Doggie Valentine for E-pointer

[Squirrel]

It's getting harder for me and the "children " to find these bucks, for some strange reason the same number of deer on the ridge but fewer and fewer bucks among them.

Like this little guy
hangin' out with this little guy

and then panning to the left

They're all going unicorn on me!!
I may have to start going up higher on the mtn to get closer to these.

The dogs are really looking forward to the extra 2000 vertical feet of hiking req'd, my fat ass... not so much!

 

[Epointer]

Squirrel your killing me. Since I have a feeling i'm not going to get my invite to go pick up some bone with you this spring, I hope you find a bunch, and post some pics of them for us. Really enjoyed your pics, good luck on finding some awesome sheds this spring.

 

[mathewsman]

Squirrel,
First off I want to compliment you on some fantastic photos. You've really been in the deer this winter that's for sure! Now here comes the big BUT. I will probably get hammered for this, but I feel it needs to be put out there regarding walking the dogs in the middle of the winter range. Let me preface this by saying, I am not accusing you of any wrong doing...again, I AM NOT ACCUSING YOU OF ANY WRONG DOING. I just REALLY hope you are keeping the dogs either; 1-on established (and open) trails and/or, 2-a safe distance from these fine animals you are photographing. Reason why I say this is because last week after work I had an hour before dark to watch some deer. It was awesome! The whole hillside was alive-deer everywhere. Bucks, does, and everything in-between. I was watching about a dozen bucks about half of which were nice mature bucks ranging in size between 140 to pushing 200 inches. They were
bedded down and after watching them (through a spotting scope from a half mile) for 15 minutes or so, all the sudden they jumped up and started to run up the hillside. It didn't take long for me to find out what and why they bolted out of there. 2 guys with 4 or 5 dogs were trying to sneak in on them! They were no where near a trail...just side-hilling it, bushwhacking through the scrub oak. As I watched this I got really pissed off! These animals get chased, hunted, and harassed most of the year (yes, by me), but during this very fragile time when they NEED to rest and just TRY to survive, they are still getting chased up and down the mountain. It's a wonder they make it through these tough times especially with camoed out guys with dogs running them even more ragged than they already are! I guess my point is, again no accusations, we all need to be really careful about how we interact with these animals during the winter. I hope you are mindful of this during your walks with the dogs. Maybe the reason you are having a harder time finding the bucks, is because they have been run up the mountain, or pushed back into hiding??

These were taken yesterday afternoon from 450 yards through my spotting scope at 30 power. They had no idea they were even being watched.

 

[rmanwill]

Nice. Enjoyed all your photos. Looks like they ma end soon. Let us know how many of the sheds you recover!!!

 

[fatrooster]

matthewsman, I appreciate your concern and am glad you brought up the fact that many people are out there chasing deer with thier dogs or just moving them around without dogs. I've been following squirrels posts and remember that others had already brought it up a couple of weeks ago which you may not be aware of. Squirrel was joking when he said he's having a hard time finding the bucks. He also said that he's seeing the same number of deer on the ridge but fewer bucks, meaning that they are dropping thier antlers. Plus, he's repeatedly taken pictures of these deer over and over for the last several weeks which tells me he has not bothered them. But I am with you on this and feel that it cannot be stessed enough. EVERYONE, DO NOT HARASS THE DEER! I too take my dogs, which are antler hunters, but go to great pains to train them not to chase deer and if they do not come to me when I call them, then we have a "come to Jesus" meeting. But as always there are unresponsible people out there ruining it for everyone. Thanks again for bringing it to everyones attention. Plus, check out the shed forum where I took some pictures of wintering deer through my scope out past 800 yards. fatrooster.

 

[fatrooster]

Another point. If you see people harrassing deer or elk on the winter range then turn them in to the Division of Wildlife. If you have a camera then take pictures for evidence. fatrooster.

 

[ColoradoOak]

I think Mathewsman's comments are right on target, and I suspect that when some folks raised concern about Squirrel's actions, Squirrel wasn't completely honest about how much he was disturbing the deer. Here are some of his quotes from past threads:

"He is a DANDY of a buck and stood there fascinated by the dogs milling around my feet for almost an hour giving me over 40 pics."

