Thursday, December 28, 2017

Ho, Ho, Ho



This week none of my camera traps managed to capture a photo of eight tiny reindeer or of a chubby fellow in a red suit. However, in the last few weeks they did manage to capture a number of deer – white-tailed deer, not those tiny reindeer. Here are some of the white-tail bucks that appeared on camera; while they didn’t bring wrapped presents, the photos were gifts from the natural world delivered by modern technology.


Here are those bucks:




How many of them survived Pennsylvania’s deer season may never be known, but some inhabit terrain that would inhibit all but the most determined hunters and others spend most of their time in areas that are closed to hunting. 

Given the typical home ranges of Pennsylvania deer, the bucks almost certainly left those “safe” spaces at times. But research by Penn State indicates that, although survival rates vary from place to place, in this part of the state almost 90% of antlered bucks survive hunting season -- http://ecosystems.psu.edu/research/projects/deer/news/2017/a-new-record-low

6 comments:

The Furry Gnome said...

Those are some nice looking bucks you captured!

Lady Fi said...

Cute deer shots.

Kay L. Davies said...

What wonderful photos. I love the last one in particular, and I rather like the 90% survival rating during hunting season. When I was a youngster, I understood my friends' parents, and my parents' friends, hunting deer to feed a family in winter, but I must admit I do not understand trophy hunting. Your trail cam is a wonderful alternative.
Kay
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

Angie said...

I am hoping my new trail camera catches some equally wonderful shots. Happy New Year!

eileeninmd said...

Hello, awesome series on the buck. He is handsome. I think our bow hunting here at the watershed area goes thru to the end of January. Thank you for linking up your post today and the past year. I appreciate your comments and visits too. I wish you all the best in 2018, Happy New Year to you and your family.

A Colorful World said...

Beautiful buck! You got some awesome trailcam shots!