Meat-in-the-Woods Camera

[RednekF350]

Did a little freezer cleaning last week and I placed some unwanted vittles in the woods for the timid woodland creatures to enjoy. The coyotes were very appreciative.
The first on the scene was Friday at 2:01 a.m. Soon, a party of 4 were dining happily. Later that day, two returned at 6:50 p.m. to finish up. You never know what's out there !

 

[this_is_nascar]

Both awesome and a bit unnerving at the same time. Only once have we ever been in the pines in the dark. It's a completely different experience as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

Awesome!!!

 

[Boyd]

Only once have we ever been in the pines in the dark. It's a completely different experience as far as I'm concerned.

I wander around frequently in the dark, it's very peaceful. But "the pines" are right outside my back door.

 

[RednekF350]

I wander around frequently in the dark, it's very peaceful. But "the pines" are right outside my back door.

It is awesome to listen to the woods at night outside our home Boyd. We actually heard this group of coyotes yipping early Friday morning. I figured I'd have some pics on the cam after that and I was right.

As for the pines in the dark, I walk out to and back from my hunting spots in the dark all the time, usually without a light. The only thing that spooks me is disturbing a flock of roosted turkeys. Walking stealthily in the soft needles or sand on a windless morning and then triggering an instantaneous blast of wings booming and branches breaking loudly overhead will stop your heart for a second or two.

 

[ecampbell]

Nothing like going out at 2AM with a beer and your best buddy and listening to the Children of the Night. That includes the steamy bugs in July.

 

[Boyd]

 

[NJChileHead]

It is awesome to listen to the woods at night outside our home Boyd. We actually heard this group of coyotes yipping early Friday morning. I figured I'd have some pics on the cam after that and I was right.

As for the pines in the dark, I walk out to and back from my hunting spots in the dark all the time, usually without a light. The only thing that spooks me is disturbing a flock of roosted turkeys. Walking stealthily in the soft needles or sand on a windless morning and then triggering an instantaneous blast of wings booming and branches breaking loudly overhead will stop your heart for a second or two.

My older son spooked a turkey one early morning and it scared the bejesus out of us. It was roosting in the underbrush and he saw it and asked 'what is that?'. I couldn't see anything at all and he was only fixed on its tail so neither of us knew what we were looking at. Like you said that instantaneous blast and we both almost jumped out of our shoes.

 

[Hewey]

Nice, Scott.Four on camera at once is pretty rare. The most I have had on camera at once was two. Usually just singles. Russ and I did that a couple times with some scraps after a couple of our hog hunting trips. We got some really healthy coyote on camera in the FRM area of Greenwood.

I had two coyote yipping this past Sunday evening when I was getting out of my stand at my Barnegat piece. The property owner was in her driveway when I got back to my Jeep. She asked me what it was. I told her and she said she hears them very often. I know I do when I hunt there. When the local firehouse siren fires off the coyote usually go nuts.

The only thing that really gets me in the dark woods is when I am up in Vermont deer hunting and I flush a grouse walking in or out in the dark. That will make your heart skip a beat!

Chris

 

[RednekF350]

That's the challenge in grouse hunting, regaining your composure after a flush. It's a great cardiac test !

 

[Boyd]

There were a lot of grouse on my property when I lived near Lake Ontario. They really can scare the hell out of you!

 

[h2ochild]

There were roughed grouse here (Bass River) in the 70's..I can't remember the last time I saw or heard one. Lot's of theories as to why they disappeared: http://www.smithjam.com/where-have-south-jerseys-ruffed-grouse-gone/

 

[Boyd]

Not so sure about those "theories". My property in NY was mature forest that had not seen any cutting in many years, with nice stands of 70 or 80 foot high maples. Gypsy moths had also been a problem there in the past, and there was always concern about West Nile virus as well. But it was not at all like the Pines, mostly deciduous forest, rich loamy soil with large stones and of course much colder winters with LOTS of snow.

 

[46er]

There were a lot of grouse on my property when I lived near Lake Ontario. They really can scare the hell out of you!

I couldn't walk 50' without spooking one at our place in the Adirondacks. Outside of northern New England, the best Grouse and Woodcock hunting to be found in the east. Attributed to managed harvesting of the wood plots. Easiest hunting was just walking the logging roads, they loved to sit along the edges.

 

[woodjin]

great shots of those yotes, Scott!! People have been hearing them at the Mullica wilderness campsite and lower forge every weekend. They have replaced the whippoorwills which some people appreciate. Personally I like both.

 

[woodjin]

this talk of grouse got me thinking about the Heath Hen that used to be plentiful in the pine plains. Allegedly, the pine plains were known as the grouse plains until the mid 1800's when they became extinct from the area due to over hunting. Historical accounts claim that they were delicious. They apparently ate an enormous amount of bear berry, blueberry, bayberry, partridge berry. I wonder how much their absence has affected the flora in the plains.

 

[RednekF350]

great shots of those yotes, Scott!! People have been hearing them at the Mullica wilderness campsite and lower forge every weekend. They have replaced the whippoorwills which some people appreciate. Personally I like both.

They probably ate the whippoorwills.

 

[manumuskin]

Only thing that scares me in the woods at night is a stick in the eye.I usually wear glasses at night because of that.Besides after close inspection the mirror I may well be the scariest thing that raoms the barrens at night. Maybe thats why the yotes leave me alone.By the way heard a bunch of them in Cranberry wilderness WV along with some cool Barren owls and loads of Ravens which i never see nor hear around here.

 

[Mike Lansing]

This technique could also be used for monitoring rare and endangered Pine Barrens lepidoptera, some of which will come to sugar baits. Obtaining a photo of a larva that has triggered an electronic mechanism placed on its food plant could assist in identification. The development of a system against Spotted Wind Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) is in progress, and we hope to make it public before Spring 2018. It does not concern itself with pesticides, pheromones, nor vinegar-yeast traps. Because our lepidoptera studies link to cancer studies for both plant and fish models of cancer, this Trilogy should go some distance in deciphering some of the mysteries of the disease. There are a few specific moths and butterflies of interest for New Jersey on this trajectory.

Bark beetles and Emerald Ash Borers should seriously come under the sway of the power of a (reliable) gopro, and no one has thought of preventing beetles from getting (out [italics]) of the trees they infect? If trees are wrapped at the trunk, no beetles can get to the crown, because they emerge (before [italics] they fly to the crown). How difficult is that when the weeks of their emergence are known locally? Should this info remain esoteric amongst entomologists and foresters? Delirious. A study from British Columbia once determined just how many bark beetles had to die within a certain space to prevent an epidemic. We're almost afraid to ask: "Could a Commodore 64 drive these deadly critters mad if it knew how to control a HeNe laser?" A HeNe certainly can drive ants berserk. Nature, then, has made a mistake: it forgot to add eye-lids.

Regards,
Mike Lansing
Caddy Shack II, USA

 

[RednekF350]

Yeah, what he said.