Trailcams, Winter Chores, Snow

 We had about 1" of wet snow on Friday night.

 It's always fun to see where the deer have been.  I was surprised to see how much traffic there was in this soybean field.  I didn't think there was a single dry bean left in there.

It is almost time to start hunting for shed antlers so it is fun to know where they've been walking.

There are a ton of turnips left and they have been pawing thru the snow to get to them.

 I don't do much supplemental feeding but I do like to spread a little corn at this time of year.  I can spot better when they drop their antlers.

 3 hours after dumping some corn the first customer arrives.

 One of the disadvantages of corn feeding is it concentrates their feeding and they may swap saliva.  It has been proposed that this may contribute to the spread of chronic wasting disease.

They do snuggle up for the corn.

 This young buck appears to have dropped antlers already.

But most haven't yet.

Although mating season is over, sparring can still happen over a good food source.

 Speaking of swapping saliva...

 I like this shot because of all the eyes glowing in the background.

 The bigger boys haven't shown up on camera recently.

Lots of younger ones though.

Food fight.

 After reading an article on photographing predators, I set up several cameras with some venison tied with butcher string.

 Gone the first night.  I guess raccoons like venison.

Even the deer were curious about the smell.

 This was another camera setup.

 Still there on the 21st when a squirrel went by.

 But gone on the 24th without any photographic evidence.

I was hoping to get a fox like this in action.

 Or a coyote like this.  Or a bobcat (I've never seen one live or on camera here).

 It could be phantoms.

I had 2 camera sets cleaned without any photographic evidence.  Bad cameras? I re-baited them and doubled the cameras on the one setup.

 I did some more hinge cutting to open the canopy and bring some browse down to the ground.

 The snow brought some action to our bird feeders.

 The red bellied woodpecker seemed to be the boss.

 I suspect these critters might be involved in the missing venison.  We do have 6 or so free ranging neighbor dogs.

 Out for a walk last week.

 Does in the same spot.

I carried my 223 with me this week on the off chance I get a shot at a varmint.

I got warm walking in that snow.