"The hairy peckerheads really screwed it up for me today as I had the big typical at 100 yards and couldn't get my @#%$ shutter to trip!! By the time I got it all figured out the dogs had milled around and spooked them over the far hill, they left this sacrifice buck behind."

"There were a bunch that went over the hill thanks to the mongrels."

"I had my shutter on timed release and when they spooked from 25 yards away this shot was accidentally captured as the whole field vacated, had to be 20-25 bucks with 1/2 of 'em over 160."

If deer are moving out of an area because of your presence, or even spending an hour watching you on winter range, you are having a negative effect on them. Just because they return to the same hillside doesn't mean they were not disturbed. It is winter range....where else would they go?

I think Squirrel is getting a free pass by folks because they don't want him to stop posting photos. Selfish actions by all involved, IMO...

 

[Epointer]

>I think Mathewsman's comments are right
>on target, and I suspect
>that when some folks raised
>concern about Squirrel's actions, Squirrel
>wasn't completely honest about how
>much he was disturbing the
>deer. Here are some
>of his quotes from past
>threads:
>
>"He is a DANDY of a
>buck and stood there fascinated
>by the dogs milling around
>my feet for almost an
>hour giving me over 40
>pics."
>
>"The hairy peckerheads really screwed it
>up for me today as
>I had the big typical
>at 100 yards and couldn't
>get my @#%$ shutter to
>trip!! By the time I
>got it all figured out
>the dogs had milled around
>and spooked them over the
>far hill, they left this
>sacrifice buck behind."
>
>"There were a bunch that went
>over the hill thanks to
>the mongrels."
>
>"I had my shutter on timed
>release and when they spooked
>from 25 yards away this
>shot was accidentally captured as
>the whole field vacated, had
>to be 20-25 bucks with
>1/2 of 'em over 160."
>
>
>If deer are moving out of
>an area because of your
>presence, or even spending an
>hour watching you on winter
>range, you are having a
>negative effect on them.
>Just because they return to
>the same hillside doesn't mean
>they were not disturbed.
>It is winter range....where else
>would they go?
>
>I think Squirrel is getting a
>free pass by folks because
>they don't want him to
>stop posting photos. Selfish
>actions by all involved, IMO...
>


Isn't it funny how many people wine about the taking of pics on animals in there winter range. There is a certain yardage we need to give them while there in there winter grounds, but yet we can build houses were ever the hell we want. Someone tell me were the hell the winter range for the wasatch front is, there is none its covered in houses. There is no way in hell squirrel is going to hurt these deer by taking pics of them, and having his dogs with him. The chuckar hunt in utah ends today, how many guys do you think were out in the winter ranges today bustin chuckars, alot. If it was as big a deal as people think it is, then why does the dwr allow these hunts so late in the year. There a differnce between chasing deer down, and taking some pics.

 

[zekers]

Thanks for running off another good contributor to these forums. Thanks Squirrel for your photos, I've really enjoyed them.

 

[ColoradoOak]

I knew it wouldn't take the apologists long to stand up for the "good poster". I'm pretty sure I didn't say anything about houses on winter range being ok.

If nobody here thinks there is a problem with someone taking their dogs out on winter range and spooking the deer on a regular basis, then the deer have bigger problems than I thought. You would expect to maybe find a little common sense regarding winter range on a site of people supposedly dedicated to the conservation of the species. Maybe not.

 

[elkstalkin]

LAST EDITED ON Feb-15-10 AT 07:15AM (MST)[p]Its a hard time of year for these animals... Whether its no winter range because of homes that were built every where, hikers w/ dogs in the foothills, chuckar hunters etc.

I busted to young teens the other day just south of Millcreek gettin thier stalk on with a BB gun.. The DWR showed up and gave these two young men a ticket for harasment of wildlfe.

Granted it has not been a real hard winter here in the valley but we need to remember to try and keep a good distance.

 

[Gator]

Glad those two teens didn't shoot that BB gun or they might of ended up in jail. They can find a couple of boys with a BB gun but can catch those guys out there shed hunting early WOW.


"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".