Nothing is wasted …

[David Petersen]

#5058

As noted in another thread, last Monday I killed an elk. Because I had almost walked into a huge bear that same morning on the way in, I decided to hang a game camera over the remains to see what came to visit. The little bull came in a couple of nights later, we could say “to pay his respects.” The second visitors, pictured in the following frame, we there in the week hours this morning. When I arrived midmorning to check the cam I was surprised to find nothing left but one patch of blood in the grass and a small tuft of hair. I had expected a bear had hauled the entire remains off, but what I surprise I got from the cam!

[David Petersen]

#36768

Makes a guy think twice about sneaking around in the near-dark chirping on a cow call.

[Ralph]

#36831

Yea man! That’s plumb scary!!Cool pics though!

[Raymond Coffman]

#36856

Dave –

Interesting that it was Lions rather than a bear!? lions usually do there own killing [ although I know from my own experience they will eat left overs]. where a bear is more likely for a “pick up” meal.

Scout

[Wexbow]

#36868

😯 Awesome pics Dave, but definitely would alert the nocturnal senses! Do you ever hunt cats Dave? I’ve never heard you mention it ❓

[David Petersen]

#37017

Wex — No, I don’t hunt predators, including bears. Having a healthy population of big predators around is a flagship of still-wild land, I don’t see them as competitors, and I feel no need to kill everything that passes in front of me. To each his own, within reason. Grizzlies would be nice too, but I got here 14 months after the last confirmed griz was killed in CO, just a few dozen miles from here. But then, I don’t mind at all that we have zero poisonous snakes at this altitude. 😆

[Etter1]

#37058

David Petersen wrote: Wex — No, I don’t hunt predators, including bears. Having a healthy population of big predators around is a flagship of still-wild land, I don’t see them as competitors, and I feel no need to kill everything that passes in front of me. To each his own, within reason. Grizzlies would be nice too, but I got here 14 months after the last confirmed griz was killed in CO, just a few dozen miles from here. But then, I don’t mind at all that we have zero poisonous snakes at this altitude. 😆

Those pictures are fantastic! But technically, there are no poisonous snakes anywhere:D

[jpcarlson]

#37072

Interesting find Dave. I have a lot of respect for large kitties. You usually don’t see them until they are on top of you and you’re in a tight spot:) I have had a juvenile male cat crouch below my tree stand crouching down with his tail flicking back and forth look straight at me and thinking of jumping up in the tree with me. Unnerving.

Don’t miss the Grizz too bad, they were a real pain when I lived in MT. Not only dangerous to suprise, but hard on the kill cached over night to be packed out the next day.

Good job taking your Wapatti, great meat, awesome animal to hunt!

Jans

[paleoman]

#37093

Wow, that is a thrilling pic. We’ve had a cat or two in Michigan but their litter boxes aren’t common enough to say they’re resident cats:)

[Roger Norris]

#37104

That might be the best trailcam picture ever! I also put my camera of the gut pile from the doe I shot a couple weeks ago. I expcted to get buku pics of coyotes. Wrong. More deer (including a couple bucks) than coyotes.

[William Warren]

#37143

Wow! that is a great pic. I’m OK with Cats so long as they stay in your neck of the woods! 😀

[Charles Ek]

#37669

Excellent trail cam shot – thanks for sharing!

[David Coulter]

#37719

I’m in Eastern PA and I have to say I don’t mind being able to walk around and not be afraid of being eaten. It’s not me so much, but the kids.

Great shots. Nice surprise. Congrats on the elk, too. dwc

[Rogue]

#37770

WOW Dave, I have had a few close encounters with cats, but with three fairly good size cats together is a little spooky. Great reminder that for the most part I am just soft pink meat.LOL

[CareyE]

#37779

On our elk hunt in CO this year, we had two immature cats come into our cow calls. We later found an adult cat dead a few miles away near an area frequented by many horse back riders. I’m betting the cat met its demise at the hands of one of the local packers.

