A few new pics [Archive] - The Michigan Sportsman Forums

Munsterlndr

07-07-2006, 08:05 PM

A few new pics from the last week.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/522/125.jpg

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/521/126.jpg

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/522/127.jpg

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/521/128.jpg

Anderson

07-07-2006, 09:10 PM

Munstr,

How close is your camera to the deer? I'm thinking I need to move my camera closer and want to figure out how close to go.

Munsterlndr

07-07-2006, 09:23 PM

The camera is about 15 feet from the mineral lick. I don't usually get any pictures closer than 15 feet but it's not uncommon to get some up to about 40 feet away from the camera. I crop the pictures before I upload them to this forum so that you can see the deer a little better, which may be why the deer seem to be a little closer than in some of the pics that get posted here.

Anderson

07-08-2006, 06:55 AM

Munster,
Thanks, I'll keep the camera where it is and have my son show this ol dog how to crop pictures. :)

Erik

07-08-2006, 07:48 PM

Are you sure you guys don't have a deer overpopulation problem up there? If I didn't know any better I'd say that area has been over browsed.
Not trying to sound like a smart alek. I'm just not used to seeing a woods look that barren in july. Almost looks like our woods used to back when we had cows.
The deer look healthy enough though. Maybe I'm just not used to the up north woods in the summer months.
This is what it looks like down here right now.
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/3041/doeandfawn1S.jpg

Whit1

07-08-2006, 09:21 PM

Erik,
One difference is the density of the overstory in the photos that Munster offered. Given sunlight, as in your photo, the groundcover and small brush and forbs will be there. It all a matter of how much sunlight gets to the ground. That's the trouble when a forest matures, there is little underbrush growing.

Ray and I were fishing a NW river yesterday and where it flowed through cedars you could see the obvious browse lines. the ground was almost barren of vegetative growth due to the dense overstory of cedars, out of reach to whitetails.

As I type this I'm watching two whitetails......does.....eating corn that I've put out. Yes, it is the 2 gallon limit....:lol:

Munsterlndr

07-08-2006, 11:56 PM

Milt is right, these were taken in an area of my property that has a very mature hardwood canopy and mature cedars, that limits the amount of undergrowth. This part of my property is about 3-4 acres of my 40. I leave it intact for a couple of reasons, primarily because it is a travel corridor between some thick cedar swamp, which is my sanctuary area and a more open area where my food plots are located. It is also surrounded by about 10 acres of aspen which has been cut within the last 10 years and is pretty thick with lots of browse. My principle ground blind is located in this hardwood area and I like the open shooting lanes that it provides. It allows me to get a 50 to 75 yard shot which is all but impossible in the other parts of the property that are thicker with underbrush and it's much easier to see the deer when they are moving through this area instead of the thick brush. The mature cedars also provide thermal cover during the winter and the deer tend to congregate under them.

Here is a picture that shows the blind in question.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/10278blind2.jpg

bowbum

07-09-2006, 06:15 AM

Thanks for the picutures.
I also would be inclined to assess the habitat in those particular pictures as severely overbrowsed. The woods in "blind" photo shows plenty of open canopy but yet nary a stem sprouting.
At first glance (before reading the text) I thought perhaps you sprayed to killl off ferns...?

Munsterlndr

07-09-2006, 08:41 AM

No, the blind picture was taken in the fall after the hardwoods had dropped their leaves and the ferns had died from frost. The area is not over browsed, the canopy just does not allow enough light in for many plants, other than ferns, to grow. Believe me, go 50 yards in a couple of directions and you would find very thick ground cover with lots of browse.

This just demonstrates the impact that a mature forest has on the amount of forage material available to deer and other critters. That is why we have a problem with so much of the public land that has been allowed to reach a mature stage. Big trees are nice to look at but create a desert in terms of available forage for wildlife. On my property this represents a very small portion of the overall eco-system.

D.C.U.P.

07-09-2006, 11:29 AM

Is that a raccoon or skunk in the third photo?

Whit1

07-09-2006, 11:30 AM

Is that a raccoon or skunk in the third photo?

I believe it is a porky.

Is that an opening in the far background? Does your shack have a window on that side? It looks like the shack is in a great transition area with cover being offered by a narrow band of woods. At least that's how it appears.

We need to get together and go to your family's cabin one of these days. I'd really like to take some photos of the place.

FISH

07-09-2006, 12:03 PM

what kind of mineral lick are you using? i want to get one but don't know which one is best. thanks for any help guys

Munsterlndr

07-09-2006, 01:03 PM

Milt -

The opening you see behind the blind is a creek that is maybe 15 feet wide. It curves around where the blind is, so that the blind sits on the inside of an L. On the other side of the creek is really dense cedar swamp that is a major bedding area. The deer transit through the open Hardwood area from the bedding area to where my food plots are located.

Still planning on calling you next time I head down to the cabin, it's been a busy summer with no end in sight. We'll do it sometime, though.

D.C.U.P.,
It is a porky in the picture.

Fish,
I use Purina Antler max minerals mixed with crystalized softner salt for the mineral lick. Usually 3 bags of mineral mix and 1-2 bags of salt. Rake it into the soil and let the rain dissolve it and it's good for 2-3 months. If you are concerned about the legality of putting out minerals, you can dump the mineral mix & salt on top of the snow just before Jan. 1st. As the snow melts, it leaches into the dirt and is just as effective as dumping it later. I agree with what some other posters have mentioned, by about the end of August the deer stop using the mineral lick almost completely.

Erik

07-09-2006, 01:05 PM

Yeah I guess I've seen areas like that around here to. We have some tall red pines my uncle planted around the time I was born. I remember that piney woods from when I was a kid. So thick I could hardly walk through it. Now all those pines are tall and the area underneath is fairly open. I think soil might play a bit of a role in things also, but I'm certainly no expert.
Going to have to get me one of those cuddeback cameras. I've got a stealth cam now. It works, but it doesn't print the date and time together. I can select one or the other, but not both. And even then half the time the digits are unreadable. It was a christmas presant so I guess I can't complain too much :)
Good talking to you.

A.M. General

07-10-2006, 03:30 AM

Erik, I've got a stealth cam also. Do you like yours? I'm kind of ticked that my batteries only last four days or so. Do you you have the same problem? I see these guys with cuddebacks that take great pics and they leave em out for a week or so. I think we got screwed on the cameras we bought. What do you think?

Munsterlndr

07-10-2006, 08:09 AM