ASTRO: Visitor to my observatory

Weather was perfect last night. Until 30 mph winds whipped up a
blizzard of blowing snow forcing me to close up. ARGH.

So with nothing to post here's a visitor to the observatory last
November. Taken after sunset on a snowy day. Used wife's Canon S2IS at
max 10x zoom out the upper level window. It has a great lens! He was
about 50 feet away trying to figure out what he was seeing. Their
eyesight is very bad. This was after hunting season and the rut. His
antlers came through fairly unscathed.

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

how big would you estimate that guy was Rick? In the 200lb class?

What a great photo!

rdc

"Rick Johnson" wrote in message
...
Weather was perfect last night. Until 30 mph winds whipped up a
blizzard of blowing snow forcing me to close up. ARGH.

So with nothing to post here's a visitor to the observatory last
November. Taken after sunset on a snowy day. Used wife's Canon S2IS at
max 10x zoom out the upper level window. It has a great lens! He was
about 50 feet away trying to figure out what he was seeing. Their
eyesight is very bad. This was after hunting season and the rut. His
antlers came through fairly unscathed.

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

Not that big.

There was a bigger one but he only had the left antler left. He didn't
fare as well through rut it appears. He was an easy 200 lb. 5 points
on the side that was left. This guy more like 185. We had one three
years ago that was nearly twice his size, 8 points one side 9 the other.
No reports of his being nailed so either he died a natural death or is
still out there someplace. We did find the freeze dried remains of a
young doe in her nest. Not sure if she was wounded, sick or what.
Looked about 2 so doubt it was old age.

We use my black powder shooting range for a handicapped hunter program
run by the DNR. Since deer frequent the area, lots of natural graze, we
can drive a wheel chair bound hunter down there to a shooting position.
Since they have extremely limited arm motion they use soda straw
breath activated gun mounts to aim and fire. A few with finger control
can use a simpler finger control system. They usually settle for a doe.
Bucks are few and far between but does nearly the size of this guy
aren't uncommon. We are severely overpopulated right now. If a disease
hits it would about wipe them all out they are just too packed to
survive. Food isn't the problem, everyone feeds them. Rising corn
prices may change that. Can't hunt where they are fed however so we
don't, but property owners all around do. Normally that too would
invalidate hunting here but this is a special DNR program that only says
the hunted property can't feed them. This year they eased that rules so
even I could hunt my property right next to a neighbors feeding station.
I don't to leave them for the disabled hunters.

Rick


Richard Crisp wrote:

how big would you estimate that guy was Rick? In the 200lb class?

What a great photo!

rdc

"Rick Johnson" wrote in message
...

Weather was perfect last night. Until 30 mph winds whipped up a
blizzard of blowing snow forcing me to close up. ARGH.

So with nothing to post here's a visitor to the observatory last
November. Taken after sunset on a snowy day. Used wife's Canon S2IS at
max 10x zoom out the upper level window. It has a great lens! He was
about 50 feet away trying to figure out what he was seeing. Their
eyesight is very bad. This was after hunting season and the rut. His
antlers came through fairly unscathed.

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

"Rick Johnson" wrote
...

Rick,

Great picture!

It reminds me of the night I was driving home from Kopernik around 2:30 am
and I had to stop and wait for two bucks to fight it out right in the middle
of the road! They wouldn't even give it up when I blew the horn at them!!

Unfortunately it also reminds me of my most expensive night of imaging......
thanks to $800 of 'deer damage' to my Tahoe on the drive home. I know what
you mean about overpopulation with deer. I have a little 'sticky' posted
next to my phone at home titled "deer people" - with the # for the state
office to call to pick up dead deer out of the yard. I need it several times
per year.

We have a beautiful pure white albino deer that visits Kopernik at times.
I'll have to get a picture of her if I can.

George N

George Normandin wrote:

"Rick Johnson" wrote
...

Rick,

Great picture!

It reminds me of the night I was driving home from Kopernik around 2:30 am
and I had to stop and wait for two bucks to fight it out right in the middle
of the road! They wouldn't even give it up when I blew the horn at them!!

Unfortunately it also reminds me of my most expensive night of imaging......
thanks to $800 of 'deer damage' to my Tahoe on the drive home. I know what
you mean about overpopulation with deer. I have a little 'sticky' posted
next to my phone at home titled "deer people" - with the # for the state
office to call to pick up dead deer out of the yard. I need it several times
per year.

