My 2013 Trail Cam "Season" (update Labor Day Weekend)
- derekp1999
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My 2013 Trail Cam "Season" (update Labor Day Weekend)
Made it out yesterday (01 June 2013) and got my 3 trail cameras out. My 6 year old son wanted to "go hiking" with me so I had him tag along with me. We logged 1.66 miles according to the GPS and gained 900 feet in elevation. He was an absolute trooper!
My wife got me a couple of the Camlock boxes & Python locks for Christmas. I'm considerably less anxious about leaving my cameras out now... although I do realize that if somebody really wants to steal them even the box & lock will not deter them.
I chose to put all the cameras in a bowl I hunted heavily last year... for now. When I have some adult help I'll move one or two to more remote locations (plus I'll be adding a friend's camera to the arsenal later this summer). So, the first spot I chose was right over the seep that the buck I got a shot at last year as coming into for a drink. The seep is out in the open & I had very few options. I settled for a tree looking slightly southwest over the seep & I made my son go stand out there cause I figure he's about the shoulder height of a deer. There is a cleared spot where an old salt block used to sit... I don't know who had brought it up there, but I remember seeing it when it was very small three years ago. There is a foot deep hole where the animals have eaten the dirt where the block sat. The seep is just to the left.
The second spot was a bit of an adventure... I had noticed a huge game trail on Google Earth & promised myself I'd get a camera up there. Just when I thought I had passed it & was ready to give up and head back downhill I spotted it up the hill from us. It was STEEP and the gravel was pretty loose. My son basically crawled up the last 50 yards or so. I had to be very strategic... looking uphill to the south it looked like this:
Then it made a right angle to the east. I tried to position the camera to cover both areas:
From there we headed back down to the bottom of the bowl & I tried to find one of the trees I used last year. On our way down we came across an old carcass & my son was fascinated with some of the bones... he's been into dinosaurs for a while so he wanted to have a paleontologist come look at them. He was starting to get hungry so I rushed it a bit... the trail is well used, but this will likely be one of the cameras that I move to a different location:
My wife got me a couple of the Camlock boxes & Python locks for Christmas. I'm considerably less anxious about leaving my cameras out now... although I do realize that if somebody really wants to steal them even the box & lock will not deter them.
I chose to put all the cameras in a bowl I hunted heavily last year... for now. When I have some adult help I'll move one or two to more remote locations (plus I'll be adding a friend's camera to the arsenal later this summer). So, the first spot I chose was right over the seep that the buck I got a shot at last year as coming into for a drink. The seep is out in the open & I had very few options. I settled for a tree looking slightly southwest over the seep & I made my son go stand out there cause I figure he's about the shoulder height of a deer. There is a cleared spot where an old salt block used to sit... I don't know who had brought it up there, but I remember seeing it when it was very small three years ago. There is a foot deep hole where the animals have eaten the dirt where the block sat. The seep is just to the left.
The second spot was a bit of an adventure... I had noticed a huge game trail on Google Earth & promised myself I'd get a camera up there. Just when I thought I had passed it & was ready to give up and head back downhill I spotted it up the hill from us. It was STEEP and the gravel was pretty loose. My son basically crawled up the last 50 yards or so. I had to be very strategic... looking uphill to the south it looked like this:
Then it made a right angle to the east. I tried to position the camera to cover both areas:
From there we headed back down to the bottom of the bowl & I tried to find one of the trees I used last year. On our way down we came across an old carcass & my son was fascinated with some of the bones... he's been into dinosaurs for a while so he wanted to have a paleontologist come look at them. He was starting to get hungry so I rushed it a bit... the trail is well used, but this will likely be one of the cameras that I move to a different location:
Last edited by derekp1999 on Wed Sep 04, 2013 9:27 am, edited 8 times in total.
“The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.”
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- MuleyMadness
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Re: My 2013 Trail Cam "Season"
Cool stuff Derek, hope you get some good shots. I put 2 cams up on Memorial day.
