Moose Droppings

I’ve known the Dorsett’s now for a number of years and knew they are deadly on big bucks in the Old North State. How deadly I didn’t realize until I laid my eyes on the old barn in Orange County.

Mason, Harold, and Clay have been hunting family land in Orange County for a number of decades and it’s obvious they have killed some nice bucks over the year. All of these deer have been killed within about a mile of this old barn.

They are not sure how many bucks are represented in this photo shoot they had a number of racks that were in a couple of large boxes. I would estimate that it was about 80 bucks. Believe it or not they had even more racks at one time but they were hanging inside a skinning shack they had that got flattened a number of years ago by a hurricane and a tree.

Mason has started a company called RacPlaques making plaques for displaying your European Mount. I can attest that he has a very quality made product that really helps show off your trophy.

Anyone who tells you North Carolina doesn’t have some nice deer needs to check these photos out. After the photo shoot we returned to the house for some grilled deer tender loin…. What else would you’ve expected us to eat?

Story and Photos by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

I did a photo shoot today and here is one of the photos as a tease. I’ll post up the full story latter this week. So be sure to check back.

Photo by Moose for more of my Wildlife Photos Check Out Moose’s Wild America
On Wednesday 10th of September a free lecture on wildlife photography will be held at the Centennial Campus Center For Wildlife Education. Some how this announcement slipped by me so sorry for the late posting about this. It looks like it will be a good one and hopefully I’ll get to it myself.

The Sept. 10 Fisheries and Wildlife Seminar series program at the Centennial Campus Center for Wildlife Education will be all about wildlife photography.
Greg Jenkins, editor of Wildlife in North Carolina, an award-winning magazine published monthly by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, will present some history on wildlife photography in the magazine and how photos are used in this publication. Photographer Melissa McGaw will describe the technical aspects of wildlife photography—how to get good shots.
The free presentation, in the auditorium on the first floor, will be preceded with a networking session and refreshments from 3:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The Centennial Campus Center for Wildlife Education is an interactive visitor and exhibit hall of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, located at 1751 Varsity Drive, Raleigh on the Centennial Campus of N.C. State University.
A free parking pass is available by e-mail request, with name and mailing address included, to centennialcenter@ncwildlife.org or call (919) 707-0209.

Photo by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

The bear sitting at the picnic table is pretty cool. Here is a photo I took of an otter just relaxing. Hope you enjoy it.

Photo by Moose Right After Rain Stopped

That seems to be me right now I got so many things going that I’m running in circles it seems. A lot has to do with work commitments and just a busy time of year but a lot of other things have added up to a busy few weeks. I got about 6 or 8 blog posts floating around my head that I may or may not get written in the next few days. With all this commotion going on lately I even went on a family vacation last week to the mountains. I was able to put a lot of these other issues aside and enjoy a few days in the mountains.

One of my favorite memories from the trip was sitting on the porch of the house we stayed in with my wife and watch a thunderstorm come across the mountain. The sounds of the storm and the fresh smell the rain brought and the cooler air was great. It has been a long time since I just sat and experienced a storm like that.

This promises to be a busy week but memories of relaxation will help get me through whatever it brings.

Photo by Moose Right After Rain Stopped

If you like to see more of my photography please visit Moose’s Wild America

Photos & Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

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New born elk calf with mother

I shot about 1500 photographs this holiday weekend and a few came out. Here is a sampling I’ll post more and some stories from my weekend in the very near future. For now enjoy the photos and I’m off to bed.

Photo & Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Photo Courtesy of Mike Noles

Back in April Mike Noles from Conman’s Guide Service shared with me some photos of a monster bruin he had on one of his places in the Eastern part of North Carolina. They are calling this bruin Maximus and he will likely tip the scales at over 800lbs.
This past weekend I was down at Conman’s for our annual fishing trip and our wild game cookout. Almost as soon as I saw Mike he told me he had something I just had to see.

Saturday morning a few of us piled in Mike’s truck and he drove us into Maximus territory, some of the thickest overgrown swamp land that was ideal cover for bears. What I saw next was jaw dropping when I saw the first tree that had been marked by Maximus.

This is a bite on a tree and given the size and the height there is little doubt this was done by a very large bear. There was a number of these bites throughout the area, Mike believes that there is at least one if not two other sizeable bears using this same area and probably why we saw so much bear markings.

Here is a video that I ran across that explains a little bit about bear tree bites.

Although we never saw Maximus I did see a 200-250 lb bear early on Saturday morning. My attempts to get close enough to him to get some photos did not work so you’ll have to settle for a photo of his track on the dirt road.

The wildfire is having a lot of impact on everyone and everything in the area. The good news is that the fire never spread in this area to this land although the impact is still being felt with many critters being forced on to new land, crowding of the species, heavy smoke, and drought conditions. The roadblock for the fire line is right at the end of Conman’s Guide Service driveway.

