BB's promise of a few photos!
General Topic
Two or three weeks ago I was ask to post some critter photos but I just leaving to photograph the deer rut. I'm back home now and got a lot of stuff done I needed to do upon my return, so finally I have a some time post a few photos.
Some of you know personally, some just from my past on the Bowsite and I'm sure many of you don't know a thing about me.
But for over 50 years Bowhunting was my passion. One of my favorite bowhunting partner's friend started to call me Bugling Billy and it caught on to many of my friends. When I started posting on the Bowsite I narrowed that down to BB.
I have seen so many neat things bowhunting and would tell some of my friends who would say something like "You didn't see that! Next time take a photo and prove it!" So I started doing that and fell in love with taking photos. I finally got to the point where I enjoyed taking photos as much as I did bowhunting and as I aged I finally decided I was taking permits, that younger hunters could have and so decided to just take photos. It's much like hunting and the things I learned hunting I can apply in many instance to my photography. So I laid my bow down and just use my camera now.
Okay enough of that. Now lets get to the photos. Over the next week or two I will add some photos. Most will be animals that many of you hunt or want to hunt. But along the way I post a few and maybe tell a short story of why I posted it.
I invite any of you to visit my Facebook pages. Bill Allard is my personal page and my business page is William Allard Wildlife. You do not have to be my friend to view or share my photos. And I would also like you to know that a nice metal gift of one or more of my photos ,make great gifts to friends and family who are interested in wildlife. If that interests you just email me your request and I will be happy to help you. [email protected]
Okay let get started with a of my most recent photos.
Hello to all my Bowsite friends.
Thanks for posting Bill
I’ve always enjoyed your posts.
I remember when you posted you were putting the bow down, and only shooting the camera.
Glad to see you posting here.
Great stuff! Love your photos. I recognize a couple of those bucks.
BB. Your hunt threads and later photographs are amazing and an inspiration. Is there any chance you would be willing and able to go back to some of your threads such as a season on the Sam Juan, and your Shiraz moose hunt and add the pictures back in. Even if you can’t edit the posts adding the picture as new replies would be great. Those were some of the first threads on bowsite that really inspired me.
Regardless, thanks for all of your contributions and it’s great to see you are still active and enjoying the outdoors.
One of my very favorite subjects are fox puppies. I felt so fortunate to get a few photos of this mom moving her puppies to a different den after a hug hog had stuck its head into the den where this photo was taken. The mom bit the pig on its back leg and once it left she moved 3 puppies. I felt very lucky to get these shots.
Take a good look at this guys eye. The rut can be pretty tough on some of its participants!
Bill you’ve been missed dearly. I see your pictures are as spectacular as ever!
This is grizzly bear 399. If you don't know anything about this sow it would be well worth your time to google about her. She is the most famous grizzly of all time. She is incredible. At some point down the line I will post a photo of her and her four cubs and tell a short story of how I got that shot. It was because of my bowhunting experience.
Love it! Seems like old times around here with Mr. Allard posting awesome photos.
Well that's more than enough I'm sure for tonight. But I promise I will be back with some other photos I hope some of you can enjoy.
I post on a number of sites and this is the only site where I have problems with the color not being like it should be on some of the photos.
And I am going to add a bit to my original post if that's possible.
Have a great evening, and have a Great Bowhunt.
Wow. Incredible photos Bill! Thanks for posting.
Great to see you back on here, Bill!
Good to see you here Bill. We miss you.
There's nobody better, just amazing pics
Bill as always truely amazing ?? photos thank you sir for sharing Lewis
BB the legend! For the win as always. Thanks Bill. Awesome photos. Miss seeing you post here. Hope all is well and good.
Nice, proof some big boys are still out there. Great work.
Hey Bill...great seeing you back on Bowsite! Always enjoy seeing your photos!!! A true artist with a camera and lens!
Thanks for stopping by, Bill. Great stuff as always! Looking forward to more!
Thank you for dropping in and showing us your that there are still lots of fabulous critters out there! Definitely miss your stories here on the bowsite…
Thanks for posting Bill, tremendous as always, and great to see an old friendly face around here
Out of curiosity, being a former hunter, does it get you more excited when you get within “shooting” distance of say, a “B&C” class animal? Not exactly sure how to put it, but basically, do you still trophy hunt? I think I know the answer, as most of your animals are tremendous, but just wondering how much that stuff still affects you
I see you on FB, but it's great to see you back here. Thank you for sharing.
Awesome as always! Thanks BB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amazing, thanks for posting.
Bill your photos are soooo good....glad to see you back.
