Surprising trail cam photos. This area gets hunted pretty hard until the end of January.
I put my stand in the pine tree to the left behind the brush. I saw just a few doe, out of range, when hunting there. Seeing this makes me pretty sure I am not being stealthy enough when approaching and hanging the stand.
(http://i1347.photobucket.com/albums/p714/tas0323/Trail%20Cam%202014/EK000051_zps4c6a6440.jpg)
(http://i1347.photobucket.com/albums/p714/tas0323/Trail%20Cam%202014/EK000636_zps1e8419c2.jpg)
Slide show folder. This is just a few of the photos from the week.
Trail Cam (http://s1347.photobucket.com/user/tas0323/slideshow/Trail%20Cam%202014)
what a honey hole...
wow that looks promising!
Very nice! One of these days i'll get a camera to mess with. It'd be neat seeing what comes and goes.
That looks like a killin spot to me. Maybe your there on their days off?
Right place-wrong day-but keep at it, looks promising.
That's impressive.
That's insane!! What led you to this spot, and what do you thinks is drawing all these deer here?
Deer such as these on heavily hunted land indicates just how well deer can pattern people.
And in the daylight!
I think I'd hunt AM only there. Its on a higher spot looks like and lots of daytime bedding going on. No way to get to your stand in evenings without being picked off.
A long morning hunt might pay off in spades if the wind is right and you get there without leaving any scent where they come in.
Just my .02 which with inflation is worth nothing! :D
Looks like a place to put in some time when wind is right...GOODLUCK!
Sweet spot, I'd agree with Kenny, early morning arrival & all day sit if possible. Must be a sanctuary for them....
Thanks for the input. It looks like a place for an all day sit. It's way too hard to approach unnoticed. And I did bump two deer near here on my last approach. This is the thickest place I can find. It is a pocket of about a 50 acre areas where some junk pines blew over. Deadfalls are aver where. Maybe in a nice soft snow you could approach unnoticed. 15 years ago I would shoot some early season does here, then the woods got thin and the deer left. Now with all the blow-downs it is thick again. My intentions were to go here hoping for a shot at a doe for some meat. That has changed!
My normal method here is to get in the stand about 10:00 when other hunters are leaving or moving. This is effective in late season extreme cold hunting when deer move during the most comfortable hours. I feel like I have the woods to myself when I hunt at those hours. That isn't working here, the approach is just to noisy. Last night when I left in the dark I swear I walked into every tree and brush pile in the woods. I have been experimenting with climbing sticks and keep making too much noise with them. I might use the lone wolf climber or the old woodpecker drill.
I added a few photos. Some might be duplicates. This is only a sample of what was on the camera.
Normally this is an area where I would be happy to get a shot at a doe and would not hesitate on any legal deer at this point in the season. web page (http://s1347.photobucket.com/user/tas0323/slideshow/Trail%20Cam%202014)
Very impressive! I enjoyed your slide show. Good luck with your quiet approaches.
Bernie
While I am always interested in trail cam pics, there are a lot of cameras hanging in our public woods. They have taken lots of pictures of a guy with a really nice longbow wearing wool clothes. He is a friendly dude, he always smiles and waves at the camera. There are getting to be so many of them that it is important to look around before you take a leak in the woods.
Very cool
Jerry,
What led me to that spot? - #1 - Cover. #2 Looking for where other hunters would not go.
Sam, You are correct! My wife said "the deer know when it is Saturday! , even our dog knows when it is Saturday"
I'll hunt this on a weekday soon. I'll be at my daughter's college basketball games over the new years holiday and that weekend. So it will be a while till I get back.
My favorite time to hunt this is during snow days!
Tedd
Looks like a honey hole for sure! Good luck
Good luck Tedd ... keep the wind in your face :campfire:
QuoteOriginally posted by pavan:
While I am always interested in trail cam pics, there are a lot of cameras hanging in our public woods. They have taken lots of pictures of a guy with a really nice longbow wearing wool clothes. He is a friendly dude, he always smiles and waves at the camera.
This struck me as wonderfully good-humored and made my day. :)
Thats Impressive!
Oh Yea, what Model Trail Cam are you using? Great Pic quality!
Its the Bushnell trophy cam. The $120 version. Brown case. 6 megapixles?
