Cabin Fever

I've been putting my trailcams out over deer scraps and ribcages for the past couple of winters to get pics of predators. Here are just a few...

I've read studies and attended a seminar last winter that said that 40-70% of a coyotes diet in the summer consists of fawns! I've also read that turkey populations can drop as much as 80% where there's a good coyote population. Sickens me! We use to have a huge turkey population on my property and surrounding properties about 10 years ago. On an "average" day of bowhunting, I would see ~50 turkeys. They would be so loud and annoying while I was trying to bowhunt. We had several different flocks of 20-50 birds each. We had more turkeys than we had squirrels! In the past 5-6 years, our turkey population has steadily declined. If I even see one now, it's a miracle. I also have trailcams out year round and seldom get any pics of turkeys. I've been planting foodplots to try to attract them back in, with no luck. During the past few winters, I haven't even seen any turkey tracks anywhere in the area! I've even started trapping again, just to take out some nest raiders (coons, opossums, and skunks). The only difference is the increasing coyote population. The neighbors at my camp tell me all the time how they hear coyotes out there howling often. Some winters, I see more coyote tracks than deer tracks! I've taken up coyote hunting, but so far haven't had any luck. I've only tried day time calling, but understand that night time calling is much more productive. I would like to learn how to trap them too. I think more hunters need to pitch in and do their part to keep the coyote population in check, before things get worse!

I use them for bowhunting and turkey hunting.

Nay here also. I think they're an eyesore!

If I had a shop nearby, I would have it bore sighted. But, I don't, so I just take some extra ammo and start from scratch!

Tresspassers!! I pay property taxes, spend a lot of money on maintaining/improving the property, spend money on planting foodplots, and bust my butt to have a place for me and my 2 young kids to hunt and enjoy ourselves. Then to have tresspassers come in to hunt our place, REALLY pisses me off!

I hunt on my own property, but still wouldn't consider going out during gun season without orange. My kids are raised the same way. I've had deer walk up within 5 feet of me and not see me. I think it should be required by everyone.

ALWAYS!! Even more so now though, as I use the HSS Life line also.... keep reading and learn from my mistake.... PLEASE!! Last Sept. I was out checking treestands. I climbed up the tree steps 20' and shook the stand to make sure it was secure. Once satisfied, I grabbed a large branch that I usually grab as I transfer my weight from the tree steps to the stand. I just remember hearing a "snap"..... then rolling down the hill at the base of the tree. I laid there for a few seconds and moved my arms and legs, doing a physical check. When I realized I could move everything, I almost chuckled to myself, thinking it was amazing to fall 20' and not get hurt. I stood up and immediately fell back to the ground with excruciating pain in my foot. I guess the adreneline from the fall supressed the pain in my foot until I stood up! I was screaming in pain, all alone, and was ~1/2 mile from camp. Luckily, I had my cell phone with me, so I called my wife before trying to get out of the woods. I didn't know if anything else was wrong and I wanted someone to know roughly where I was at incase I passed out somewhere trying to get out of the woods. I tried crawling, but everytime my foot bumped a stick or got caught on vegetation, I was screamed in pain! I found a large stick/limb that I could use as a crutch and hopped out 1/2 mile back to camp. My wife was pulling in, just as I was getting there. Went to the emergency room and it was so swollen that it didn't look like a human foot!! BROKEN! I was in a cast then boot for months, which meant I missed out on my beloved bowhunting and gun hunting last fall, which KILLED me! I can't explain how depressing it is to know how one STUPID mistake can really screw things up for you! I have spent over $1500 in medical co-pays and was out of work for months also. I ALWAYS use a safety harnass, once I get in the stand! After my fall, I invested in the HSS Life Line, which you tie off above your stand and then at the base of the tree. These things keep you safely attached to the tree from the time you step up off the ground until your feet get back on the ground! It has a prusset knot that you clip onto and it slides up and down with you and you climb up and down from the stand. A sudden jerk, from a fall, will make the knot lock up, so you won't fall. If I would have had this last Sept, it would have saved me from a lot of pain, agony, a missed hunting season, and financially. I never wanted to spend the money before on these things, but after seeing what the fall has cost me, these things are a blessing! I'm now over 10 months since my fall. I'm still in pain every day, limp terribly, my foot is still REALLY swollen, and the docs can't explain whats causing all the pain and swelling! They're saying ligament damage, which could take 2 years to heal! I'm afraid this will hinder the upcoming hunting season as well. PLEASE learn from my mistake and wear those safety harnasses and invest in the life lines! Don't be fooled into thinking you don't need one in a ladder stand or a stand with a railing. Straps break, stands collapse, medical conditions happen, ect... Last fall a hunter (near Auburn NY, I believe) was climbing into his ladder stand. When he reached the top, he was startled by a family of mice that had made a nest on his seat and they started jumping everywhere. He fell backwards, broke his back, had to crawl out of the woods, and will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. If you don't do it for yourself, do it for your wife, kids, family, and friends!

Very nice!! Did you find the Eagle seeds locally?? I'm thinking about trying some next year. Sure hate to pay for shipping!