Trail cam - first run

A week ago I took the new trail cam out for its first official test drive.  I walked to a spot behind a local ranch that we call the bone pile.  If anything dies on the ranch the owners haul it back there and leave it for the varmints to clean up.  I thought I might find a fresh bait to set the camera over.  Apparently nothing died on the ranch over the winter.  Good for the rancher, but no fresh bait for me.  I sat down on a log and took a mouth blown predator call from my pocket.  After just a couple of minutes of calling I saw a coyote sneaking through the timber.  I looked around a little and found some old bear scat.  Bears are out of hibernation now, and they regularly check these places where they have found food in the past.  I left the camera there, strapped to a tree.

Yesterday I went back for the camera which had been out for a week.  I could tell that it had been triggered several times, so I brought it home so I could view the images on the computer.  This black tail doe looks like she must have had a hard winter.  She isn’t in very good shape.

The camera was set to take 1 still photo followed by 15 seconds of video.



I got a night time still shot of a blurred coyote.  He must have been moving right along as the video missed him entirely.




There was another badly blurred image that I think is another coyote, but it’s really hard to tell.  There was also another photo of a deer, but it was barely within the frame and cut its head off.  The camera made several more exposures, but I can’t see anything there.  Maybe it was triggered by a passing bird, or just movement of tree branches due to wind.  There were several windy days last week.  So that’s it for the first time out for the trail cam.  Nothing spectacular, but at least I didn’t get a blank.  I’m heavy into spring chores now, so it will be awhile before I get a chance to set the cam out again.  I have several different places in mind.