2007 Moultrie Game Cameras
The new 2007 Moultrie Game Cameras were on display at this years Shot Show. One draw back of the
previous Moultrie cameras was that they were very slow compared to the rivals. This was due largely in part to the Shure Shot feature. This feature was a software check to verify that the deer was in the field of view before taking the picture. It is my guess that this has been disabled and now Moultrie can advertise 1 second trigger times. In total we have heard about 5 models that will be released sometime around June. Click here to see all the specs about the new 2007 Moultrie Game Cameras.
Exreme Deer Stands
Deer season is over in most parts of the United States and it is now time to begin planning for the 2007 season. There are still many deer hunting related activities that you can do even though season is over. Many people love to search for shed antlers. This can be a ton of fun and you verify which bucks made it through the year alive. You can also continue a supplemental feeding program and monitoring the area with trail cameras. Another off season project could be maintaining or building deer stands on your property. I have always been a big believer in getting this done way before opening day. For my hunting style I prefer lock on stands and self climbing stands. But for many other people they take building deer stands to the extreme. Take a look at these extreme deer stands.
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Excellent Report on Deer Collisions with Cars
I have never had an issue with deer on the roadways because as a deer hunter I am always looking
for the critters. We all know that as deer populations increase and urban areas expand, that more collisions are likely. There are precautions that we can take to avoid these collisions. Avoid traveling at night and at dusk in rural areas. Always watch the edges of highways for movement and reflective eyes. The Weather Channel just did a great report on the rise of collisions and gives advise on how to be prepared.
I am still very confused after watching the weather channel video that more states do not offer urban archery hunting.
Trail Camera Reviews
As you can tell from some of my other post, I really feel that everyone should utilize trail cameras. So now that you know you should have one which one should you buy. Up until now I have really not been able to find a good resource to help me determine which trail camera fit my situation. I recently ran across a site while surfing the forum over at huntingnet.com. It is a new site but the idea is awesome so I am trying to help promote it. It is a trail camera review site that always hunters to grade the game camera in 8 categories on a scale of 1 to 5. So go check it out and read/leave a review.
Deer Hunting Ethics
Deer hunting is a sport that requires patience and dedication. Deer hunting is a pasttime that requires a ton of preperation and scouting before season even begins. If any shortcuts are taken the result could be personal injury or the loose of a trophy. I began to realize this about 5 years ago when bowhunting whitetail deer in the northeast. I spent weeks making my check list to make sure that I did not forget anything for my trip. I called people from the area to find out what stage of the rut the deer were in. During this time I would practice with my bow for about 15 minutes a week. When I arrived at my hunting spot I scouted for 2 days before hanging a deerstand and hunting. On the first afternoon of the hunt I had an 8 point buck standing broadside at 12 yards and my arrow hit the deer high and forward. My hunting party tracked the deer all night and the entire next day before giving up without finding my trophy. The breakdown in my preperation was that all my time was focused at the logistics of the hunt and I had neglected a crucial element, my archery skills. After that season I focused on staying well rounded and made dang sure that I balanced my time between practice, scouting, and the rest of the sport. Since that time I have wounded no more animals and harvested a deer every year with my bow. I guess what i am trying to say is take nothing for granted because your actions could result in a wounded animal suffering needlessly.
Man Shoots at Deer Hunters
Two deer hunters were approaching the downed animal when a bullet struck the ground a few yards away. Apparently the 23 yeard old hunter was upset that the two men had killed a deer in such close proximity to his location. Authorities are unclear if gun fire was exchanged but the 23 year old man has been taken into custody.
The county attorney’s office will review the case, but Rogers said the charge could be elevated to a felony because the man allegedly shot in order to intimate or scare the other hunting group.
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources spokesman Tony Wood said this type of behavior is unheard of in the hunting community.
The best part is that this is not the shooters first offense.
Homemade trail cameras
Here is a picture of my camera and some of the deer it has captured. The whole process of building the camera is really not that hard. If you have steady hands and can follow directions you can build one. It is like my uncle says, “If all else fails, read the instructions.” The camera is a Sony S40 that I bought brand new at Officemax for $100. The controll board is about 50 bucks and can be found at www.pixcontroller.com. You actually get everything you need from pixcontroller in their kit so the only thing left is to find a case. I used a 1040 pelican case,,I think. Two fairly small solder connections need to be made and that is the only real technical work. Most of the how to information and FAQ’s can about the process can be found here.
 
NC’s Whitetail Rut
NC is my home state so this information was very interesting to me. I read every hunting magazine I
can get my hands on and watch all the major hunting shows. In all the shows and publications the RUT is the main topic. The breeding is not the exciting part. The exciting part is the chasing. This is the period when big bucks make mistakes and are harvested. It is a period when all hunters want to be in the woods. In the north and midwest hunters can basically pinpoint the rut to the same week year after year. I have seen some very exciting chasing activity in PA but I have never really witnessed a full blown rut in NC. I mean I have seen a buck chase a doe but I have never seen a half a dozen bucks running 1 doe all over the country side while fighting and grunting. Then I read a recent article in NC Game and Fish that provided data from the NC Wildlife Resource Commission that showed 3 very different breeding periods across the state.
The New Automatic Weapon
Trail cameras have killed more big deer than anything other weapon in the past 5 years. Basically all guide services and landowners have turned to trail cameras to map out what animals are on their land. They can provide more information than a hunter would be able to gather in weeks of scouting.
Here is what they can do;
- capture pictures of bucks in the area to determine where to spend your time
- determine the time of day deer are moving
- provide visible clues if the rut is approaching
- scout your land 24/7 without leaving behind human scent
But before cameras will show up on every hunting lease the technology will need to carry over from the camera and into the security of the camera. The average hunter can not invest $400 into a camera with the hopes that this pitiful security system will prevent theives from stealing the camera. This just keeps the honest…honest.