Trail cameras

I love, love, love trail cameras!  

We took a quick trip up to the property to check the pictures on the trail cameras.  We found out that the sensitivity on the first camera was set too high so we had over 2,000 pictures of the tree branches moving in the wind but we did get several pictures of our little bear from that camera and while we were hiking we found a paw print from the little guy (or gal) near the camera

It was really a bit of luck finding that print...it was hidden under a Lilly leaf at the edge of the bog. I almost stepped right on the track but caught myself just in time.  It's hard to see the full print in this photo because I only had my phone with me; but the print, claws to the back of the pad, was just slightly shorter than my husband's hand (pinkie side). 

My favorite trail camera photos so far this year came from the other end of the property (opposite the bear's hangout). We had several shots of a coyote chasing a turkey back and forth across a small meadow over a 20 minute period. As far as we can tell the turkey escaped. There were also several shots of a bull moose in velvet. I really hope that the big buy decides to stick around so that we can capture photos of his antlers as they grow.  We also have a few bucks in velvet that we are watching grow; four point minimum, no does, here so fingers crossed that at least a few are hunt-able. 

I love that the trail cameras really bring the mountain to life. We hiked for two hours and did not see any animals, only signs that they had been there. When the weather gets better I hope to camp out on the property near the game trails so we can track (spot and stalk) some of the animals to get a better feel for where they go and what paths they are using.