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Legacy- 2014 Deer Woods


Legacy

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For 10 seasons or so I have kept hunting journals to document as much info as possible during deer season.

For example:time of hunt, location, wind, cloud cover, temp, precip, etc (thanks to National Weather Service)

and of course I also include the deer i saw while on stand. I also try to include other observations in the journal such as crops, harvest, rut activity, scrapes, rubs, acorn drops, etc. It has helped me determine patterns that i would of never realized. Realizing that you have a good stand location because of the number deer you are seeing makes it easy but realizing why they are there may be harder to figure out and writing things down helps us keep track of this stuff.

Obviously it is all about timing. Right place at the right time. The biggest thing journals will teach you is timing. Documented timing. As reoccurring events happen, the more information you learn. Your knowledge may start out as simple as " i have a great spot" but it may develop into " I have a great spot during early October, on an acorn bumper crop year, with a south wind".

I use a simple weekly planner as my journal. Something that every office store and Walmart carry. To make it convenient, i just keep in the truck or near the computer and spend a quick 5 minutes putting my info in it.

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So today I started making notes of what crops are planted and where. I also printed out sunrise/sunset charts that i can tape somewhere inside the journal.

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I check 3 cameras today... Lots of activity but no shooters. Heres some footage that I though Id would share though

 

4pt checking out the camera

http://vid157.photobucket.com/albums/t68/boneyfish/PICT0036_zpsbb6bfbae.mp4

 

small bucks in the food plot

http://vid157.photobucket.com/albums/t68/boneyfish/PICT0034_zpsdde7474a.mp4

 

A couple of young bucks sparring

http://vid157.photobucket.com/albums/t68/boneyfish/PICT0072_zpse797b3e2.mp4

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Saw my first scrape of the year today while I was out checking cameras. My camera is on the tree in the back ground but its pointed a different direction. One of the half dozen small bucks on have on video is the culprit of this master piece.

Sent from my C771 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

post-139598-14112425905311_thumb.jpg

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Nice videos.  What brand trail cams do you use?  Generally, are these photos from the finger lake region?  Thanks.

Moultrie D65IR. They are new to me this season. Performance seems ok but the videos seem a bit grainy. Not finger lakes. Western NY.

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Does anyone else use Cuddeback cameras?  That was my very first camera when they first came out, and since then i've had at least 2 set up every year.  I've tried other cameras, but none of the ones that i've tried have even come close to the performance and quality of Cuddeback IMO.  The one feature that i really like about Cuddeback is that you can set it up to take pictures and videos together.  Right now i have it set up to take 3 pictures in a row, then take a 30 second video directly after.  This has been especially helpful during pre-season scouting when the bucks are still in bachelor groups, as well as during the rut (you may get a picture of a doe, but the video will sometimes show a buck or two following closely behind)

 

What kind of cameras does everybody else use, and what is your opinion on the quality of the pictures / videos?

 

Here is a video that we got on one of our Cuddeback's back in 2011 of a bachelor group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHzF2m1-nWk&feature=youtu.be

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Everyone I know hates wildgame innovations as well as the lower end cuddebacks (less than $200).  I have had good luck with the wildgames innovations cameras that everyone doesn't like. My father has actually gone thru a few of the lower end $40 ones but mine have been great for 3 seasons now. I had a friend that has had moultries and seemed to like the older ones but the new ones he said suck.  

 

I guess it all depends, I have never heard anything bad about stealth cam and bushnell trophy cams.  I have an older stealth cam and other than going thru a set of C batteries every 500-800 pictures it isn't bad.

Edited by Chas0218
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I think you're right Chas, it really all comes down to personal preference just like everything else.  If i had the money just sitting around i'd probably buy a few Reconyx cameras, but i don't see that happening any time soon.

 

Here are a few pictures from the past two weeks off some of the cameras my parent's had set up.

 

post-143216-0-50919100-1411395789_thumb.jpg

 

post-143216-0-72383600-1411395797_thumb.jpg

 

post-143216-0-16471000-1411395829_thumb.jpg

 

post-143216-0-08012300-1411395858_thumb.jpg

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As with everything else, you get what you pay for with cameras. There is a lot of competition in the camera market nowadays and a lot of good cameras. 

Moultrie

Reconyx

Cuddeback

Stealth cam

Wildgame Innovations

Bushnell

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Everyone I know hates wildgame innovations as well as the lower end cuddebacks (less than $200).  I have had good luck with the wildgames innovations cameras that everyone doesn't like. My father has actually gone thru a few of the lower end $40 ones but mine have been great for 3 seasons now. I had a friend that has had moultries and seemed to like the older ones but the new ones he said suck.  

 

I guess it all depends, I have never heard anything bad about stealth cam and bushnell trophy cams.  I have an older stealth cam and other than going thru a set of C batteries every 500-800 pictures it isn't bad.

 

I like my Wildgame Innovations cameras as you do, but don't love them. My old Moultrie boat anchor cameras that took D-batteries wweren't bad either although I hated the incandescent flash. Formatting my SD cards in between downloads seems to help them some although every now and then one just seems to die after only two seasons. That being said, to be able to buy 6 of them at the cost of only one of the high end cameras makes me smile.

 

Chris

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I have a leaf river. It takes still shots, multiple shots and video. It's ok, it's not infrared though and it's about 10 years old now so there has been allot more technology in them. My first camera used a 35mm camera in it

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We have Moultries and Wildgame Innovations. The Wildgames have been hit or miss sometimes working for half a season sometimes going for 5. As for pics of deer harvested we have harvested several deer we never saw on camera including a 173" 15 pointer that was a ghostly image in the far back of one picture. As legacy said watching crop patterns and such does make a huge difference. I have an 8 acre spot I hunt near Farmington that is the only spot in the area with hardwoods, if the surrounding fields are beans that year you'll see deer the whole season, if they are planted with corn however you'll see alot less of the mature deer until the corn comes down.

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I run two sets of cameras bushnell trophy cams for my place in alfred which has no trespassers and wild game cams out here in Hilton at a small piece I hunt that has a lot of neighboring foot traffic with kids .....I will say the wild game misses a lot of pics vs the bushnell which doesn't seem to miss any....when I check the cameras the wild game won't pick me up walking 30yrds out until I get a pic of my hand opening the camera but the wildgame got this guy on cam....post-140970-14118208099819_thumb.jpg

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Edited by iceman05
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