Barry Willis

This is a long story as I am sure some you know I am not very good at making them short, LOL. I hope I do not bore to death those who chose to read it. This is a mule deer I had been taking pics of off and on from September to November. The third Saturday of the following January I was to enter a wildlife photo contest that I had won several years in a row. I was not really happy with my pics so at first light, the very day of the contest I headed back out to see if I could get some better ones. I was walking to the area where I figured he would be and there he was and a bunch of does. The other times I had photographed him, I had to go very slow but he would let me get close to him (I did not have a zoom lens just a 2x adapter) He would give me the most evil look, I could see it in his eyes and facial expression so I called him Malsum, the devil deer. Any way he was just about to have his breakfast of poplar leaves and twigs and then he spotted me. stopped browsing and stepped forward and just glared at me with that devilish look. After a few seconds he charged. I had no where to go as I was out in the open so I started taking pictures which was not easy with a 35mm manual focus camera in mere seconds. Every step he took he was purposefully throwing up dirt into the air with his hooves, head down and I am thinking this guy is serious and this is it. It still boggles my mind the things that went through it in such a short time. The main one being well when they find me and develop the film they will know what happened to me. Even though I was in good shape there would be no way of holding him back, it would have taken a half dozen Hulk Hogans to do that. I did not move, I held my ground and just kept shooting, there was nothing else I could do. When he got just a few feet away he stopped, thank god, looked at me, and then to the east as much to say good morning, I am just lookin to see what is over there. We stood there like that for a few seconds and I slowly started backing away, tripped over a rock and fell flat on my back so I was expecting another charge as he would see me in a vulnerable position but he never moved. I turned around watching him over my shoulder. After about half a km I reached the bush and he was still standing there watching me. Went to the photo shop to develop my film. Any way I entered the complete series and won the contest LOL. I went back in the spring to look for his antlers and not a sign of him or the does, they had obviously moved on to a better food source which I never did find. Any way I walked away with a story that few will ever get to tell and the pics to prove it, and the pics suck as I had to take a picture of the picture from the 35mm. Whew, this is a long one. A few more pics of him at the end.

Good morning, man I am feeling sorry for the rabbits LOL. It will be great fun. I used to rabbit hunt with some very awesome hounds all the time back there. Jack rabbits were a blast. I used a 22 magnum for them, love that caliber. After a while they would head across country, we would drive around trying to head them off but it rarely happened as the hounds would be well behind the rabbit making it difficult to determine where the rabbit was. Unfortunately at times we would not find the dogs until the following day, they loved what they were doing and were very devoted to it. The trail cam in the middle of your pic appears to be the same as mine just a different color. Mine is a T70. It was on Kijiji brand new in the box for $60 and I got for $40 and he delivered it right to the door. I have not tried the mini ones yet but have been thinking about it as you mentioned they are affordable and easier to conceal which are both important to me. Thanks for sharing the info about them to me, I just was not sure about them. Good luck to the kids and their rabbit hunt. Wish I was there, it has been a spell. I am going to try and find my wild boar skull today and post a pick of it. I think you will like it. He was a big old bruiser.

I also have a Spypoint which I have had nothing but trouble with and a Stealth Cam which takes the most horrible pics and videos I have ever seen. JUNK. They are going in the recycling bin tomorrow morning. I never should have posted that pic of the lynnx as it sucks for some reason and does not do justice for my boasting about Bushnell but that was the only pic the forum would allow me to post for some reason, so I left it there being the critter it is for Doug to see. Bushnell also have a incredible battery saver. And speaking of batteries as much as I swear by Duracell I got a bad batch a while back, and Duracell claims they have a 12 year shelf life. I had a new camera in the yard just to test it and every two days I was having to replace the batteries. They were dated for 2035. First time in 20 years, so I guess I can not complain. There is good and bad in every thing from batteries to vehicles. One trail cam I must make mention of that I am very impressed with especially for the price is Campark, this thing blows my mind, pics, video and unbelievable audio. It picks up, and very clearly, peoples voices having a normal conversation 40 yards away.

