Cabin Fever

I seldom see much movement when it's windy. I just read an article by Charlie Alsheimer recently, that said when the wind blows harder than 12mph, as the wind goes up, deer activity goes down. BUT, I will say that I tend to see good activity the morning after a good long rain, like today. So we'll have to see how it plays out.

What size inverter do you have? If I could run a couple lights (150-200watts) and the small TV (~75watts) with a battery charged by a solar panel, that would be great! I really only use the lights for ~30 min. in the morning while I'm throwing on my camo, then another 30 minutes while I pack up at night. (Unless I stay overnight, then it might be on for a couple hours. Cut down on the propane use and save me from having to bring the battery home to charge it. I like it!! Interesting!! So if I didn't leave the solar panel hooked up all the time, I wouldn't need a controller? How long would it take to top off a battery? Wondering if I could plug in a solar panel and leave it on for the day while I'm there hunting anyway, then disconnect?

] I have no idea how he did it. I can't imagine that he had any big equipment. The lane wasn't even there going out to the cabin, until my father purchased the place. The neighbor across the road said the previous owner would park out along the road and walk all the way back in to the cabin. THAT'S an idea! I just recently ran into a little situation with a new/bigger inverter, that has an automatic shutdown mode when the battery drains below 10.5 volts. I hate like that feature for what I need the invertor for. I charge a marine battery up that I take into the cabin and it's sole purpose is for a little juice to operate the small TV and charge cell phones. I could care less if it completely drains the battery in between charges. That means I'll have to haul the battery back and forth from camp to keep it charged above 10.5 volts much more frequently. Even at 10.5 volts, there's still plenty of juice left to operate the things that I need it to for several hours. A solar panel might be the answer!! If someone was using their car battery, I can certainly understand why they would want the automatic shutdown feature if the battery got down to 10.5 volts.

Thanks for the kind words! I do love it there. Rustic, but I wouldn't have it any other way. A log cabin is something that has appealed to me since I was a kid watching Jerimah Johnson and old westerns. Just something nostalgic about an old log cabin tucked back into the woods. Knowing how much it meant to my father and the work that we put into it together, just makes me appreciate it more. Amenities... Hmmmmm... Well, NOT many! If you ask my wife, NONE!! We take water over in several 7 gallon jugs for handwashing, take cases of bottled water over for drinking, woodstove for heat, use propane (for lights, stove, and refrigerator), good 'ole outhouse, and sheds for storage and hanging deer. I also use an marine battery hooked up to an inverter to power a small TV and charge cell phones. I have a small NOAA weather radio that I use to get the latest weather forecast.

I have a stand that I put up 5 years ago in an area that you would think would be an awesome spot! Funnel around a pond, thick, crabapples throughout the hillside, bench unlike the steep hillside above, but I can probably count on one (OK, maybe 2) hand(s) the amount of deer I've seen from that stand in the past 5 years! I've hunted it various times in bow, gun, and MZ seasons. Although I've had very little success hunting from this stand location, I can't get myself to take it down!! I keep thinking that it "should" be in such a great location! It's plastered with tracks when there's snow on the ground! I read an article in the last Deer and Deer Hunting magazine where it addressed this same thing. So, at least I know I'm not the ONLY one! Have you ever had one of those spots that you just can't give up on??

I just checked the weather forecast on a local station for Sunday. It has sun and 0% chance of rain. THEN, I checked the weather.com and it shows rain for the day and no sun! I don't get it...

I've taken a couple of walks around the GHR plots and only found one spot where it looks like a deer browsed on ~10 stems. I keep my fingers crossed that they will hit them, but so far, nothing. The way other guys raved about GHR and DER, I thought I'd give them a try. Tough though, as I have apple orchards galore around me and corn directly across the road. Maybe after all the other crops get thinned they'll start hitting my plots.

Have you noticed the "clunking" sound at all when it takes a pic? Guys on chasinggame forum complained about that a lot. Said you could hear the clunk when it took a pic. That's the only reason I didn't buy one.... yet!

