Hey there all, I know this is quite off topic, but it gets to a point. Well, like the title says, I am new to the forum. I have hunted since I was maybe 14ish, including just going with my dad in the woods to watch. Then I stopped while I did 4 yrs. in the Marines. Now I am back in MN, and back in the woods. Only, things have changed. I hunted all last year on some property up in Sherburne, MN. I didn't go one morning without seeing something. On average, I saw two to three, every morning. Okay, so this year, we have been out for the last four weekends. We have walked around in the mid day, scouting, watching, listening, and in the mornings, and evenings, hunting. NOTHING. So here is where the SUBJECT comes into play. With not seeing or hearing anything for four weekends, but finding some signs of the elusive little creatures. I went out to sportsman's warehouse, and found a not so expensive, Stealthcam (I380?) I think thats what it was. Its late, and I am at work. SO we put the camera up on what appears to be a more widely used trail area of the land. It is a clearing in the hardwoods, where about 6 or 7 different trails come together, and go into some pines. Here is my question. What would cause "All" of the deer to disappear from this area? I know its still early, and there is signs of them around. To include some rather large prints in the dirt.(Dominant buck, from what I can tell). Does anyone have any idea's of what I(we) could do differently? I know I have been away for some time, but can it all change so badly? This is not like this land. My dad and uncle have been hunting this land for a couple years, and they are just puzzled. (PS, they have been hunting since they were in their early 20's. They are 50-something now)
Maybe they changed there patterns up from the summer and are now traveling else where In there fall patterns. So many things could effect this. Crops, different crops then the year before, pressure, etc. Welcome to the site Mn!! Good to see a fellow Minnesotan around!!
Yeah, I sure hope not. We are going back up there on friday morning. Going to check the results on the camera. Like I said, it is in a funnel near some pines. Just on the other side of the pines is the Refuge, one of the areas that you can't go into. It really is a great area. Kinda cool to see all of the sand hill cranes flying overhead. I was going to move the camera on friday. To one of the other spots that I hunt on. Do you guys recomend this, or should I leave it be, and see what happens. Depending on the outcome of pics on it. I still have a feeling that it will be full, of leaf pics. They sure were dropping fast last saturday. It is good to see another MN-sotan. Where in MN do you reside? I am in Woodbury, formerly in Inver Grove. - Anthony
If you have no pics, move It some where else. I'm about 70 miles west of you by Litchfield on Hwy 12. I live north of there 6 miles out In the country.
Well...{disappointed sigh here} We got to the property, and my dad pulled the cam in the morning. It was there for a week. (6 days) When we put it up, there were 4 pics on it. Today there were 7. So, I boot up the laptop, and connect the cam. ONLY to find the last three pics (ones taken in the woods.) Were taken at 22:34hrs. On last Tuesday. And the pics are BLACK! So, in an effort to see what "I" did wrong. I went through all of the settings again. Check! everything is good to go! Turn the camera on, wait 1 minute, walk in front of the cam, set it off, see the counter go to 10. Good, it took the three pics. Like it is supposed to...Right? NO! I hooked it back up, and the pics are all white.:huh: So, I called Stealth Cam, and spoke to them. The lady said the camera was probably defect, and I could have them send me a box, send them the camera, they send me new one... 4 weeks give or take. (No, I should have my deer by then) Or, take it back to the store I bought it from. Which happen to be just across the street from my place. I told her that I would try to take it back, and exchange it, then if that failed, I would probably return it, and find something else. But, she was very nice. I think she knew that I was trying to get something more out of it all. I mean, I DID miss three pics, of what could have been VERY important! Thoughts on this? I got it for $130. I am sure there is something that could compare to it. That may be a little more, um, higher quality (for lack of better words)
Well gents, I took it back today, and spoke with the floor manager for a while. He messed around with it, and found the same thing that I did. I got my instore credit, and looked at the ones they did have. Then decided on the 2.0 version with the screen inside it. Took it home, and found the same thing. It would not turn pics out. Back to the store. I spoke to the same manager. Only I left the batteries in it this time, and asked him to tell me if "I" was doing something wrong. He set it up, and took some pics. Nothing... So, back to the rack I went. Only this time, he was just getting in a truck, and he checked to see if there were any different cameras coming in on it. 1. some cheaper Bushnell, for a hundred. I looked at it, and decided that I did not like it. SO back to the rack, and found this one... http://www.stealthcam.net/HTML/digicam_prods.html Tried it out, before I left the store. I like it. Nothing tooo fancy. And it appears to be just what I was looking for. Hoping for the best. I will put it up this weekend. Probably Saturday.
KK Thats were all my bucks were taken in Sherburne county, I can tell you they have been hammering the antlerless deer it has been in a intensive harvest area for years now plus with the early firearms antlerless hunt thats where your deer have gone.
Well, Just to give you guys an idea. This is where we are hunting. It's a pretty far out pic, but I can't do anything about that. The three stands with nothing by them are where we set up this year. There was more activity there. Now I am back down at the lowest dot. Near the Off limits area. It is where they tend to congregate before crossing. The stuff you can't see is just south of there is a couple "watering holes". Or lakes if you want to be technical about it. and North is, or was corn fields up the yoo-hoo. But this land is covered with bedding areas. If I could get closer, I would have marked off more of it. Like I said. Just a general idea.
