My Florida Destiny

[bigbendmarine]

I always love your pics!

Are the bushnels the ones you get video with sound on?

Thanks for the kind words, Bill!

And yep, Bushnell's are giving me GREAT sound in videos in comparison to Moultries I had been using. Really like them in comparison to all cameras I've tried in the past... the ONLY one slight con I've found with them is that the area filmed seems smaller though in much greater detail. I like hanging my cameras high to avoid being scent busted but that requires angling them down and the smaller field of view makes for less ability to see multiple deer / critters in a wide background area. Might be dropping them down a little to straighten the view outward to counteract the perceived difference, if that makes sense.

 

[Bill]

Like the one I hung two days ago that I was sure would go unnoticed :(

 

[bigbendmarine]

And that last buck is going to be a Florida stud!

Got to LOVE the wild cherry tree for dropping fruit over a 3 week period and gifting me about 4,000 deer "inventory check" videos!

Admittedly far from being great at matching bucks from year to year, I'm pretty sure I know the identity of the Florida stud... "Chief Osceola." Rarely a betting man, I'd be willing to put down a Benjamin or two on it. Growth on its right side notably dominant to the left, fairly nice brows, and right G2 that was tall and blade shaped last year looks like it'll be fairly tall again this year.

Here's a pic of Osceola I got the last day of season last year... he's the buck on the left looking at the picture (sadly haven't seen "MeLikey" yet this year).



Actually spied Osceola twice from our bedroom window the past two days. Here's some pics I got this morning for comparison sake.

 

[bigbendmarine]

So far, he's a man among boys in the immediate neighborhood... not anywhere close to season, and he was way more alert than the bucks with him when he popped out yesterday evening to feed along the road that leads to the pond on our land. For brevity sake edited lots of footage out, but he played like a statue staring towards our house for about 5 full minutes before he stepped out, while the other bucks fed in the open along the road without much worry. Bet he'll be pretty darn shy come hunting season.

If video looks familiar, I've luckily caught almost the exact same scenario mid-summer the past few years as something growing along the road REALLY draws the attention of the deer for at least a few days. Nice to see that at least one fawn's been outrunning the local yotes as well (knocking on wood).

 

[Bill]

He certainly knows where you live! Looked like a Nanny doe in the beginning.

 

[Native Hunter]

Great pictures of some beautiful deer. I really love those last two pics in post 123.

 

[bigbendmarine]

First of eight Kieffer trees I planted a few years back produced a half dozen pears this year. Couldn't help but steal a couple off the tree to test them myself (letting them sit on our kitchen counter a few days to finish ripening).

 

[H20fwler]

Those look huge! ^^^^^^

 

[bigbendmarine]

Not having ever grown them before didn't know what size they should be but did seem surprisingly big to me as well... and I'm no small guy (6'2") / don't have tiny hands.

 

[j-bird]

I hate the "there's the cam" deer look as well. I have videos of the deer sniffing the cam.... They swear the deer don't notice them and the like, but that's BS. The pears look great....I may need to look into adding a few on my place. The buck your watching looks like a dandy as well, hopefully you get a swing at him later in the year.

 

[bigbendmarine]

Harvested my first gator yesterday evening and did so from our pond.

Quite the adventure -- Florida doesn't allow simply shooting them or trapping them by anchored lines.

Instead you're required to first hook them by a line under your direct control, be it fishing rod with a bait at the end, spooled bow or crossbow, harpoon with attached line, or snag hook tied to a line. We floated a bait out and first hooked the gator by fishing rod... after getting pulled across the pond a couple of times we were then able to harpoon it twice so we had a total of 3 lines in it before pulling it up for a bang stick kill.

Became blood brothers with the gator after slicing my knuckle while trying to tag it, and then got baptized in the pond after falling in HARD as we tried hooking the jon boat we'd used to a trailer in the dark. Almost wish I could say alcohol consumption was somewhat to blame but I hadn't drunk a drop / was completely sober, though I used one of my buddy's beers as an antiseptic wash. For those old enough to get the reference, walking around like ol' Fred Sanford today, but at least with a smile on my face.