With the long term prospect of the Pocosin fuel burning for a long time till the land is soaked or flooded to extinguish it. Food and cover will be an issue for the foreseeable future until the fire is out and life can return to normal in the burn area.

I did not ask Mike if they have any bear hunts open for this year but I’m sure you can give him a call and find out.

Story & Photos (unless otherwise credited) by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

What has become an annual fishing trip on the Risky Business took place this past weekend. As always Jamie and Andy did a great job to make our trip a good one. I’ll let the photos I shot tell the story;

Leaving Port

Who Took My Sandwich?

Steve hauling in a Nice Tile Fish

Brian Fighting One

Mike helping haul another nice tile aboard

Jamie Filming the Action

Taking a break

John Fighting an Amber Jack.

Brian’s Amber Jack

Jody Casting for some Amber Jacks

Unloading the Haul

We had a great day fishing catching our limit of Tile Fish and catching a few Amber Jacks. Hard to believe that even out in the ocean the smoke at times from the wildfire was thick.

If you’re looking for a fishing adventure contact the “Risky Business” out of Oregon Inlet you can’t go wrong they run 1/2 day and full day charters.

Story & Photos by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Answer to the Flag Day photo question I asked was Fort McHenery the location that inspired Francis Scott Key to write what is now our National Anthem “The Star Spangled Banner”.

Story & Photos by Dan McLaughlin

I was in the mountains this past weekend and witnessed a wide array of weather and the power of Mother Nature. Storm cells rolled through much of the state brining severe thunderstorms, hail ( some the size of baseballs), high winds and tornadoes. North Carolina was not hit as bad as some of the other states across the Midwest and the Southeast where deaths and injuries and major property destruction were reported.

Monday morning on the back end of this front the temperatures dropped, in some of the higher elevations snow squalls were reported overnight, where we were in Boone NC we witnessed many trees and branches down along with traffic signs bent over by the strong wind. Wind gusts were being reported in excesses of 60 mph in Boone yesterday morning.

We had planned to do go up on the Blue Ridge Parkway and Grandfather Mountain so I could do some photography work. The Blue Ridge Parkway was littered with limbs and shredded leaves not unlike what an area looks like after a hurricane rolls through. The wind was pretty strong and at times I had difficulty just standing up when some of the stronger gusts hit.

We stopped at one of the visitor centers on the parkway and the outside thermometer read 30’ a bit cool even for the mountains this time of the year. I’m sure the wind chill made it felt closer to 0’F.

We arrived at Grandfather Mountain to discover it was closed but hopefully parts of it would be opening latter in the day. Talking with Grandfather Mountain staff the conditions on the summit was bad with 100 mph wind and numerous trees down all over the mountain blocking roads, buildings and trails. With only the morning free we returned to the Blue Ridge Parkway and continued our exploring there. We did find some turkeys working a field that was blocked from the winds.

Once back in Boone we had a lunch meeting to attend and as we sat there I couldn’t help but notice as the clouds broke up and the sun beamed down how beautiful a day it was turning out to be. We had to return to Raleigh so I ride back was much like Saturdays ride with lots of sunshine. Hopefully I’ll get up on Grandfather Mountain one of these days when it’s not so crowded like it is in the height of the tourist season.

Story & Photos by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

One of the most scenic rides in the country is the Blue Ridge Parkway through the mountains of North Carolina from Georgia to Virginia. No matter what the season the views are breathtaking all along the Parkway.
A new center has opened in the Asheville area of the Parkway called the Destination Center. One of the purposes of the new center is to link travelers with additional activities in the area so they increase the time they spend in the area.

The center is beautiful and environmentally friendly with many green features. This past weekend when I was visiting they had a Scottish Dance group performing in the auditorium.

There is some wonderful informative displays about the nature in the area A very good display that explains the Chestnut Blight and the devastation of that disease on a very important mast crop for much of the Appalachian Mountain Range. There have been some blight resistant chestnut trees discovered across the range including the Blue Ridge Parkway that are currently being studied with the hope to one day restore this important tree.

Over the past few years like many of the National Park managed properties the Blue Ridge is in need of much of funding for upkeep and maintenance. Groups like the “Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway” are working to preserve the park through volunteer projects and fund raising.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of my favorite places to visit and I’m sure the winding mountain road with the beautiful vistas it can be one of yours as well.

Story & Photos by Dan McLaughlin (AKA Moose)

Many of our winter visitors have left the area to return to the nesting grounds in the north. Up north as the snows begin to melt away and the ice melts opening up lakes and ponds the various waterfowl will seek out places to raise their young. In honor of the great migration this week on Moose’s Wild America I’m featuring waterfowl photos I have taken. Check them out if you get the chance and enjoy the spring.