L A BOTA RANCH WHITE-TAILED DEER UPDATE (November 19, 2014): Drove to the north fence line at La Bota Ranch, arriving at 3:20 p.m. It was clear, sunny, and cool. N.W.S. radio indicated a 3:00 p.m. temperature of 71°F, humidity 47%, and a south wind at 13 mph gusting to 18 mph. I drove straight to Sombreretillo Creek. The water in the tinaja with the Rio Grande Leopard frogs was low, and I saw only one frog. I’ll replenish the water tomorrow. It was very quiet except for a few birds singing. I left the area at 3:42 p.m. I drove to the West Meadow in the western sector of the ranch, arriving at 3:50 p.m. I parked the truck at the base of the Northwest ridge. The Herd had not been fed and was scattered across the pasture. With binoculars I saw “Abel,” “Achilles,” “Antares,” and “Bucky,” as well as Axis hind “Alexa.” “Abel” came trotting up to the truck – where is his buddy “Orion” today? I set up the E-M1 camera, 150mm f2.0 lens, and the Libec tripod and carried the gear and a bucket of corn up to the Northwest Ridge. “Orion” appeared as soon as I got up on the ridge. With the E-M5 camera I took a video in which I fed both “Abel” and “Orion” some corn by hand from a small metal pail. White-Tailed doe “Sheila” appeared on the ridge, as did lots of other does. It was a perfect day, but the only bucks that came up were “Abel,” “Achilles,” and “Orion” in addition to the does and a few other small bucks. I fed “Sheila” some corn by hand from the small pail. As I did so, I saw a buck coming up to take over and paid it no mind thinking it was “Abel” doing his usual routine. But I realized that it was “Achilles” that had displaced “Sheila” and was now feeding from the pail of corn I was holding! This was the first time I have fed “Achilles” by hand! Afterwards I took a few wide-angle handheld photos of “Abel” as I fed him. Late in the afternoon “Antares” made his way up to the ridge, as did handicapped little buck “Clyde.” Antares briefly used the licking branch, then “Orion” moved in to use it. He subsequently scraped and urinated beneath the branch. With the E-M5 camera I took a few handheld photos of scrape marks and urine spots in the soil made by “Orion.” At 4:48 p.m. with binoculars I saw “Eridanus” and “Max” in the West Meadow. White-Tailed does “Libby” and “Zorya” appeared on the Northwest Ridge. At 4:50 p.m. “Freddie” appeared out of the brush to the northwest. He made a bee-line toward me and I gave him some corn. Meanwhile, “Abel” used a licking branch just a few feet away from me, then scraped. He then moved to an adjacent branch which he scented, then smelled the urine deposited by “Orion” in the soil immediately underneath the branch. At 5:00 p.m. “Eridanus” made it up to the ridge. At 5:02 p.m. “Libby” approached me and repeatedly sniffed my head! She never had done that before. With binoculars at 5:03 p.m. I saw WT buck “Spikey” at the east edge of the pasture. One minute later “Hyperion” appeared behind him; both came over the east levee. Very late in the afternoon large WT buck “Bucky” appeared on the Northwest Ridge. Soon afterwards “Spikey” also came up. Both now appear to be rivals, and both of them demonstrated hackled fur and aggressive behavior toward one another. “Bucky” hackled his fur and tucked in his tail and walked within 10 yards of me in the clearing at the top of the ridge. That was an uncomfortably close encounter with such a large, pissed-off buck. During my photo session I experienced lots of spoilers and missed opportunities. The lighting was very good this afternoon. I did get some very good photos of “Spikey” using a licking branch. He scraped and urinated underneath the branch several times. I terminated the photo session at 5:35 p.m. due to poor lighting. I poured a long line of corn across the clearing for the WTD that had made it up to the ridge today. I packed up my camera gear and drove down to the feed bins in the West Meadow at 5:50 p.m. The Northwest Ridge had a smell like cattle this afternoon. At 5:57 p.m. I poured J.B. mix + 1x A.M. mix into the troughs. At 6:00 p.m. I saw Axis hind “Alexa” feeding at trough 1. There were a few bothersome mosquitoes. At 6:33 p.m. I saw the bright star “Capella” twinkling through the boughs of the large Afghanistan pines on the east levee. At the same moment a raccoon walked by within 5’ of me in the darkness! At 6:37 p.m. I checked the troughs and only a very small amount of feed remained. A raccoon was seen feeding on trough 1 so I did not approach it. I scanned the pasture several times looking for WT bucks “Omega” and “Stumpy,” but did not see them. I finally departed the West Meadow at 6:43 p.m.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 01:43:13 +0000
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