# John Jefferson > Photographer | Austin, TX ## Posts - [WOODS, WATERS and WILDLIFE™](https://johnjefferson.com/2025/11/03/woods-waters-and-wildlife-3/): BEING CAREFUL IS REQUIRED Many things can ruin a hunting trip. I’ve either been involved in or heard about the following ones. Guard against them! - [SNAKE BITE!](https://johnjefferson.com/2024/09/19/snake-bite/): (This column was written for springtime publication, since snakes are more active, then. However, young rattlesnakes hatched during the summer begin to prowl their new habitats in early autumn and are frequently encountered. Beware!) The times have changed. And I’m glad of it. After completing First Aid training during high school, I thought I knew what to do if anyone was injured in a bomb blast or bitten by a venomous snake. But I shuddered upon hearing of a classmate being bitten several times as he climbed out of a swimming hole where a cottonmouth lay. The recommended procedure then [...] - [Abandoned Fawns?](https://johnjefferson.com/2021/06/22/abandoned-fawns/): Well, it’s started. A post on a neighborhood chat site read: “Baby fawn in our backyard – how do we take care of it?” Earlier this spring, I decided against writing another “Don’t mess with the fawns” article. The number I’ve previously penned could almost be measured by the song, “How Deep Is the Ocean?” I started to add a nasty comment to the lady’s post but knew that wouldn’t be acceptable. And, besides, 31 people had already commented. Most offered intelligent advice about leaving the fawns alone since their mother would soon be back. They’re not abandoned! Enough people [...] - [WCN columnist ‘best of the best’](https://johnjefferson.com/2021/04/06/wcn-columnist-best-of-the-best/): (The following is published with permission) By Elaine Kolodziej, Publisher Wilson County News, Floresville, Texas Popular longtime outdoor author and writer John Jefferson won first place in the Excellence in Craft competition at the Texas Outdoor Writers Association’s 63rd Annual Conference in February. The winning entry, “A Man Took Time to Mentor Me,” was published in the Oct. 6, 2020, issue of the Wilson County News. It was chosen from among more than 80 entries, as the “best of the best,” as one of the judges remarked. Jefferson’s writing conveys not only a love of the outdoors, but it shares important human [...] - [A Lion in Winter](https://johnjefferson.com/2021/01/10/a-lion-in-winter/): Dateline: Almost Anywhere in Texas. A December 2020 press release from Texas Parks and Wildlife stated that a mountain lion was seen and confirmed near Rowlett, in eastern Dallas County, not far from Lake Ray Hubbard.  Do I believe it? Or am I just trying to be an alarmist? Heck, yeah, I believe it. I could have entitled this column, “Mountain Lion in Dallas,” omitting the word “County”, had I wanted to be an alarmist.   But knowing the hysteria anytime there is a coyote sighting in our neighborhood and people start posting warnings about not letting kids walk to school [...] - [A MAN TOOK TIME](https://johnjefferson.com/2020/10/05/a-man-took-time/): A recent survey showed that kids without mentors seldom grow up hunting or fishing. Makes sense. Like any other activity — kids need someone to show ‘em how it’s done. Alexander Pope described it centuries ago: “As the twig is bent the tree’s inclined.” When I was seven, my father died in a military hospital in Tunisia during the WW II. My sister was three. The only man in the house was my Uncle Pete. He introduced me to baseball, the New York Yankees, and Joe DiMaggio. He kindled a lifelong love of the sport, and good music. We shared [...] - [WOODS, WATERS and WILDLIFE](https://johnjefferson.com/2020/05/07/woods-waters-and-wildlife-2/): STATE PARKS RE-OPENED! Most State Parks opened last week for day use only. As encouraging and commendable as it is, does this mean the beginning of the end of COVID-19? I don’t think so. And that scares me. Maybe you’ve read about the 1900 Galveston hurricane. They were unprepared and inadequately warned. No television then, no NOAH Weather, no cell phones. Many lacked telephones of any kind. No one knew what was coming. Or what hit them. The hurricane