PS - can I get your Pronghorn odds sheet non read protected only.
PS - can I get your Pronghorn odds sheet non read protected only.
- derekp1999
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- Joined: Fri Oct 08, 2010 2:09 pm
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Re: My 2013 Trail Cam "Season"
Absolutely, resident spreadsheets for all big game species are on my "blog" (http://utahbiggameodds.blogspot.com/) and are free for the taking... all should be completely unlocked. I'll be getting the updated antlerless elk sheet up shortly as well for those interested.MuleyMadness wrote:PS - can I get your Pronghorn odds sheet non read protected only.
“The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.”
-Albus Dumbledore
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- MuleyMadness
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Re: My 2013 Trail Cam "Season"
I tried the Pronghorn one already, it's read only. Can't type my points in, thanks!
- derekp1999
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Re: My 2013 Trail Cam "Season"
I just fixed the link, it should work now... all the functionality is there when I download it. I'll send it via email just to be safe.
“The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.”
-Albus Dumbledore
-Albus Dumbledore
- derekp1999
- 4 point
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- Joined: Fri Oct 08, 2010 2:09 pm
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Re: My 2013 Trail Cam "Season" (update 6/28/2013)
Checked my cameras for the first time this afternoon. It was hot, but I still managed to see a couple critters up & moving around and avoid heat stroke... barely. Most of my pics are of elk but I did manage to catch a little handfull of small bucks.
Here's are my "Top Ten":
Camera #1 (This is one of those newfangled cameras that takes pictures from the past! I forgot to set the date... oops!)
"Nature Calls"
"The Unicorn Bull"
Camera #2
Camera #3
I'm not sure what is going on behind the shoulder of this bull... I have to assume that these are scars from fighting another bull. They can't be healed bullet holes cause those would have been darn near perfect shots. My other thought is that when I find this bull this fall he will show me exactly where to aim!
This is the largest buck that I caught on camera. Not a huge buck by any stretch but I'd be happy with him.
Here's are my "Top Ten":
Camera #1 (This is one of those newfangled cameras that takes pictures from the past! I forgot to set the date... oops!)
"Nature Calls"
"The Unicorn Bull"
Camera #2
Camera #3
I'm not sure what is going on behind the shoulder of this bull... I have to assume that these are scars from fighting another bull. They can't be healed bullet holes cause those would have been darn near perfect shots. My other thought is that when I find this bull this fall he will show me exactly where to aim!
This is the largest buck that I caught on camera. Not a huge buck by any stretch but I'd be happy with him.
“The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.”
-Albus Dumbledore
-Albus Dumbledore
Re: My 2013 Trail Cam "Season" (update 28 June 2013)
Great pics... looks like you have yourself a good spot.
Is that the Wasatch? Do you plan to pick up an OTC tag?
Is that the Wasatch? Do you plan to pick up an OTC tag?
The right thing to do and the hard thing to do are usually the same thing
- MuleyMadness
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Re: My 2013 Trail Cam "Season" (update 28 June 2013)
Nice some Elk pics in there, cool.
- derekp1999
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Re: My 2013 Trail Cam "Season" (update 28 June 2013)
It's one of the any bull units on some private property & my tag is in the mail. I did the muzzleloader last year but I'm going to do the rifle this year because my wife & I have a baby coming in November or I'd do the muzzleloader again.PhillyB wrote:Is that the Wasatch? Do you plan to pick up an OTC tag?
“The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.”
-Albus Dumbledore
-Albus Dumbledore
Re: My 2013 Trail Cam "Season" (update 28 June 2013)
Looks like you are in for a fruitful season...derekp1999 wrote:It's one of the any bull units on some private property & my tag is in the mail. I did the muzzleloader last year but I'm going to do the rifle this year because my wife & I have a baby coming in November or I'd do the muzzleloader again.PhillyB wrote:Is that the Wasatch? Do you plan to pick up an OTC tag?
The right thing to do and the hard thing to do are usually the same thing