Snowflake

'Snowflake' - 1982                                                                                           snake

2 Circles

'2 Circles' - 1981                                                                                                                                                                 snake

Donkey Bus

'Donkey Bus' - 1982                                                                                                                                                           snake

White Glasses

'White Glasses' - 1986                                                                                       snake

Mule Line

'Mule Line' - 1986                                                                                             snake

Fighter Pilot, 3 Dresses

'Fighter Pilot' - 1986                                                                                          snake

'3 Dresses' - 1986                                                                                                                                                              snake

4 Dresses

'4 Dresses' - 1986                                                                                                                                                                 snake

Walk Through Paradise

'Walk Through Paradise' - 1986                                                                                                                                          snake

GUT SHOT.  A mishap in shooting an arrow toward a whitetail while bowhunting may potentially result in the worst possible scenario, that is, hitting the deer in its paunch or...a gut shot.  The mistake may be from lack of concentration, buck fever or an equipment failure.  The whitetail will eventually die, but it will take a fairly long time and unfortunately, it will suffer (as Alexander Hamilton did by Aaron Burr's bullet).  In order for the bowhunter to recover the deer, he must back away and come back to track his prey at least 6 hours later.  The whitetail, more than likely, will have bedded down and expired there.  If the hunter begins to track too early, he risks jumping the deer and perhaps never finding it.

A 'photographic' gut shot (of the worst kind)  happened to me today.  After finishing a roll of film and rewinding the 35mm cartridge, I opened my Leica to load another roll of film.  Unfortunately, my film did not rewind in the camera and my exposed film was ruined.  Gone forever are the moments of time and potentially good photographs that I could have posted on this blog.  After almost 40 years of shooting, I have only done this twice; once last year and now today.

Gut shots are terrible. 

Vertical Pipes

'Vertical Pipes' - 1986                                                                                       snake

Sideways

'Sideways' - 1986                                                                                                                                                             snake

Santa Claus

'Santa Claus' - 1986                                                                                                                                                              snake

White Buttons

'White Buttons' - 1986                                                                                                                                                        snake

Nia 2

'Nia 2' - 1986                                                                                                                                                                      snake

55

'55' - 1986                                                                                                          snake

Flower Smile

'Flower Smile' - 1986                                                                                                                                                           snake

Dash

'Dash' - 1986                                                                                                                                                                        snake

Hearing Aid

'Hearing Aid' - 1986                                                                                                                                                          snake

American Bandstand

'American Bandstand' - 1986                                                                                                                                           snake

Forest Cemetery

'Forest Cemetery' - 1986                                                                                                                                                   snake

3 Wall

'3 Wall' - 1986                                                                                                                                                                      snake

No Cable TV

'No Cable TV' - 1986                                                                                                                                                        snake

A

'A' - 1986                                                                                                                                                                           snake

20

'20' - 1986                                                                                                                                                                         snake

A nice, clean target is essential for off season practicing to ensure a bowhunter's arrow hits his mark during the moment of truth when a whitetail deer presents a shot.  A humane kill begins with continuous practice, hitting a target, usually at 20 yards or less (for me personally).

Reds

'Reds' - 1986                                                                                                                                                                     snake

Crane

'Crane' - 1986                                                                                                                                                                     snake

Music Man

'Music Man' - 1986                                                                                                                                                            snake

Skinny

'Skinny' - 1986                                                                                                                                                                   snake

Salzburg Bus 3

'Salzburg Bus 3' - 1982                                                                                                                                                    snake

3 Horses

'3 Horses' - 1986                                                                                                                                                               snake

Shadow Kid

'Shadow Kid' - 1986                                                                                                                                                            snake

AN EVENING HUNT.  Some days, when a bowhunter wastes a morning hunt by over sleeping, he gets a chance to hunt the evening.  A different stand located where deer potentially pass before dusk will be hunted for a chance on a bow kill.   Perhaps the bowhunter will get lucky with a whitetail passing by the landscape between long shadows that were created by a low setting sun.

A perfect target is a broadside whitetail, looking away.