[Etter1]

#39353

We did this at our south ga deer camp a few years ago when I shot a doe in the late season. We also had more pictures of deer just moving through the guts and bones (It’s where we’ve dumped all our deer for years) than anything else. We also had coyotes, a bobcat, red-tailed hawks, and of course black and turkey vultures.

[David Petersen]

#39463

Here is the teddy bear I expected to find in the pics, not that he needs any more calories …

[strait-aero]

#39494

Neat pics,Dave!

[sinawalli]

#21595

Very neat pics!! I have shot deer , and gone back to the kill site less than 10 hours later, and found only bird crap, and a blood stain. Shot a moose once, and the next day, I couldn’t believe how little there was there! Must have been close to a hundred birds in the surrounding trees!

[James Harvey]

#21658

David, coming from a continent where there are no large land predators left, that is pure magic. Thank you for sharing the pics.

[David Petersen]

#21714

Jim from Oz — here you go, then. This kitty is checking the same spring where the big bear butt photo was taken, and only a few dozen yards from where the three lions were eating the remains of an elk I killed last fall while it was standing in that spring. This pic was taken 6-2011, about 2 in the afternoon, a very rare instance of a lion on the hunt in the heat of the day. While I could live and hunt in areas lacking big scary predators, it would be like drinking tea instead of bourbon. But hey, if you want big scary predators in Oz, just go swimming at the local beach! Grizzlies and lions get my apt attention, while black bears just don’t scare me at all. But great white sharks … BRRRR! Something about being eaten by a fish while at the same time drowning is just incomparably scary. 😈

[James Harvey]

#21836

David Petersen wrote: While I could live and hunt in areas lacking big scary predators, it would be like drinking tea instead of bourbon.

Hah, I think there a couple of down to earth species of snakes in Oz that have higher kill counts than your rather glamorous big predators. But they certainly don’t actively hunt us!

Friendly intercontinental banter aside, I can’t help but be jealous. There is a distinct lack of ‘threat’ if you stay away from water around here. Funny given that dehydration probably kills more people than anything on this dry brown land.

David Petersen wrote: But great white sharks … BRRRR! Something about being eaten by a fish while at the same time drowning is just incomparably scary.

My better half is a marine biologist and often reminds me that where I swim you can just about guarantee a ‘man eater’ shark within a kilometre of me. He’s just choosing not to eat me. You can’t help but take a rather fatalistic philosophy when confronted with that. But I haven’t been eaten yet, not even once.

Thanks again for the pics mate. There is something terribly romantic and thrilling about sharing space with genuine predators.

[sinawalli]

#22403

ausjim wrote: [quote=David Petersen]While I could live and hunt in areas lacking big scary predators, it would be like drinking tea instead of bourbon.

Hah, I think there a couple of down to earth species of snakes in Oz that have higher kill counts than your rather glamorous big predators. But they certainly don’t actively hunt us!

Friendly intercontinental banter aside, I can’t help but be jealous. There is a distinct lack of ‘threat’ if you stay away from water around here. Funny given that dehydration probably kills more people than anything on this dry brown land.

David Petersen wrote: But great white sharks … BRRRR! Something about being eaten by a fish while at the same time drowning is just incomparably scary.

My better half is a marine biologist and often reminds me that where I swim you can just about guarantee a ‘man eater’ shark within a kilometre of me. He’s just choosing not to eat me. You can’t help but take a rather fatalistic philosophy when confronted with that. But I haven’t been eaten yet, not even once.

Thanks again for the pics mate. There is something terribly romantic and thrilling about sharing space with genuine predators.

That alone would make me a landlubber!! Lots of small, pint sized critters (snakes,spiders) down under, that can cause a guy a world of grief! To paraphrase a quote in Mr. Peterson’s book “Ghost Grizzly”, “Some of life’s most exciting moments occur when you’re in the middle of the food chain, instead of the top”! Or something along those line!!

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#22407

ausjim wrote: But I haven’t been eaten yet, not even once.

Haha…

[BuckyT]

#22580

Fantastic Pictures!!!

