A Whitetail deer operation. ( 16548 )

 Once you build a high fence you then have to understand that you need to provide for all animals inside that cannot exit.  In our South Texas water is one of the first things you must see that  is provided.  Besides constructing earthen ponds you need to have a emergency supply also.

 This water trough is constructed so that the float mechanism cannot be disturbed.

 Cool water is also enjoyed by the family dog.

Two types of supplemental feed troughs are seen in this photo a metal trough that is covered and also in the distant a gravity drop protein feeder.

 Senderos are tilled anually and seeded for supplemental grazing of cool weather oats, clover, and trunips.

 Predator control is also necessary, not to eleminate all predators but to control the numbers.

 Periodic controlled burns can help too.

Here a food plot is being disced not only to control brush but also to provide a seedbed for planting.  It also encourages weed growth which provide tender browse.

Land set aside for songbirds ( 43958 )

 Cardinal

Indigo Bunting

 Vermillian Flycatcher

Painted Bunting

Greenjay

Above are some of the colorful songbirds that we see in our part of Southern Atascosa Co. Texas.  We are in one of the main migrational flyways.  Some of these birds visit for only a short time and others longer.  The ones I've pictured here are some of the colorful  ones but they are all interesting to watch if you take the time to slow down and be an observer.

This is how they start...

One can only wonder what this little guy will look like when he matures, that is if he makes it. But that is where lots of the enjoyment comes.

A favorite place to rub...

The game camera at this feeding trough got knocked sideways probably by a deer rubbing on the post that it is attached to.  Anyway it caught this action in just a six hour period.  I've read that besides leaving their sent and making their "mark" it also serves to build up their neck muscles for fights they get into.

Big ones starting to show up during daytime...

What's up?

Some bucks would rather fight...

Some of these old boys are just fighters.  I don't think this deer ever passes up a good scrap.  I call this one "Curly" he is seven and has slipped through the cracks.  He still rules at the feed troughs but sometimes crosses paths with another buck that will not back down.

Uncle Gus takes a fat buck from his Prickly Pear flat blind...

Eighty six years and still making neck shots!

Still hanging together, but not for long...

Some nice ones...

All of these deer are fat and ready for the fall rut.

Late evening arrivals

Here is a look back the other way...

Oat planting time...

Planting oats gives the deer something green to eat during the winter months.  These lanes, "senderos", cut through the brush provide clear paths to harvest some venison.

A buck with "Shiner" genetics.

This looks to be a buck that had Shiner, a deer from the past, for a sire.

Valentine Cactus

Ella's first "Coon".

Ella found this Racoon hidden under a boat next to one of the ponds at the ranch yesterday.  When I heard her barking and turned it over the fight began.  Ella loves her ranch time and now is getting quite a list of things she likes doing.... tracking deer, working cattle, treeing squirrels, and even finding downed doves last weekend.  She is some dog!

Scraping out...

 Just beginning the process of scraping out.

Here is the same deer the very next night.

A look back, game camera placed at a water trough.

In the cool of the evening...

Putting on weight in advance of the fall breeding season.

Javelinas eat the feed too...

Some have even figured out how to crawl up and into the troughs.

Buddies for now...

One of several different kinds...