Puts cabin into "Cabin Fever"! Always thinking about being at camp! It's very rustic and nothing fancy! No electricty or water. We use propane for lights and cooking. Plenty of wood around for heat. Sits back on our 1/2 mile lane, very private. The guy that built it lived as a hermit. Found out he had cancer and his time was limited. Always wanted a log cabin, so he built this one himself. Logs are all rough cut and were cut there on the property. He notched out the logs, just using a chainsaw, for placement and for cutting openings for door and windows. He lived in a tent until the cabin was built. He died soon after. My father bought the property 10 years ago. His big thrill was "Now we'll always have a place to hunt together." The cabin had been vacant for years before my father bought it and it appeared that coyotes had been denning inside of it. There were turkey feathers and various bones scattered inside! The cabin was structurally as solid as a rock! It was just in need of TLC. The guy had rags and old clothes shoved in the gaps between the logs to keep the weather out and it had a dirt floor. My father origionally planned on burning it down and told me it would be a LOT of work to fix it up. We worked on it together and insulated in between the logs, dug the dirt floor down and put in a wood floor, replaced some windows, etc... It was a lot of work, but sure worth it! Makes me appreciate it a lot more! My father and I shared many hunts and good times at the cabin. He spent his last night on earth at the cabin, probably wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Passed away unexpectedly of a massive heart attack. This will be my 4th hunting season without him being at the cabin with me. Still sucks walking by his empty stands...

I have 2 plots of a mixture of winter wheat, winter rye, and oats. Two small plots of groundhog radishes and dwarf essex rape (AND a few weeds!). Tall weeds are hiding the pond. Plot in the far distance is clover and chicory.

Very cool!

Nice buck and pics! How do you like the Primos cam? I was toyiing with the idea of getting one. I was reading reviews, but was concerned about the issue of the "clunking" noise when snapping a pic.

Nice bucks! Too bad that one has a messed up left side. Looks like he just has a tall spike on that side. Possibly due to injury.

I agree! I'm not afraid of getting wet and I have rain gear. My concern is the blood trail!

Just checked my vacation schedule! In the next 6 weeks, I'll only be working for 10 days!!! Maybe I'll need those 10 working days to rest up!

They're helpful and a confidence booster when you're not seeing movement and you start to question your stand location or choice. Then you check your cams and see that all the activity has been at night. At least you know that they are moving in the area, but only at night. Stick it out and sooner or later, you'll catch one in their feet during the day.

Could be also be sun, shadows, squirrels on the ground directly below the cam that the sensor is picking up, but are out of sight on the pics. Sure is nice with the digital cams now that we can simply delete unwanted pics! I remember the old days with 35mm and having to pay to develop the unwanted/false pics! That got expensive and frustrating!!

WOW!! Great pics!! That sure gets the heart pumping!! 'Tis the season for scrape action!! ;D Is that a mock scrape or natural? I just put my cams over scrapes (both mock and natural)last weekend, hoping to see some action too!

I cringed reading that, knowing what was coming! Glad you had that harness on and that you weren't hurt!

Yep, live in Waterloo. Where abouts are you?

They help fuel my fire on those days when I'm feeling wore down and frustrated with not seeing anything. The cams show me what's out there and helps keep me motivated. I supppose it helps guys be more selective also, if they choose to be, knowing the class of deer that are out there. I've been using trailcams for ~10 years now and have NEVER once been able to use them to pattern a deer. I run my cams just about 365 days/yr. I switch my focus to other critters, but I love the cams. It's a year round hobby.

I checked when I drove by around lunch time, but it was gone! Do you suppose it was just there taking a nap? Heavy sleeper?? Playing possum?? ..... LOL OR maybe the curiosity got to nyslowhand and he picked it up to measure it???

"Right now", the weatherman is calling for partly sunny skies, 53 degrees, and NW/W wind. With his track record, that probably means rain, 70 degrees, SE/E wind!!

I thought you were from Seneca county . What-cha doing in these parts ? Work... one LONG commute! (~1hr. each way...) Gives me time to look for roadkilled coyotes anyway...

Yeah, pretty short considering all the other tines are nice and long. BUT, then again, I ain't too picky! The later in the season I get, the LESS picky I become!