Just incredible photos! Thanks for sharing, Bill!! And for those on FB, follow Bill for a more regular dose of his pics.
Excellent.
Please say hello to Kay and Cody.
I'm sitting in my office with a cup of coffee looking at these pictures and I'm amazed and inspired!!! Thank you! More please!
WOW, magnificent animals and stunningly beautiful photos!
Thanks so much for sharing them with us!
Spectacular. Thanks for posting Sir
Great pictures, thank you !
Bill, you're the best! Thank you.
Seeing your amazing photos on Bowsite, made my Morning, Bill !
Happy Holidays to You, and Your Family!
Who doesn't get excited by a great Muledeer buck! Makes a guy lust for one more hunt. Your skill with hunting has certainly paid off . I remember when The BB thread was anticipated on here and so appreciated. Looks like it still is. Thank you for kindly filling that void again sir!! Jim
Wow those Mule deer pictures make me want to get out there and hunt them! Thanks for sharing your remarkable talents!
You have a great talent! Thanks for sharing.
SUPREME! Incredible critters and photography. Well done sir,
This thread is one that I look forward to every year! Thank you for sharing your passion and incredible skill. Amazing pictures!
Couple comments: Man! some of those mulie bucks are huge bodied. Tanks!
Also, yes, the whitetail rut is tough on bucks. In SD this year I watched as a buck visited a series of scrapes below me. He looked like a 2.5 or 3.5 year old. His left eye was totally gouged out and the socket bloody. He appeared fine and to be enjoying himself around those scrapes. Another of our big shooter bucks (that I sailed an arrow over the back of during the hunt) had an eye gouged out last year. Didn't glow on any of the nighttime pics we had of him. Also, Many of the shooter bucks on the ranch we were hunting were busted up. Obviously a violent time.
Thanks Bill you are the best! I purchased a couple of calendars from you a few years ago are you still doing them?
Until I started taking photos, I sure over looked birds. but now they have become very interesting to me and I enjoy taking their photos as they are a good fill in, at slow times.
Amazing!! Love the detail!
Like I mentioned before, fox pups have become one of my favorite subjects in the spring. They bring me much joy with their interactions and stuff they do. I also like foxes in the snow.
Are the calendars still being produced? If so, how do we order?
Amazing pictures as always!
Thanks for coming back to Bowsite, Bill! Love following your FB posts. Maybe this is another sign that Bowsite has returned!
Wow damn you’re good really enjoy seeing these thanks for sharing Good luck Lewis
Great to see you here again Bill, you’ve definitely been missed! Thanks for once again sharing some amazing photos.
A link to a well known BB thread for old time sake.
Bill’s daily photos on his FB page always brighten my day! You were an awesome bowhunter Bill, and now you’re an even better photographer! My only question, is how do you get the subjects to pose like that???
Spectacular Bill! Always good to see you here on the Bowsite, your photos have inspired me to start doing more photography and less killing as well. My passion for both has never waivered!
Every once in a great while you run into something quite different than the usual and such was the case with this little muley.
And here's a photo of my very favorite buck I have ever been able to photograph and the biggest so far. Someone mentioned up above if I receive a high or an adrenaline rush on some of my subjects. And the answer is certainly yes and it simulates the drive within us to keep going!
I know many of you have ask questions or posted things I need to answer and once I finish posting all the photos on this thread then I will try to reply to all that I can answer.
Have a great Bowhunt. BB
Great photos Bill! Love the Cedar Waxwing photo grabbing berry out of the air!
That Muley buck is awesome. He’s part moose? Ha.
Thanks for sharing on here, really enjoy your photos!
Absolutely OOUTSTANDING!!! Love it, just gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.
Thx for sharing BB, GREAT to have you drop back to visit us!!!
Awesome Bill!! As always, thank you for sharing!!
Thank you Bill!
Amazing captures…
A BB photo thread - been missing these. Always one of the best threads on Bowsite. Thanks for sharing Bill!
Simply AMAZING work and thanks for sharing kind sir!!
Amazing photos Bill, thanks for posting. I also appreciate your little narrative on what took you down the photography path and away from hunting. I've been curious on how a tremendous bowhunter like yourself just seems to loose interest and pick up the camera. Your explanation and selflessness does not surprise me. You are definitely one of my heroes.
As always AWESOME pics BB!
As always AWESOME pics BB!
