I've missed very few hunting seasons since I began tagging along behind my Dad when I was 12 years old or so. I did however miss many school days that happened to align with Nova Scotia's opening of big game season, but that's a whole other story !

The only season I remember missing most of was when my Dad was sick and in the hospital and subsequently passed away during the open season for bear and deer.

When I did finally get out for a little whitetail hunt I was fortunate enough to take a chunky little buck with my bow of the day, a Marten Hatfield Recurve. The shot was perfect as was the recovery and meals we dined on throughout the winter.

It was the first critter I had taken without sharing the story with my father. So it was an odd mixture of emotions. But in the balancing act...in the end it was a great day doing what we all love to do.

The only thing I didn't do was ensure I had a nice picture to remember the day by (pic posted). That in itself is not a big deal, but I own very few mounts, the few I did have I have given away for the most part. Pictures are my method of choice when I want to take a little trip down memory lane.

If you are a picture lover as I am....it only takes a minute to grab some decent pictures. Fancy cameras and skills aside, anyone can take a great pictures these days with minimal computer/editing skills. However, I think even the most talented photo manipulator will admit that it's best to start with a good field picture in the first place.

One tidbit of advice would be to take more than you think you will need ! Its easy to delete them after the fact but tough to get them once the critter has been processed and put in the deep freeze.

'One tidbit of advice would be to take more than you think you will need !' Good, no, great advice! I am extremely in tune with this concept, because usually you only get one or two really good ones out of the whole lot taken of any particular subject or event at that moment. I have WAY too many pictures, and I don't delete enough of them, just ask my wife! :) She makes darn sure I delete the ones of her she doesn't like though. :) I have a ziplock bag with a whole bunch of SD cards full of pictures, many of which no one but me would be able to appreciate. I like to share them as well. TK

I usually don't take the time to do it but I ALWAYS have a roll of electric tape with me & iv taped my phone to an arrow & used voice commands to take pics when alone

I love taking pictures my grandkids love to go thru them

I am afflicted with "Photoitis"...I enjoy seeing them from others as well...4finger

Excellent advice. I thought when I was a young man there was no need to take a picture, I have one in my mind. My mind set was,( Hell I was there why would I need a picture).

Now when I look out at the chicken coop with whitetail antlers hanging all over the place and catch myself trying to remember where each one was harvested and the story behind it I dearly wish I would have taken a minute and snapped a few photos of each as well as written a little description of the hunt to jog my memory that seems to be a little more out of focus as time goes by.

I have hunted successfully for Elk, whitetails, Mule deer and have taken almost all types of game birds available in the CONUS from Pheasant, Sharp tail, Sage grouse, Hungarian partridge, Bob white quail, Ruffed Grouse, Prairie Chicken, Blue Grouse and others.I also collected a many species of Geese and Ducks along the way.

I never had any taxidermy work done on any of the game I harvested and if forced to could only produce eight or ten pictures taken of any game in the first 30 years of my hunting career.

The last few years I have started snapping a few pictures as I know now that the pictures in my head will fade with time but can be restored to full color with a glance at a simple photo.

Take a minute as the OP suggests and make a memory that will last you a lifetime and your family well beyond. Good Day

Cell phones have a couple of problems - no tripod attachment and no 10 second delay. I always have my camera and almost always take pictures of the animal. I've neglected does and that's a shame. There's only a couple.

I've heard when you get older you look at yourself in a picture with an animal and think I can't remember that one.

Also a good idea to keep a log. My mentor got me to do it. Date followed by location, species, bow, arrow, broadhead, shot distance, and score if book. All numbered. Very nice to go back and look it over.

Bowmania

They don't always have to be Dead Critter Memories Either :)...4finger

Totally agree with BEA . . . I am almost O.C.D. when it comes to taking photos & video of my outings whether it be hunting or fishing. I was fortunate enough to have a Father that also took a lot of photos ( albeit some were not that good considering the camera he had ) & I have photos of the first Trout I caught, the first Deer I harvested, etc.. I have albums full of photos & today make Snapfish albums & DVS's of each of my trips. I really enjoy looking back & recalling the events of those trips. Hopefully someday my Grandchildren will be able to view these photos & videos & know who there Grandad " really was ". It is not always the ' trophy ' photo either that ends up being the favorite photo of the trip.

