That is one thing we don't have here yet is rabbits. Previous tenants of ours let a couple go in the vacant property next door but they didn't last long.
Uhh ohhh, his time is now limited. The pointer was nibbling on my rose bushes that were starting to leaf out due to the warm weather and rain as well as some variegated vinca. But, sine he might be one of the back up deer for Santa, I decided to let him pass one more time. After all, it is Christmas Eve. The next picture I show will be of his demise. He comes into the frame at 15 seconds. Oh, and have a Merry Christmas everyone!
BTW, the buck showed up two additional times but was not behaving himself. He kept sampling my surviving roses, once on Christmas Eve ,so I let him pass, and on the 28th, yesterday, in the wee hours, so I let him pass again. But when I was out assessing the damage after 7:00am, he was still hanging around. Too bad for him. I took aim at 7:35:35am and pulled the trigger at 7:35:42am. He is now resting in pieces in my refrigerator. I did post the kill in the game room with video's of the violations and pictures of him before being skinned. The kill shot was at between 16 and 17 yards, closer to 17, from my front porch.
Lot's of different ideas and interesting stuff to ponder. I no longer hunt but used to do quite a bit of deer and moose hunting. Around here the country is rugged large hills and lakes and very few or little if any low swampy areas. The deer are hardwood animals and all are excellent table fare no matter what. Just 30 miles away on St. Joe's island there are huge cedar swamp areas. the meat from those areas are stronger tasting and can be down right rank. If shooting one there a head shot would be best if it were standing and undisturbed. Hardly any of them are. Handling as soon as killed and keeping it clean and so forth are key also. Rightly or wrongly I have just assumed the stuff they eat determines the how the meat tastes everything else being equal. Maybe the deer around farms are the best of all? Moose are a bit more of a challenge as they hold heat a long time. We quartered and hung to cool as soon as possible. even then some of the old bulls were ground meat and sausage. Dry cows were best.