We have a beautiful pure white albino deer that visits Kopernik at times.
I'll have to get a picture of her if I can.

George N

In the early 80's when I was working on my Herschel 400 from the
mimeographed pages, before it was a book, it was late October. Rut was
just starting. I turned to go back for another eyepiece, write a note
or something. I don't recall what. When I ran smack into a 4 point
buck who decided I was a threat to his fatherhood. It was a good thing
I had a thick heavy coat on when those antlers struck. Tore the coat to
shreds as well as ripping up my shirt but missed skin. The pain though
was such that dragging that Cave 10" f/5 into the shed after that was
something I never want to experience. Then climbing 30 feet up the hill
with all the maps eyepieces etc. wasn't fun either as each breath was
really bad news. I was sure a few ribs were broke. But only tore some
cartilage. Left me with a strange lump in my chest where that broken
cartilage reattached in the wrong spot. But no broken ribs. A month
later I could sort of breath normally again.

On the car damage issue, the following year, again at the start of rut I
was driving my '72 Plymouth wagon (used to haul that Cave 10" f/8) back
from a general store after dark. When I left, the owner, himself a
drunk, was arguing with a drunk motorcyclist, telling him he'd give him
a free night at the motel, just don't get back on that bike! He was
losing the argument when I left. About a half mile from the store I
came upon two does in the road. Neither would move. I inched up on
them, honked the horn, flashed high beams, nothing would get them to
move. The road goes through a swamp there and there's no shoulder. I
couldn't drive around them as they were nose to nose across the middle
of the road. I was moving up on the one in my lane at about 1 mph
intending to shove it when WHAM I was rear ended hard. That pushed me
into the doe. They both took off down the road (neither were up to a
swim). I got out expecting to see a drunk motorcyclist who'd not turned
on his headlight. Nope, it was a 10 point buck. He broke the rear
window and broke out a tail light. He was struggling to his feet. He
looked drunk like Lee Marvin's horse in Cat Ballou, his front legs were
crossed much the same way. He looked like he wanted to charge me but he
couldn't get his legs to work. Not wanting a second encounter with an
even bigger buck I jumped back in the car leaving my tail light in the
road rather than picking it up. I came back 10 minutes later and the
light was still there in fine shape, no buck however. Just sheared the
mounting screws so an easy fix. Rear window was more expensive. To get
the rear window fixed I had to file an accident report. Cops looked at
me real funny when the accident cause was "Rear ended by a deer."

Don't mess with those boys during the rut! Even in a car.

No one here picks up dead deer except in areas with a known disease
problem. I'm stuck with dealing with it. Most die back in the woods
and bear usually take care of the problem for me. Only that one doe
apparently died in winter when the bears aren't available for cleanup
duty. Most die in the spring. They make it through winter but that's
the end of it. People stop feeding assuming there's plenty of natural
food but there isn't as their systems are used to the wrong food types.
They are forced to eat browse which their systems haven't adjusted to.
They get no nutrients from the dead browse and die of starvation.
Strong ones have enough reserve to get through this period but the older
ones don't. Ground is still frozen so you can' bury them, government
won't help so you hope the bears have awoke and will do their chore.
Being darned hungry they make short work of them. We have lots of
coyote but never seen one on a dead deer.

Rick

On Fri, 07 Mar 2008 19:52:08 -0600, Rick Johnson
wrote:



George Normandin wrote:

"Rick Johnson" wrote
...

Rick,

Great picture!

It reminds me of the night I was driving home from Kopernik around 2:30 am
and I had to stop and wait for two bucks to fight it out right in the middle
of the road! They wouldn't even give it up when I blew the horn at them!!

Unfortunately it also reminds me of my most expensive night of imaging......
thanks to $800 of 'deer damage' to my Tahoe on the drive home. I know what
you mean about overpopulation with deer. I have a little 'sticky' posted
next to my phone at home titled "deer people" - with the # for the state
office to call to pick up dead deer out of the yard. I need it several times
per year.

We have a beautiful pure white albino deer that visits Kopernik at times.
I'll have to get a picture of her if I can.

