Hunting With A Camera Lens

Morning chores were done yesterday in the dark and the rain.

It seems to be this way more mornings than not these days.

I am guessing that eventually that rain will be replaced by snow...

and if that is the case, we are in for a rather white winter!

By nine in the morning, the rain had stopped, so I headed out for a walk

with the dogs in tow.

Actually, they ran ahead and I was in tow.

Grey clouds hung low over our little valley,

as we hiked through the hayfield -

each blade of grass, glistening with jeweled droplets of water.

Oh, how the dogs love an adventure.

The purpose of our walk was to recover the game cameras we had placed by the stream

just a couple weeks ago.

For the dogs, though, it was just an excuse to run and play

and investigate each and every hole that they came upon.

This particular hole is quite an impressive den for some wild animal -

securely dug beneath a pile of tree trunks.

I couldn't help but notice the fungi growing on rotting, fallen trees.

Autumn fungi is not as colorful as what we find

in the spring and summer...

but every bit as interesting.

I would love to learn more about identifying edible mushrooms,

but, it's a tricky hobby... there are so many look-a-likes.

And they say, "there are no old mushroom hunters."

(I am assuming because they die from poisonous mushrooms!)

With three game cameras recovered, we headed home so that I could sort

through the thousands of photos taken.

I found that most of them were the result of reflections on the water - 

trees blowing in the wind, rain drops, snow, and the rushing water of the stream itself.

But there were a few photos of the deer that come to the stream.

I couldn't help but sing the Limbo Song when I looked at these photos...

There were a good number of buck crossing the stream...

some lovely antlers...

I often get requests to hunt our land.

Of course I decline them.

So much of the land around us is used for hunting.

I like to have our land be a safe zone for these beautiful creatures.

Me?  I'll do my hunting with a camera lens.