QUOTE
How to keep an eye on deer – or Bigfoot
By George Little - September 09, 2006
The summer camping season almost came to an end without a Bigfoot sighting - almost. In mid-August, just in time for Labor Day weekend, a trail-camera shot of Bigfoot started making the rounds. It’s funny how Sasquatch shows up about once a summer to boost the Pacific Northwest tourist trade.
The picture doesn’t appear to be altered. It does look like somebody laid out some serious bucks for a top-of-the-line gorilla suit.
Over the years, thousands of people claim to have seen Bigfoot, but no one has ever snapped a decent close-up of this storied creature. Maybe the trail-cam approach will produce concrete evidence of Bigfoot’s existence. Maybe he’ll be standing by the Easter Bunny when the picture is taken.
Before long, deer hunters in this neck of the woods will be setting out their trail cameras and patterning deer movement in absentia.
Serious hunters used to sit on the trails for days at a time and observe the critters that came and went, making notes of what animals moved and when. Now, we can achieve the same result by strapping a trail camera to a tree. From that silent observer, we can get digital images of anything and everything that trips the motion sensor.
Trail cams have hit their stride in the last five years. One popular outdoor catalog offers 50 different models. Picture quality has improved while the cost has gone down.
Trail cameras cost from $100 to more than $1,000, depending on features. A reliable, digital trail cam with infrared capabilities will set you back around $200.
The most advanced trail cameras transmit images you can download on your computer. This allows you to monitor daily or even hourly movement without disturbing the deer.
One expert recommends using one trail cam for every 80 acres you hunt, changing the location once a week. He says to set your camera about 21/2 feet off the ground, within 10 to 20 feet of a trail, scrape or crossing, at a 45- degree angle to the trail. This setup gives you the best chance to photograph the head when the animal trips the sensor.
In addition to helping pattern a big buck, trail-cam photos give you a general idea of the buck-to-doe ratio in your hunting area. If you’re getting images of 10 does for every buck, you may need to sharpen your focus on harvesting does.
Some trail-cam photos are remarkably good. I’ve seen pictures of monster bucks that nobody’s seen before or since, coyotes, turkeys, hawks and foxes. I’ve even seen a black, four-legged creature with a long tail that some believe to be a panther. At least it isn’t Bigfoot.
My all-time favorite trail-cam shots are the candid photos I saw of two intruding hunters loading their guns in front of the No Hunting sign.
Word has it they never came back once the game warden got those pictures in the mail.
George Little is an outdoors writer living in Springfield. E-mail ccmglobal@aol.com.
By George Little - September 09, 2006
The summer camping season almost came to an end without a Bigfoot sighting - almost. In mid-August, just in time for Labor Day weekend, a trail-camera shot of Bigfoot started making the rounds. It’s funny how Sasquatch shows up about once a summer to boost the Pacific Northwest tourist trade.
The picture doesn’t appear to be altered. It does look like somebody laid out some serious bucks for a top-of-the-line gorilla suit.
Over the years, thousands of people claim to have seen Bigfoot, but no one has ever snapped a decent close-up of this storied creature. Maybe the trail-cam approach will produce concrete evidence of Bigfoot’s existence. Maybe he’ll be standing by the Easter Bunny when the picture is taken.
Before long, deer hunters in this neck of the woods will be setting out their trail cameras and patterning deer movement in absentia.
Serious hunters used to sit on the trails for days at a time and observe the critters that came and went, making notes of what animals moved and when. Now, we can achieve the same result by strapping a trail camera to a tree. From that silent observer, we can get digital images of anything and everything that trips the motion sensor.
Trail cams have hit their stride in the last five years. One popular outdoor catalog offers 50 different models. Picture quality has improved while the cost has gone down.
Trail cameras cost from $100 to more than $1,000, depending on features. A reliable, digital trail cam with infrared capabilities will set you back around $200.
The most advanced trail cameras transmit images you can download on your computer. This allows you to monitor daily or even hourly movement without disturbing the deer.
One expert recommends using one trail cam for every 80 acres you hunt, changing the location once a week. He says to set your camera about 21/2 feet off the ground, within 10 to 20 feet of a trail, scrape or crossing, at a 45- degree angle to the trail. This setup gives you the best chance to photograph the head when the animal trips the sensor.
In addition to helping pattern a big buck, trail-cam photos give you a general idea of the buck-to-doe ratio in your hunting area. If you’re getting images of 10 does for every buck, you may need to sharpen your focus on harvesting does.
Some trail-cam photos are remarkably good. I’ve seen pictures of monster bucks that nobody’s seen before or since, coyotes, turkeys, hawks and foxes. I’ve even seen a black, four-legged creature with a long tail that some believe to be a panther. At least it isn’t Bigfoot.
My all-time favorite trail-cam shots are the candid photos I saw of two intruding hunters loading their guns in front of the No Hunting sign.
Word has it they never came back once the game warden got those pictures in the mail.
George Little is an outdoors writer living in Springfield. E-mail ccmglobal@aol.com.