March 13-27, 2024
We did most of our damage with shallow running crankbaits, Andy #2 lure was a chatterbait and mine was a spinnerbait, but buzzbaits were our best big fish lure.
Highlights from 2 weeks of Hot Bass Fishing on Lake Okeechobee
October 23 – December 15
Hiking February 18
October 4 – November 20
October 4 – December 1
Florida Vacation 2024 #1
Lake Okeechobee, January 23 – February 3
We booked early and ended up on the lake during the busiest time of the year starting with a big MLF tournament at the beginning of our trip and then B.A.S.S. showed up to start practicing before MLF finished for an even bigger tournament at the end of our stay. In spite of the crowds we still caught a lot of fish inluding some pretty big ones.
I brought 8 trailcams and set them up on the banks of the canals around the lake, I expect to see a lot of raccoons and possums and I’ve also captured alligators, iguanas, marsh rabbits, bobcats, deer, coyotes and black bear, plus a lot of birds when I pick them up in March.
Highlights from 5 Cameras
The 3+ feet of rain we got in October and November made for a lot of blurry pictures but still got a few worth sharing.
August 21 – October 14
Last Hike of 2023
December 31
Spent the day scouting out for new places to put trailcams and hunt deer this coming autumn. This area has a lot of potential but finding a good funnels for cameras could be challenging.
Highlights from a few Hikes December 2-17
I spent the first half of December checking on and bringing most of my trailcams home, I only left 7 out and except a few favorite spots I plan to use again, I will find new homes for the other 30+ cameras.
I’m guessing a wolf got this fawn and it’s not as broken up as a usual wolf kill because it didn’t share it with the rest of the pack.
Deer season is still open so while hitting all my cameras I did make a little effort to get another deer but didn’t see many and none were bucks.
July 6 – September 23
I set this camera to catch bears fishing for salmon unfortunately the only usable tree was a little out of range.
Highlights from 3 Cameras
This first camera has been a good spot in the past, I’ve had a camera here for around 10 years, but the wolves in the area are starting to take a serious toll on the deer population.
This spot was pretty good during the rut except picture quality sucked so I took it down and will set one in the same area next year.
I set this Camera to watch bears when the creek was full of pink salmon, I took it down when I checked it this time
August 20 – October 20
Sept. 5 – Nov. 21
Thanksgiving Weekend
November 22-26
Kayaked out to a friend’s cabin and did a little hiking, brush clearing, firewood cutting and a lot of eating.
Deer Hunting
October 28 – November 19
Hunting has been tougher than usual this year, I think that might be mainly do to weather which has forced me to hunt areas with a lot of pressure because it’s been to stormy to take the Kayak out. So far I managed to get 2 of the 5 decent bucks I’ve seen or called in and I let a bunch of little bucks walk away. I’m hoping to fill 1 more tag (we get 4) and we still have until the end of December to hunt deer here but it’s going to get tougher as the rut winds down.
Highlights from 3 Cameras
October 25 – November 13
October 28 – November 12
October 27 – November 12
Highlights from 3 Cameras
September 21 – November 5
August 19 – October 21
This is the best new spot I picked this year.
Highlights from 4 Cameras
I’ve had a camera here for a long time, it’s always been good for sparring matches, but the deer population is dropping do to wolves increasing.
I used this spot several years ago but moved the camera after a few humans showed up.
This is the first check of this spot. Several trails intersect here and though it’s in a pretty open area at the edge of some big muskegs it’s doing okay.
This spot has been okay but I’m going to find a new home for this camera next year.
The Rut is Starting to Heat Up.
Highlights from 2 cameras
June 20-October 11
Highlights from 1 Camera
Black Bear and other Wildlife During the Pink Salmon Run.
July-September
August 7 – September 25
Hiking October 7
Moved 3 trailcams I had set for bears along a small salmon stream to areas I hope to catch some rut action.
I set a camera here to take photos of an intersection of multiple trails at the bottom of a hillside
This camera is set to record videos of an intersection of 2 trails
This camera is also set to take videos of an intersection of 2 trails.
Hiking September 30
I would call this post hunting but the only buck I saw was either a big fawn or small yearling.
