Television seems to glamorize keeping wild animals as pets, but the reality is really is far less pleasant — especially for the wildlife involved. Would-be rescuers are usually not aware of what it takes to properly care for wildlife and this means nothing but bad news. Most hunters are familiar with the following concept: Bringing a wild animal home is effectively kidnapping it from the environment to which it is best adapted.
We talked about the abandoned fawn I saw on the road last week, and if an unknowing person had picked up that deer fawn, they would have been condemning it to an unnatural and probably short life. Of course, that same deer fawn could have died on the road had it ran out in front of me or some other vehicle, but the best assumption was that she was going to make it. Sure, white-tailed deer can be “tamed” to an extent, but they are born to survive in the wild.
And a critical part of their life is making it through the first few months as a fawn, particularly their first few weeks. It comes as no surprise that deer do quite well in close proximity to people and suburban areas, so that means they really do not need our help. If we want to help deer in our area, let’s convince hunters to cut back on the harvest of young bucks! Fawns aren’t just dropped in rural areas. People often find deer fawns in tall grass, areas of shrubs and brush, and in wooded areas within towns and cities. They are almost too well adapted to suburban areas.
This, however, was not the case last Friday when I stumbled (not literally) across this young doe fawn. She was tucked away in a safe haven of mid-sized grass, within a semi-barbed-wire cage, and miles from the nearest town. She was sleepy, so I snapped a couple photos and was on my way. As easy as it looks, this is the safest thing she can do right now!
Much of the deer habitat in Texas and the rest of the southern US is in fair to good condition as we head into the summer period. Central Texas’ spring forbs and wildflowers are taking a hit with the heat, but that’s a given once the typical spring rains fall off. Much of the south has been relatively dry since winter, but vegetation still looks good, thanks to sporadic precipitation, as white-tailed fawns hit the ground.
And speaking of fawns – I was driving through Burnet County this afternoon and spotted something running on the road about 1/4 mile ahead. As I approached, I slowed down and realized that it was indeed what I suspected it was — a fawn! Once my truck was within about 40-yards, the fawn dropped to the road (as in the photo above) and remained motionless. I grabbed my camera and snapped a photo to mark the occassion since this was only the third (second of the day) fawn I’ve seen this fawning season, all of which were spotted over the last 5 days.
I then jumped out of the truck to get a close-up, but the doe fawn jumped up and ran towards me as I approached, then she realized I was not mamma and ran towards the roadside grass, where she hunkered down. The wobbly-legged critter hit the grass, dropped down on her stomach, and didn’t budge. I then snapped the photos seen below. She couldn’t walk very well and probably wasn’t more than 48-ours old, but her natural instincts took over and she did only what her genes told her to do — be still!
Game cameras are commonly used by hunters to inventory and pattern white-tailed deer. And although deer are typically the animal of primary interest, a lot of other critters get captured in the photos taken by trail cameras. In addition, motion-triggered cameras work 24-7, so a number of interesting wildlife photos get downloaded each year.
I’ve published photos of some very strange wildlife camera photos in the past and those were a big hit. Then I put together a group of some neat game camera photos to follow along that line, but I figured it’s time I started publishing great game camera photos on a regular basis. With that said, these photos may not be life-changing, but by posting them it allows hunters to see some of the things others were lucky enough to see.
In addition, everyone gets to enjoy wildlife a little bit more, because none of us gets to be outdoors as much as we’d like! And I find that last photo just a little bit scary!
Also, if you have taken or come across a unique game camera photos, send them in and I will publish them after I get a few. Thanks!
Here is a hunting photo worth a look! Now, I don’t know exactly where these white-tailed bucks were taken, but my best guess would be somewhere in the mid-west. The story, which I received via email, is that these poor hunters lost their hunting lease after 25-years of active harvest management — but this was their last hunt before they left!
As “amazing” as the story and photo are — I am more than a bit skeptical. But once again, this really is a photo worth a look!
If you’re like me, you like deer hunting and eating BBQ! In fact, any time I get to deer camp I make sure to barbecue some sort of protein over a fire — and, in my own way, produce an arguably edible art. However, the guy in the above video takes his meal to a whole different level!
Watch him enjoy his ribs then create a nice buck out of merely BBQ sauce! Pull this one off in camp and you could really elevate your campfire status!
Anyone that has spent any amount of time chasing white-tailed deer has always wondered what deer are doing out there on a day to day basis. You’ve probably thought about this more than once after attempting to chase down a big buck you spotted earlier in the year. But what about white deer, particularly albinos?
Deer have a hard enough life as it is, but being a white deer in the woods would not be an advantage — except during the winter in snow-covered areas. As such, nature has virtually eliminated the color white from a white-tailed deer except for the underparts of the body. It’s just not an advantage to be totally white in the woods with coyotes, mountains lions, and hunters running around chasing after you! With that said, I’m always interested to see pictures of albino deer, but I’ve never seen a live one.
Usually, I end up with photos of albino deer. And here are a couple I received via email. I’m not sure where they were taken, but judging from the physical aspects of these animals (and the snow) these albino deer photos were taken somewhere in the northern US or Canada. This is all I have:
“Tim made the deer feeder with the ‘Browning’ logo. These twin albinos have been coming to our backyard since they were fawns in 2006. We have been trying to capture a digital pic of them for awhile, but they arrive at dusk or even later and they don’t turn out. On Friday about 10 am they arrived.”
Just as I mention that the shed hunting season is in full-swing down in Texas, one of my friends sends me some photos from their ranch in Coryell County. And yes, apparently there are shed antlers are on the ground — and they found some really nice ones, too!
Here is a quote from the “serious” shed hunter from March 12:
We started our shed hunting today. We found these from the truck, no “serious” hunting yet. The antlers that Patsy is holding to her head are from a buck we’ve seen on camera. I gave him a modest 14″ spread and he scored 148 1/8″.
Most everyone has heard stories about or has even seen, maybe even found, two white-tailed bucks dead after their antlers ended up getting “locked up” during a fight. However, slim to none have heard of three bucks after becoming locked!
As rare as it may be, check out the photos of these three white-tailed bucks that were found locked during the rut. The bucks were located on a ranch in east-central Texas and, from the information that I received, one of the bucks was still alive when the trio was found.
Apparently, the antlers were cut from the dead deer and one very tired buck was lucky enough to run back off into the woods. You just never know!