[wolfkill220]

#23269

a few years back shot a deer hit a little far back so gave a little extra time before tracking it .By the time I found it a big tom had already claimed it for his .Thought about shooting it in the end just left him to his lunch .Funny how something like that can be come one of your better hunting memiories.

[Ben M.]

#26824

wolfkill220 wrote: By the time I found it a big tom had already claimed it for his.

Forgive me, I’m not trying to be dense on purpose. In KS a big tom is a turkey, but surely you’re referring to a cougar. Right?

[wolfkill220]

#28602

Yes in my neck of the woods we do call male cougers toms.Nothing like seeing the big cats in the woods .One of these days I will harvest one .

[James Harvey]

#55016

I keep coming back to this thread with the self sadistic purpose of a dieting man walking past a mcdonalds. I am so wildly jealous of predators you guys share your world with.

A few years ago I heard a ranger discuss the growing problem with feral cats in Australia, not just in population but in size. They’re trapping cats a few generations wild from domestic ferals that are as big as cattle dogs. They’re not taking roos yet but will tackle wallabies (similar in size to a big hare I think).

Anyway, my little peanut brain blends this information with a book I read discussing the history of animal domestication that compared the lack of genetic experimentation in cats to the wide variation produced in canines, from lapdogs to Irish Wolfhounds and Neo. Mastiffs. In spite of the turbulent effects introduced animals like cats and foxes have on native populations, I can’t help but hope some ancestor of mine will share a mountain range or a deep creek lined valley with a cat big enough to make him look over his shoulder.

I mean this in the best of spirits, but screw you guys and your wealth in wildlife 😛

[Ben M.]

#55128

Cougars were extirpated from my region generations before I was born, but they’re making a comeback now. (And why not? Plenty of food & space to roam.) Images of them have been caught on a creek where I take my kids to swim; plaster casts of tracks as well. I don’t fear the cougars, but out of caution I don’t let the kids wander from my sight.

[David Petersen]

#55145

Jim — you want predators? OK, here you go …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwv0uCBmvAc

[Brennan Herr]

#55270

Jim,

Read The Tiger by John Vaillant. I just finished it…gives a good perspective of what a predator can do. I wish we had something of their equal here in PA. But I will have to settle on the rumored Mountain lion sightings and hope that one day I have a sighting of my own.

[James Harvey]

#55345

Thanks Dave, the cat wearing the citrus helmet was a worry. Perhaps he was trying to stop aliens from reading his mind? Silly cat, aluminium helmet 😕

Brenn, I just ordered the tiger, and a couple of others. Better be good!

I don’t have a trail cam but I was out scouting some new places the other day and someone started checking me out…

I’m new to the area and I’m not sure exactly what breed of pigeon that is, but there were plenty of wallabies around. Alas native animals are off the list for me, but it looked like good pig country, so I’ll keep looking 😛

[David Petersen]

#55863

Jim — That is an odd bird you have there. Wing and body conformation look like a vulture or raptor, but the face seems wholly owlish. We’re you wearing a rabbit-skin hat? 😆

And no worries about being disappointed with The Tiger. Brennan’s advice is solid. See my review in the new TBM, coming soon. It is quite simply, all things considered, among the very best nonfiction books I’ve ever read. For serious fans of the book, google around for a dvd called “Conflict Tiger” by Sasha Snow. I had to get my copy directly from Sasha in England a while back but I think it’s becoming available online from US sources. Much of the book is based on the film, and the film is every bit as good as the book. And best of all, Brad Pitt has bought film rights to the book so we can expect this amazing story to be around for a while. The nearly twin companion to The Tiger is the classic “Dersu the Trapper” by VK Arseniev, which covers the same landscape, the same tribal people, the tigers, from a hundred years earlier. Don Thomas reviews Dersu in the new issue.

[Wexbow]

#55962

That bird reminds me of our Red Kite which has been re-introduced into Ireland following historic extermination here. Nice pics!

