CT Bucks thru 8-3-13

[BizCT]

Today I checked my Connecticut trail cam for the first time ever.  This is my first year hunting this private property, about 7 acres. I will be hunting from the ground with the crossbow.  The cam is about 20-25 yards from where I plan to sit on rocky ledge.  I figured I would either have like 0 pics or a bunch. I put the cam where I thought the deer would travel after walking the land for only about 30 minutes on July 13th. think I did pretty good, I got 135 pics on 3-shot burst, so really about 45 pics.  Surprisingly, more bucks than does, and also a black dog lol. No huge bucks, but one of them looks like it will be a 5 or 6 pointer.  Hopefully in 3-4 weeks, I will catch a bigger buck on camera. I did have some pics late at night with 3-4 deer in the pic where I couldn't tell what they were, just that they are deer.

[BizCT]

The one buck appears to have a mark on his body right behind the shoulder?

[BizCT]

Also, why do most day time pics come out black n white with this cam? This is my first time using this cam. Usually I use wildgame cams. I bought this cam for the shot burst, which works great showing me which the deer are moving.

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[blackradio]

I've nothing but problems with truth cam 35s. I bought 5 and gave 3 to a friend. Out of the 5, 1 works with few problems, 1 was stolen, and 3 are dead after less than 2 years. And this was after sending 2 of them back for problems. Won't be supporting Primos ever again.

 

when it worked the cam took nice pics though. Hopefully you fare better than I.

 

[BizCT]

Damn, that sux. I bought for the burst option. Not sure why the daytime pics look like night, but I guess as long as it takes pics I'm happy.

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[nyslowhand]

Look at the time on your over exposed photos. Lot of different brands of IR trail cams have this issue. Believe it has to do with the IR sensor and images taken just after dawn or befrore sunset. Basically flashes when it doesn't need to during those low-angle sunlight peroids.

[phade]

Good recon thus far. You have some great trees for a stand, but I know that's not your thing. I assume you have a pretty good entry/exit for that 7 acres? Looks like a solid amount of daylight activity.

 

Transition pics like that are common on the 35 series for some reason. Many of the 35s also suffer from an audible click with many pics because of the frequent moving back and forth from IR to no-filter. Turns out, research shows the Truth 35 series to be vulnerable snapping transition pics because of the heavy canopy, which you have in that setting. It'll get better as the leaves fall.

 

I believe the ultra series of 35s fare better with the transition. Not a ton of good press on the 35s - but having said that, there are worse cams out there for the same amount of money. What I would watch for are the pics of the deer looking at the cam. You may want to test it to see how loud the audible click is. If it is bad, you should request replacement imo. Also, move the cam up a bit and angle it down to get it out of the line of sight of the deer.

[BizCT]

Yea looks like the natural deer route is coming towards the cam and feeding and then up the steep hill where I will be sitting. So basically these deer are coming from my left to right and then up the hill to my right. The landowner said the come to/from the farm/corn fields nearby at first light and just before dark.

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[BizCT]

I finally have a better idea of the property. Here's a map:

 

The RED line is the approx. landowners property lines. A total of 12 acres, but the wooded huntable acreage is about 7. The BLUE X = approx where I plan to hunt. It's where I see tons of sign of deer coming through a creek bottom. The landowner said the deer pass through this creek bottom on his property to go from 1 farm field to the next and back n forth, etc.  I also spoke with somebody who hunts nearby and he said this area of CT is very highly sought after to hunt. He said there are many 110-130" bucks that get shot during archery season in this area every year with the occasional bigger buck.  Needless to say, I'm pretty pumped to get my first Xbow buck, happy I have 2 buck tags too. Season starts Monday, 9/16!

Edited August 7, 2013 by Biz-R-OWorld

[phade]

I'd buy another game cam and set them closer to the roads (one on each side) to see what fields they are heading to in the evening. I'd also look at hunting closer to the property edges to start with - especially if you can figure out which direction they are headed in the p.m.

 

I doubt you can legally shine right after dark there (don't know the laws) but if you could, then I'd look at that option. 20 minutes after dark sets it..shine the fields and you'll have an idea of which side to hunt in the p.m.

 

 

[BizCT]

Thanks for your opinion.  I added 2 things to the map. The orange X is the house owned by the Anti-Hunter, I was told by the landowner not to go on her property or she will call the cops, so going near her house is out of the question. The other side is all houses too, with fields behinds the houses.  The PURPLE arrow line shows which way the deer come in, in the morning.  The go the opposite way in the afternoon. The cam pics showed this to me and the landowner described it the same way.  I have the camera on a 3-shot burst, so its like watching a picture book when i click through quickly. Then definitely come from the top of the map to the bottom in the morning and the reverse in the afternoon.

[phade]

I would still hunt the edges first. Outside in isn't always the most effective strategy but, I think by doing that, you can get a few more "hunts" out of the place before your stink changes the habits in large.

 

I do think you have a good spot, whatever decision you make.

Edited August 7, 2013 by phade

[BizCT]

The good thing is that my walk in to my spot from the red line to the X is a dirt/gravel road. I walk on that and then once I turn into the woods its only 50 yards. Also, what is interesting is that tree guys came in and took down a giant tree about 100 yards from the camera.  The pics of the bucks are before and after this activity, same with the dog, so hopefully I'll be alright being as scent free as possible. I think they are used to human and dog activity.