July 9th, 2012
“It’s Camera Time”
“It’s Camera Time”
Well I commented in my previous post, my mineral licks have
been brewing for some time. I was able to make it out on Father’s Day to put
out a few trail cameras. The licks did not appear to have had much use. But, I
set up on them anyway. The past few weeks have been unseasonably warm. Therefore,
deer activity was expected to be low, although it is my personal opinion that this
tends to draw the deer to the mineral sites, igniting their desire for
nutrients.
I set out about 5:30 a.m. to start my trek to several site locations,
as the heat was expected to be in the upper 90’s once again! I checked the
first two sets, with only about 200 pictures total. Next, I ventured to a
mineral lick I set out in the spring, with reluctance to place a camera to due
past theft of a buddy’s tree stand. Well, after viewing what appeared to be
pretty good visual activity at this site, I elected to put up a camera. I’ll
have to go back and check that one in a few weeks. The third camera I already
had in place, had about 120 pictures. I was not expecting much activity at this
site. But, some early spring scouting revealed a lot of big rubs. I mean a lot!
This is an area of young dense pines, along a thin stretch of public land. So
far, the only way I figured it could be hunted is by ground blind (not my
desired means), as there are no mature trees and the thick underbrush would
make it literally impossible to see deer until they were directly below you. But,
the myriad of trails and old buck sign, have me intrigued to say the least!
Well, I was unable to view my pictures in the field, as the
card reader I had recently purchased failed. Again! I’ve come accustomed to
having to return the cheap junk that is being made these days. So, needless to
say this will be going back to the store. The drive home was kind of torture.
As I see my checking of cameras kind of like Christmas in the fact that it’s
always a surprise and sometimes disappointing! Well, this was a mix of both, because
the pictures (bucks) I could decipher were nothing to get excited about. There
were several pictures of what appears to be a good buck in the pines, but due
to the thick cover and low light, most of the pictures were blurry. And, this
camera (oldest in the bunch) is not taking night pictures. So, well see what
the next trip brings.
This was also a sad day, as it was the last day of my
vacation! Had a good time visiting family and friends in both Tennessee and
Mississippi. The wife and I had a good night in Nashville listening to some
good music and plenty of cocktails! We headed south to Mississippi where we
partook in the 1st annual “Juggin in July” on Booths Lake. It was a friendly
competition with plenty of trash talk and some controversy, indeed! Needless to
say I didn’t win, but it was a blast no doubt. We even extended through the
night where we boated some 26-29”, 6-9 lb. fish. Great time with great people!
And, there is always next year!
