Shootin' Nature ...

The money shot!  Could I get a pic of
one of them mystery bipeds this clear?

     Howdy!  Any of y'all out there like shootin' nature?  Now, hold-on ... don't y'all go gettin' all excited; I ain't talkin' 'bout with guns, I'm talkin' bout shootin' nature with a camera.  I've mellowed in my old age, and the majority of my shootin' ... as far as nature goes, is done with a camera.  Don't get me wrong; I'm a carnivore; y'all remember, "vegetarian" is an old redneck word for a bad hunter!  However, unless I feel the need to harvest a deer, hogs, rabbits or some ducks ... I'd rather be shootin' my game with a digital.  Now, what's this got to do with sloughstalkin', "Bigfoot", Caddo critters, wild-men or wood apes?  Well, let me try to explain ...

     I'm not by any means a professional photographer, but I can say that I've got some pretty-dang awesome shots of critters and nature.  I go all Charlie Daniels-like on shootin' nature; remember the verse, "Things that crawl, things that fly and things creepin' 'round on the ground"?  Well, I like shootin' those kinds of things!  But the thing is, most of my better photos were just candid shots I took when I was out & about, fishin', hikin' or sloughstalkin'.  And I've noticed that when I've actually planned to get that perfect shot of this critter or that, maybe 25% of my shots are useable, and only 5% are the "money-shots".  Why?  'Cause it seems that when I'm really tryin' to get that perfect shot, nature's got a habit of ... well, bein' nature!

     For example, we've got a bunch of them pileated woodpeckers around our property, and in the past 15-years we've lived here ... I haven't been able to get a single quality shot of one.  You'd think I was tryin' to photograph the grail-bird ... which is the ivory-billed woodpecker.  I don't know what it is about me and them pileated woodpeckers, but either they get behind a part of the tree to where I cain't see 'em, there's too much foliage to where I cain't focus, or when do I see 'em up-close ... I don't have my friggin' camera handy!  So, is this startin' to sound familiar to any of my fellow "Bigfootologists" out there?


This was one of the locals I shot tryin' to swim to my boat.  The shot involved settin' my rod down, grabbin' my
camera, turnin' it on, focusin' and gettin' one shot clear enough to see its tongue flick.  This shot was pure luck!

     My son had his video camera that fateful mornin' back in Smith's Slough when we had Our Encounter.  The thing was ... that the foliage between us and it was just too dang thick for him to focus on much of anything.  Sure, he was only 13 at the time, but it wasn't as if he didn't know how to use his own video cam.  He had originally bought that camera two years prior so he could film his buddies and himself skateboardin'.  He's taken some amazin' footage of his friends as well as himself nailin' some very difficult tricks, sometimes even while ridin' on his own board as he filmed.  So why was it so difficult to get a shot of somethin' tall, dark & hairy walkin' around out there in them woods?

A pair of roseate spoonbills ... shot from my parent's back yard.

     I carry my camera on a chest-harness when I'm out there sloughstalkin'.  Whether I'm walkin' or kayakin' ... it's readily available.  But if I am ever blessed with another encounter, will I be able to get the "money shot"?  Who's to say this critter ain't goin' to be in a full sprint, or just movin' through thick foliage like the first time we seen it?  Will I even be able to get a clear shot, even if I can focus?  I imagine that I'd be pretty-dang rattled, and would have to do everything possible to steady the camera so the shot wouldn't be blurry from my (e)motions.  As an avid recurve bowhunter, over the years I eventually got over "buck fever".  But, would I be able to keep my composure in the event  that I'm blessed enough to have another glimpse of one of these critters?

This one was whisperin' to me, "Angelo ... the other white meat."

     Shootin' nature ain't that easy.  Even if a "Bigfoot" just walked towards me and stood there (which is highly friggin' unlikely) it's doubtful I'll have much time to get it on film.  It's like havin' a shotgun for home defense; I keep it handy, loaded and know how to use it.  And y'all remember ... rackin' a twelve-guage only let's the intruder know your position.  The only noise I ever wanna hafta make is clickin' the safety off and then, God forbid ... the discharge of buckshot.  So with that bein' said, fumblin' for my camera (even if it's on a harness), removin' the lens cap, turnin' it on, focusin', etc., all takes time, makes movement as well as some noise.  Actually bein' able to take shots that would be convincin', crisp and clear takes luck and lots of friggin' skill!

A blue tailed skink and a blue butterfly, both filmed in the Caddo Lake WMA.

     So just like huntin' with my recurve, I've been doin' lots of practicin'.  Well before each bow season ... I'd find a patch of woods (not in the area I was goin' to hunt) and practice my shootin' skills; I'd snap-shoot pinecones and stumps with judo-points.  Yeah, I've got a shootin' lane & targets in the back of our property, but that ain't nothin' compared to actually bein' out there in them woods ... stalkin' and shootin' at different things at various ranges.  So just as in traditional archery, I've been doin' the same kind of practice with my Canon SX50.  I've been scoutin' here and there, and shootin' nature as much as possible.  As an example I've included some of my better shots in this entry ...

A mating pair of bluebirds, scopin' out a nestin' site in our back yard.

     But as an example of the convolution of shootin' nature, I wanted to specifically tell y'all about this-here bluebird; it wasn't out in them woods, it was scopin'-out the birdhouse not 20-yards off our back porch.  Even though I'd been practicin' ... out of the 15 or 20 shots I took, only 5 were good, and only 1 was the "money shot"!  This is just another fine example showin' how shootin' nature ain't that easy.  So just like my sloughstalkin' ... I guess I'd better be spendin' more time in the grime ... tryin' to hone my skills and to figure it out.  But remember, just 'cause you practice ... practice don't always make perfect; 'cause sometimes shootin' nature all depends on the nature of the beast you're tryin' to shoot.  Y'all take care ...

