Animals Managed on Property
On my property that is located in the back country we see a lot of animals. One of the reasons that it was appealing to me is that it is not too far away from the city, but there is ample wildlife. Another nice thing is that the property is across from the Jack Links Ranch, which means that it is pretty much undisturbed woods. I think that they use it for hunting and fishing so that it is almost like being a preserve.
I set up a bunch of night vision cameras and some feed to see what different types of animals would come out and visit. We got the cameras from Bass Pro Shop and we were getting feed from Tractor Supply Shop. We set up two cameras on the property and then would set out some feed. The deer would come in and then you get an alert on you phone and the pictures start pouring in.
A part of me was tracking the deer and animals because I would like to go hunting and its always good to know what is on your property. However, since I am just about ready for hunting, hunting with the camera was almost as good.
Here are some of the pictures of the deer that we saw. Below is a group of does. We noticed that the does were not with the bucks as often as you would think.
A Buck who goes super close to the camera, or maybe it is a buck that lost its horns. They shed them once a year.
One of those rare photos where you see a buck, a yearling and a doe. The camera had 58 pictures loaded from this feeding. Then it sends them to me and I picked the ones I like best. I always like the pictures where you can see the buck. It is also really cool when you see the same buck every couple of nights. You get to know them and give them nicknames.
What a great photo. There are two bucks. I believe one only has 1 horn, a cute little guy. But check out the handsome 6 point. I would love to one day have a nice open plot of land with plenty of foraging grass for the deer to grow big and get fat on. There is also a pretty doe. Do you wonder if they hear the camera snapping the pictures?
What an incredibly handsome buck! I love this picture. Male deer really are majestic creatures. This buck is about 3 years old. A deer starts off the first year as a 2 point. The next year they generally get 2 more and so one. Deer will get to have 10 points or 5 to 6 years old.
Here is an example of what I was talking about with the deer. You have a buck that is probably 4 years old. This one you could see would be a 8 point at least. However he lost one of his antlers early in the year. Maybe he was fighting with another male or maybe he lost it when he was rubbing his antlers against a tree. However he got a nickname from me and that was UNICORN, The buck with one horn. At least you know next year he will get a bigger more beautiful rack, and the fact that he lost one of the horns make it less likely that he will get shot during hunting season.
Wow what a cool buck on the property. This ghostly fellow must have come on a foggy night. HIs rack is asymmetrical which means not as sought after. He is a 7 or an 8 point. Sometimes deer will develop an extra point or nub on their rack. Some hunters like these while others do not. It is a point that is really up to the aesthetics of the hunter. Older deer who are beyond 6 will have very interesting and gnarled racks also when a deer does not have proper nutrition they may not be able to grow their rack to its full potential. This is why some feed will include minerals to help the bucks grow their racks. Think about deer antlers like toenails! Tiki-toenails.
Here is a magnificent buck who was visiting first thing in the morning. Deer are nocturnal, but I have often seen them at dawn and dusk. Some animals are called Diurnal this means that they are primarily active in the day and at dusk. As you can see from the muddy cam, the deer are mostly out a night but this is one of the rare morning photos that the camera snapped of them.
Another day photo here the deer are foraging on grass. This is a muddy cam photo of two doe on the edge of my property.
We also have a neighbor who has a hog stand. You can shoot hogs at any time in Florida as they are pests and they tear up your lawn and your property. We once dug a post hole and came back after a week and a baby piglet had fallen into the post hole and couldn’t get out and stunk up the property really bad. The neighbor is a butcher and so we have also gotten beef jerky, deer pepperoni, and various other cuts of meat from him, which is awesome. He has a trailer set up to bleed, butcher, and dress the animals.
We often see hog tracks and sometimes see weird bird tracks out by the farm. And we have gotten video of the hogs too. Here are some pictures of the turkeys and hogs.
Can you believe the amount of hogs there are. You can see at least three big ones. A couple of medium ones and some piglets. When these guys come and root up your yard they cause massive yard destruction.
What are these long legged beasts? Why, they are turkeys of course. Turkeys roost in trees. They can fly up into the trees and yet they also seem to graze. I wonder what they find so delicious to eat on the property. Oh I know, I laid some grass seed down. I bet they are eating all my seeds! Argh! Those turkeys will get you every time. By the way, turkeys are very hard to shoot.
Here is another turkey shot. This one is pretty cool because it is so close to the camera. Turkeys and chickens are such interesting creatures because the males are so interesting looking. They have really regal feathers. Here I left some of the information from the Muddy Cam, notice it has the moon, temperature, date, and time. These are all useful features if you are going to try to hunt or if you want to log different animals and feeds. It is pretty awesome. The top of the camera has a lot of information but mostly related to electronics.
Here is a deer that is crossing the street in the nearby town that I live in. Is it hunting season yet?