[Ralph]

#56105

Mississippi kite looks similar but no Mississippi in Australia 8)

[Troy Warner]

#56134

ausjim wrote: Thanks Dave, the cat wearing the citrus helmet was a worry. Perhaps he was trying to stop aliens from reading his mind? Silly cat, aluminium helmet 😕

Brenn, I just ordered the tiger, and a couple of others. Better be good!

I don’t have a trail cam but I was out scouting some new places the other day and someone started checking me out…

I’m new to the area and I’m not sure exactly what breed of pigeon that is, but there were plenty of wallabies around. Alas native animals are off the list for me, but it looked like good pig country, so I’ll keep looking 😛

If that’s what pigeon looks like in your world I’d be looking out for the hawks that eat them:shock:

Great picks, thanks.

[Ralph]

#56146

What do feed them in the park? :~}

By the way Jim I watched a very good show about how Sydney handles their fire and water problems. Gotta hand it to them. Good job.

[James Harvey]

#56453

David Petersen wrote: Jim — That is an odd bird you have there. Wing and body conformation look like a vulture or raptor, but the face seems wholly owlish. We’re you wearing a rabbit-skin hat? 😆

I was only wearing my own thinning excuse for a pelt. He was very curious, though, circling me a few times. Maybe he was hoping I was about to keel over and he could have something besides wallaby for dinner 😛

It’s funny all you guys mentioned Kites because my infantile bird watching skills short listed it to a couple of local varieties of the same. Dave, I think the owlish appearance might just be a visual trick in the shot where he’s looking right at the camera. I have some blurry shots of his head side on and he looks more classic hawk/eagle.

Tradhunter, we have a type of eagle here that’s wingspan is longer than I am tall and is known to eat tasty little sheep in lambing season. My photogenic friend above would be maybe half the size of a wedgetail.

R2, fire and drought are part of life down here, I’d hope we’d be halfway decent in our management, but trust me we are far from perfect. The worst drought in my lifetime resulted in kids only a couple hundred kilometres from the coast who were 8,9,10 years old and had never seen rain, only heard or read about it. Now we’ve had a few years straight of seasonal flooding. Farmers can’t catch a break!

[Ralph]

#57288

Hey Jim, speaking of critters, these don’t fly thank goodness, but a dear friend of mine and his family were in Australia last year hunting water buff. His wife filmed their whole escapade. She did rather well with the camera actually. They were using rifles, big’un’s, and those buffalo are big and bigger and huge. Pertaining to the archery business, what do you know about taking them down with trad gear. I’ve read old stories but do you have any personnel experience yet? Plans to? Anyone else with experience? New thread perhaps?

[David Petersen]

#57302

Ralph — our fellow young hunter, Ed Ashby, is rather deeply experienced in the OZ water buff business, and Capes in Africa before that, though his accounts have dwelt more on the tech side than hunting yarns.

[James Harvey]

#57342

R2 wrote: what do you know about taking them down with trad gear. I’ve read old stories but do you have any personnel experience yet? Plans to? Anyone else with experience? New thread perhaps?

Ralph,

I have no experience with them unfortunately. The recreational hunting game in Australia is restricted to private property and I have no contacts in the places they live. There is definitely a buff at the end of one of my many pipedreams though 😛

I read a book just recently by Jay Campbell. He and his wife hunted them successfully. From memory she had a 70# longbow and he had an 80#. Their guide had said a 70# minimum I think. They live exclusively in crocodile country. Hunting them would be a heck of an experience 🙂

[Ralph]

#57801

Thanks! Good luck. There’s dreams and then there’s pipe dreams…..The fun ones :lol::lol:

[James Harvey]

#31292

I just finished reading ‘The Tiger’. I was not disappointed. It was excellent. I want to move to Russia and hunt pigs in the cold. I bought the dvd direct from Sasha Snow. Dersu is next on my ‘to buy’ list.

It was wildly tragic as well, from both the human and tiger perspective. What a great book.

[Etter1]

#32717

Just ordered it. $0.85 in hardcover on amazon. Not too bad!

[Author]

Posts