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I pulled my two winter camera traps that were set
to hopefully capture a bull moose in the snow browsing. Most bulls have dropped
their antlers by now. My winter goal was too video a bull moose. Came close
with capturing two young bulls at night, unfortunately no snow. A lot was learned
from these sets. New growth in previously logged areas makes for prime moose
browsing habitat. I was rather surprised that no moose used a well-worn game
trail that accessed the logged area. Moose tracks randomly littered the ground and
were visible in the little bit of snow that Massachusetts had this winter, those
moose didn’t browse into camera range. Deer on the other hand did constantly trip
trail camera sensors over a ten week period (Late Nov- mid-Feb.). Future sets
will include attempting to cover as much new tree growth areas as possible,
randomly setting camera traps
Two Young Bull Moose Captured On Winter Camera Trap Sets
Two
Browning HP4’s with Browning external battery packs with Ultimate Lithium
batteries were used. Each trail camera took a minimum of thirty> videos with
the majority of them being at night. Both cameras still had 80%> battery
life left on them. Granted this Massachusetts winter has been mild, but many
nights have dropped into the twenties, with one brutal two day period of sub-zero
weather. External battery packs are a good option if you are making long term
sets. The only drawback is camouflaging them so they don’t stand out. You should
also consider using high capacity SD cards when making long term sets.
Jim
