Category Archives: A Good Picture, Or Three…

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS AS THEY SAY, PARTICULARLY WHEN YOU CAN NOT GET OUT THERE TO SEE IT FOR YOUR SELF…

Outdoor Photography by Erwin Bauer. Mountain Goat on Front cover

Outdoor Photography: Specially For Hunters, Fishermen, Naturalists, Wildlife Enthusiasts by Erwin Bauer.

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs.  When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.” – Ansel Adams

My Opinion (For What It's Worth), Trophy Gallery

Memory’s Gift

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“The Whitetail is the American Deer of the past, and the American Deer of the future.” – Ernest Thompson Seton

 

 

A Photograph of a mount of a white-tailed Deer 6 point buck, taken with a shotgun and slug in Maryland in the early 1970's
A Boy’s First Buck

 

Few events are more memorable to a hunter than the taking of his or her first buck. My guess is that you would probably agree.

Here is a picture of mine, which I recently found in a box of old Ektachrome slides. It is the only physical record I have left, as the mount was lost in a fire so many years ago.

I took this Maryland buck in 1971 when I was thirteen years old, with a Pumpkin Ball slug fired off the bead of my Remington 1100 shotgun. It could not have been a more beautiful, crisp, November morning in that wonderful land of whitetails. It was a fine shot too, for it is not so easy to make a fifty yard shot with that equipment. I was more than thrilled, and I don’t think anyone could have wiped the smile off of my face for several days.

I can recall almost every detail of that scene to this day, and I don’t mind revisiting it periodically in my mind. Obviously, it is not the biggest whitetail buck ever harvested, but it may as well have been, at least to me. Why it was as big as the world.

I hope that you have a memory like this in your box of experiences, and if not, may you get one soon.

Long live the white-tailed deer!

 

You Can read the full story HERE

 

Posted by Michael Patrick McCarty

 

The front cover of dustjacket of The Whitetail Deer Guide: A Practical Guide To Hunting... by Ken Heuser
A Lifetime of Learning

 

For Sale:

The Whitetail Deer Guide-A Complete, Practical Guide to Hunting America’s Number One Big Game Animal

by Heuser, Ken

Hard cover. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York (1972)
Very good in Very Good dust jacket. xii, 208 p. : illus.; 22 cm. Includes Illustrations.

Please email us at huntbook1@gmail.com if interested in details.

 

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Other Voices, Through A Hunter's Eyes, Trophy Gallery

The Promise Of Deer

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A doe white-tailed deer on alert, watches for movement.
Watching Deer – Watching You

 

October 15, 2015

 

“One hot afternoon in August I sat under the elm, idling, when I saw a deer pass across a small opening a quarter-mile east. A deer trail crosses our farm, and at this point any deer traveling is briefly visible from the shack.

I then realized that half an hour before I had moved my chair to the best spot for watching the deer trail; that I had done this habitually for years, without being clearly conscious of it. This led to the thought that by cutting some brush I could widen the zone of visibility. Before night the swath was cleared, and within the month I detected several deer which otherwise could likely have passed unseen.

The new deer swath was pointed out to a series of weekend guests for the purpose of watching their later reactions to it. It was soon clear that most of them forgot it quickly, while others watched it, as I did, whenever chance allowed. The upshot was the realization that there are four categories of outdoorsmen: deer hunters, duck hunters, bird hunters, and non-hunters. These categories have nothing to do with sex or age, or accoutrements; they represent four diverse habits of the human eye. The deer hunter habitually watches the next bend; the duck hunter watches the skyline; the bird hunter watches the dog; the non-hunter does not watch.

When the deer hunter sits down he sits where he can see ahead, and with his back to something. The duck hunter sits where he can see overhead, and behind something. The non-hunter sits where he is comfortable. None of these watches the dog. The bird hunter watches only the dog…”

From the chapter entitled “The Deer Swath” in A Sand County Almanac”, by Aldo Leopold.

