Diverse group

[nwalpineguide]

My trail cams have caught allot of different big game animals over the years. Most in wilderness backcountry locations. It seems that the predator/prey dance goes on on on like it has for eons. Less cats, wolves and bears in my book equals more deer and elk. But my math skills suck.

Enjoy!

[BLH69]

Love the first one with the second cat in the background!

[nwalpineguide]

Love the first one with the second cat in the background!

Here's another one with a fawn in its mouth! It appears there are too many cats and bears in this State. But my observations are anecdotal and amateurish at best!

[nwmein199]

  crazy trail cam capture!

[Birdguy]

What a great group of pics!  The bucks are awesome, especially that first one, what character! The cat pics are so clear very cool, but a sad statement to the current predator situation in our state.

[buggy]

Nice pics! Really like that first buck.

[2MANY]

Cougar, fawn, and elk rub.
Thanks for sharing.

[Bango skank]

Diversity is our strength 

[Watimberghost]

Love the palmation on that first buck! Great pics!

[flyfishWA]

blacktail or mule deer bucks? nice pics

[pianoman9701]

The quality of the photos is amazing. They should use those cams in banks and convenience stores! Thanks for sharing.

[nwalpineguide]

blacktail or mule deer bucks? nice pics

For the most part mule deer. However, there is some hybridization that occurs in this area. A close look at the tail on one of the bucks above shows the classic rope like muley tail with black hairs at the tip. The buck with the palmated antlers had a similar tail.

What's interesting (to me at least) is the question about how much slop over occurs both east and west of the PCT between blacktailed deer on the west and mule deer on the east. I'd love to see a cline diagram that shows the overlap where benchleg deer occurs. A cline: • Biology; a gradation in one or more characteristics within a species or other taxon, especially between different populations. And, a view in which mule deer genetic variation is characterized by gradual geographic gradients that reflect interbreeding among neighboring deer.

Personally I've seen what appear to be  mule deer 6-7 miles west of the PCT and blacktail deer perhaps 10-11 miles east of it.
 

I have captured what appear to be mostly black tailed deer in this area (the Lake Wenatchee region) but it is rare. See attached photos for comparison.

[Gentrys]

Great Pics!

[dan11011]

what model of cameras are you using?

[nwalpineguide]

what model of cameras are you using?

Currently I am utilizing several different camera models:

-A couple of ancient Bushnell models that are no longer in production yet still work quite well if the lighting conditions are just right and the animals don't move. The night images on these were just ok. Good enough to know what was passing in front of them. But not good enough to publish images captured. Which at the time was fairly common for these units between 2011 and 2015. Also, the models I have needed to be set at just the right distance from where I expected animals to cross into the cameras field of view. I will say this: I got my money's worth from every Bushnell I ever purchased and deployed in the field. This with the realistic expectation that I would get some very good captures occasionally. These units exceeded my expectations and I deployed them in some pretty remote places in wilderness. As for the Bushnell models marketed since 2015... I'll be brutally honest. I don't know.    But, this technology usually get's better with time and the consumer votes with his/her feet and wallet!

- I'll be equally honest about the few Moultrie models that, thankfully, I never deployed more than a mile or two from a road or trail. For all I care they were the most frustrating units I ever owned. They functioned well as advertised but ALWAYS, and I mean always, just underperformed with respect to image quality. I know I had the settings correct and the unit positioned properly because I captured thousands of images with them. But the clarity was always just so so. The people that invented those units and the marketing team that distributed and dumped them on the public can all suffer broken backs in Hell for eternity! Damn those things frustrated me to no end. I'll never buy another Moultrie again. Frankly I can't believe they still sell them. Must be the low price and slick advertising extolling the virtues of all those MEGAPIXELS. Well, that doesn't help if the damn sensor isn't worth a pinch of raccoon scat! Nuff, said.

-I had one HCO Scoutguard (SG 560C or some such designation) that took PHENOMENAL -publishable- daylight images. And some pretty good night images if it was placed within 15-20 feet of the spot I expected animals to be. It was a white incandescent flash unit and Boy-Howdy do I ever miss that unit. I had it out in the field for 3 years, simply maintaining it when I visited it to replace batteries, swap out memory cards and clean the PIR face and lens of any cobwebs, dust and other debris. Damn that thing delivered! It just gave up the ghost one day. I 'd of paid 3X what I did for that thing back when I purchased it. I compare it to a budget Reconyx which, if you're familiar with those, ain't any of 'em cheap! Gawd that was a good camera.

-I switched from still image capture last year to video capture with my Browning units. This, because video is so data rich with animal behavior. I'm using 3 different Browning models; Strike Force Pro XD, A Recon Force model and a Recon Force Advantage, I believe. These are really good small-lightweight camera traps. The night video is impressive. I've posted video of some migrating wilderness mule deer on this forum in another section. So, look 'em up and you be the judge whether the videos are any good or not. I'll be purchasing more of these in future and will gladly fork over a couple hundred for them.

I currently have 6 units; 3 still image cameras and 3 capturing video that are soaking in or just outside the Glacier Peak Wilderness. This, to capture the fall migration in an area I have been observing for several years. When I snowmobile up in January, or simply wait until spring when road and trail conditions allow, it will be like Christmas morning when I get those trail camera memory cards home. I can't wait to see what came out of there in mid-December which, ah, I just realized it's mid December about now.

I encourage most folks to seek other opinions and reference other people's experiences with trail camera use. I'm biased in my opinion of these magical little wonders. But, one thing is for certain... a picture is worth a thousand words.

[boneaddict]

Awesome photos.  I thought blacktail as soon as I saw that first buck.   I wondered.

I have filmed a couple benchlegs or “black tails” in the methow.  I guess they opted for a dryer climate.