Trail Cam Shenanigans (Deer Carcass Experiment)

[DeerCamp]

I have one particular food plot on the front of our property that my daughter and I put in late season, kind of a last minute idea. (You can see it in the food plot, QDM forums)

Anyhow, to my surprise it was LOADED with deer Oct and November. I expected to see some deer, but it was more (and more bucks) than expected considering how close it is sandwiched between the house and road.

Well - the trail cam has gone dead the last 2 weeks. Not a single picture, so I decided to go check on it. Sure enough, as soon as I walked up it took my pic. (Later found out the sensitivity was on "Low" which may have had an impact).

Anyhow - for fun I took a carcass from a deer we cleaned up there yesterday around 2pm just to see what showed up.

The vultures found it in just a few hours.

Then a fox (He actually tried to drag it away without success)

The fox actually revisited the site 6 times throughout the night.

Then a deer came by being nosey (You can see the carcass moved)

Coyote found shortly after a drug the carcass away

Fox "What the heck - I know it was right here"

Fox can't let it go

Still can't let it go

"Maybe if I go away for 20 minutes and come back the magic deer spawn will happen again"

Early bird did not get the worm

 

[JCDEERMAN]

I like seeing pics over carcasses. Very cool

 

[BSK]

VERY cool experiment!

 

[DeerCamp]

I like seeing pics over carcasses. Very cool

I saw some a guy did on youtube the other day with peanut butter. I suppose that was some of the inspiration.

I'm pretty surprised it attracted a deer! They are super curious critters. She hung around for about 15 minutes sniffing around.

All together I got about 100 pics last night. I had to change the camera to 10 minute delay.

 

[tndeerman]

Cool

 

['borohunter]

Pretty cool - thanks for sharing

 

[backyardtndeer]

Gut piles and carcasses usually will get a good variety of wildlife. Have put cameras over them many times in the past. Deer always seem to come around.

 

[DeerCamp]

Gut piles and carcasses usually will get a good variety of wildlife. Have put cameras over them many times in the past. Deer always seem to come around.

I wish deer attractants worked as well as a carcass

 

[megalomaniac]

I saw some a guy did on youtube the other day with peanut butter. I suppose that was some of the inspiration.

I'm pretty surprised it attracted a deer! They are super curious critters. She hung around for about 15 minutes sniffing around.

All together I got about 100 pics last night. I had to change the camera to 10 minute delay.

Deer LOVE peanut butter. One guy on our lease in MS has nailed dozens of peanut butter lids to the trees where he hunts.

 

[DeerCamp]

Funny... the fox keeps returning every 4-6 hours hoping the "magic deer spawn" will return. He was there last night about midnight and then again this morning just before sunrise.

I am sure there is still scent in the area. Poor little fella just wont give it up.

 

[shopson]

My wife doesn't like it but I throw fish carcasses in the yard just to watch vultures. She thinks it's nasty. I enjoy watching.

 

[DeerCamp]

The fox has returned at least once every 12 hours to check the site.

Had never seen him on camera before. Pretty interesting that he keeps coming back. Wonder how long that will last

 

[Pic IN the Casa]

Good stuff.

 

[LanceS4803]

I put a large beaver carcass out with a cam on it.
It disappeared. Not a single picture of what happened and everything was just gone. I searched and searched. Nothing.
I suspect aliens.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

I put a large beaver carcass out with a cam on it.
It disappeared. Not a single picture of what happened and everything was just gone. I searched and searched. Nothing.
I suspect aliens.

Could have been a bald eagle or an owl

 

[easy45]

Very cool pics

 

[LanceS4803]

Could have been a bald eagle or an owl

No bald eagles here, and props to a bird for taking it.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

No bald eagles here, and props to a bird for taking it.

They are in Hickman. I've seen them swoop down to my turkey decoy and seen them get fish from our pond. Owls are vicious creatures. They are a gobbler's worst enemy up on the roost. Very capable animals

 

[Gravey]

Cool pics.

 

[Smo]

Whooooo Me?

 

[LanceS4803]

Owls are cool. I've had them hit a tail flipper while coyote hunting. Even flying right over me on the attack, I never hear them.

 

[double browtine]

That was a pretty cool experiment. Thanks for sharing.
I heard a story one time about a guy that set a few foot hold traps around a deer carcass. He drove a couple of t post through the rib cage to hold the carcass in place and to anchor his traps. He caught coyotes, raccoons and a fox over the course of a few days.

 

[DeerCamp]

Little update to the experiment.

The buzzards finally gave up after 4 days, the coyote returned once, but the fox is interesting.

We had never seen this red fox until the day of the experiment.

For several days, he returned to the site 2-3 times per day, visiting approximately every 6 hours with exceptions.

Eventually that stretched out to about every 12 hours, and now it is just a once daily visit.

He has not missed a single day. Interesting for a fox we'd never seen before. This was from about 20 minutes ago.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Great pics... interesting....thanks for sharing