This is getting boring...just more pictures of bucks. When in a little while the horns will fall off and then it is not as easy to tell the bucks for the does. There is getting to be not too many deer left in Utah. It is time to shut the hunting seasons down for a couple of years and build the herd back. But that would mean no or little money for the Fish & Game to buy more pickups and people to ride around it them. Or they could just got to a total lottery with very few permits and build a herd again.
I can remember the the 1980s in Nevada they went to lottery on all permits. This resulted in a great increase in the deer heard. I can remember on hunting season I saw 68 head of buck and did not fire a shot. Did not find the one I was looking for. There were some pretty good bucks in Nevada at that time. What they did worked. Nothing beats success like success.

There are 2 bucks hiding in the sagebrush

I like to see large sagebrush. The fine example is between the loading chute and the cabin at the Wolf Den ranch. I wish I was a man of sufficient means to own a place like the Wolf Den. I would probably not come to town very often. There would be not need. I can live with all of the China made gadgits and dodads that you find at Walmarts.

The branches with lichen on them in the foreground are in focus....to bad the buck is not. He was a nice buck anyway.

It is getting dark and took this one with the flash

Caught this little buck in midair

The bigger buck looks on while another spooks and leaves the area.

A young 2 point checks out the area.

It is getting almost too dark to get a picture. This is the same buck as in the last picture.

This a nice buck, tall and slender

Caught this one as it was taking it easy

I believe that the wheel will have to be repaired in time for Spring plowing.

An old manure spreader resting in the snow

Some time ago a local man built what he called a cabin on his ranch. He wanted me to cut his brand into logs in the gabels of his home. I cut the brand thru the logs on both ends of the home. You can see the brand in the center of the picture.

Ride 'em cowboy

Being that I am talking about horns and antlers this is a good example of horns. Horns are not shed every year but antlers are. A cow, antelope, sheep or rhino are examples of horns. Deer, elk, moose, and caribou are examples of antlers. But I will still refer to deer and elk as having horns, even though I know it is the wrong usage of the word.

When you see a big buck from the rear it is easy to over estimate the width of the spread especially when his ears are layed back and he is moving. A mature buck with ears outstreched to the widest is about 21 inches. So if the horns go beyond the ears it gets interesting. When they are are 3 or 4 inches beyond it is real interesting. This buck is about 26 inches wide and horns are willowy and not heavy. He is in his prime and in a couple or 3 years would be a very nice buck.

A nice picture of rocks and trees.........but if you look real close just to the left of the dead tree in the middle of the picture is a 6 point bull elk. He figures we can't see him.

The dead among the living

An old log ranch home near Evacuation creek. There is a gold mine of bailing wire on the roof. Enough to keep the place running for a few years.

A cut thru the rock where the road follows the old narrow guage railroad near Dragon, Utah.

A name from the past.....A. Horn, April 23, 1901

The frozen White river on a cold day. The line across center of picture is a natural gas pipeline on suspension cables. I have a friend that walked across the pipeline when he was a boy. In fact he crosses the pipeline twice. He likes to have a little excitement in his life. I can do without things like that. But I will take my hat off to him. It tooks a lot of guts to cross the pipeline. But then he has done some very interesting things in his lifetime.

A praire dog looking for something to eat, it had better watch out as it will be lunch or a hungry hawk or eagle.

Magpie all dressed up in his tux and ready to go somewhere.

The Bull decided that we were no threat to him, so he layed down. Dori took this picture of the bull.

Dori spotted this 6 point bull as we drove down a narrow canyon.

This is nice 2 point and the 4 point is a good buck about 24 inches wide. His horns are a little heavier but still not what I would like to see.

Buck and doe on the skyline. Buck has horns about 26 inches wide but are not heavy and massive as I would like to see.

Doe in front checks me out and big buck looks on

The 2 point leads off and the bigger buck follows. The bigger buck is starting to get a roman nose which suggests he is in his prime.

Three nice bucks

That is a set of horns. Now I know that in reality they are antlers but they have been horns to me for all my life so I guess I won't change now.

Eagle perches on edge of cliff

Golden eagle about to lite on edge of cliff

Golden eagle flys along the cliff

A golden eagle takes off

My Father was always seeing shapes, faces or animals in the clouds or rocks. I guess I inherited that trait from him. It does not take much imagination on my part to see a face in the profile near the bottom of the cliff. This cliff is in Bitter creek canyon.

A snow covered butte in Bitter creek canyon. Deer tracks can be seen in the snow on the top of the near ridge.

An interesting pinnacle on the top of a point in Bitter creek canyon

A lone point in Bitter creek canyon

Golden eagle

Frost crystals on top of the snow sparkle in the bright sunlight

It is interesting how a tree gives shelter in all kinds of weather. The needles and branches keep the snow off the ground during the storm. The sun then melts the snow from the tree branches. The tree offers shade in the summer and shelter during a storm. I have seen deer bedded down under trees out of the snow and using the tree as a windbreak. The tree also offers concealment to the animals. Birds roast among the thick branches and needles and birds of prey have a hard time seeing them, and getting to them in the thick branches.

The sun sparkles like a diamond in the blue sky over Diamond mountain

A hole in the rock in Bitter creek canyon

Cliffs across the canyon from road going into Jones Hole

I was on Diamond mountain the other day and the only diamonds I found were frost crystals on the sagebrush. Diamond mountain got it name as it was believed that there were diamonds there. It was not far away where diamonds were "discovered" by two crooks. These men brought moneyed men from the East, West on the transcontinental railroad. They left the train in Wyoming and headed South to near the Wymoming/Colorado border. They took them on horse back for several days in a round-about route and finally brought them to the place where they had cached the rough diamonds. They then began to find diamonds for their investors. A large amount of money changed hands and the diamond rush was on. The hoax was discovered by a USGS geologist that had made a geological survey thru that area. He could not believe how he had missed the diamonds. He came back to look at the area and disproved the diamond claim. This diamond hoax took place in the late 1800s. The people that homesteaded on Diamond mountain thought there were diamonds there also and so it got its name.

Sun is up and sky is starting to fade. It has been a wonderful 1/2 hour watching it come up. Now it is time to go down the road and do what I need to do. Too bad I can't start everyday watching the birth of a perfect day.

Full sun promises a wonderful day