Trail Camera on a Bad Stand

Trail cameras are neat tools. They are also sober judges of a stand's potential and can overrule a hunter's lofty expectations.

This stand was gonna be a gem. Situated on converging trails in a palmetto flat, it stands between a cow pasture and a wet-weather pond and additional cover. Seen a lot of game in the area. Should have been a homerun for deer and hogs.

Over the last year a few hunters have posted up here and, predictably, saw a few hogs. But we never got the sense it was all that productive. Enter the Covert Cam.

T placed it on August 16th, and we retrieved it October 12th. I literally could not wait to see the pics.

Annnnnnnddddddd, the air was let out of the tires. 1371 pictures - 3/4's of those of four raccoons that visited seemingly nonstop during this time. I may need to camp out here with my .17HMR.







One young black boar showed up the day after the camera was flipped on.



And a full month passed before another showed. Why, I cannot explain. I kid you not when I say this 9,000 acre ranch has THOUSANDS of hogs. And they're not shy around the feeders. Worse still, it was these same two boars that would return sporadically.





Corn will dial in the turkeys...but no gobblers. Again, very weird for the area. And no flocks of hens, just one or two at a time.





There were an assortment of dove, crow, and squirrel pics I'm sure you're disappointed I'm not sharing. But here's some bobwhite!



So this stand and feeder will have to be moved. Just goes to show that corn isn't a magic cure-all. Stand location is paramount to success. There are plenty more places on this Happy Hunting Ground where the animals will appreciate our efforts. Soon, this poor guy will have to cast a hopeful eye elsewhere. At $12 a bag, corn is a little too pricey to feed to him!

July Trail Camera Photos

The Covert Camera was deployed for a week on a feeder in Sarasota County. The next generation of game animals is taking full advantage of the corn - as are the parents.

This fawn and doe were photographed numerous times.



Good picture of a doe. Would love to get some buck pictures. They tend to hang on the edges of the fields and ignore the corn.



Always plenty of hogs...






And more hogs...





I think I shot this one last night (story next week).



Hey, little guy!



And this puts a smile on my face. 2011's hatch of Osceolas. Young now, but it looks like a fair number have survived in this flock!!!







And then I got these photos and realized something was wrong.







The kind lady at Covert gave me the information to send it back under warranty.

Normally I'd gripe and complain, but this unit has been in the woods almost non-stop since last September on four different properties. It endured the coldest winter I can remember in FL. It didn't melt through one of the hottest April's and May's in recent years, and finally slogged through almost non-stop rain in June and early July. All of this while taking thousands of pictures and only one change of batteries.

Not too bad.

I can't wait to get it back. May just buy another.

December Trail Camera Photos

My feeder continues to attract, well, useless animals. At least for bowhunting. No hogs for a third straight month. No deer ever.

Whatever.

Not counting on the deer anyhow, though the hog hunting has been deflating. Lease expires in February, and I'm gone.

For this month's gallery, I present to you these misfits.

I looked at this photo for some time, thinking it was a scrawny hog...what do you think? (Click on photos for larger image.)



Upon careful study, this appears to be a mutt. Kinda pitbullish. Another lease member spotted a pair two weeks ago. Mongrel.

These two are certainly strange bedfellows.



I may have the World's Largest Collection of armadillo photos.

I called one of these in on my last hunting trip there with a digital predator call. But they are sneaky.



These animals are rather sneaky, too!



Finally, I obtained photos of a legit game animal - my favorite nonetheless.



Fall turkey in this zone ends January 31st. I desperately want to crack one this time of year, though these won't be legal game. Bearded birds only! I know a few are there.

I will certainly let you know if I am successful.

See you then!

Trail Camera Photos

Our Polk County lease is void of deer. It has a few turkey. Quite a few hogs. And apparently an unseemly number of raccoons. I finally broke down and bought a Covert II Assassin trail camera a few weeks ago and hung it by my bump feeder.

So far I am very pleased with the camera. It takes great photos, is a cinch to adjust and easy on battery consumption. I'll wait a few months before I totally endorse it, but right now the rig is five-star.

It's taken nearly 5000 photos of hogs, raccoons, and one armadillo, mostly at night or early morning. Wish there were more hope-fueling daylight shots, but my stand was - I came to find out - worked pretty hard through the summer. May take a while to restore their confidence. Also haven't picked up on any huge boars yet which isn't totally surprising but did think would happen.

I'm very disappointed no turkey pics have been snapped. They have been hitting the dove field pretty regularly, though. And the hog action has settled down over the last week as they seek the plentiful acorns.

So here are a few photographs. The white and spotted hog with the shoats is dead meat first chance I get. I have hundreds of pics of her and her youngin's. They've consumed a silo's worth of corn. She actually looks pregnant in the recent pics.

Ah, who knows, I may let her slide.

Thick as thieves, these two are



A different spotted hog who is a glutton





And, the No-Ear Hog