When Mr. Wonderful got me my first trail cam for my birthday, I was ecstatic! As the baby of the family, I’m always scared I’m going to miss something, and since shooting my first deer a few years ago, I am hooked on hunting. It was perfect.

One of the first things I learned about shooting with trail cams is that it requires patience, my least-favorite virtue.  In order to get any good shots of wildlife, you have to set them and then leave them alone. For days, sometimes! However, with the whole Stupid Rheumatoid Arthritis thing, sitting in the woods waiting for things to wander by isn’t an option.

Another thing it requires is stubbornness, aka sisu.  Why? Because 90% of the trail cam photos I get are crap. Even with the infrared sensor that is supposed to only trigger the shutter if something with a pulse comes by , I get lots of duds.

Be prepared for three hundred photos like this:

and this:

to get some like this.

Here’s the rest of that story: Easterpalooza

I am SO sick of this view of the pit. I had a camera set up for a week and got nothing.

Trail cams are a good way to catch thieves, also. We put one on the guinea nest and guess what we found?

An egg-sucking dog. Literally. GUS!!

Look at that fuzzy butt!

And he totally annihilates any possible defense of  “plausible deniability” with this uber-guilty shot of him licking his lips.

Turd!

My sister had this hidey-hole on her property that she’d always wondered about.

Now we know a snowshoe hare lives there. Toews knew it was a bunny, but he can’t speak Human very well.

I get lots of shots of my nutjob neighbor/sister and her friend Jill and her spawn. Usually I remember to tell them where the cameras are so I don’t get any embarrassing pics of them peeing in woods. My brother-in-law threatened to moon the cameras once. I told him, “Go ahead; you have a Facebook page now.” 😀

Then there was this post, called Another Mysterious Burrow.

It still drives me buggy that I can’t tell what this is.

 

Sometimes the game of finding the cameras.

This is about the only way I can get a pic of Paul. He has this aversion to being photographed.

Youngest Spawn does not.

I hate having my picture taken. Even by the trail cams.

I sifted through thousands of picture of this sapling before I had one of a half-shed deer.

We were so excited to get this shot!

Do you have trail cams? Any favorite shots to share? Any tips to save money, time, or steps?? Come on, share with the class!