Young Deer

All animals are very vulnerable at birth from predators. The whitetail deer is no exception! But whitetails have created many defenses to combat their hazards, helping them to exist among the elements of nature. Double click on the image to see a better view.



These fawns were captured on camera behind my mother n laws house last summer..notice the spots...not a bright picture..sorry if you cant see..

The spots on a deer help them blend into their surroundings since the young deer can't flee from their predators as well as when they are older. A mature deer can run up to 35 miles per hour for short distances. What the dictionary calls short is ridiculous..I've seen them run up to a mile going that fast.




When the whitetail is born, they have a potential life span of 15 years, but usually the whitetail only lives to be around 2 years old. Light plays a critical role in their ability to survive. The fading sun helps the deer realize its now time to rise from their bedding area and start to feed. The fawn understands this by following the momma deer, eating clover, corn, soybeans, and vegetation that are succulent to the deer's palette. They use their eyes well at night. They have adapted to the darkness by packing more light sensing rods in the retina, and their pupils are larger. This adaptation allows them to see better at night, thus allowing more light to enter. Eye shine in nocturnal creatures is produced by mirror like cells called a tepidum. They capture light and reflect it back on the retina; this unique feature further enhances the deer's ability to see in the dark.





Besides moving around in the dark, their best adaptation and predator evading sense is their nose. Receptors in their nose are supposedly 100 times better than a human, and they can detect all different smells in a melting pot of aromas. To tell you that in another way, if a deer could smell a room full of people. The deer could identify every perfume, deodorant, gum chewing individual, and every ingredient that makes up the scents of that room. Yes, their nose is that good!

Wylie the Coyote

The ever-evasive Coyote, a.k.a the prairie wolf, thrives in Indiana. Common names of coyote groups are a band, a pack, or a rout. They scavenge if food is scarce, but predominantly are good hunters and eat small mammals, such as rabbits, ground squirrels, and mice, though they will eat birds. They usually hunt in pairs, and as my mother in law knows from experience will eat cat food when needed. A coyote's pelt or hair varies from grayish brown to yellowish gray on the upper parts, to almost white underneath. Before a coyote is born, the gestation period lasts from 60 to 63 days and surprisingly they have anywhere from 1 to 18 pups, with an average of 6. WOW! Coyotes are great sprinters.




If you were to run from one, good luck; the coyote can reach top speeds of 43 miles an hour. If for some reason you get caught in a pack, yell, scream or make some loud noise. The animal will run away with it's tail between its legs. Do be cautious if you have small children, they are known to attack children under the age of 10, but don't worry, coyotes have only recorded one death. They have evolved into a nocturnal (night time) animal because of pressure from humans. Some people in the town where I live have seen them knocking over the trash can at night and searching through their trash for an easy meal.

The coyote lives in a burrow usually made by a ground hog, but can make their own. Here is Wylie searching for food on my mother n law's land:

Opossums cute??

The same day my cousin/friend and another friend searched for turkeys, we came upon the only marsupial in North America, the opossum. By the way, Hunter and Dancer, a marsupial is an animal that raises it's young in a pouch...like a Kangaroo or Koala Bear. A Koala will raise it's young in the pouch for 6 months, drinking its mother's milk, then on its back for another 6 months, eating eucalyptus leaves and drinking its mom's milk.

Koala Bear


The opossum by most people's recollection is a very ugly animal...long snout, usually dirty, white and gray. They have more teeth than any other land mammal. Before born, they only stay inside their mommies belly, a shocking ONLY 12 to 14 days...unlike a baby boy or girl that remains in his or her mom's belly around 9 months. The original opossum called the Virginia opossum was mainly in the Eastern United States, but moved west during the GREAT DEPRESSION (harsh money times in the 1920-30's)mainly as another source of food. Yeah that's right opossum for dinner. Can you imagine going out to a restaurant, and asking what's good here? The waitress replies, "The Opossum is delicious!" You're probably chuckling, but I bet it tastes something like chicken.





Tell me when you're coming over for dinner readers, and I'll go shoot me an opossum and cook one up for ya'll. Want yours medium-rare??

To get back to the day in the woods, after seeing the rafter of turkeys, we came upon this:


Isn't that opossum cute...I would have never guessed a dirty disgusting animal be named that, but look, he's actually cute. Double click on the image of the opossum to get a better look. Both friends said I should enter the picture in the county fair. What do you think?

You Turkey!

Two winters ago, I travelled to my cousin's creek with him and another teacher from a local college. The reason we were there was to look for signs of turkey. Turkeys, as some of you might know, was Benjamin Franklin's idea for the national bird, instead of the bald eagle. Somehow I think Franklin's pick was right for our national bird. The U.S. are turkeys: stupid, inept, or foolish, as the dictionary defines it. As a nation, we would rather go help other countries feed their hungry, than our own.

Anyway, turkeys are making a comeback around the state of Indiana, introduced by the Department of Natural Resources. The turkey chick cannot fly until after 2 weeks of hatching, so if a predator wants a turkey sandwich, this would be the easiest time. When looking up information about turkeys I learned that flocks of turkeys are not called flocks but rather they are called rafter. After searching for about 30 minutes we did find this rafter of turkeys...:) Double click on the image of turkeys to get a better view.