"Cell phones have a couple of problems - no tripod attachment and no 10 second delay"

wait.....every phone ive ever had was capable of a 10 second delay on the camera.

im a picture taker myself, i have thousands of pictures on my computer, like was said,it only takes a minute.

Totally agree 6BLOODYCHUNKS

Well, some of us, believe it or not do not have cell phones/smart phones with all the gadgets, so we do something weird. We carry a camera. Strange eh? I have several but the one I carry most is just a bit bigger than a cigarette pack and takes wonderful photos. It also has an SD card storage capability and takes AA batteries. I've taken some great photos with it and it's always with me. You can aways find a place to sit it if you want yourself in the photo.

i carry both :)

besides my phone i carry a casio exilim digital,

its more than 10 years old but takes incredible pictures, and even has a setting that lets me prerecord 40 stills a second, which allows me to take pictures of lightning :)

yes,im a picture-oholic LOL

Some of us take pictures when something in nature strikes our fancy, but not 'kill pics'. We can't help but see the taking, keeping, and flaunting of pictures of animal corpses as gruesome, bizzare, and disrespectful... not unlike it would be to take pictures of recently deceased family members. You guys do that too? You know, to respect them and jog your memories? Yeah, I thought not. Jes sayin.

Pictures like those above? Perfect. I love em.

GS you made a statement that ou don't take pictures of your kills which is now besides my cell is the cheapest you can get and it takes pictures with a delay!

I never had a camera till I got a cell phone. It's one of the things I like best about having a phone. I take pictures of everything. From stuff I'm taking apart to paperwork I need to remember. From planting crops in the spring to harvesting them in the fall. From sunny days to flooded muddy fields. Sunrises, sunsets the moon over the lake. The first star of the night. Of course people. Animals everything. Love looking at them whenever I like.

I should probably figure out how to attach a description to them. Remember some day after your gone or don't remember someone else might look at them. My mom had a drawer full of pictures. Most don't have a description on them and I wonder who they are. Or where they were taken.

Bjrogg

Jeff I have to ask if that is how you feel why do you hunt at all. Why not just hunt with a camera.

My wife was a picture taking nut. Back in the day she got every roll printed. Thousands of photo's were taken and she took advantage of every double copy that was offered. I just spent 3 days going thru and separating photo's last week so I could pass them out to folks.

What I wouldn't give to have her take my picture today.

My issue is similar to Bea's. I have taken very few photos over the years. Just never took the time to do so and now I sorely regret that. I love to view pictures of others. Trapper, I have thoroughly enjoyed your pictures as well as the pictures of George's roves and some of his videos he has posted. Seems my photos are rather bland and lack imagination. I have enjoyed seeing the photos of the hunting areas across the nation and I have wanted to take some of my hunting area to post. West Texas terrain may be pretty foreign to a lot of the folks on this site but when I look at my own, the seem pretty boring. Maybe this will be a good New Year's resolution for me. Take more and more creative pictures.

It pays to have a camera on you if it's a cell phone camera or a regular camera. Here is a picture I took of a small buck I let walk with my cell phone camera out of my ground blind last year.

Picture I took of a spike buck with my cell phone this year.

My treestand buddy.

It's a mixed bag. Going back to the late 1950's my dad, a prolific bowhunter, also took lots of photos with his 35 mm Argus viewfinder camera btween sits, in the camp, in the cabin, at roadside picnic spots, etc. They are a treasured part of our family story. I am awful about never pulling out my camera, frequently I put it in the hands of a niece or nephew and turn them into the camera man. This past fall, while sitting on the ground, I has many does, fawns and young bucks very close to me, turkeys surrounding me twice, a chipmunk scold me from atop my boot and a black-capped chickadee roost in the top of my Irish wool hat. None of that would have happened if I'd been moving around trying to take their photos.

You are so correct. Back mid 80s I was really getting into taking critters with my bow but never took pics. My dad said take a picture so we all can be part of your hunt. I always did from that point on. What memories. Miss you dad and mom

Nemo, I do hunt with a camera sometimes, but hunt with weapons to eat critters because they're prey, and yummy, and doing so feels natural. On the other hand, taking pictures of their corpses doesn't feel right. Prey animals aren't trophies to be attained, and I don't see myself as much different from any other natural predator. I don't take or show off pictures of them, bother to tell others when it happens, or try to convince them that the animals' demise came about because I'm special, or because I'm especially proud of what I did. The predator/prey thing happens millions, probably billions of times Every. Single. Day. Every moment, more things die and are eaten... without kill pics... without pride, conceit, or prejudice... or sorrow... or shame... or fanfare... as it should be.

