Just some fun trail camera pictures

We pulled the cards out of our trail cameras and got some surprise guests that normally steer clear.

Our first Golden Eagle sighting on our farm. There were actually three separate ones, so we were happy.


More coyote than I cared to count




Combined with the other pictures we have, we identified at least two bobcats:



This picture was amusing. If you look all the way to the left, you see the tail end of a bobcat vacating the area. That's because I was coming up the ridgeline in back.


Mrs. Bear (and yes, the feeder is empty)


Mr. Bear (Shot him, sorry)


Random Red Hawks:

What brand and model camera is that? It takes REALLY good pics!

Thanks, I enjoyed those.

Awesome pictures. Let me know if you need a hand with that coyote problem

Wow, awesome golden eagle! Did you have an animal carcass out of view of the camera to attract the wildlife in?

We WILL be having a coyote hunt a few weekends in January. If that's something that a few people that are close might want to participate in, we'd be more than happy to have you. This is our deer camp, and if we don't reduce the number of dogs before the deer start dropping fawns, we'll be screwed. We actually noticed the significant drop in deer this year, which is why we set the cameras where we did to get some numbers. These pictures are just the clear ones of some of the larger coyotes. We're estimating close to 30. I'll have to remember to get some more pictures off the card.

We centralize our gut piles on our farm to keep from scenting up our stand areas. So, after we popped a few deer opening week, we field dressed them all in one tub and dumped the tub where we normally do; then we set the cameras. As you can tell, I set the camera at deer height. Habit!! We're actually going up this weekend to reset them. My dad got a kick out of it and since we're pretty much done with deer season, I think we wants to move all the cameras to one spot.

The cameras are all super cheap:

- Any picture that says Moultrie is the Moultrie A-5. You can get it for about $50 from Cabelas right now. Coyotes and bobcats can see better than deer and are a lot more skittish, which is why we chose this camera for this spot. It will take a picture of EVERYTHING. We got pictures of MICE...at night. So, yeah...highly sensitive. Uses C-batteries, lasts about 2 months.

- The daytime picture of the black bear is a very old Cuddeback IR model. It was bought a long time ago when trail cameras weren't hardly normal. It takes really nice shots during the day and night, however it is NOT cold tolerant. Once it dropped below 30, that camera was like..."I quit! Bring me back inside." Uses D-batteries which last a few weekends.

- The big close up of the big black bear was shot with a Wildgame Innovations Axe 2 2MP. Again, cheap cheap cheap. This is actually my favorite camera and we'll probably get another one or 3 when I see them on sale. Easy to use and the batteries last the entire season and are still going. (6 months).

Third pic, glowing eyes in bsckground is my favorite!

Originally Posted by Magic

Third pic, glowing eyes in bsckground is my favorite!

We got one that has about 15 glowing sets of eyes in the background. We hid that picture from my mother!

I've tried a few brands off and on over the years, but found the cheaper ones had (or at least used to) too long of a trigger time from the time the subject stepped into view and the camera actually took the photo. So there were a LOT of missed shots except for the animals that just happened to park their butts right in front of the camera. But I'm sure technology has marched onward since that time. Probably time for me to check them out again. Even my Reconyx might be far surpassed by later offerings. Actually, I think I would prefer video clips instead of still pics anyway.

I love that wildgame camera and want to upgrade to something better in that line. The M-5 and wildgame both do video. Our problem is we get so much activity that a 64 mb card fills up too fast. Also, if you take a lot of video, you should consider getting a solar panel for it, only costs about 30 and you never have to drag batteries to the woods.

We enjoy setting them up


Letting the bears inspect them:


I wish I had video on the fight though:




I returned the Reconyx because...screw all those batteries. Of course those portable solar panels weren't around then. If no one has seen those solar panels, it's totally worth it to look. I put one on my pack when hiking or herping, so my phone and GPS don't ever run out of batteries.