I moved a camera here hoping for some decent rut action, it watches a main trail that follows the base of a steep hill where a lot of secondary trail intersect it.
Moved another camera here to watch a main trail that follows the edge of a big area of muskeg.
August 6 – September 2
July 5 – September 2
1st Check of a New Camera Location
June 11 – August 16
June 12 – July 11
Hiking and Setting Cameras
September 10
I set a trailcam here to watch the multiple trails that intersect in this clearing
Set another camera here to watch this well worn trail.
This spot seems kind of out in the open to be very good but a bunch of trails meet here and I was almost back to my car so I decided to give it a try.
May 23-August 20
May 22 – August 23
I’ve had a camera here for a long time though I did switch trees, the stump in the middle of the picture below is the same one on the left side of the recent shots.
Hiking September 2-4
I moved a couple trailcam
I set a camera on this trail which follows the top of the ravine created by the salmon stream I was hiking around.
The camera I set here watches an intersection of a couple trails.
May 26 – August 24
Highlights from 1 trailcam
Backyard Wildlife
Kayaking and Hiking
August 25-27
Paddled out to a visit some friends at their cabin last weekend
Kayaking and Hiking
Took the ‘yak out for only the 2nd time this summer, but tourist season is winding down so hopefully this fall and winter I will get out more.
May 31-August 3
Highlights from 1 Camera
June 19 – August 5
Highlights from 1 Trailcam
Highlights from 1 Camera
June 18 – August 5
Not sure what’s wrong with this little buck but he started out as a small fork and then became a 1×2 and this year he’s a spike. He sheds his velvet really late, and though I think he’s 4 years old he still has a small body.
Hiking and Camping
August 5-6
Spent a couple days hiking around looking for deer (our deer season runs from August through December) checking trailcams and fishing for trout.
The red salmon is a lost sockeye, first one I’ve seen in this creek, the rest of the fish are pink salmon. We hadn’t had much rain so the few salmon that have entered this creek are stacking up in the deepest holes near salt water, but it rained pretty hard Monday and were suppose to get more rain this week so the whole creek is probably filling up with salmon now.
Checked a bunch of trailcams, this is the first video I’ve posted from this camera location
May 29-July 2
Highlights from 1 Trailcam
Hiking July 10
Highlights from 1 Trailcam
April 29 – June 18
Some of the Wildlife in My Backyard
Hiking July 3-5
I quit work Monday afternoon and spent that evening, all day on the 4th and Wednesday morning wandering around in the woods, checking and setting trailcams, and taking pictures.
I add 3 more cameras to this little creek to catch the black bears catching pink salmon in August and September.
I set a camera here to shoot photos, I had a camera here a few years ago so I know it’s a good spot.
This camera is set to shoot videos I haven’t looked at this spot when the salmon are running but it looks good.
This pool was stuffed with fish last year when the creek got as low as it is now, but it doesn’t have the best trees to attach a camera so I set farther away and higher up than I like. This one is set to shoot photos.
This is what the creek looks like at the peak of the pink salmon run, I’ve had this camera here for a couple years, last year I switched to a tree on the other side of the creek but put it back on the original tree this year. You can see all the videos from this spot in the playlist title A Creek in the Old Growth.
Highlights from 4 Cameras
April 29 – June 17
These 4 cameras are all doing pretty well but need to be adjusted to improve picture quality and or field of view.
Catch and Release Deer Hunting
I spent the day quietly exploring a dried up stream (we need a little rain) figuring now would be a good time to see where the deepest holes were and if this stream had many trout.
Dolly Varden
Rainbow
Cutthroat
Hiking, Checking Trailcams and Fishing for Rainbows and Cutthroat.
June 18, 2023
Black Bear Bed
Bears eat a lot of fawns, a lot of the fresh bear poop I came across had little hooves in it.
As usual I checked a bunch of trailcams while wandering around.
I’ve been using this spot for over a year, you can see more on my youtube channel in the playlist titled Sandbar.
I started using this spot last year with the camera set to record photos, this year I’m recording videos.
These cameras are set for photos, I will be posting their highlights soon.
Joe's Trailcams 