George N

In the early 80's when I was working on my Herschel 400 from the
mimeographed pages, before it was a book, it was late October. Rut was
just starting. I turned to go back for another eyepiece, write a note
or something. I don't recall what. When I ran smack into a 4 point
buck who decided I was a threat to his fatherhood. It was a good thing
I had a thick heavy coat on when those antlers struck. Tore the coat to
shreds as well as ripping up my shirt but missed skin. The pain though
was such that dragging that Cave 10" f/5 into the shed after that was
something I never want to experience. Then climbing 30 feet up the hill
with all the maps eyepieces etc. wasn't fun either as each breath was
really bad news. I was sure a few ribs were broke. But only tore some
cartilage. Left me with a strange lump in my chest where that broken
cartilage reattached in the wrong spot. But no broken ribs. A month
later I could sort of breath normally again.

On the car damage issue, the following year, again at the start of rut I
was driving my '72 Plymouth wagon (used to haul that Cave 10" f/8) back
from a general store after dark. When I left, the owner, himself a
drunk, was arguing with a drunk motorcyclist, telling him he'd give him
a free night at the motel, just don't get back on that bike! He was
losing the argument when I left. About a half mile from the store I
came upon two does in the road. Neither would move. I inched up on
them, honked the horn, flashed high beams, nothing would get them to
move. The road goes through a swamp there and there's no shoulder. I
couldn't drive around them as they were nose to nose across the middle
of the road. I was moving up on the one in my lane at about 1 mph
intending to shove it when WHAM I was rear ended hard. That pushed me
into the doe. They both took off down the road (neither were up to a
swim). I got out expecting to see a drunk motorcyclist who'd not turned
on his headlight. Nope, it was a 10 point buck. He broke the rear
window and broke out a tail light. He was struggling to his feet. He
looked drunk like Lee Marvin's horse in Cat Ballou, his front legs were
crossed much the same way. He looked like he wanted to charge me but he
couldn't get his legs to work. Not wanting a second encounter with an
even bigger buck I jumped back in the car leaving my tail light in the
road rather than picking it up. I came back 10 minutes later and the
light was still there in fine shape, no buck however. Just sheared the
mounting screws so an easy fix. Rear window was more expensive. To get
the rear window fixed I had to file an accident report. Cops looked at
me real funny when the accident cause was "Rear ended by a deer."

You had to file an accident report to get it fixed?!? Or do you mean
so the insurance would pay for it?
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Peter Hucker wrote:
On Fri, 07 Mar 2008 19:52:08 -0600, Rick Johnson
wrote:



George Normandin wrote:


"Rick Johnson" wrote
...

Rick,

Great picture!

It reminds me of the night I was driving home from Kopernik around 2:30 am
and I had to stop and wait for two bucks to fight it out right in the middle
of the road! They wouldn't even give it up when I blew the horn at them!!

Unfortunately it also reminds me of my most expensive night of imaging......
thanks to $800 of 'deer damage' to my Tahoe on the drive home. I know what
you mean about overpopulation with deer. I have a little 'sticky' posted
next to my phone at home titled "deer people" - with the # for the state
office to call to pick up dead deer out of the yard. I need it several times
per year.

We have a beautiful pure white albino deer that visits Kopernik at times.
I'll have to get a picture of her if I can.

George N

In the early 80's when I was working on my Herschel 400 from the
mimeographed pages, before it was a book, it was late October. Rut was
just starting. I turned to go back for another eyepiece, write a note
or something. I don't recall what. When I ran smack into a 4 point
buck who decided I was a threat to his fatherhood. It was a good thing
I had a thick heavy coat on when those antlers struck. Tore the coat to
shreds as well as ripping up my shirt but missed skin. The pain though
was such that dragging that Cave 10" f/5 into the shed after that was
something I never want to experience. Then climbing 30 feet up the hill
with all the maps eyepieces etc. wasn't fun either as each breath was
really bad news. I was sure a few ribs were broke. But only tore some
cartilage. Left me with a strange lump in my chest where that broken
cartilage reattached in the wrong spot. But no broken ribs. A month
later I could sort of breath normally again.