The rafter of turkeys spotted us, and took off as quickly as we had glanced at them. They see incredibly well and hide their large wing span inconspicuously. If they were to fly, a turkey's wing span can be up to 6 feet. A turkey in the wild sleeps at night in trees and fly when needed. A turkey that we eat at Thanksgiving cannot fly; they're too fat!

All 5 Senses are used

You've heard of how old football, basketball, or baseball players, when they reminisce about the days they played one of those sports, they tell you how it smelled, or how it sounded. They don't usually tell you a certain game, but they will tell you about the sound of the bat hitting the ball, or getting all fired up before the football game. This is a big part in hunting, particularly big game animals such as deer because you use all five senses everytime.






Smells: You remember smells so intensely. The smell of farmers harvesting their crops, and soil be worked over while you're in the treestand. Sights: The remembering of certain images comes back if you sit in a treestand, or sit by a tree you once had an encounter with an animal. (Like the time I missed 2 shots at a buck using my bow sitting at this one tree. Unfortunately, everytime I walk by this certain tree, bad thoughts creep into my mind.) Hearing: The rustle of tree leaves blowing in the wind fondly bring back memories; the sound of two squirrels barking and chasing each other around a mighty oak tree. Taste: The taste of freshly cooked breakfast after the hunt...pancakes, bacon, orange juice, and maybe some coffee. Oh yeah, throw in some eggs too to top it all off.


Touch: The feel of the usually cold morning walking to my stand, and climbing up the rungs of my ladderstand. The shivering of my body after I've decided to get off my stand, and calling it quits for the day after sitting motionless for hours at a time, rushes memories of bitterly cold chills up and down my spine. (is this even a sentence..I need an English major here) These 5 senses help us remember things...Do you remember when?? It all comes back to our senses.

Pass the Salt!

Before I go feed the deer, young Hunter is sitting in a rocking chair his Grandpa Kenny made for him and his grandchildren many moons ago,looking at the salt block. Can I have some??(I believe he's thinking)

As I told you in an earlier post, I would be going to disperse salt and mineral blocks to the deer and any other wildlife that needs trace minerals and salt. After looking at the ingredients that make up the mineral block, it mainly consists of you guessed it, salt. ANYway, deer love salt, whether it is good for them is another story, just like humans, too much of one thing is a bad thing. The mineral block as you can somewhat see was made by Trophy Rock...the deer gravitate toward it.

I have used other protein and mineral blocks before with excellent response from the deer. In particular, the company by the name of Wildlife Institute of North America creates an excellent source of food attractant by the name of 30-6 plus protein.

Nature Abusers/Nature Lovers

People that don't enjoy nature, which I know of many, take the world for granted. They think they own the place and use it, abuse it and trash it. I have seen trash in all 4 areas that I can peruse, whether people illegally trespass and dispose of it there, or the wind blows it to it's resting spot. As the Survivor Man on the Discovery Channel has stated, "unfortunately, you go anywhere, you'll find man's trash." Look at some of the trash (we didn't put it there) and this is only one tract of land...Poor Mother Earth!




Everything a human does has an impact on nature. Hunters have an impact which can counteract the overpopulation of animals and so called nuisance animals. Poachers, who illegally kill animals out of season, impact humans because it gives hunters that are ethical a bad rap. Poachers harshly effect the population of certain animal species. People that say hunters are bad...just do not understand. We enjoy nature; we respect it; we borrow it for a specific purpose to eat; on the other hand, poachers destroy nature, disrespect the world we live, and steal from it. Watch out Poacher I'll turn you in!

Something you might not see everyday

Many wildlife biologists might not ever have a chance to see the transformation of deer coloration, but a beautiful deer in the summer changes over to, I guess, their winter camouflage in the winter. The deer's hair evolves into something, that at sporadic times of the late summer/early fall, looks to be poisoned at first...I knew they changed color but had never seen a deer in the process of changing to a dull gray until I purchased a trail camera. Check it out...she looks sick. But don't be afraid, this is natural for a deer to go through this.

The picture of the 10 point buck was taken around the same day..so you can see that bucks-- mature ones like this one, change their colors quicker. I think it might be because of increased testosterone.. Any wildlife biologists who know the answer, please advise. :)

okay so I haven't been too faithful

I don't know how others honestly find time in the day, or bare the weather to create a blog, especially when it's so cold outside, like 30 below, and you have two kids running around the house wanting your undivided attention. I am going to try though sometime during the week to get out to one of my lands to show you what I do during the harsh winter months.... It is something for the deer...Yeah you guessed it ...food! I'll show you guys that I deliver food blocks of different minerals and proteins for the deer. Hey, some people feed BIRDS, I feed DEER!

Hello fellow outdoorsmen and hunters alike

Welcome, I have started this blog in order for my 1 year old son, Hunter (not his real name) and 6 year old daughter, Dancer, (yeah, you guessed it..not her real name either) to enjoy the great outdoors vicariously with me as I travel and explore the various lands that I can enjoy. This is also for the people that just love the outdoors. There are 4 parcels of land that I currently can explore. The parcels are slightly above or below 40 acres. Come follow with me as I go on an adventure...or sit in a treestand watching the world go by.