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I read this for the first time many years ago, and the basic premise of it has stuck in my mind ever since. It is classic Leopold, whose writings always seems to leave behind more thought-provoking questions than he answers. He was, and still is, one of the preeminent teachers of the natural world.

Looking back, I realize now that I have always sat with shoulders squared up to something at my back, watching.

Perhaps I am just a deer hunter at heart. It is the promise of deer, for which I wait.

Where do you sit?

Michael Patrick McCarty

You Might Also See The Aldo Leopold Foundation

You Might Also Like Our Post called The Gift

https://steemit.com/nature/@huntbook/it-is-the-promise-of-deer-for-which-i-wait

 

Vintage photo of what looks to be a 30" plus trophy mule deer, taken in Nevada during rifle season in the mid 1960's
Trophy Nevada Mule Deer Taken in the Mid-1960’s. Photo courtesy of David Massender.
Trophy Gallery

Boy, (Or Should I Say Girl) Do They Grow Them Turkeys Big in Wisconsin

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skeeze / Pixabay

 

A Young Wisconsin Girl Poses With Her Trophy Spring Eastern Turkey, Taken on a Youth Hunt in 2017
Jenna McBride Celebrates Her 26 Pound Wisconsin Gobbler

A big thumbs up to Jenna McBride, who took this magnificent  Wisconsin Eastern Turkey in April 2017.

Jenna is becoming quite the huntress too! At fourteen years old, this is already her second bird…

“It was an interesting day,  we were in a blind and I called once or twice early when the turkeys were still roosting.

We then had a hen come to our two decoys and stay by the decoys for 2.5 to 3 hours or so until this tom came in.  We had one other tom that stayed just out of range for almost two hours before leaving once it started to rain.  So I never had to call again as I had a very cooperative hen with us all morning.

Jenna did all the gun work though.  She told me if she gets a shot, she would get a turkey.  She didn’t miss!

And I forgot, I’ve never got one that big”. – Kevin McBride, Proud Father

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Not to be outdone, 16 year old sister Molly McBride followed up in May with an even bigger 27.1 pound tom.

Now that’s a turkey hunting duo to reckon with!

A teen-aged girl poses with a 27 pound eastern wild turkey harvested with a shotgun in central Wisconsin
A Beautiful Day To Be a Turkey Hunter

Dad had a tag in his pocket too but never picked up the gun.  He says that it is much more fun to be their guide. And yes, Kevin also acknowledges that “the girls had a good year”.

Now that’s the turkey hunting understatement of the season…

My biological nature makes me wonder if there is something in the water out there, or just what in the world these turkeys had been eating to get so big. Whatever it was, it certainly did the job. If registered, both birds would fall in or near a list of the top 50 heaviest birds ever recorded with The National Wild Turkey Federation in Wisconsin.

Search The National Wild Turkey Federation Record List Here

As for Jenna and Molly, something tells me that this will not be their last turkey hunting adventure. I can only hope that I get a chance to hunt with them sometime, or at least follow them around for a bit. No doubt they could show me a thing or two about how it should be done.

Congratulations all!

A Young Women and Her Dad Celebrate Her Trophy Eastern Gobbler, taken with a shotgun on a wild turkey hunt in central Wisconsin during the spring hunting season.
Like Father, Like Daughter – A Hunter’s Bond Runs Deep

Now that’s a mean set of wheels, and some spurs to be proud of!

A Close-Up Photo of the Spurs of a Trophy Eastern Wild Turkey, Harvested in Wisconsin During The Spring Hunting Season
A Spur To Make You Glad That You Are Not Another Male Wild Turkey

 

Posted by Michael Patrick McCarty

You Might Also Like Hunting For Colorado’s Mountain Gobblers Is Always a Thrill

A Good Picture, Or Three..., Some Humor Too!

Ladies Team Elk and the Ultimate Hunt

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SOMEWHERE IN THE COLORADO MOUNTAINS

 

the girls of kappa alpha theta sorority and the ultimate truck prepare to go elk hunting in the mountains near basalt, colorado
All trucked Up! Team Elk, Theta Division

 

The girls of Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority prepare to venture forth on their next elk hunting expedition atop The Ultimate Hunting Rig.

