesn't like the camera I suspect.
In past posts you can see how many coyotes we have here, their huge size, and we attribute our small deer herd to their prowess. And if you think coyotes only prey on fawns, you are wrong...one of our hunters sent me six or seven pictures of several coyotes killing a huge mature ten point buck. I just had to research this, and this event happened all in front of a camera, took place over five hours, and the coyotes killed and ate this buck. There are over 200 pictures the camera took before the batteries died, and you have to see it to believe it. It happened in the Oklahoma wilderness. Four coyotes were in on this, and it is unknown why the buck stayed where he was. I surmise that he had been chased to exhaustion because if you look at the early pictures you'll notice his tongue is hanging out. In any case, to see all 200 pictures, go to www.deeranddeerhunting.com/coyote-kill. Buy the latest rag, and you can read the article...NOW you know why we hunt the wolf-dogs!
Nice body on this dude.
Curiosity ruins pictures AND sometimes, cameras!
Next year's eight pointer?
Let me know what you think of that coyote drama after you check it out! Jack
jackzeller@myfairpoint.net
I saw the pics of the buck being killed a couple of weeks ago. Kind of makes you sick but that how real nature is.
ReplyDeleteIt's really something that all those healthy deer show up on the plots right after the season ends!
ReplyDeleteHey, found your blog and followed. JGR
ReplyDeleteFirst, your deer ARE quite chunky. You must be feeding them the good stuff. Secondly, that slideshow was hard to take. I can't help wonder if the continuous flashes from the game camera contributed to the killing of the buck. He wouldn't run away! It appeared that only one coyote killed him, and the smaller one joined in eating, but only briefly. I think human impact in this instance gave the coyote an advantage.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the flashes matter. I have eight pointers fighting on my cameras, and they pay no attention. I believe this buck was chased until he was utterly exhausted, and stopped here because as the cameraman noted, it was the only opening in extremely thick woods, and the buck probably needed a little room to make his last and final stand. The real question, as noted in the article, is why these four coyotes decided to kill a mature, and presumably healthy buck instead of a smaller, more easily killed doe or fawn, of which there are plenty in this particular lease...
ReplyDeleteJoe, as my dad always said, " fawns are cute, flowers are beautiful, bucks are regal..nature is UGLY!!! Jack
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