Easy to use. Does not have the ability to view photos in the field. I have 2 of them. Got them from the big bidding site. Night flash range could be longer and a viewer would be nice.
They make an HD version now. Actually they make so many version I wouldn't know what to get
Wow that is impressive! Good luck!
I agree with Kenny, get there early and stay all day if possible. One thing I'll do sometimes is check the weather/wind direction and record it so that when I check my cameras I can get an idea of what direction the deer are coming from depending on the wind. Mature bucks almost always use the wind to their advantage
you have been patterned my friend...it happens to all us, so don't feel unworthy!
they will still be there next year..right?
our bush is very thick here- coastal rain forest- and the action is all around the cut blocks, in the really nasty stuff, blow down, salaal berry bushes etc etc.
so when i find a really good spot,i go back in the summer, and clear a trail and mark it with flagging tape( now with all your other hunter pressure- i might not do that!).
i trim branches so that i dont have to duck, nothing to hook on my pack, all dead branches and twigs away from the trail. and pre-drill the tree with my woodpecker setup, so on D-Day- its an easy quiet slip in!!
i always make my trail quite windy- so that anybody else will not see a trail!
good luck man- this looks exciting- keep this thread updated-
i've been following it :) :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Looks like you need to dress like a trail cam and just stand still. May work, may not
:clapper: :laughing:
Get in early sit as long as you can! Good luck!
All those pines look like you have little background cover when you're in a tree, maybe a ground blind
I feel your pain, the Government land I hunt is only open Fri-Sun when there is no training. Game cam pics are Monday thru Thursday. :bigsmyl:
I do see game when I'm there, but have not connected yet.
:thumbsup:
I agree looks like you set up right on the bucks beds with the camera. I would NOT check that camera again. If you stand is close the only option I see is to get in that stand way before first light.... evening is a no go. Also, if this is the bucks bedding area, as the picture indicates, then you have to realize they will use that bed when they can apporach it from downwind..... your set up may or may not allow you to hunt it in the mornign it really depends on how they approach with the wind in their face.
Very nice..
QuoteOriginally posted by kennym:
I think I'd hunt AM only there. Its on a higher spot looks like and lots of daytime bedding going on. No way to get to your stand in evenings without being picked off.
A long morning hunt might pay off in spades if the wind is right and you get there without leaving any scent where they come in.
Just my .02 which with inflation is worth nothing! :D
I'd agree with this! Looks like you've found a bedroom.
I saw one of the big ones! -
Finally got back to hunt. Made it to the stand about 3:00 in the afternoon. The cold was brutal. But I kept my string hand in my pocket so it would work if needed. Near dark, a few unidentifiable deer that I assume were does and fawns worked their way by me at 50-60 yards out. The wind was marginal but mostly in my favor. Somehow they winded me and went back. In a snow covered woods eyes adjust as the light dims. I was about to get down and noticed deer working towards me on a better wind approach. I saw it was one of the large bucks. Light was fading fast, but the snow made it so I could still easily see the deer. He almost took the path that goes under my tree then turned broadside walking by at 30 paces. I thought I had a clear shot and released. It must have been darker than I realized. I could not see the arrow in flight. The deer made a few trots then milled around and walked off. I hoped for a good shot but the arrow was stuck in a tree. Clean miss. It must have deflected. I went back and sat in that stand all day today. In the daylight I can see that there were a lot of branches that could have deflected my arrow. No deer showed today. That was the longest and coldest all day sit I ever had. single digits w below zero wind chill. I had on some new Cabelas berber fleece w wind stopper. That and a dozen strategically place hand warmers kept me mostly functioning all day. Other than a visit by a great horned owl there was little movement. No deer and no hunters. The card from the trail cam shows a 4 point that had not been captured prior plus some does and a spike. No big ones on the film. But they could easily be on the wrong side of the camera.
Tedd
Great pics!
Nice bucks, especially for public land.
:archer:
Those are some good PA bucks, I grew up in Central PA.
Looks amazing like stated above deer pattern us better than we can ever pattern them they'll slip up next year n well all be reading about it
Wudstix, I'm hunting in Maryland. Usually I'm hunting in PA but late season I usually hunt in Maryland.
The biggest deer I saw this season, actually ever was on public land in PA. I got a really good look but couldn't get a shot. He was a massive buck. I doubt if he was killed.