Winter's back is broken just this week. It has hit 40 degrees at times, and we only have about 14 inches of snow left in the front yard. To be sure, there is much more up on the North slopes in the woods, but spring is in the air! The first two pictures of deer are from back in January, when we had no idea how nasty a winter this would be...
Below is the LRDC herd as of yesterday, and they all look fairly vigorous. I put out a bit of corn to take inventory. This group comes from the Southern tier where they yard up in thick hemlocks, about 2-3 hundred yards away.
This Gray fox also seems to be OK. The 2-3 feet of constant and fluffy snow all winter made it nearly impossible for these guys and coyotes to move. Many starved. We had below zero temps for weeks at a time, and no let up in storms. Now crusts are forming in the warmer days, and these guys can travel at night to hunt now. They are whelping out this month.
I went in camp today and found it to be forty degrees! A week ago, it was 8 degrees in here, and three weeks ago, -10 degrees! Anyway, the bags of seed are beginning to accumulate for spring plantings...
While the snowmobiles are not quite done, the writing is on the wall, and pretty soon, these guys come out of hibernation and go to work (and pleasure).
This is the near field, just South of camp. The plowed road across it is my logging road, and leads to where I clear a place for the deer above the Christmas tree plantation. In three weeks it will be too soft to travel on.
This is lonely and forsaken LRDC today. Where I have cleared it is thawing out fast, and as soon as we have bare ground, campfire wood will begin to appear between these posts!
It may seem premature to be thinking of deer season this early, but in reality, there is so much to do, we'll hardly be ready for September. If you ever thought of starting your own deer camp, no matter where you live, or whatever your resources, now is the time to start planning. Not sure where to start?
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Haven't been by in awhile and enjoyed looking at your photos at camp. I know it has been a long hard winter for you and glad Spring is right around the corner for all of us. Will be back later to check in! Have a Blessed Easter my friend. :)
ReplyDeletei like the blog you are running here, the pictures are awesome. i also have a hunting blog that is about hunting blacktail which i think are better than whitetail but i would love to hunt whitetail in a place like that.
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