I don’t know about your area but mine is quite busy lately. What I mean by that is the local wildlife. Yesterday I went out turkey hunting and again just like the last time I sat and watch a deer feed by me. The whole time I was think that turkey hunting is great way to keep tabs on the the deer population. I haven’t had a luck yet with obtaining Thanksgiving dinner but I really enjoy trying.

After I left the woods yesterday morning with out seeing anything but a deer I proceeded to head home. Not to far away I had looked over into somebodies yard as I was driving by and what do you think I saw. There standing in the driveway next to the family car was a turkey, how ironic is that. As I continued I caught the sight of a deer crossing the road. I pulled up and stopped to watch this beautiful animal stop and turn to look back at me before continuing.

Later that same day I was on my way to work and again glanced off to the side as I am always scanning and what did I see was a very large deer gracefully prancing across a small area that had been cleared. I was bolting but is wasn’t walking either, just a graceful gate.

On my way home from work at 1:00 this morning I saw two more deer who had just crossed the road and as I slowed down to look and make sure there was not more that were coming I looked at them and remember seeing them turn side to side in unison like they were joined at the hip. I am assuming they had to be twins. They were so close to each that they could have changed into each others fur.

By: Rick Kratzke

The rain moved out and the sun moved in. It was cold but still a very nice day. My family and I had a lot of running around to do and it was about 5:30 this afternoon that we were on our way to get pizza for supper when all of a sudden my wife Heidi yells out deer, deer, slow down and stop. I turned around down the road and went back and pulled over.

It did not seem to bother them at all that we were sitting there in a running vehicle and by the time we were finished counting there was 12 of them. We must have sat there for almost 3 minutes maybe before Heidi said !@#$, I have my digital camera. She grabbed it from her pocket book (luggage) and handed it to me. I snapped off a few and these 3 are about the best that came out.

I wish they were a little brighter but the sun was starting to set.

I had to run out last night to pickup my son from work 2 minutes before half time of the Super Bowl (GRRRRRRRRRR) and saw a couple of deer not far from the house. Now one of them was nice 4 point buck and his head gear was still there. I saw another about a week before that had an impressive 10 point rack on his head still. I think the weather and winter being mild as it is might not be changing their testosterone levels enough to make them shed yet.

This is a little abnormal because I think they should be shedding for sure by now and it appears that they are not. I am trying to pay closer attention to what I see so as to document this.

I was on my way home from work and spotted a very large buck crossing the road in front of me. It kind of caught me by surprise for a couple of reasons. For one it had stopped raining which was coming down real good for most of the night but the wind was gusting rather heavily. For two it is February 2nd. and I half figured that the bucks would haver dropped antlers by now but, this guy was sporting a very large rack. By the quick glimpse that I got I am figuring that he could have been a solid 10 pointer.

I just was not expecting what I saw although I was excited to see him. Here are the weather details.

time - 1:00 a.m.

temp - 47 degrees

sky - cloudy

wind - from the SW @ 12 mph gusting to 21 mph

barometer - 29.67 and falling

Last night or should I say early this morning because it was approximately 12:45 a.m. on my way home from work was a good time to spot deer. It was very cold and the sky was mostly clear with a nice moon. I spotted four deer who apparently had just crossed the road and they were starting to browse their way up the front lawn of this house. They were good size deer and appeared to be very healthy. I thought that was nice to see and had hopes of seeing more. The night before not far from my house I saw one all by itself in the middle of a field, I assume it was a buck because it was by itself but, could not tell for sure.

I noticed a couple of days ago that the deer were coming across our neighbors yard and browsing on our pine bush at the corner of our property right next to where my wife Heidi parks her car. We always try to make a point of peeking outside occasionally to see if they are out there but, we always miss them. I guess that is why I call them ‘The Ghosts of the Deer Woods”.

Anyway after spotting those four deer this morning I continued heading home. As I drove down my road to the house I could see one deer at the bush so I slowly stopped and put the headlights on it. It was beautiful, small with a puffed out coat. A yearling for sure. I watched it for maybe a minute or less until it got scared and ran back across the road into the neighbors yard.

I parked my truck and went into the house and woke Heidi and told her she just missed a deer that was at our bush. I went to bed and I don’t think I was totally asleep yet when Heidi said the deer was back and it had brought three others with it which again made a total of four deer browsing on our bush at 1:30 in the morning. That was so cool that Heidi and I could look out our bedroom window at four deer eating our bush that was only 10 yards from the house.

This picture is leading to the bush from the road and it looks like a herd has gone through,

This picture is the actual bush that they have been chowing on, you can see Heidi’s car behind it. They are slowly destroying the bush, that is ok I don’t like it anyway.

This picture is of two hoof prints going in either direction. My knife I placed for estimating size. The knife in a closed position such as you see it is 4 1/2″ long.

Coming home from work tonight I came across 5 deer that appeared to have just crossed the road. When I slowed to a stop they just casually strolled off the side and through a break in a stone wall. I saw 5 but, I have a feeling that there was actually more than that. It was nice to see them for a change, it had been awhile.

temp - 36 degrees

wind - west/northwest @ 2 mph

barometer - 30.16 and rising

sky - partly cloudy

Went to Walmart after work and on the way home just up past the elementary school I spotted a adult doe and two yearlings. It had been raining lightly for a few hours so I half expected to see something. A little farther down the road and closer to home I spotted a very large deer which had just started to walk into the tree line at the side of the road so I could not tell if it had any antlers. About thirty more yards past that one was another very large deer but this one I was able to see that it was a doe. This light rain will sure make them come out and browse around.

Hunter’s Moon

temp - 54 degrees

wind - north @ 3 mph

barometer - 30.26 and rising

sky - cloudy

time - 2:45 a.m.

Coming home from work with a clear sky and a full moon I just happen to catch a very large deer standing under a maple tree. It was in an area that I have seen deer before but the way the moon was the deer looked like it was highlighted. Almost looked kind of spooky actually.

temp - 37 degrees

wind - calm

barometer - 30.51 and falling

sky - clear

time - 12.45 a.m.

I was just coming back from taking my son to work and saw a flock of Turkey Vultures pecking at something on the side of the road so I stopped and notice a deer leg sticking out of the brush. I went closer to get a better look and confirmed it was a deer. By the looks of it, it was this year’s deer and was probably there for a few days and not noticed because of it’s size and the roadside brush.

Turkey Vulture can grow as big as an Eagle with a six foot wing span, so you can imagine what a bunch of them looked like flying up to the tree’s when I stopped to investigate.

Click the image above for info on the Turkey Vulture.

temp - 58 degrees

wind - calm

barometer - 30.24 and falling

sky - clear and sunny

time - 9:45 a.m.

I finally saw one while I was driving home from work. It has been so long that I was beginning to wonder. I use to see them quite a bit on my way home from work and then they just kind of disappeared.

temp - 67 degrees

wind - south southwest @ 1 mph

barometer- 29.91 and steady

sky - cloudy

time - 12:47 a.m.