I suspect that many of you young guys would have liked to tag along on this hunt.   As my friend was last heard to say, somebody’s got to go…elk hunting that is.

Stay tuned for more hair-raising Team Elk adventures…

 

close-up of the ultimate hunting righ suv won in raffle
The Ultimate Hunting Rig

ABOUT THIS SUBURBAN

This truck was won in a raffle by the father of a friend’s sorority sister.  An elk hunter’s dream windfall to be sure.

* From Ray Long:

“Go check out the Eagle Valley Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Page and there’s an entire album of pictures and stories about it! Basically it was an abandoned vehicle we bought from a towing company and completely rebuilt it from the ground up! New engine and transmission, new gears in the differentials, lockers front and rear, tons of work and parts donated by the sponsors on the back! Integra Auto Plex, 4 wheel parts, signature signs, kings Camo!!! Just to name a few! Then we raffled it off over the year at local RMEF banquets and Country Jam, $20 a ticket 6 for $100 and gave it away a few years ago. A guy in Edwards won it and I used to see it up there occasionally but haven’t in some time and was curious what happened to it!”

Now We Know Where It Went…

 

 

Posted by Michael Patrick McCarty

You might also like Buck Fever In the Modern Age

 

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https://steemit.com/hunting/@huntbook/ladies-team-elk-and-the-ultimate-hunt

A Good Picture, Or Three..., Books For The Sportsman, Some Humor Too!

Merry Christmas To All – And A Season of Big Bucks!

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Big Mule Deer Buck Christmas Card With Christmas Wreath and Snow in Background in Colorado
All I Want For Christmas Is A Big Mule Deer Buck. Photo Courtesy of Frank Donofrio

 

Greetings From The Colorado Rockies!

 

All the best for you and yours, and here’s to a funtastic  2019.

May you get to spend a fair amount of it in your favorite hills, haunts, and waters, wherever they may be!

 

A Mule Deer Buck Feeds Contently In the Winter Snow Of Colorado, Seen Outside the Window, With A Christmas Tree In The Foreground.
A Perfect Stocking Stuffer

 

Michael Patrick McCarty

 

You Might Also Like A Late Night Postcard

Or, A Man Made Of Meat

 

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For a Relaxing Winter Read, We Can Recommend:

 

Silence & Solitude: Yellowstone’s Winter Wilderness

 

Powerful, brutal, beautiful, and at times, enchanting, winter in Yellowstone National Park is a world unlike any other. It is a season both abstract and profound, where super-heated water erupts into arctic air, where wildlife pushes snow in a constant struggle to survive, and where silence and solitude dominate the park’s deep wilderness. Photographer Tom Murphy has experienced Yellowstone’s winter wilderness as few others have, skiing far into the backcountry with heavy camera gear, an uncanny ability to weather cold and snow, and an artist’s eye for the sublime. His photographs reveal a majestic land where the air is clean and clear and where a wolf’s throaty howl carries for miles on a still day.

“Silence & Solitude: Yellowstone’s Winter Wilderness” shows us the splendor and force of Yellowstone’s long cold. In 130 photos we begin to understand the lives of the wildlife that must endure it; we begin to feel the inspiring power of a landscape still wild and pure; and we see nature’s beauty in things great and small. These photos are accompanied by Murphy’s thoughtful words that take us into the time and place of each image. The captions allow us to smile at a fox’s serious hunt for a mouse, to understand why bison stand stoically in geothermal steam, and to marvel at a sudden shift of subtle light that brings breathtaking grandeur to a nondescript little tree and just as suddenly takes it away.

As popular author Tim Cahill observes in his foreword, “These are photos that mirror a man’s passion, and I know of nothing like them anywhere. Murphy’s photographs are not simply stunning or striking: they are also knowledgeable and even wise.”