Hi Doug, I appreciate the porcupine theory but having used this trail cam for so long it's just too big. Tomorrow I'm going to send them to one of my Game Warden buddy's as they have the technology to clean the pic up and determine what it actually is. I'm not gonna rest until I know LOL. I have eight trail cams now, two Bushnell and the rest are different brands from Amazon which some are in the bush as we converse. So I'll see. My first Bushnell I bought probably well over ten years ago at Bass Pro for $300:00 takes incredible pics still to this day, then I got another Bushnell, and that is the one I've been posting pics from. I've had others brands in the past that I won't even take out of the house. Bushnell have been the best. There is a new Bushnell I wish I could afford, almost $400 bucks but on the other hand the ones I have do every thing I want them to. My biggest concern with the four I have in the bush right now is as of Saturday, if the batteries (Duracell which from experience I swear by for my cams) will last until the end of January as video eats them up pretty quick. I don't have any with the cell ph. app so at the end of each month when I get my measly old age pension I go up and swap cards and batteries if needed. And I love being there, it's the 90 minute one way boring drive that sucks. This was taken with my old Bushnell, I tried posting a couple more but the forum wouldn't pull them up. As you can see I sometimes put bait in front of the cam to attract more critters for more pics, and it fills their belly to help them through the winter. I had quite a variety out there this time with a lot of scrap meat which kinda back fired on me as the camera took over 11:500 pics of ravens getting their fill. Haha.

Good going guys, I pigged out on venison smokies which I actually put in the smoker. I look and feel like a stuffed pig. Time for bed. 11:25 pm here. All the best in the new year to you all.

Hey Doug, I've been thinking about you for the last few days, long time no hear from. No offence and I appreciate your input but too big for a wolverine. I managed a hog farm in Ontario before we moved to Alberta and the, to me at least, the body proportions look correct.

Thank you very much. Having trail cams out yourself I'm sure you can relate, In this case I wish this cam had a flash like they used to rather than infared as things become distorted with infared if the subject is in motion It' too big to be a coyote and I know it isn't a wolf. One thing I should have mentioned earlier is that the pics of all the tracks are only a week old as there was a snow fall so that's a lot of activity in a week. I can't wait to see what's on the trail cams. Should be lots. It wouldn't take much to talk me into to going back up to day and check to see what's on them LOL.

I totally agree TJQ, now that I'm a little more awake, that trip yesterday took it's toll on me. After closer inspection it looks more like a wild pig. there isn't the hair on it's legs like it should have this time of year and the back and tail aren't right. Even though we've had a mild winter they should be hibernating. I wish it had been a pic during daylight hours. I didn't want to but I pulled my camera out of there because I found signs of deer poaching. So if they will do that I'm sure they will find a way to steel my camera if they come across it.

I was too dang tired last night after my trip to do this but here's a few more pics that I hope some of you enjoy. One infared of what appears to be a wild boar or a black bear, it's kinda hard to tell. I harvested a very big wild boar five years ago in northern Alberta. Over 400lbs of him. They are a real problem, destroying farmers crops etc. Having been around horses most my life (and I expect this may be boring for some as I know it's not every ones cup of tea) this is the the most beautiful one I have ever seen and his buddy, a beautiful appaloosa with nice dapples. I expect it was maybe a wild horse at one time from the area, as some of the ranchers do capture and break them and they turn out to be the best of the best. That's what I ride. Just to give you an idea of the abundance of the critters, some pics of game trails where I hung my cameras, the whole area for miles and miles in the foothills looks like this, deer moose and God only knows what else, but I'm about to find out LOL. With that much activity I should have lots, I set my cameras for pics and video. If I can find my wild boar skull I will post a pic of it, it's worth a gander, it has tusks that could rip a man to pieces.

31 days, pics of a couple dandy whitetail bucks, unfortunately none of the big guy, and some smaller ones that to me, the pics look to nice not to include, and a couple mule deer. Bigger and better to come at the end of January. As of today, four more trail cams in the bush.

Looks as though you had some jolly old play time indeed. What a nice catch. And you said you are going to fry up a big scoff of them when? There's some nice sweet eating there. Thanks for sharing Bigugli, Santa's elf. By the way where's the snow? Merry Christmas.

