Pig beginning to show.

He is getting more reliable. Looks like a young male finding a new range.

Bad cam pulled-won't fire flash at night, another never has anything on card. Hard to keep these guys going! Haven't checked or corned cams in a month. Deer Corn has nearly doubled in price thanks to pandering elected folks and the Iowa caucus.

Two ticks just walking through brush with rubber boots on.

Just a couple of does wandering around.

Bought a new par of hand clippers and opened up the trails. Branches reaching in from all directions and I like them wide enough to walk in the dark without a flashlight.

Daily Deercam

Little buck that just shed his horns.


Here he is again. Look at those head bumps!


Doe and yearling fawn. She'll have to run that fawn off soon as she gets ready to deliver twins. Look how marked up their coats are. Shedding winter fur but they still look like they have been in a tussle.


Bigfoot!


Last year's fawn, now a yearling.


Br'er Possum.

Woods leafy but dry. Deer tracks and sign around. Little cam on the knoll had a spiderweb wrapped around the side. I got a twig and raked it off- I could tell it was fresh and strong.....and had that random patter. Behind the cam was an Alien-Queen-grade Black Widow. Yug.

Poison Ivy. I smelled, (of all things) Chicken Snakes at one point. They ought to be courting and breeding. When the kids swiped my cam down in the flat I carried it's corn load up to the little cam on the knoll. The coons still haven't forgotten that that corn was once there. They were working the leaves and I had 200 files of coons at night. Armadillo came by and Br'er Possum.

Daily Deercam.

Br'er Rabbit.


Br'er Coyote.


Only deer photo out of about 500.

Kids swiped my cam off the old drowned cam position. Wasn't a very good cam....but it wasn't theirs. Got a call into the grandfather across the lake. We'll see.

Update: One of the kids went and fished it out of the creek. When I had it, it worked. Trouble.

Daily Deercam

Just about coyote pup time.


Bigfoot!


Year and a half old buck.


Big Kitty.


Does working out pecking order.

Spring is springing. Been weeks since I checked cams and poured corn. One cam, with 1700+ images on it was still at 75% batts. Pretty good. Flash has quit working though so nothing at night. Second cam was facedown in the leaves with the card stolen by some kids who had been down there lately. I think they also shotgunned the heron rookery. It was pretty quiet up there. Third and forth cams were dead but everything OK. Replaced batts, poured corn and swapped cards. Lucie picking up deerticks. (2) Keeping a scan out for shed antlers.

Update. Replaced a lantern rechargeable and all 8 D batts in two cams, third cam got two Ds which will help it limp along until I get back with more.

Daily Deercam.

Snow increases the visibility in the creekbottom. The intensity level is up with reflected light. Not many tracks except small mammals and birds. Two cams have dead batts, the healthy Moultires are still hanging in. I have to carry the dog across Butler Creek which is running with snowmelt!

Daily Deercam.

Mostly squirrels and a few does and yearling fawns on the cams. Crows. One nice buck came by in the deep brush.


Still working the scrape to see who is around.


Not sure I have seen this buck before.

Limping along. One Moultrie doesn't fire the flash. Another eats the rechargable battery in a couple of hours. Cold out there. Today was the first day I could have crossed the creek and I had to carry Lucie both ways. Beautiful time of year to be in the woods.

Daily Deercam.

Wonky-horned buck that I had seen on cam several times. Better next year.


12 point I have never seen. He's going to be a trophy next year, but should NEVER be shot. Genetics too good. He ought to rule the bottom for the next four or five years and sire all the fawns.


Same deer on a different cam. Must have been making a sweep. He's just a big 2 1/2 or a 3 1/2 year old. Going to be a monster next year.


From his body development I think he is just a 2 1/2.


Big eight point I think I have seen before. Nice buck. Like most, better next year.

Secondary rut going on now, the few does that weren't bred the first time are getting attention. Found a perfect tree for a stand.

Daily Deercam.

Scrape action by the Narrow-horned buck. I'm still not convinced he is legally wide enough to shoot. Antlers must be wider than ears inside.


Young buck on the scrape.


Narrow Horned buck on the scrape.


Narrow Horned buck on a scrape in the pasture.


Little year and a half who has good genetics. He is just barely legal but too young to shoot for me. Hope he makes it through the season.

Scrapes open everywhere and the ground is covered in deep tracks of running deer. Looks like the rut is on. All four cams going. Haven't seen a deer I would consider shooting on cam yet, though I assume they are around.

Daily Deercam.

Doe and button buck at the cam across the creek.


This guy owned this scrape last year. He's a little bigger this year but so narrow I don't think he will ever be legal to shoot. Must look spectacular from the side.


Little buck beginning to wonder what is going on.

Got across the creek though it is still running strong after the rains. A fresh scrape on the way in.

Daily Deercam.

Nice 10 point wandering around.


We saw several nice bucks circling does on the drive back from Elgin.


Fresh scrape just off the trail but not a print anywhere else. Rains re-set all the dirt and signs.


Here he is at another cam 150 yards away, just a few minutes earlier.



Big rains over the weekend while I was at the Service Rifle Championship. We needed them but I couldn't get across the creek this morning to the cams over there. Maybe tomorrow.

Daily Deercam.

Bulky young buck with terrible antlers. Yug.




Wandering Bobcat.


Doe and yearlings.


Little 1 1/2 year old with nice genes. Going to be wondering whats going on in a bit.

Never had four cams all running at one time. Everything is live. Just barely two weeks to hunting season. No big bucks in evidence but lots of activity.

Daily Deer Cam

Coyotes around as always.


I love these kind of photos. Little 1 1/2 year old buck, or part of him.


Doe standing where the coyote was. There wasn't a scrape to be seen but she knows where it's GOING to be...


Doe rubbing the overhanging licking branch. They are getting interested.


Nice little buck. Not shootable size but always glad to see the traffic. There isn't any discernable rub or scrape from this year but lots of traffic on cam.


Little spike. Good genes in this area so he will be better next year. Five different bucks on this cam.


Bigger buck. Might be the one that owned this scrape last year. Shootable.

Both cams up and running. Lots of prints but no rubs and no scrapes obvious. Nice to see little bucks around. I shot some engagement photos and was given a gift card to the local Academy. Going to add a cam to replace the one that drowned in the flood when the dam on the lake broke.

Deer cams, like anything in the private sector- computers, phones, lasic eye surgery, Toyotas, cameras, computers....getting better and better fast. Government stuff, like public schooling, bureacracies and law enforcement....failing. Why is this?