 

My Opinion (For What It's Worth), Trophy Gallery

A Hope for Next Year

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Here’s a buck that I have watched grow up over the last few years. I can only imagine what he may look like next year – should he survive another Colorado winter and a long hunting season. The light may not be very good, but as you can see, he is a good buck by any measure.

Unfortunately, this buck roams from private land to private land and my guess is that he never steps foot in a place where you could hunt him. But then again, perhaps he does.

There is a small piece of almost inaccessible public land that borders his normal range. I think I shall hunt him there, next year. Or should I say, I will try.

A man has to look forward to something, particularly through the long interval between seasons.

But for now, it’s sure nice to see him again…

Trophy Gallery

Blacktails and Bowhunting – The North American Deer Slam Completed

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Michael Patrick McCarty

 

A Bowhunter Poses With a Pope & Young Record Class Columbian Black-tailed Deer Taken in Oregon With A Recurve Bow
A Great Day In the Northwest

 

Ray Seelbinder of Western Colorado has recently completed the North American Deer Slam  with his latest trophy – A Columbian Black-tailed Deer from Oregon. More impressively, he did it all with traditional archery tackle and a bow that he built himself.

It looks like a good one too.

Congratulations Ray! You are an inspiration to us all.

 

A trophy class set of black-tailed deer antlers in a backpack in preparation for the return to camp. Tken with Traditonal Archery Gear.
The End of a Long Road – Or Perhaps…the Beginning

 

Antlers From A Pope & Young Class Columbian Black-Tailed Deer in a Hunting Pack, Taken In Oregon by A Bowhunter with A Recurve Bow
An Impressive Trophy, and a Great Looking Bow Too!

– Word Just In – It looks like this buck might just make the Pope & Young Record Book by about 1″ (green score). Hopefully, it won’t shrink much during the P&Y required waiting period. I’ll cross my fingers for Ray!

 

*The North American Deer Slam includes the fair chase harvest of a mule deer, white-tailed deer,  coues deer, black-tailed deer, and Sitka Deer.

**”Two forms of black-tailed deer or blacktail deer that occupy coastal woodlands in the Pacific Northwest are subspecies of the mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). They have sometimes been treated as a species, but virtually all recent authorities maintain they are subspecies. The Columbian black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) is found in western North America, from Northern California into the Pacific Northwest and coastal British Columbia. The Sitka deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) is found coastally in British Columbia, Southeast Alaska and Southcentral Alaska (as far as Kodiak Island).”  – Wikipedia

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For an excellent reference on the deer of North America, you might wish to purchase:

 

Mule and Black-Tailed Deer of North America: A Wildlife Management Institute Book. Wallmo, Olof C (Editor)

 

Mule and Black-Tailed Deer of North America: A Wildlife Management Institute Book. Edited by Olof C. Wallmo.

We usually have a copy in stock. Please email us at huntbook1@gmail.com for more information.

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A traditional archer poses with a pope and young class mule deer buck taken in northwestern colorado.
Ray With One Of His Many Colorado Mule Deer Trophies

You Might Also like to read a little about his latest Coues Deer buck at Coues Head Soup.

My Opinion (For What It's Worth), Trophy Gallery

Thanksgiving Day Is for Turkeys – and Trophy Trout

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Here are some photos from my annual Thanksgiving Day fishing adventure. And yes, I am a very lucky man…

Now, time for some turkey and stuffing with wild chanterelle mushrooms. That’s what I’m talking about.

 

A fisherman poses with a trophy rainbow trout, caught while flyfishing in a high mountain lake in Western Colorado.
If I Look Just a Little Rattled – It Was Because I Was. Big, Broad Shouldered Rainbows on a Fly Rod Will Definitely Do That To You.
A Fisherman Poses With a Trout Amidst the Beautiful Scenery of Western Colorado
With Scenery To Match The Fishing

 

Closeup of A Trophy Trout, Caught While flyfishing in Western Colorado
I Don’t Believe I Will Ever Tire of Trophy Trout