Mon- No run, Cough and cold.
Wed- no run. Started antibiotics for bronchitis.
Fri- No run. Still feeling run down and coughing.
Sunday-Showed up to the long run in Jeans and trail shoes. No way I could run the 7.8 mile course twice, much less once. Instead I Hiked 2.75 miles up the trail to photograph my running family as they ran the Lawndale loop, one of my favorite trails. When Al and Anna Meyers, and Cathy came through I decided I could run back down the hill with them. I was glad I came out.

While up there a group of 5 deer fed within 10 yards of me. I snapped a few photos through the brush.

Total for the week: 5.5 miles.

Things have been busy since we moved to a new home in November and most of my hunting gear was put away in the closet.
However an event last night gave me reason to test my sleep system.  I thought this description from an east coast source was amusing….

For the first time since 1638, a total lunar eclipse will be visible from North America on the longest night of the year. That night just happens to be tonight, starting at 1:32 AM, so all you moon-oglers will have to stay up awfully late (or wake up perversely early) to catch it.
The eclipse, in which the Earth’s shadow completely blocks out the moon, will last for a particularly long time tonight–it will start at 1:32 AM (Eastern Time), with the total eclipse beginning at 2:41 AM. (West coasters can do the time zone math themselves, and watch the eclipse in shorts with their movie star neighbors on the beach, or whatever they do out there.)

The total eclipse will last for a whopping 72 minutes, until 3:53 AM, during which the moon will appear to change colors, most noticeably to bright orange-red. But do not be alarmed! The moon is not on fire, functioning as some kind of pagan punishment to celebrate the winter solstice. It’ll be changing colors due to the light filtering through Earth’s atmosphere and reflecting on the moon’s dull surface.

I was able to catch a couple of photos with my Canon S2.  Serious photographers will tell you that the moon is the hardest thing to photograph.  I didn’t have any fancy filters or settings.  The eclipse and clouds did that for me…

Sure enough, the rainclouds that have been rolling through for the last week obscured the moon.  I drifted off to sleep in my 30 degree down sleeping bag from Western Mountaineering, inside the Ptarmigan Bivy Sack.  I slept through most of a rain shower, dry and warm.  No shorts, movie stars or beaches for me.  It was 40 degrees!

What woke me though, was the bright full moon that shone down like a policeman’s flashlight at 1:50 am.  I took the hint and moved along to sleep the rest of the night inside.

 hwqile I’m down at Tejon ranch chasing hogs, I’m gonna let my buddy from Montana, DJ Rankosky tell you all a story complete with pictures, about a couple of bull elk he has gotten to know over the years on his trail cameras:

One of the things I like to do with my trail cams is hike them into some remote basins and set them up on wallows and springs. Obviously I get some pretty neat elk pictures and bear pictures, but I am more surprised at what I don’t get. Not one picture of a lion, lynx, wolverine, or other small carnivores like weasels or martens.

Like I said, I get lots of elk, and two bulls stirred my interest in the summer of 2007, one I dubbed “toad sticker” and the other “thirds”. The “toad sticker” bull had a freakishly long left second tine, it stuck out to the side like a sword. Overall he was a nice six, long main beams but very narrow, not being 36 inches wide. “Thirds” was a nice bull, the big dog in the basin; his third tines were much longer than any other bull I had ever seen in this country. They never showed up together, but “thirds” had a little tag-along rag horn that was always with him. Both bulls played into archery season 2007, but “toad sticker” is the most interesting story.

(more…)

A Roosevelt elk herd North of Orick

Big Daddy was keeping watch.

A Tule elk herd near Laytonville.

Ok.   Here is a look at the big guy…

The grass on the hills is all a golden tan, and only the faintest traces of green grass remains around hillside springs and low lying valleys, in the North Bay Area.  Deer are being concentrated in the evening and mornings on the few places where green feed is still abundant.  In the rural/suburban interface, these are usually lawns and golf courses that are kept green with sprinklers.  Since the Blacktail bucks are still grouped up in bachelor bands, it can make for some great wildlife watching.

At first glance, you might think that the high fence is part of a deer farm, but that is NOT THE CASE.  One of my friends was kind enough to send me these photos of some bucks who were in the city limits at a manufacturing facility.  Goes to show what kind of blacktail genetics are in Sonoma and Marin County. 

I always wondered what made the dogs all start barking in the middle of the night, when we had their kennel out behind our bedroom. it wasn’t until i was out chopping thistles the other day that i discovered the culprits.

A den of foxes has set up shop in the blackberry bushes just 200 yards friom the house. In the evenings the pups come out and roughhouse with one another. I was able to get a few photo’s the other night.

I get a kick out of old hunting photos.  I received a copy of this one from a fella who I work with and did some detective work to figure out who is who in the photo.  The most colorful figure is the big man on the right. Charlie Hall was the stuff legends are made of.  The “Bloomfield Giant”  could out-work, out shoot and out drink nearly anyone who would take him on.

From the LEFT
Chuck Bricker (on the ground looking to his left)
Back row L-R
Frank Bean
Chuck Reeves (boy with no hat)
Paul Martin (John’s dad)
Colby Martin (John’s Uncle)
Marie Roberts
Fletcher Roberts
Gene Steinbeck

Front row L-R
George Reeves
Ken Martin II
Harry Steinbeck
Ken Martin I (John’s Great Uncle)
Kenny Reeves
Billy Steinbeck

Charlie Hall (on the ground on the Right of the picture)
Dog-Jill (Harry Steinbeck’s Turkey herding dog)
Taken in 1962,
at the Steinbeck Ranch on Roblar Rd.

I bought my Canon S2 IS in December of 2005.  Since then I have pretty much taken it everywhere with me.  I’ve taken pictures of family events, critters along the roadside, lots of Sunsets (we get good ones with the fog rolling in the evening).  While on my Alaska trip I noticed that sometimes when I powered it up, I would have a black display in the viewfinder.  It happened again when I was archery hunting on the weekend of August 18th.  I thought it was cold, but when I did some research it seems that this is a common occurrence in Canon Powershots.   Apparently it is (for you techies out there) a fault with the CCD chip connection to the LCD screen.  So common in fact that many models have a free repair advisory.  I was hopeful that was the case for my camera.

After sending my camera to Canon, they sent me an estimate for $127 including shipping.  I reluctantly agreed and authorized the repair.  I should have the camera back in seven business days.  My alternative was a refurbished camera for $175.  So I guess I will take my lumps and get my camera repaired.  I feel empty with out it.