The Deer Hunter

Note: This post is about deer hunting. If you're philosophically opposed to hunting or squeamish about the subject, please do not read any further.

I got my first deer of the season yesterday. She was a mature, fairly large, white-tailed doe. It was my third outing in several weeks.

This is the third year that I've been hunting and I've killed four deer. I hunt for two major reasons. First, it provides us with meat. Venison is a lean, healthy meat and since I started hunting, we haven't had to buy ground meat or breakfast sausage at the grocery store. Second, it's part of the wildlife management on our property. White-tailed deer are overpopulated in our part of the state. Their large numbers lead to shortages of food for them and causes problems for the environment and habitat as they eat everything they can.

As a certified Master Naturalist, I understand that everything in nature is in delicate balance. Mankind has disrupted that balance and part of our efforts are aimed at restoring it. In the case of white-tailed deer, we've removed or minimized their predators, such as cougars, wolves, and coyotes. We are also taking away the white-tailed deer habitat as our own population grows and our land becomes more developed. This means the deer exist in higher densities than they or the environment are adapted to, leading to problems.

I first went out three weeks ago but didn't shoot anything. I decided to just sit in the blind and observe the deer that came by and get a feel for the situation. In past years, I've shot the first animal I had a chance to, so this time I wanted to do it differently. I saw several deer, both bucks and does and also both the normal tan colored ones and the darker, melanistic variety. I also observed many birds as the day brightened including cardinals, wrens, and some I couldn't identify.

The second time was two weeks ago. I went out with my friend Paul and his son Matt. I was at one blind and Paul and Matt were at a different one about 1/4 mile away. I saw a large, 10 point buck and shot it even though my view was partially obscured by tall grass. That was my big mistake, because I only wounded the animal. Paul and Matt helped me track it for over two hours, but we never found it. I felt bad at having wounded a deer and causing it to be in pain until it died. My consolation was that its death would not be wasted. Even though it would not feed my family, it would provide food for the vultures and coyotes. I kept an eye to the sky that day and for several after, thinking I would see the vultures circling, but never did.

Paul, Matt and I went out again yesterday morning. I got my doe and Paul texted me that they had shot a buck. When I met up with them to review our gains, they told me that Matt had shot the same buck that I wounded!

We're pretty sure it was the same buck, because it was also a 10 point one and it had a wound in the skin over its chest that was about 2 weeks old and was healing over. What are the odds that it was a different deer?

I'm really glad that Matt killed the same deer that I wounded. It closes the event and will help feed Paul's family.

Only Skin Deep?

American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), also known as French mulberry, is a native shrub or small tree, usually growing to about 3-5 feet tall. The seeds and berries provide food for birds, in particular, the Northern Bobwhite. White-tailed deer like the leaves. Native Americans used the root and leaves to make a medicinal tea.

I've read that the berries are sometime white and in both photos you can see that the berries at the branch tip are white, but in this case, I think it's because they're not ripe.

I took these photos, in mid-September, of a single specimen I saw while riding my bike in our development. I've never seen them on our property, and have only seen one other along the road into our neighborhood.

It's easily propagated and requires little care. Mary bought one in a small pot at a plant sale recently held at the San Marcos Nature Center. We're going to try to establish it near our house.

The Other White Meat

The feral pig trap on our property finally caught one!

A pretty big one, actually. My friend Paul, who set up the trap and monitors it, said that Wednesday evening there was a 210 pound boar in it. He quickly sent it to the great wallow in the sky.

To be fair, the trap has caught animals two other times, but they were white-tailed deer. Which is pretty amazing because the deer have to crouch down to enter the cage. It's not tall enough for an adult deer to walk in. I guess they're really hungry or just can't resist the bait corn.

In the photo, the trap is sprung and the doors are closed. You can see the springs that hold the doors shut. The trap is set by propping the doors open with a branch attached to a rope which is tied to the far end of the trap. When the animal enters, it brushes against the rope which pulls the branch out and the doors spring shut.

With this first trapped pig, we've taken a small step forward in controlling their population on our land and minimizing the environmental damage they do.

They're Amanitas?

We went to the Spherical Exhibition reception at the A Smith Gallery in Johnson City last night. It was very well attended and I saw and spoke to quite a few fellow Hill Country Photography Club members. Afterward we saw the Johnson City Lighted Hooves and Wheels parade. It was a fun evening!

One of the HCPC members, Lois Schubert, asked me if I knew what kind of mushrooms were in my photograph, "After the Rain". I told her I'd been trying to identify them without success. She said they were amanitas which are extremely poisonous. She said she's seen yellow ones too. I mentioned that the ones I saw were white because, of course, "After the Rain" is a black and white photograph.

