"What would you do?"

Bryan,over at deerPhD has started a weekly article giving scenarios for the hunter to decide what decisions they might make while in the timber or field. If you haven't had a chance to stop in yet, I highly recommend taking a look around deerPhD to see what this author is bringing to his readers. Now, I would like to ask what you would do with the facts I am about to present. This is how I've assumed events unfolded when I went to look later in the day. Heading back to the second day of muzzleloader season I heard three shots , two of them not far from our house. It appeared that the muzzleloaders may have injured a deer that took off running. I found one tiny blood drop at the corner of the fence where they crossed onto my property.... There were tracks of two ATVs, to me it looks as though they were chasing deer, because of where they went in correlation to deer tracks.

Bringing hunter activity from the neighbor's cornfield down into the tree line between our cornfields. Having pictorial documentation of the results of the two shots close to our homestead, I could correlate position of hunter to hunted. What I would like to know-

1. As a hunter, how far would you go in a chase by foot to get your injured deer in the snow and cold? Would you pursue with an ATV? 2. As a landowner, what would you do if you weren't certain if those who didn't have permission to hunt your property, but had the right to retrieve a kill without firearms, was hunting illegally? First shot wasn't lethal. Here at enotes.com,"Law & Politics" section you can find some interesting facts about what is considered trespassing in 40 of our 50 states. The information is worth checking out to see where you stand as a hunter and or a landowner...

Anybody Home?

Today I went to collect my two field cameras to see just what was stopping to pose for their pictures. The time stamps have wide gaps - when the batteries warm up they catch anything walking by. The cameras have been out since the 4th with a limited amount of wildlife being captured.

A couple of Alberta Clippers are scheduled to make their sweep through the state, the decision was made to keep one camera inside, and the other would be stationed on the back steps to catch the bird activity. Pictures of the re-cycled Christmas Tree and birds will come at a later time if the chill doesn't prevent the process from happening.

We have had some marauding wildlife in the vicinity as of late. The tracks and vocalizations point to Opossum which make their yearly reservation. It may be possible to catch the little critters in view of the back steps with the trail camera. One was caught in a foggy picture in the field. While I was out hunting I watched one as it briskly bustled from place to place.

Hope everyone is finding something to do to keep warm and well through these cold blustery months. Later!