One of our greatest tools as hunters now days is the game camera. I haven't dove off the deep end with high dollar cameras as I have found the more reasonably priced ones do what I want. That said, getting to the lease and going out right off to gather sd cards is exciting. We never know what we will find. Well, that's not entirely true, I know I will have pictures of hogs. I have deleted over two thousand hog pictures this past season. And kept some like the one to the right.

But there is always the excitement of something new or different. Naturally I have the multitude of rabbit pics. Oh, and raccoons. An occasional coyote will wonder by. And obviously there will be some deer. I have shots of does with fawns and alone. As well as the local nubbin buck who hangs with momma. But as I scroll through the pictures back at cam, I am always hoping for something I had never seen before. This year I got it. I showed this to several friends and got several answers. They guessed everything from a chupacabra to a caterpiller on the camera lens. I know it's a wing, however. I just haven't found what kind of bird it belongs to. Any guesses?

I know, you thought I was going to have a big deer . Well, I did! As I was scanning the pictures this guy appeared. It was hard to contain my elation and I quickly dupped this buck "Zachary's Buck". I could have named him "Crabclaw" or "G2" but I wanted my son to get this buck as he has never killed one. Zachary's only holdback to killing this deer was himself. He seen the big 8 only one time. He was out of his stand walking around and a doe walked out in front of him. Then another. Then 4 more deer including the big 8 walked out. As he squatted in the lane he was pegged by the doe and they all ran off before he could manage a shot.

I seen the brute on the weekend before Christmas and ended up taking a shot at him. I must have had a speck of dust in my eye or....... ok, I just flat out missed. "Why were you shooting at Zachary's Buck?" you may be asking. Zachary and I had an understanding on this buck. If one of us sees him, we shoot him. Being on a lease doesn't allow for much sway on letting him walk for a later shot. And if Zachary wasn't at the lease with me he knew I would take the buck if presented the chance.

As you can see, the big 8 made one last appearance on December 31st at 8:40 am. This time, there was no dust in my eye. Zachary had opted to go to a friends house instead of going with me to the lease. I claim to be calm and collected but this fella definitely gave me the fever.

Now don't go feeling bad for Zachary. The season was still a success for him in a different way. He took two hogs this year. Something he has never done. He took a huge boar by belly crawling up on a group and playing the sniper. He downed this beast with a 30.06 and loved doing it. We kept the head and are getting a euro mount for him from it. His grin was one to remember for sure. (sorry for the poor picture quality.)

And he didn't stop there. As we were driving back to camp one day he yelled "PIGS!" and off he went. He had my Ruger .44 Super Blackhawk and wasted no time heading after them. I climbed off my four wheeler and started to unstrap my rifle so I could join him when I heard the loud BOOM! You guessed it, the pig slayer struck again. And just so you know, I am equally as proud of him and those pigs as I would have been if he had taken a deer.

So that leaves Olivia. This year she took her second doe. And yes, once again, it was another perfect shot. Whether it was in the camp, as seen in the foot warmer picture at top, or out in the stand, I had a blast spending time with her. As I do with all my kids. She would spend her time reading but when animals came out she enjoyed watching them. We even sat once and seen how close a small doe would come to the stand. As for her doe, she waited patiently for her shot. There were three all together and they seemed to not want to give a clear shot. But her chance finally came and she took it. Of course afterward she wanted to do her own tracking. And she blood trailed her deer without a problem. That's when it became daddy's turn and he had to drag it out and then skin it.

Well that about sums up our season. I could never cover all the fun we had not just on this one page, but anywhere on here. I love getting my kids into the outdoors. I love that they are growing to be responsible, conservation minded and involved. I spend my time with them so I don't have to spend my time looking for them.

This page wouldn't be complete though without including.....

The Sleeping Hunters!!!

Cute ain't they?

Couldn't put just them out there and not admit I too caught a few Z's. Now bring on turkey season!