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Written by The DIY Hunter

Category: Outdoor

Published: 04 November 2013

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Aside from a cow elk tag that Dallen has for this year our big game hunting is over for the year. With winter approaching I took one last trip up the mountain to the high country to pull my trail cameras. I have spent so much time this year going up hunting and checking my trail cameras that I have become really fond of the area.

I found the trail camera on my favorite spring broken right off the mounting bracket and the camera was lying on the ground covered with mud. I have been able to use some super glue and a little time to let the moisture that entered the camera dry out and it appears to function fine now. Reviewing the footage from the camera and from past experience, I can only guess that it was a black bear. Those critters have it in for me I swear.... or at least they really don't like trail cameras.

I have thoroughly enjoyed communing with the mountain this year. With all the time and the video/images I have of the animals that frequent the area I can't help but feel connected with the mountain more so than at any other time in my life. People can say one thing or the other about the use of trail cameras but I'm here to say that I am very grateful for them in helping me feel so connected with such a beautiful place on God's earth. Not only did the cameras help provide elk meat for our family they are directly responsible for helping me loose weight and in getting my bad knees in better condition, something I could not force myself to do at any gym.

The mountain looks so different now. All the leaves fallen, much of the vegetation flattened from crazing and snow, the area feels deserted. It was a sad day for me to take this last trip.

Here's one of the best bucks I have seen on camera this year. I love the long cheater on the right. Where was this buck hiding during the hunting season? I really like this buck. He has a pretty set of antlers.

This young bull comes in with some cows and plops down right in front of the camera one evening. What's really neat is that this was the bull that I have the most on camera all through June and July then he disappeared from the area.

Here's a cow that comes up and licks the camera. This is actually a pretty common occurrence. The cows are really curious of the cameras. The self adjusting illumination on the camera is nice so it doesn't blow out the exposure as the elk gets closer.

This video is just of various elk that pass by the cameras over the past several weeks. Nothing big. I wonder if the two 5x6 bulls we were after made it through the hunting seasons.

Here's the camera that I believe Mr. Bear tried to destroy. Once the camera hits the ground a cow elk comes by and a magpie lands above it.

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Written by The DIY Hunter

Category: Outdoor

Published: 04 August 2013

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I got the black bear on video! I have twice had a black bear get captured at night with IR black and white images in weeks past. Two weeks ago I even ran into a bear at 30 yards when I was on my way in checking my cameras. It was a cool and exciting experience. Especially cool because bears are unheard of in this area.

After using the trail cameras for about a month I was sold on the video that the browning trail cameras capture. With every encounter you get you capture so much more with the video than you do with the images. I had hopes that I had captured the bear on one of the cameras two weeks ago but didn't. After setting all my cameras to capture video I had yet to get the bear on the cameras until now.

After reviewing the footage of the black bear it would appear that he smells something he doesn't like. As the bear comes into frame he starts to get more and more nervous, then he eventually turns around (during the 5-second delay between captures) then bolts away running directly away from the camera. He smelled something he didn't like. I just don't see how it could have been the camera. Who knows???

As I spend more and more time working with the trail cameras I have found that I like to rotate the camera to be on the same plain as the trail that the camera is watching. Often my cameras are set up watching a trail that is on an incline. If I set the camera level watching an inclined trail, animals are not in full frame as they cross through the viewing area. On one side I get chopped off legs and on the other side, chopped off antlers. Rotating the camera to be on the same angle as the trail gives me video and images with the animal fully framed all the way across the viewing area.

When the trail cameras are canted on the tree they sure look like they are mounted incorrectly but they capture great footage with the animals fully framed in the viewing area. Unless I mentioned that the image is canted you would never know that the video or image has been canted to match the incline.

With the Browning trail camera tree mounts, I have found a couple of different ways that I can mount them on the tree. 1. You can do the typical two straps around the tree. 2. There are two holes in the mounting plate where two quarter-inch lag bolts can be used to secure it to the tree. I recommend using the sharp grabbing screw of a tree stand footpeg to bore a pilot hole to use to get the lag bolts to screw into the tree. The lag bolts do not have the sharpest point and are a little difficult to get to start into the tree unless you have a pilot hole to get them started. 3. I have also found using the mounts great for use on small diameter trees by placing the mount sideways across the tree. See: Wow a Black Bear! Checking Trail Cameras — Using a Browning Trail Camera Mount

I picked up a couple more Recon Force Browning trail cams this week and set them out while checking the other cameras. One new camera I placed on a trail on the edge of heavy dark pines. I would figure that the elk would use this area to transition into the cool bedding areas of the pines. It didn't see any elk sign in the area where I set the camera at. Plenty of deer tracks and some cattle. We'll see in two weeks what is using the trail.

I set the second new Recon force trail camera back in the original location I had a camera along a well-used trail in the heavy maple trees. The new location I moved the camera too two weeks ago produced beautiful video of elk and mule deer in the early morning light although I didn't get a lot of elk and deer passing by it. In fact for that matter, I got the least number of critters on camera since I started putting them out this summer. I'm not sure what might be changing their habits. Heat, human traffic on the adjacent property, bears???

In two weeks I'll be back out checking the cameras and I will be carrying my bow. :) Hopefully, a good bull is hanging around.