Ghost Buck, alive and well after all these years…

My hunt gang will probably kill me for posting these images, but it needs to be discussed…

Back in Nov, 2011, I put out a Blog Post entitled; Pursuit of Ghost Buck Continues. It was essentially a photo essay of a special whitetail my gang and I had been hunting since 2009. Here were are 6 years later and I am STILL talking about the same deer!

And the best part is, this bad boy is still alive!!

Although I can’t know for sure the age of this old-timer, based on images I’ve gathered from 5-6 years ago when he had to be at least 3.5 years old, my Ghost Buck would now be approaching an incredible 10 years old!

A deer of this vintage is almost unheard of on Crown/public land, especially where we hunt. Deer numbers are dwindling and this aged warrior is one of the scant few whitetails we have left.

This is how the Ghost Buck appeared five years ago in October, 2010(already a 3+ year old at this point) He has a distinctive rack with a forked point on the right side, and has always been missing a browtine on the same side. (from an injury I assume he sustained at one point and was never able to grow a brow tine there)

 

 

And here is how the Ghost Buck looks this year:

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How does one particular deer manage to avoid the hoards of hunters (including us) for nearly a decade? It only goes to prove the resilience and smarts these animals possess and oh, did I mention Ghost Buck has NEVER been photographed during the day and, as far as I know, has also never been seen by a single human being.

I am ‘secretly’ hoping we never get the chance to harvest this special creature, as I’m not sure what I’d do even if I eventually had him in my sights.

Outdoorsguy

P.S. Special thanks to my good friends at Bushnell for providing all the great trail cameras for testing over the years!

Trail camera preparation in comfort & style

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Oh, the beloved trail camera, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways!

Perhaps the most exciting part about fall and hunting season is getting to play with my favourite toy; the wildlife surveillance camera, otherwise known by hunters simply as the ‘trail cam’.

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Here I’m adjusting the settings on my trusty Bushnell Trophy Cam – Bone Collector. This particular trail cam has been in that same tree for more than a year now, and I’ve only changed the batteries once. Once!!

Not bad for an estimated 15, 000 photos.

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Certain trail cams like this one, which gets lots of action, I set to low  res. image (3 MB) to allow for the 300 -350 photos it captures each week. Other cams I may opt for ‘HD Video’ instead, keeping in mind the amount of space an HD vid occupies on the SD card.

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These little Trophy Cams are not only reliable, they’re about as user friendly as it gets. Scrolling through the menu and changing settings with this model can be done with ease, and Bushnell remains consistent with their new models as well; keeping menu options and layout pretty much the same across the board.

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Trail cameras with Invisible/Black LED’s like these two models are great for those ‘camera shy’ critters who don’t enjoy being photographed at night.

Since the LED Glow is obscured, they also make a better ‘surreptitious surveillance’ system for around the house, or to monitor your hunt camp for break-ins.

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Checking-on already established trail cams or setting-up new ones is about as close to actual hunting as it gets.

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(Warning – blatant product plug coming…)

 

Wow, what fantastic looking footwear! Do I look good, or what?

These new Merrell’s I courtesy of Shoeme.ca, made this week’s trail camera set-up an even more enjoyable experience. I felt like I was floating on air!

Thanks to the good folks over at Shoeme.ca for the opportunity of trying-out a fantastic pair of new shoes. I’ll be wearing these puppies to hunt camp next weekend when I set-up another series of trail cameras.

For more information on the latest in trail cam footwear: http://www.shoeme.ca/collections/merrell

 

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Happy trail-camming one and all – may your SD cards runneth over with big game images!

Outdoorsguy

 

Preseason scouting time is upon us

For hunters out there not currently chasing black bears or gearing up for moose, just a reminder that it’s nearing that time of year when pre-season deer scouting is in order.

Man, I don’t care who you are, just setting one foot into your hunting territory at this time of year is exciting!

I’ll be heading up to my deer woods over next couple of weeks to do some scouting and put up some trail cams. Cant wait!!

Has anyone else done any pre-season deer scouting?

Outdoorsguy

 

 

 

 

Hunting deer with trail cameras

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Well, hunting season has come and gone – for me at least. I realize there are still some hunting opportunities left but, sadly, I haven’t any time for them. How far off is retirement again?

Thank goodness for my trail cam hunting; the closest thing to real hunting I’ve found yet. Planning out a good trailcam strategy and location, I’ve discovered to be very much like hunting itself.

You need to understand whitetail patterns and travel habits, and setting up camera position & location can be compared to choosing the proper stand location. The actual photos and vids you acquire would be to hunting, akin to lining-up the shot and making the decision when to pull the trigger.

You see where I’m going with this?

Also, trail-camming is similar to hunting in that there is, certainly, some luck involved but as you become more skilled, the better the images you will get. Sure, there is such thing as beginner’s luck with hunting, but it is also common knowledge that the more experienced hunter will have, on average, more opportunities to harvest game than those with little experience.

Throughout the year I run just 2 trailcams around my place , however, once December arrives I’ll put out 2 or 3 more to cover different areas as deer travel patterns change.

The more the merrier I always say and, as luck would have it, Bushnell has just sent me two new models to test- out. The Trophy Cam HD and the X8.

Here are some of the more interesting images I’ve taken this fall. Although I pride myself on knowing the look and names of practically every deer I photograph around my place, I was surprised to discover a big buck I had never seen before. Mrs Outdoors Guy named him ‘Silver’ and he’s a real beauty as you’ll see….

Happy trail-camming and enjoy!

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(This young bull was photographed on the trail beside our hunt camp, while the moose hunters were in the camp having breakfast. They never saw this bull during the season)

 

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(In Sep this black bear stopped by my deer camp feeder for a nibble and a close-up look at my trail cam)

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(This is the same bear 1 minute later trying to bite said trail cam! Thank goodness for my Bushnell Bear Safe and cable lock, the camera wasn’t damaged or moved. And since this cam stays up for 2 months without being checked, it remained in position until deer season!)

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(This coyote had a good snack at my camp feeder. Notice the Acorn Rage attached to tree in lower left)

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(Coyote then notices the Acorn Rage attached to the tree..now what’s he going to do?)

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(This photo shows same coyote after he tore the Acorn Rage block off the tree. Keep in mind this things are attached with a heavy screw!)

 

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(Now on to the cameras around my place. Here’s a nice pic of my old pal Garfield – now an impressive 5 year old buck! Garfield was born in my back field and can be recognized by tell-tale white markings on his hind legs)

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(Another picture of Garfield at same camera location)

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(Here’s the new buck we’re calling ‘Silver’. Not sure if he and Garfield have met personally, but I’m sure they will soon as I suspect there is a hot doe around!)

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(A little while after Silver went through, this guy was on his tail..bugger!)

 

Pre season scouting anyone

Outdoorsguyscouting

For those hunters out there not currently chasing black bears or gearing up for moose, just a reminder that it’s nearing that time of year when pre-season deer scouting is in order.

This past weekend I was at my hunt camp and visited my deer woods to check out what’s been going on since last fall. While there, I put out a trail camera and investigated some of the old runways for activity. 

I must admit I was a tad concerned about entering the deer woods this year following two meagre years in a row, but it looks as though things may be on the rebound. 

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I was pleased to see a fair numbers of old and new deer tracks around; indicating that at least some deer are still around from last year, and undoubtedly some new critters have arrived this summer.

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Man, I don’t care who you are, just setting one foot into your hunting territory at this time of year is exciting.

Has anyone else done any pre-season deer scouting?

Outdoorsguy

Acornrage

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