Yep I agree Yeller. I have a picture of the first buck I killed with a bow back in 1973. Me and my Dad are in the picture. My Dad passed away two years later. I also have a picture from 1994 of me and my brother with the bucks we killed, the only year me and my brother killed bucks on the same day only one hour apart. My brother passed away in 2002. Them pictures are my prize possessions.

JD taken pictures of corpses don't feel right ?????

Jeff your entitled to your opinion just like everyone else is entitled to theirs. Myself I take pictures of live animals and animals I've killed with my bow and I don't feel that's disrespecting them.

4Finger, great photo of the ram. I am sure that took some effort to get that shot. Very nice.

Thanks Tom...I enjoy seeing and taking pictures of and sharing photos of Live-Dead-Cooked-Wearing Clothing-Items made from Hides/Claws/Antlers etc.-Recreating and hung on the Wall-and Keeping/Sharing the Memories...I try to use them ALL Up...and I don't feel that is disrespecting them...4finger

some great pics and replies!

Love the pictures.

I can understand and respect Jeff's feelings, but I have to say I'm in the same camp as 4FINGER on this one. Like I posted earlier. I take pictures of everything. I do prefer the live animal pictures over the deceased ones. But I don't find them morbid or disrespectful. Although I have seen some I would have done differently.

This might sound a bit strange. As for the taking pictures of deceased loved ones. I've never done it. I have often thought it would be nice to have a video of my Mom's funeral Mass. She was a very special lady. I miss her still. She fought a difficult fight with total faith in the Lord. When she knew her battle was soon to be over she took care of all her funeral arrangements. She picked all her favorite hymns and readings. Who she wanted to sing them. The church was filled past its capacity. It was honestly beautiful.

I think like most any pictures it has a lot to do with the way the pictures are taken. I find some of the pictures that effect me the deepest are actually battle field pictures. I feel some of these pictures respect those soldiers who gave everything in a way nothing else ever could.

Bjrogg

Here's to another sunrise and a new day.

Bjrogg

We are a combination of what we have experienced with our senses and how are mind has chosen to record those experiences. What we have seen,heard,smelled,touched and tasted makes us who we are.

Memories are lost throughout our lives. Think about it, do you remember the third day of kindergarten. No you don't because there is no value in that memory for you. By the time second grade arrived that memory was replaced.

You do remember the first animal you killed because that was a life changing moment. That was the day you were no longer a child but a hunter and were expected from that point on to be responsible for your actions. No more falling back under Moms apron strings and claiming childhood innocence as an excuse for our behavior.

If a picture allows someone to recall an experience where a memory was created that is a gift beyond priceless. We are all loosing our minds whether we choose to believe it or not is up to each of us but it is happening to all of us. Some quickly some slowly but it is happening to us all.

If you have an opportunity to take an old friend or family member back out into the fields or woods by showing them a few pictures you have stashed somewhere please take the time this holiday season to take them on that trip.

Their legs may not be able to carry them anymore but their mind just might be able to get back their one more time. The pleasure of taking an older hunter back to the woods and letting them recount an adventure is something to be cherished. Don't fuss if they get a few of the details mixed up as they tell the story of the original hunt, let them recall it as they remember it, no harm no foul.

My Father and his hunting partner had driven straight through from Michigan to Montana in a six cylinder Ford pickup to hunt game birds in 1976. The locals told him over and over again, "nobody drives from Michigan to Montana to hunt chickens", as they gave him permission to hunt and suggestions where various species might be found.

I buried my father this year in March and yes Jeff I did take a picture of him in his cowboy shirt laying in his bed when he passed. Enjoy the time you have here on this earth and try to bring some joy to those around you, they will feel good and you will feel better.

I found a envelope today my father sent me from Lewistown Montana on October 27, 1976. There was no letter inside the envelope only feathers. Each night while cleaning birds he would pluck out some feathers and put them in an envelope and send them to me.

My job was to go to the library and figure out what kind of bird the feathers came from. I couldn't wait for the mail to arrive each day and start my adventure. See if you can identify what bird these came from. Good Day

Thanks for sharing that picture and memories D31. I'm guessing he remembered everyone of those chickens.

Bjrogg

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here