Callin' ...

     Howdy!  Let's ring-in the new year with a little slough-savvy and wood-wise 101 and talk about callin'.  If I'm after a particular game animal that I'm familiar with, I'll attempt to lure 'em in by callin'.  But as far as "Bigfoot", Caddo critters, wildmen or wood-apes ... I don't use calls, at least not yet, anyways.  Why, might you ask?  Well, let me answer that question with another question: Why would someone try to call, wood-knock or whatever if they didn't know exactly what this animal's vocalizations actually meant?



 

Some tools of the trade if you're goin' to be callin' ...

     The gist of game callin' is understandin' what a particular animal is tryin' to communicate to the rest of its group.  For example, when I duck hunt for mallards and a flock is flyin' high overhead, I would use what's called a high-ballin' call to turn the passin' flock around and get 'em to fly in closer to my decoys.  But upon approach, I would then use a feed call to try and get 'em to light ... signalin' them that my decoy flock is feedin' on somethin'.  But, say if I were an inexperienced birder, did not know what call was needed and at that point had continued high-ballin' ... it would be like sendin' out an alert!  That incomin' flock would most probably flare and keep on flyin' ...
 

     Here's another example; this time ... let's use deer.  If I used a buck grunt call, it alerts any deer in the area that a dominant male is around.  This may work to get a competin' buck to come on in; however, it might drive away the younger bucks.  Durin' the rut, if I used rattlin' horns in conjunction with various buck grunts, it signals the herd that two bucks are competin', and again ... lures in dominant bucks, as well as the curious.  Deer are both territorial and curious, but have extremely heightened senses; one wrong sound ... and them deer will disappear! 

 

     My third example would be for predators, such as coyotes or large cats.  I would use a fawn bleet or a wounded rabbit call to lure in a predator for an easy meal.  And if it were daylight, I would use a crow call or a squirrel call in conjunction with the wounded animal call, 'cause these animals are the "sentries" of the forest, and alert others that somethin' is happenin' or that somethin' just ain't right.  This is also a "confidence call" for the predator, who's probably competin' with other predators for that easy meal.  Curiosity usually kills the cat ...

     I know all of this due to the time that I've spent out there in them woods ... or as I like to say, doin' my time in the grime!  But as far as the mystery biped that my son and I had come across ... I have abso-friggin'-lutely no clue as to what its vocalizations sound like or what they mean!  I've never personally witnessed one of these critters actually vocalize out in the wild.  And as far as I know, no one has ever recorded one of these animals on film while it was actually makin' a call or knockin' on trees.  So my question is, why would someone attempt to vocalize, call-blast, yell, scream or bang on trees?  It just doesn't make any friggin' sense to me!

 

      I personally try to be as quiet as possible while I'm scoutin' or servicin' my trail-cams.  Why?  'Cause my son and I were bein' quiet the mornin' we had Our Encounter.  I believe that this animal was surprised ... prob'ly 'bout as much as we were!  I believe it was bein' quiet 'cause it was prob'ly stalkin' for some food.  We saw and filmed lots of deer that mornin' ... and I believe we interrupted its hunt.  I also believe that this animal is prob'ly a higher form of primate, is more intelligent than most local critters and pretty much-well knows when somethin' is traipsin' 'round in its territory.  Kinda like when them other critters seemed to shut-down when this critter was traipsin' about.
 

      I think these critters are just plumb curious, and will come to see what the Hell folks are doin' out there in them woods.  The only other critter sounds we heard when we encountered this thing were crows; they were cawin' and circlin' overhead as this thing moved further back into them woods.  Come to think about it, all of the wrens, cardinals and frogs we had heard when we first got there had shut-down.  Other than its movement through the flooded forest and the breakin' of branches further back in them woods ... we never heard any vocalizations.  So other than our normal activities out there, I couldn't tell y'all what might attract it, other than its own curiosity ...



Trail's end; for the last 2 years, this tree-fall has blocked the Smith's Slough access to Carter Lake.

 

    Gettin' back to the subject of callin' ... when I've been back there in the area of our encounter, a lot of the times I was alone; and a lot of those times I was alone out there at night.  Them woods back there are dark & creepy enough without me wonderin' what might be wanderin' 'round close by.  This critter is obviously large, so the last thing I'd want to do is alarm it or p¡ss it off.  What if, as in the case of a dominant buck, this thing wanted to be territorial?  Well then, I'd guess that my 5' 8½" 200 lb. ass would pretty-much-well be sh¡t-outta luck!  Oh, sure ... let me just sit out there at 2:00 A.M. and yell, scream or bang on some friggin' trees.  Hmmm, maybe I can elicit a response?  Hell, maybe I'll actually get to see it up close & personal, just before I come-up missin' ...

 

    Me callin' for this particular animal ain't goin' to happen 'til I learn more about it.  I'd much rather have this animal get curious and approach me on its own terms.  Maybe then I could get to see it vocalize, or maybe then we could observe one another without either of us gettin' out-of-sorts.  I'd much rather be Shootin'Nature ... as in with some sort-of recordin' device like my Canon SX50 than findin' out the hard way whether or not my Springfield XDm .40 cal. could stop it.  Hopefully, this thing won't be scared of any sudden movements ... as in my bowels cuttin' loose or me gettin' into a ragin' friggin' sprint and runnin' out of them woods.  At that point, maybe then I'd probably start callin' ... most likely 911!