 

[Bill]

For those old enough to get the reference, walking around like ol' Fred Sanford today

I’m coming to see you Elizabeth, clutch chest :)

That would be fun. Less the grunting and falling in part.

 

[H20fwler]

Harvested my first gator yesterday evening and did so from our pond.

Quite the adventure -- Florida doesn't allow simply shooting them or trapping them by anchored lines.

Instead you're required to first hook them by a line under your direct control, be it fishing rod with a bait at the end, spooled bow or crossbow, harpoon with attached line, or snag hook tied to a line. We floated a bait out and first hooked the gator by fishing rod... after getting pulled across the pond a couple of times we were then able to harpoon it twice so we had a total of 3 lines in it before pulling it up for a bang stick kill.

Became blood brothers with the gator after slicing my knuckle while trying to tag it, and then got baptized in the pond after falling in HARD as we tried hooking the jon boat we'd used to a trailer in the dark. Almost wish I could say alcohol consumption was somewhat to blame but I hadn't drunk a drop / was completely sober, though I used one of my buddy's beers as an antiseptic wash. For those old enough to get the reference, walking around like ol' Fred Sanford today, but at least with a smile on my face.

View attachment 20304

Nice! Again I am very thankful we don't have any of them up here...or bears.

 

[bigbendmarine]

Update on the gator hunting, managed to tag out (given 2 tags by state) Tuesday evening. Smaller gator than the first but no less exciting as I tackled harvesting this one alone. Used a snag hook tied to a plain old bass rod to hook it... then struggled to pull it up out of lily cover for about 30 minutes, before finally dispatching it via Ruger SR22LR pistol. Tackled it from canoe this go round versus jon-boat a friend brought over for the initial harvest. Added quite a bit more of a "close combat" feel to the experience.





Got the first one processed into gator sausage and tail meat cuts. Different fate awaits this one... just about perfect size for the method below and just in time for the Seminole - Gator match-up later in the month.

 

[Big Snow Man]

When are we invited down for your smoked gator ?

 

[scott44]

Congrats!

 

[bigbendmarine]

When are we invited down for your smoked gator ?

May sound funny, but I'm hoping I'M INVITED! Friend who helped me harvest the first one has a mobile smoker he uses for tailgating parties. Appreciating his help in teaching me the ropes the first go round, I thought of him when I got the smaller one and told him I would gladly give it to him for his use with the promise he save me some. I don't regularly attend games so am counting on him keeping his word he'll save me some if I'm not present when he cooks it.

 

[bigbendmarine]

One more gator share... incredible how much their mass goes up exponentially by length. Last one I got was 5' 7" -- had no problem handling alone and bet it weighed about 35 pounds. 7' 8" one I killed earlier in the year was tougher to pick up and move around -- looking at charts online it likely weighed in right about the 100 pound mark. Get your hands on a 13' footer you can expect to jump all the way up to 600 or more pounds.

Above shared, take a look at the noggin from a BIG one that was at the processor I use... have to see in person to fully appreciate. Stuns you a bit seeing one that big -- like you're looking at a modern-day dino. Smaller one in the back right is the 5'7" I took in and one next to it is likely about 8' long. Head from the big one looked like it could eat both the ones behind it with no trouble at all.

 

[Merle Hawggard]

That's awesome! Eat them before they eat you!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[bigbendmarine]

That's awesome! Eat them before they eat you!

Like having few small ones in the pond for out-of-state friends to see when they visit, but they cross over the 6' mark their diet shifts from small prey (lizards, frogs, small fish) to bigger prey including big fish, fawns, and all too often sadly dogs. Neighbor has about a half-dozen labs that love to swim along the pond edge. He seemed pretty darn happy when he learned I drew tags and his reaction did make the project feel a bit more like a community service.