Tidying the desktop prompted me to scan a card from one of my remote cameras Thursday night, and it got me excited about autumn.
The card contained 1,069 images, most of which were snapped across seven widely spaced days in mid November and early December 2017. The camera was positioned near a feeder which was programmed to throw grain for seven seconds twice a day. It threw grain at sunrise and about 90 minutes before sunset.
The camera photographed five different deer, but only three regularly. One was a young doe that appeared sporadically by itself. Two were older does that were always together, and the other was a young forkhorn buck that was always alone.
There was one photo of a mature buck that was taken about 2 a.m. in mid November. Only one antler was visible. It had four points and stretched well beyond the ear. It was a blurry image taken from behind, indicating that the buck was moving quickly and probably following doe scent. It did not linger at the feed, which might already have been consumed by that time.
Of course, there were also many photos of raccoons, squirrels and crows.
Most of the images were taken every time a deer or raccoon moved. Scrolling very quickly through the images created the effect of a slow movie and revealed precisely how the deer approached and moved around the feeder.
Daylight shots show my box stand faintly visible in the distance. The two does were very aware of the stand, and one doe always watched it while the other had its nose to the ground. Up, down, up, down.
They also were not satisfied to eat the corn on the ground. Many images show the deer licking corn off the spinner. Dull and shiny reflections of the spinner strongly suggest that the deer knew that they could bring more corn out of the feeder by rotating the spinner.
Resourceful and larcenous raccoons were certainly aware of this fact, too. Many images show coons hanging off the motor/timer assembly raiding the outlet. The suspended from it by the forelegs as if hanging from a chin-up bar, and they hung upside down with all four legs. A few images showed a coon on its back on the ground, suggesting it fell while hanging from the feeder.
A long string of images showed the forkhorn and a raccoon orbiting the feeder. Viewed singularly, they just showed a deer and a raccoon in random positions. Scrolling rapidly clearly show that the buck was trying to spar with what appeared to be a genuinely annoyed raccoon. The buck came close to hooking the coon several times.
Most of the photographs were taken between midnight and 4 a.m., but the overwhelming majority were taken between 2-2:45 a.m.
A few were taken at dawn, and a few were taken at dusk. Those were interesting because of the progression of light. The dawn shots began in the dark, with the deer and surrounding trees illuminated by the infrared flash.
Minute by minute, the background got progressively lighter until there was enough light to disable the flash sensor. Eventually the box stand came into view, and once I caught myself saying, "Boom!"
Dusk sequences were in reverse order. Deer appeared in the final minutes of daylight as the background got progressively darker. Eventually the stand disappeared, and flash illuminated the deer.
These photos reinforce my perception that this is not a particularly productive stand for most of the season. It has always been great during muzzleloader season, especially since our club has taken an aggressive attitude toward killing does. I see fewer deer overall at that location, but for the last three years I've encountered at least one mature buck, including a dandy that I bagged in October.
Even though I rarely visit that stand after muzzleloader season, deer largely avoid it during daylight hours. Photos showed only four days in the entire season that offered an opportunity to kill a deer. Hunting it more than casually would have been a frustrating waste of time.
That's why cameras are so useful. They supply intel that would not be fun to acquire in person.
I'll keep the cameras running. Hopefully, as the habitat evolves, it will paint a more encouraging picture that will bring that stand more frequently into play.
Sports on 06/17/2018