smashed into Galveston, rampaging the city. Then everything calmed down. Survivors went into the streets to survey the damage, not knowing [...] - [WOODS, WATERS, and WILDLIFE](https://johnjefferson.com/2019/11/27/woods-waters-and-wildlife/): DEER DELUGE! As deer hunters, we should be careful what we wish for. Granted, the 100-degree weather we had in September is far from the ideal hunting weather, but the last week in October and first part of November – including Opening Day – in the thirties? Sheeesh! And, the weathermen hit his prediction. Hope you had your long johns and wool socks in your duffle. The Hill Country got a couple of freezes. And four weekends of hunting without rain! If you wanted more deer on your range, you’re in luck. The deer guys have said for years that [...] - [GOOD DOG!](https://johnjefferson.com/2019/08/26/good-dog/): I asked a new friend if he was a hunter. “I am,” he said, “but not a deer hunter.” “I prefer squirrel hunting,” he added, “or maybe quail hunting. I grew up in Arkansas and prefer sports where I can move around and hunt with my dog, instead of just sitting in a blind waiting for a feeder to go off.” I understood. Squirrel hunting was my first gun-sport adventure. I had fox terriers as a kid – great squirrel dogs. But I do enjoy sitting in a blind on a frosty morning and watching darkness dissolve into dimness, ultimately [...] - [It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over](https://johnjefferson.com/2015/09/25/it-aint-over-til-its-over/): Baseball lost a legend this week. Yogi Berra died September 22 at age 90. It’s fitting – at least to me – that my first Blog would be about a great and fabled baseball player. I grew up wanting to play for the Yankees. One summer, I played baseball every day and lost so much weight that my girlfriend didn’t recognize me when school resumed. Several years later, I was invited to walk-on at Texas A&M, but my talents didn’t match my love of the game. Dreams of a pro career soon ended. Softball, however – fast pitches and finally [...] ## Pages - [About Us](https://johnjefferson.com/about-us/) - [Lagniappe](https://johnjefferson.com/gallery/lagniappe/): Something given for good measure; a bonus - [Farm & Ranch Scenes](https://johnjefferson.com/gallery/farm-ranch-scenes/): “There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.” ― Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac - [Dogs](https://johnjefferson.com/gallery/dogs/): “A dog can express more with his tail in minutes than his owner can express with his tongue (or pen) in hours.” -Anonymous - [Portraits](https://johnjefferson.com/gallery/portrait/): “It’s more important to ‘click’ with people than to ‘click’ the shutter.” – Alfred Eisenstaedt, one of 1st Life Magazine photographers  (Sailor kissing girl at WW II parade) None of the portrait images are available for purchase or licensing, except in a few cases of personal family images. Images in other galleries are available for either print purchase or usage licensing. - [Fishing & Boating](https://johnjefferson.com/gallery/fishing-boating/): “To live life to its fullest, man must love. And fish.” – John Jefferson - [Hunting & Shooting](https://johnjefferson.com/gallery/hunting-fishing/): “Only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of the wolf.” ― Aldo Leopold - [Wild Places](https://johnjefferson.com/gallery/wild-places/): “There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot.” ― Aldo Leopold — -Jefferson’s Corollary: “I’m thankful I am one who cannot” - [Wildlife](https://johnjefferson.com/gallery/wildlife/): “Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher ‘standard of living’ is worth its cost in things natural, wild and free. For us of the minority, the opportunity to see geese is more important than television.” ― Aldo Leopold - [Gallery](https://johnjefferson.com/gallery/) - [Home](https://johnjefferson.com/):   - [Contact us](https://johnjefferson.com/contact-us/) - [Blog](https://johnjefferson.com/blog/): Take a look here on how to setup your blog page: http://uxthemes.helpscoutdocs.com/article/49-2-2-homepage-blog-setup [comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)