When I got home, I started researching to see if I could pin down exactly what kind of amanitas I saw. Amanita is the name of a genus which contains about 600 species. The genus includes some of the most toxic mushrooms known worldwide. About 95% of all the deaths due to mushroom poisoning are caused by amanitas. Quite a scary group and something you don't want to fool with.

The ones in our backyard might have been Amanita polypyramis. The range is right and they're found among oaks which is where I saw them.

Another possibility is Amanita microlepsis.

Many of the identification guides describe the underside gills and the stalk, which I did not photograph or observe. I'm really careful about mushrooms and didn't even want to touch or disturb them. That means that I may never know for sure what kind of amanita they are, but I'll keep looking.

Call Me Ishmael

Unlike Ahab, I'm not particularly obsessed with this white animal. He didn't bite my leg off and kill my son, so I'm not seeking revenge.

I am, however, very interested in knowing what it is. I've seen a white deer in our neighborhood twice. Once it was quite far from our house, and I saw it as I was driving by. It was right beside the road and didn't move as I passed it. I got a good look at it and it didn't have red eyes, so I don't think it was an albino.

The second time, about 2 1/2 years ago, I saw a white deer right outside of our fence and near our driveway's gate as I was driving home. Luckily, I had my camera in the car, so I got out quietly and slowly. I was afraid if I made a sudden movement or loud noise, it would flee. I managed to get 3 photos and this is the best one. you can see our fence on the right side of the picture.

He seemed curious and was looking right at me. I'm pretty sure it was a young male. If you look closely he has two knobs on his head where his antlers are growing. The photo was taken in March, and that's when white-tailed deer antlers start developing. That's an enticing clue that this is actually a white-tailed deer, but I'm not sure.

White-tailed deer are normally tan, but there is a melanistic, much darker, variant which is quite common in our area.

I don't know if the saw the same animal twice or not, but I lean toward not. I saw them several years apart, but the two individuals I saw were both young. Each time, the deer was alone, yet I've noticed that with white-tailed deer, the young ones and their mothers are always together. The older bucks are typically by themselves.

I mentioned to a friend that I'd seen a white deer and he thought it might be a fallow deer. White is one of the color variants of fallow deer. They are not Texas natives; they're originally from Eurasia, but they have been introduced locally. They are kept on hunting ranches as exotics. Perhaps I've seen escapees.

I'm always on the lookout for the elusive white deer. Perhaps one day, I'll get a good enough look to make a positive identification.

Agarita Spring

This photo of an Agarita (Mahonia trifoliolata) branch was taken in May of this year.

Agarita Spring

This native is a member of the barberry family and is an evergreen shrub about 3 - 6 feet in height. The wood and flowers are a bright yellow and, as you can see, the berries a bright red. It has holly-like leaves, and in fact many people mistake it for a holly. The leaflets are lobed and end in sharp spines.

Agarita is widespread on our property and the flowers are fragrant and quite beautiful, especially in a year of good rain, like this was. The berries put on a great show and jump out as they dot the landscape.

I just learned this year that the berries are edible, so every time I was walking on our property and came across one, I would taste the berries. They are quite sweet when ripe.

One of my fellow Hays County Master Naturalists made agarita jelly this year since the berries were so plentiful. He found a recipe on the Internet and got to work. Here's one recipe I found. He reports that picking the berries can be quite painful. He then read about a different method: spread a canvas or plastic sheet around the bush and then shake it! He was able to gather about 3 pounds an hour with this method. He collected a total of about 5 pounds of berries which resulted in 14 1/2 8-ounce jars of jelly.

I donated a framed print of "Agarita Spring" to the silent auction at the Texas Master Naturalist State Meeting which was held last month in New Braunfels. The silent auction was a great success and raised funds for the state organization. I'm glad I could help.

Spherical Exhibition

Another one of my images was selected for the Spherical exhibition at the A Smith Gallery in Johnson City, Texas. The juror was Carla Ellard who is the Assistant Curator, SW & Mexican Photography Collection, Wittliff Collection at Texas State University in San Marcos.

After the Rain

Please be sure to visit the A Smith Gallery web site and view all the images accepted into Spherical.

The opening reception for Domicile will be on Saturday, November 27th, from 4pm to 7pm. Johnson City's Lighted Hooves and Wheels parade starts at 6:30pm, so you should plan a day trip to view the exhibition and the parade.

"After the Rain" is a photograph of a small set of mushrooms that popped up in our yard after a recent rain. I don't know what kind they are, but as always with mushrooms - if you don't know what they are, then assume they're poisonous.

The largest one was about 5 inches in diameter and they only lasted about 3 days before withering. Mushrooms are fungi and the part we think of as the mushroom is actually the fruiting body of a network of tiny thread-like parts in the soil called mycelium.