Thank you very much every body, It is very Heart felt. I love it. Christmas has always been a very special time for my family and myself for as far back as I can remember. It sure isn't the same though without my boy Trooper. He loved it. Dog's are no different than us, they like new toys too. Stumbling across the Ontario Fishing Community has been one of the best things that has happened to me in long time. I've met some very nice folks on here and continue to do so. That picture of me and my petrified friend to the left with bear spray at the ready wasn't supposed to be on here. I'm not sure what I did wrong this time LOL. Thank you, so long for now.

Just a few old trail cam pics. I didn't manage to capture any of Santa's rein deer as I'm too far south and the wrong time of the year and my computer as usual isn't letting me post the pics I want. Any way Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a super new year.

To quote Bob Dylan. Times are a changing.

I'd be rattled to, a nice temperature to be out on the water.

Hey Rick, she missed this old fart, maybe she's been reading my mail and realized I'm over 3000 km to the west HAHA.

We've had dogs in the past that I loved dearly but there was something different between Troopy and I. a special kind of Bond that we had. I always stop and say hi to other dogs as well, always have even when I walked him as he loved other dogs and especially people. Great Pyrenes were bred to protect animals and people especially the young little ones. Funny you mentioned that she (sorry, I thought it was a boy) could hear a cheese wrapper a kilometer away, he was the same way especially when it came to cheese. He thought he should have a treat every five minutes, he didn't get one but he got his fair share. I'm not sure we will get another dog. we're getting up in years and in all fairness to the dog if it out lives us I don't want it to feel as though we've abandoned it. Thank you very much for the kind and very nice letter. Take care my Friend and Merry Christmas.

Thank you very much, I'm very sorry you lost yours as well. He was a very handsome guy. It's the hardest thing to go through. I still can't believe he's gone. I am still constantly looking for him in the house and out in the yard.

I under stand this is a far cry from Ontario's weather as I lived there for over twenty years (born and raised) and now live about 3000 km west and north in Calgary, I believe it was around 1984 we had a chinook wind on Christmas day and on the way to visit my wife's sister and family I had the air conditioning on in the old Dodge as it was in the mid to high 20's. On the other hand I've seen the high ways shut down the month of July in and around Calgary due to blizzards. We never know what to expect from one season to the next out here.

Well I hope you do get some snow before it gets cold and set your mind at ease in regards to your pipes freezing. It's the best insulation there is. I just dug my carrots on Tuesday before this snow came and dug my potatoes two weeks before that which is unheard of this late in the year as the ground is usually frozen hard as concrete. This is actually our second big snow fall but I kept my garden covered with tarps so the soil didn't get saturated with moisture. I'm not very fond of the snow either especially since I can't get my snow blower to start LOL. 30, 40 years ago I loved it, couldn't get enough of it.

Not in my neck of the woods. This started Wednesday afternoon and didn't stop until last night. -15 this morning. Over 30 cm of snow on the lakes I want to get out on. Now all this snow is going to keep the ice from building up as quick as I would like. Oh well, tis the season I guess.

Thank you very much and my sincere condolences on your loss of your Roxanna. She looks like a sweetheart that loves dad. Our boy before Trooper - Farley, shepherd lab and golden was with us for 17.5 years. Trooper wasn't even quite seven years old and appeared to be healthy as a horse, there was a very special bond between the two of us. Thank you and so long for now.

It come as no surprise, as usual the grubs look awesome. Them are some very nice perch.

One of my friends had one back in day, I do not recall the year but it would have been early to mid 70s with the torpedo back. Same as Crowmans Dads it had a 455 big block four barrel. It was gorgeous inside and out, Leather interior of course. He was limited as to how often he could drive it because of the gas consumption. I had a 1987 Buick Somerset coupe. Everything was digital including the speedometer which actually blew my mind for the year.

I just stumbled across this. Man, what a shame. You were pi$$ed off for good reason. My wife and I have always been partial to Buicks. Same as a Cadillac without the Cadillac price tag. My wife says her next SUV is going to be a Buick.