Wow!  A bit chilly this morning. It’s “0” degrees with a -22 wind chill factor OUCH!!

I decided to stay in this morning and catch up on some things. I did hike 8.5 miles yesterday checking trail cameras. It was a beautiful day for hiking with temps reaching the mid- thirties.

Trail camera activity was slow but I did get a surprise. My first January bear!  It appears to be a yearling that hasn’t quite figured out its time to den. My guess that it’s still out in about because it has found a sustainable food source. I have not found a pile of bear scat with any sunflower seeds in it. So maybe it’s the abundant acorn crop or this bear just hasn’t figured it out yet. With below zero temperatures this weekend and a wet snowy day coming on Monday, just might make this bear think about finding a den.

So, along with getting a January bear video, there was enough snow for it to leave tracks. I took the opportunity and followed the tracks backwards to see what I might learn. The bear located a new bank beaver lodge and stood directly on top of it looking for food, I’m sure the aroma of beaver castor caught its attention. Continuing tracking the bear, it took me to a second beaver pond. There it looked into a bank beaver tunnel where a beaver deposited a scat pile at the tunnel entrance, again no food opportunities. Continuing backtracking the bear crossed a hardwood ridge covered with about an inch of snow blanketing any acorns. I broke off from the bear tracks at this point.

It was a very good day tracking and hiking.

(3) Different bobcat tracks

(1) Bear track

(1) Moose track

5/6 coyote tracks

Many deer tracks

Bear track along a beaver pond

Beaver Scat - Bear checked tunnel entrance 

 

Jim

 

Three remote camera traps were set out last weekend. The hopes are to get a daytime bull moose in the snow. Last Sunday morning was spent bushwhacking a new area ( pic above). I hiked about seven miles, locating another ideal drainage area with a beaver dam in a wide open area with plenty of light. I’m excited about this spot. Further investigation showed three piles of bear scat ! Can’t asked for any more than that!

With most of my trail cameras home its time to clean and inspect them. I have several that need to be replaced before spring. Also ,SD cards need to be looked at closely. I have found a number of cards with the lamination splitting on the contact end. 

Jim

What A Way To Wrap Up 2021

 

Last weekends check on this camera trap set had  ears of a bobcat sneaking by. The camera was initially  setup last spring for bears. The day before the above video grab was taken I hiked back in to adjust the camera.  Yep ! Sure glad I did.

This is the best bobcat capture to date with a trail camera. 

What a BEAUTIFUL capture !

Happy New Year !

Jim

Wishing You Happy Holidays

 

Wishing You All Merry Christmas and a Happy , Healthy New Year.

Yearling cubs out and about mid-December. Hopefully it has figured out its time to take a long winters nap.

Jim

Single Bears Mid-December

This morning I  hiked to swap out SD cards. . Expectations were low given the time of year and the trail cameras have been slow the last few weeks. I was surprised to see bear activity in  December. Two trail cameras captured better than thirty videos late November through Mid December of bears. Reviewing the footage, three bears represented all the video activity. There were no Sow's with cubs. 

This fall the woods were loaded with food. White Oak & Red Oak Acorns were abundant.. There was no shortage of Concord Grapes or Hickory Nuts.

These three bears appeared  very plump !

Weather has been pretty mild for December. It will be interesting to see if bears stay active for the remainder of December.

Jim

No Bear This Year

 

Looks like this fieldstone den isn’t going to house a bear tenant this year. A porcupine has been a very frequent visitor to this site and a check yesterday with a flashlight revealed a porcupine taking up residency. However, A bobcat has also visited the den on a number of occasions. One video displayed the bobcat scratching and scent marking inside the entrance way. The entry reeked cat urine. Maybe a den site for bobcats in 2022 ??? Early January I’ll set a trail camera with a battery pack and see what late winter holds.     

Jim

Starting To Think About Next Years TC Strategy

 

Pic is a small buck from this mornings travels

Most of my trail cameras have been taken in with bear activity just about done for this year. I will start putting them back out in areas with moose. It would be neat to get a bull in the snow ( bucket list) The Browning Recon Force Advantage cameras have performed well this year. Researching, I found Browning sells an external power pack where eight additional batteries can be added to a trail camera . I’m going to give one a try. Basically, it will double the battery capacity. Might be ideal for winter camera trapping. This type of setup would not do well when bears are out and about.

The bear activity and trail camera videos / pics in 2021 are a record for me. I’m reviewing and organizing the data. When complete I’ll share with you.

Spring is just around the corner lol. Now is the time to start thinking about camera trapping plans for next year . I have several things I  want to do differently with my sets. Stay tuned ……

 Jim