Here's a photo I took on Dec. 29 2020. I was with my wife and saw grizzly 399 and her four cubs about a 1/2 mile away climbing a steep hill in deep snow. I told my wife that I thought 399 was heading to her den, which I knew the approximate area. I told Kay if we went on the other side of he mountain and waited we had a chance of seeing her close. So I drove to the other side of the big mountain and waited, and waited, and waited. After about 2 and a half hours my says, " Bill this is dumb, she is not-----then all of a sudden she quit her sentence and went on to say---There she is", as she broke out the trees at the bottom of he hill. Then I took this photo. If bowhunting taught me nothing beside--- that patience and persistence and never giving up---- pays good dividends, then it was well worth the learning.
Have a great bowhunt.
Always enjoyed your posts Bill!
Outstanding thanks for sharing your talent with us..
Spectacular photography, Bill! Glad to see you still getting out there practicing “catch and release” with the critters!
Besides big mammals, I like the little ones too. Each summer I hike up to a high elevation rock slide and try to shoot the baby pika when they first come out. I have done this for a number of years and have some side stories of things happening besides the pika. In my next post I will share one incident that I will never forget and how bowhunting prepared me for that cllck.
A friend and I meant the trail parking lot that heads to the area where I go to shoot the baby pika. We hiked up early and had a good shoot and were on our way back to our vehicles, coming down a trail that passes by the side of a small lake. Then right in front of us a mink ran across the trail and under a big boulder that had tall grass along its edge and thus the mink was out of sight.
I told my friend, "Let's wait it out and get some shots of it." But my friend was tired from the hike and said he bet the mink ran up the hill and it was a waste of time. I told him the mink did not go up the hill and would return to the lake at that was his habitat. But my buddy told me he was heading back to his car as he had things he had to do.
So I got in a position I felt would give me the best light and started my wait. Less than 5 minutes after my buddy left, this uinta ground squirrel came running across the trail and the mink came out and caught it just as I clicked my camera and got this shot.
Patience and persistence pays big dividends. Bowhunting taught me that!
And when my buddy saw the image, he said, "You are so lucky!" I was lucky but I was there to see it happen. He wasn't!
We got a big snow last night and I have to go finish shoveling but on my next post I will tell a similar story on another mammal that worked out good for me and my buddy because of patience.
Have a great bow hunt. BB
Sorry this photo was meant to be on my post before the mink.
Here's a photo I took this spring. I was with a good friend and he had never shot a badger photo. I love taking badger photos and have taken thousands of photos of them of many different badgers. I told him I knew where there was a badger den and lets go over there and wait, as it had a young one in the den and would definitely come back to check on it.
We did the morning shoot for other animals and at about noon pull up by the den. We got set up and waited, and waited. I could tell he had about had enough, but never said anything. Then about 5 pm he said, "Its not coming back, let's go try to find something else to shoot. I replied, let's give it one more hour and then the light will be good for other subjects. Less than 10 minutes later the mom showed up and the baby popped up and we got a good shoot of those two. Here's one of the photos I got. Patience pays! Bowhunting taught me that.
Have a great bow hunt. BB
As usual, Absolutely stunning photos !! Incredible work. Thanks for sharing Mr Allard !!
Awesome photo’s thanks for posting!
Bill you work is always spectacular. Thank you so much for sharing with the Bowsiters. Probably a lot of the newer members where not aware of your amazing skills and talents.
Tks !!
Bill, my limited vocabulary can’t express what your pics do for me. Simply amazing ! Thanks for posting !
Totally amazing Bill.
I do have have a question about your photography setup - How far away are you from your subjects you want to shoot?
Wow! Just incredible. Thanks
Awesome BB. You are a tremendous ambassador for bowhunting and a true gentleman. Thanks for sharing with us.
Amazing pics BB! Glad your back!
Talented and amazing pics
Talented and amazing pics
Absolutely amazing photos, Bill! I could see where you would get a similar rush when you get that “perfect” shot with the camera.
Amazing pictures. Thanks for sharing
Wow!! Incredible captures. Thanks for sharing BB.
Yesterday it snowed pretty good here, so when I went on my morning hike I took my camera with me and lucked out and saw great horned owl.
Sure wish the colors would post better here as this photo got some neat colors in it, but for some reason they just don't show right on this site. Anyway being a guy who got lucky on drawing 5 moose tags when I used to bow hunt, I now just shoot them with my camera and leave the tags to guys like you.
Have a great bow hunt. BB
I just looked a these last two photos I posted and the color is so far off. The water should be a light blue and the trees a nice yellow. To see what it should really look like go to my site and take a look. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100044110822295
Great thread this ranks up there with the Babine Trap Line thread for me. Keep them coming...
I like photographing sage grouse on their elk as they display.
