Fate..right place right time....

[Pappy]

Today was a mess. I ended up running a half a tank of fuel out of my truck running here and there and accomplished nothing for myself. As things ended up, I found myself scooting home just before dark and decided at the last second to slide off the highway and scope out a section of river bottom to see if it would be worth while to take photographs at.

I ended up missing my turn but knew there was another road in and just kept going, turning on the second entrance. I stopped my truck a few hundred yards in to take a light reading incase i spotted anything on teh drive. I was just about to pull off when I noticed something just ahead on a fence post.

I have NEVER taken a picture of this type of animal before, although it has been a target of mine for YEARS! I ended up making things work, got my shots and am uploading them now. I am almost scared t view them incase I screwed the shots up:chinese:

More to follow

[Pappy]

Here it be....

http://kenhill.smugmug.com/Other/Private-Gallery/DSC2103/717503570_zbCva-O.jpg

[Pappy]

It did not fly off and allowed me to make some changes in camera.....and get a better exposure

http://kenhill.smugmug.com/Other/Private-Gallery/DSC2136/717519612_PDtca-O.jpg

[meankfx]

Not a bad pic at all considering the circumstances you were in. Good job pappy! I don't think I have ever seen an owl in the wild before.

[meankfx]

How long did it sit there for?

[Pappy]

Maybe a minute or so. A truck came rolling down the road and it flew off, but I had the camera set for the still shots and did not get any flight shots

[JR3]

nice chot pap saw one in the wild once deffinatley a beautiful animal id love to see a snow owl

[ATVMX33]

great shots!!!

[Quad18star]

I saw one the other day and could have taken nice pictures . He looked right at me for 15 minutes , then I drove off.

[mcarlson1]

Nice shot pappy, we get a bunch of em on our farm and have a couple owl boxes set up in each field. They're great for gophers!!! Only bad thing is their pellets that they throw up! get all over the tractors! lol

Thanks,
Mike

[Pappy]

We have alot of them here as well, but they are extremely tough to photograph. They are usually tucked into a very well hiden area and its usually shaded or the sky ruins the shot:ermm:

It was dark this evening, cloudy and gloomy. He really did not care about me one lick. Infact, I had to make a call or squeek to even get him to look at me. I was about 8 feet from him for these pics.

[Pappy]

A few honkers from earlier in the day. I hate gloomy weather:p

http://kenhill.smugmug.com/Other/Private-Gallery/DSC2093/717503431_xSJDT-O.jpg

[protraxrptr17]

I've always been fascinated by owls. Once when I was about 10 years old, an injured one showed up in our yard. It was pretty big, I don't know what species it was. Seemed to be about 2 feet tall. I was just a kid, so it may be just my imagination. My dogs couldn't even get near it. I got as close aas I could and observed it for a while. It would pop its beak when we got too close. It died later that day. I cut off its feet and took a few feathers for ornaments. I wish I knew where they were now. The claws were huge. Beautiful picture.

[motofreak2772]

should have hopped the fence and got pics from the other side.
Nice pics though, I decided to be a photographer one day lol. I took a picture of the sky, clouds, moon, basketball hoop and this kid steve lmao. Then my career ended.

[T_Bag]

Great Photos! Absolutely beautiful!!!

[meankfx]

Originally posted by motofreak2772
should have hopped the fence and got pics from the other side.
Nice pics though, I decided to be a photographer one day lol. I took a picture of the sky, clouds, moon, basketball hoop and this kid steve lmao. Then my career ended.






rofl

[wvspeedfreak]

Nice owl Kenny.

Donnie said he came around the building as you were pulling out.He was in the back,sandblasting.

[Pappy]

39 images of the Owl in 43 seconds:p

Barbed wire fence if I wanted to cross, private property so crossing fences is a no no.....and he would have rolled out the second I tried it i'm sure.

One of the first few images I got

http://kenhill.smugmug.com/Other/Private-Gallery/DSC2101/717605888_uFAsf-O.jpg

[Pappy]

Originally posted by wvspeedfreak
Nice owl Kenny.

Donnie said he came around the building as you were pulling out.He was in the back,sandblasting.

LOL...I figured they was out to lunch and my timing was bad. I will try and make a run back down before deer season starts

[Pappy]

Now I will keep an eye on that fence row and hope for another chance at him with better light. Might have to get a few mice to toss out to get his attention:devil:

http://kenhill.smugmug.com/Other/Private-Gallery/owl4/717627133_Q7PkW-O.jpg

[ATV Chic]

he's gorgeous! nice pics as always :cool:

[tp300ex]

had a chance to pet one it was hurt during a hurricane we brought it to the lsu vet school but they were unable to save it:(

[Pappy]

Way back in the late 80's, I had the chance to shoot (take pics of) a Redtail Hawk that was captive. It would be sent out to hunt and come back on command. The pics werent great but it was so cool to see them up close. I could not believe the power they have and how keen their eyesight is.

I had a big Owl swoop at me in the treestand one time. I geuss it saw my eyes blinking because I was camo head to toe and not moving because deer were around me. I caught movement and this big sucker was yards away coming in with its claws out! I jumped, spooked all the deer and the Owl veered off and landed a few trees away. It freeked me clean out:p I will to my dying days remember those out stretched talons!! I would imagine if it had nailed me I would have suffered some serious injuries.