Cameras are up and taking pictures!

I was finally able to find some time on July 16th to break away from all of my real world responsibilities and go on a hike to get all of my trail cameras up for the summer. I'm a couple weeks later than I would have liked to be, but life is busy and mid-July will have to do for this year. I arrived at the cabin about 5:30pm, jumped on an ATV and by 6pm I was beginning my ascent into an area that I had never been. I decided to gain all my elevation as quickly as possible and it was a decision that had me second guessing whether that was in intelligent move or not after just a few minutes. The south facing slope was long, steep, and hot! When you can feel your heartbeat in your ears you start to wonder if it's worth it or not...

As I reached the ridgeline and continued west up the canyon I soon crossed the first major game trail that I had identified on Google Earth. I turned and followed the trail to the north onto a small bench and into a cluster of trees. I affixed one of my cameras onto a tree pointed squarely down the trail. I prefer to have my cameras pointing north, and this cameras was placed perfectly for my taste. Sadly, knowing I was long on hiking and short on daylight I hurried along without taking any pictures of each of the individual camera placements.

I backtracked to where I first intersected the trail and turned west, after another couple hundred yards I came to the next trail that I had identified on Google Earth. I turned and followed the trail north into the trees. Not far in the trees I noticed a trail cameras already perched on a tree along the trail. I waved as I faintly heard the shutter clicking. I was bummed that somebody had also identified this spot and had beaten me to it, but I also felt a measure of pride as I walked past the camera on the trail thinking to myself that this guy should have some great images of the critters that use this trail. Several yards further into the trees the canopy opened into a small clearing and I placed my second camera there. Several trails intersected in the middle of the clearing and I was able to locate a good tree for a north facing camera.

Again backtracking out to the open I turned and headed west further up the canyon. At this point I had hit both of the game trails I had identified on Google Earth so from here on out I would just be exploring this canyon. I picked out a patch of quaking aspen near the top of the canyon and worked my way to it. I found a very good game trail leading into it that hadn't been clearly visible on Google Earth and found a great spot to put another camera.

My next destination was a bowl with several ponds in it two canyons south of my current location so I started working my way that direction. I didn't realize how much elevation I had gained and was a little surprised to see the bowl open up below me after several minutes of hiking. I ended up circling all the way around the top and coming down to the ponds from the south so that I could work my way through the thick cover of the north facing slope looking for heavily used trails or bedding areas. I found one such area right in the middle of a clump of pines... the trail was well worn and the dirt was a fine powder that was several inches deep and along this trail were a number of bedding areas tucked up underneath the pine boughs that were so heavily used that the dirt was a fine powder here too devoid of the pine needles and other forest debris. I placed a camera where the trail passed through several individual bedding areas. Any pictures from this camera will be up close and personal... we'll see how they turn out.

I continued my way down to the pond that I usually sit over when I'm hunting and as I popped out of the pines I found myself in a small clearing with a number of trails merging and then heading east towards water. I found a tree here and placed my fourth camera.

Following the trail to the east I came to the location where I shot my buck last year, several small bones still littered the trail where I skinned and quartered him. I soon came to the pond that was the last place that I absolutely knew I wanted to put a camera. The problem with the area is the pond is out in the open with very few options for placing a camera anywhere close to the water. The only option I had was a small, half-dead pine tree that was the only piece of vegetation even remotely capable of holding up a trail camera. I snapped off a couple of the branches with brown needles and cleared a spot big enough for the camera. I'm not exactly sure how any of these pictures are going to look because the camera is nestled up underneath some branches.

It was getting late and the sun had set so I knew I had only a short period of time to hike out to the ATV then drive back to the cabin. I had placed six cameras in about a 3 mile area and I still had one left in my backpack. I figured that I'd take my last camera and put it on a tree overlooking the water trough out the back door of my grandparents cabin. They have always been excited to see my trail cam pictures over the years and they seem to always enjoy pictures of the deer that frequent the back steps of the cabin.