I like photographing sage grouse on their lek as they display.
Nice to see your pics again.
BB the details you catch with the lens are second to none. The body angles, lighting, background, etc are beyond awesome. My question is how/where do you find such high caliber bucks and bulls to photograph ? Many of these posted I’d consider a once in a lifetime. Hats off to you!
Black bears are another of my favorites. I baited them for many of years and now enjoy shooting them with my camera. This is a neat colored photo, but know it won't show as its really suppose to but look at those eyes.
I used to shoot every coyote I could back in early days of bowhunting. Then I got a dog and learned how neat a dog was and it did something to me and I just could never shoot another coyote, fox or wolf. But I do understand how many of you feel, as I was brought up feeling the same way. But I have gained so much respect for the ability of a coyote and hard smart and crafty they are. I also love all young animals and work hard to find and photograph they young ones. I stood my hours waiting for the 5 young fox pups to come out when their mom returned to their den.
Did I mention I love taking photos of badgers? Ha Ha
And owls and birds have become a big attraction to me.
Great to hear from you BB. I won’t go near FB so was very glad to see this!
And for a number of years I helped a good number of Bowsiter get their first pronghorn from one of my blinds and meant and made friends with a number of them. I still set up a blind each year to photograph mainly the very young and badgers, but try to sit it some during the rut to get the bucks as they chase their ladies.
Now the last photo of the pronghorn buck that I just posted, show the colors close to what they should look like. Can anyone tell my why many of the others aren't ?
Have a good evening. Bill
It is one of bowsite's great mysteries. But colors certainly get wonky.
This feels like Bowsite, again. I can't imagine how good a bowhunter you were but you must be a better photographer. Amazing. Great to see you still out there with your weapon of choice, BB.
Well I will finish my images this morning with my next photo posts. It's been a good ride for me and life has treated me fantastic, as I have been able to enjoy it like few people get to and the best wife in the world who has allowed me to do the things I love. And my love of nature and Gods, creation has soothed my soul.
I wish you all the best.
Bill you are truly world class. What amazes me are the pictures you’re able to capture. Not only the quality, but the settings. I’d never have the patience or skill for either.
Okay this will be my final photo and a favorite of mine. I took this photo just seconds after this buck had lost its antler. If you look close you can actually see where the blood ran down past his eye. I was able to tell a friend where this buck lost his antler and he was able to get both antlers from this buck. Sadly he passed a few years later from cancer. So we all need to enjoy the things we love and like while we still can. In a couple months I will hit 82. It's been a great ride for me. I have slowed a lot but the drive to spend time with my family and being in the great outdoors pushes me to this day.
God Bless. ALL OF YOU!
And have a great bow hunt. P.S.
Now if you have question on anything I will be happy to answer them if I can.
Thanks BB Great photos and keep on Trucking
Bill - how does a person go about purchasing one of your photos?
Thank you BB, I go to Facebook to look for your photos and appreciate your talent.
Not just a Bowsite treasure, but a treasure for everyone. You are an inspiration, Bill. Cheers to many more photos in the years to come.
Simply stunning photography! God Bless
I've got a question for you. What one change in your opinion when you went from being a good photographer to great made the biggest impact. Was it equipment, time spent taking pictures, editing, a technique, or something entirely else?
Thanks for sharing your talents with us. The detail in the bird photos are amazing as are all photos you posted.
Got that last one a bit too light but I think that might be part of the problem. Won't bore y9iou anymore.
Got that last one a bit too light but I think that might be part of the problem. Won't bore y9iou anymore.
JohnMC all that you mentioned help, a couple things I learned that I think helped me the most is the importance of getting the exposure and focus correct. Those two things help a lot to elevate your photo quality. A few other things I learned was getting close is important too if you want to see detail. And years ago I just wanted to be so close and would cut off the legs and the background. Now I like to still be close but I also like to get the whole critter in the photo and the habitat (scene). I think they all add to a photo.
And I might add you always have to keep trying to improve your work. Once that ends, your photos will summit out.
And in that same light as far as my photos I posted on this thread I was disappointed in the color as it does not show on this site like it does on my computer. But I was amazed that the full body pronghorn I posted looked just about like it does on my computer. So I wondered why that was. I did some thinking and I felt maybe photos need to be lighter to post more like they should look on this site. So I lightened the last two far lighter than I would normally and they posted better I might be wrong, but I am going post a photo as it looks on my computer and then lighten the same photo and post that to see if I'm right.
I wish the best to all of you.
Thanks so much, Bill. Please come back and visit more!