On the car damage issue, the following year, again at the start of rut I
was driving my '72 Plymouth wagon (used to haul that Cave 10" f/8) back

from a general store after dark. When I left, the owner, himself a

drunk, was arguing with a drunk motorcyclist, telling him he'd give him
a free night at the motel, just don't get back on that bike! He was
losing the argument when I left. About a half mile from the store I
came upon two does in the road. Neither would move. I inched up on
them, honked the horn, flashed high beams, nothing would get them to
move. The road goes through a swamp there and there's no shoulder. I
couldn't drive around them as they were nose to nose across the middle
of the road. I was moving up on the one in my lane at about 1 mph
intending to shove it when WHAM I was rear ended hard. That pushed me
into the doe. They both took off down the road (neither were up to a
swim). I got out expecting to see a drunk motorcyclist who'd not turned
on his headlight. Nope, it was a 10 point buck. He broke the rear
window and broke out a tail light. He was struggling to his feet. He
looked drunk like Lee Marvin's horse in Cat Ballou, his front legs were
crossed much the same way. He looked like he wanted to charge me but he
couldn't get his legs to work. Not wanting a second encounter with an
even bigger buck I jumped back in the car leaving my tail light in the
road rather than picking it up. I came back 10 minutes later and the
light was still there in fine shape, no buck however. Just sheared the
mounting screws so an easy fix. Rear window was more expensive. To get
the rear window fixed I had to file an accident report. Cops looked at
me real funny when the accident cause was "Rear ended by a deer."


You had to file an accident report to get it fixed?!? Or do you mean
so the insurance would pay for it?

I mean to get it fixed. Just as I said. No collision damage to a car
can be fixed by a repair shop without the clearance of the cops that it
wasn't in a hit and run accident. Even rear end damage. I tried to
tell the cops it was a hit and run since the deer wouldn't give me any
ID or insurance info but they didn't buy it. Hit and run is a big
problem here. But this doesn't help any as most such drivers are
driving such junkers they junk it rather than repair it. Cheaper to buy
a new one than fix it. With a zillion square miles of thick woods there
are plenty of places to stick a junker that it won't be found for years.
Loggers eventually find them but rarely report them.

That car was about 15 years old at the time so I didn't have
comprehensive insurance on it. Costs more than the repair. So
insurance wasn't an issue here. Other than the deer had none.

Rick


--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 15:35:10 -0600, Rick Johnson
wrote:



Peter Hucker wrote:
On Fri, 07 Mar 2008 19:52:08 -0600, Rick Johnson
wrote:


drunk, was arguing with a drunk motorcyclist, telling him he'd give him
a free night at the motel, just don't get back on that bike! He was
losing the argument when I left. About a half mile from the store I
came upon two does in the road. Neither would move. I inched up on
them, honked the horn, flashed high beams, nothing would get them to
move. The road goes through a swamp there and there's no shoulder. I
couldn't drive around them as they were nose to nose across the middle
of the road. I was moving up on the one in my lane at about 1 mph
intending to shove it when WHAM I was rear ended hard. That pushed me
into the doe. They both took off down the road (neither were up to a
swim). I got out expecting to see a drunk motorcyclist who'd not turned
on his headlight. Nope, it was a 10 point buck. He broke the rear
window and broke out a tail light. He was struggling to his feet. He
looked drunk like Lee Marvin's horse in Cat Ballou, his front legs were
crossed much the same way. He looked like he wanted to charge me but he
couldn't get his legs to work. Not wanting a second encounter with an
even bigger buck I jumped back in the car leaving my tail light in the
road rather than picking it up. I came back 10 minutes later and the
light was still there in fine shape, no buck however. Just sheared the
mounting screws so an easy fix. Rear window was more expensive. To get
the rear window fixed I had to file an accident report. Cops looked at
me real funny when the accident cause was "Rear ended by a deer."


You had to file an accident report to get it fixed?!? Or do you mean
so the insurance would pay for it?

I mean to get it fixed. Just as I said. No collision damage to a car
can be fixed by a repair shop without the clearance of the cops that it
wasn't in a hit and run accident. Even rear end damage. I tried to
tell the cops it was a hit and run since the deer wouldn't give me any
ID or insurance info but they didn't buy it. Hit and run is a big
problem here. But this doesn't help any as most such drivers are
driving such junkers they junk it rather than repair it. Cheaper to buy
a new one than fix it. With a zillion square miles of thick woods there
are plenty of places to stick a junker that it won't be found for years.
Loggers eventually find them but rarely report them.

That car was about 15 years old at the time so I didn't have
comprehensive insurance on it. Costs more than the repair. So
insurance wasn't an issue here. Other than the deer had none.

Thankfully there are no such laws in the UK.
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