July 21st, 2008
By Arthur

It seems that everywhere I go lately, I come across plenty of wildlife.  This is especially true on our hunting property the last couple of weeks.  I’m definitely not complaining, and I hope it keeps up, it just came as a little bit of a shock to me. 

The property we hunt on is on a dead-end road that only has two houses on it.  It is pretty secluded and kind of “off the beaten path”.  It actually works out pretty good, because the animals seem to be more at ease in the open so it provides for more chances of actually seeing some good stuff.

The picture on the left I took as I made way down the road to the property.  These two fawns were standing on the side of the drive I needed to pull in, so I stopped the car and they were nice enough to hold still long enough for me to take a snapshot.  I love spring time fawns.  They are so cool to see and get a chance to look at.  I’m not sure where mom was, but I’m sure she was nearby.

Then, last Saturday morning, as I was driving in to check the cam, I noticed all these big black dots along the driveway.  Of course they are turkeys, but I was a little disappointed because there wasn’t a tom in the bunch.  At least I know there are plenty of tom attractors for next year though.

I also found an interesting picture on the cam last weekend.  I think it might be the “buck ghost of season’s past”.  I moved the trailcam to a different spot where I found some really good sign.  This is in the area that I didn’t even realize was still part of the property we could hunt, so I wanted to check it out this year with the trailcam and see where a well-placed treestand would hopefully produce some results.  I did a major no-no with the trailcam though, and in my haste to get away from the mosquito army, I faced it directly east into the sunlight.  This picture is over-exposed as a result, but I think all of you can see that that is a decent buck in the picture.  He does look ghostly, but I still know he is there.  It looks like this new area might be working out after all.  The camera only took a total of 12 pictures before the battery died, so I was pretty happy with my camera-to-buck ratio this week:)  I plan on slapping some new batteries in it and getting it back out to this same location, and letting it sit for a longer duration this time.  I’m pretty excited about what could show up.

So turkeys, fawns, and ghost bucks.  A little bit of everything showed up this weekend! 

Popularity: 11% [?]

July 13th, 2008
By Arthur

Another weekend come and gone.  I say this all the time, but I really can’t believe how fast the weekend’s go lately, and when the baby comes, I know they are only going to get faster.  It is sad really.  You live all week for the weekend, and then in a flash it is gone.

Now, moving onto more positive things.  First off, I have a challenge.  Will someone please tell me what is in this trailcam picture.  Please focus on the lower right squadrant and you will see whatever it is.  I honestly am not sure.  I keep thinking I see a face that is somewhat like a badger, although I think my mind may be playing tricks on me.  It could be a possum, I honestly have no idea.  Everyone’s opinion is appreciated though.(I know it’s not a badger, I just was giving you an idea of the type of face I see).

I thought I would share this camera picture as well.  He is just a little guy, and more than likely, I will let him pass this year if we meet, but I thought the picture was pretty cool.  Apparently he wanted to pose for the camera.  Pretty funny.  I also got some coyote butt on camera.  The camera was a little slow in the flash department, but I’m glad that it still managed to capture him/her.  I’m also glad, that despite his presence, I still saw two fawns as I drove into the property today, and also got one of them on cam as well.  A good camera check all the way around.

On Sunday we rounded out the weekend by shooting our bows.  We got my cousin Corrin in on the act, as well as her friend Jordan.  It was only Jordan’s second time shooting a bow, but I have to be honest and say she did pretty well since she obviously was shooting  a bow not custom setup for her.  She’s not real sure about the hunting aspect of it, and that I can understand, but I think we might be able to convince her to hunt those ugly ‘ole turkeys.  She has a soft spot for deer so no need to pressure there.  It obviously isn’t for everyone.  As long as she continues to shoot archery she can still hang out with us.

Corrin also had a first this weekend.  She robin-hooded one of MY arrows.  It wasn’t a complete robin hood because she was on a different angle than me when she was shooting, but it was still awesome either way.  If I’m going to lose an arrow I love losing it that way. Nice shot ‘rin.  That was awesome.

All in all it was a pretty good weekend.  Hopefully this work week goes by fast, and hopefully I can work in another fishing trip to the father-in-law’s private pond.  I’m having some withdrawals.

Popularity: 20% [?]

June 10th, 2008
By Arthur

I put the trailcam up just a little over a week ago and I did have some success.  This was the first time I put the cam in this particular location, so I wasn’t really sure what I was going to get, but some four-legged friends did show up.

The cam is located on the opposite side of the road from where we hunted last year.  I didn’t realize there was quite so much “space” over there, and when the property owner told me “the property only went a little bit” I took him for his word.  Then Jeff got to talking to the landowners and promptly called me and told me I was crazy.  After a little investigation it turned out he was right.  The property did go much further in then I thought and we missed out on a great hunting location last year.  Hindsight is 20/20 though, so I decided that putting the trailcam up in that area this year would be a good idea.  I was hoping for a little more “action”, but since it was only there a week I’m trying to stay positive.

I only got two decent pictures, and the first one I know is a deer, but I’m not exactly what it is.  It seems to be a doe, but considering that it is standing off in the distance between the two trees it is hard to tell.  I would have gotten some excellent close up shots, but as you can tell, I only managed to get the backs of these two deer.  I didn’t take into account the slight hill on the trail.  I’m a trailcam rookie, what can I say?  I did move the camera down a little without getting completely carried away by mosquitoes so hopefully this weekend I get some more close-ups.

Jeff has a cam up not very far away from where mine is as well.  We will be checking that one this weekend too and hopefully we get some good results.

I love trailcams.  A great way to keep in-touch with your hunting spots when the season isn’t going on.

Popularity: 19% [?]

April 14th, 2008
By Arthur

I wasn’t quite sure if Spring was ever going to get here.  I know that it officially arrived a few weeks back, but here in Michigan it has been awfully hard to tell that fact.  Crazy weather, snow in April, and it still being a bit chilly made it feel more like Winter then Spring and now suddenly this week that is all changing.

The wife, my cousin from South Carolina, and myself all went out to the property that the wife and I can hunt to check the trail cam I put up about a week and a half ago and low and behold we actually had the quarry we were looking for on cam…….a turkey.

Granted that it was only one turkey, but hey that is better than nothing.  It is hard to tell in the picture, but I think that it is a jake.  I don’t see any evidence of a beard, but that red head is giving him up as a male of the species.  Since I haven’t shot my first turkey yet I will be the first to tell you that a jake is not safe anywhere near me.  I just have to get the first one under my belt and then I can be picky after that.

We also walked around the back side of the property, and as we did this at 2 in the afternoon, there was a gobbler on a property adjacent to us gobbling his head off.  He couldn’t of been 100yds away, but the property is so thick we wouldn’t be able to see him unless he was right on top of us. 

 After hearing that commotion I decided to drive around to the backside of the property and this is what we witnessed in a field.  The wife was steady and quick enough to take a picture, but you’ll have to forgive the quality.  She did an excellent job with the picture, but our older camera is not made to zoom that far.  It is evidence that they are in the area though and I am pumped for next Monday.

So I am starting to believe that Spring is really here and I can’t wait to get back in the woods next week.  It has been a long, nasty winter and I am soooo ready to hit the woods.

Popularity: 29% [?]