Fodder for my day dreams of being in the woods

In my near-constant daydreams about being in the woods, trail cams condense time and distance, allowing me to maintain my optimism about how plentiful animals are and allowing me to be in multiple places at once. As much as I like hunting, I love learning about animals more; observing how they move, what their patterns are, and seeing what’s in the woods when I’m not there. Cellular trail cams, like the Reveal ones I use here, have changed my life. Currently, I have 11 in the woods and two sitting in a tote bag in my van, ready at a moment’s notice to set up in a new spot. Going throughout my days, a buzz on my phone instantly transports my imagination to the woods, a day’s drive away.

Watching a family of pigs, or bears playing, always confronts me with memories of me playing with my brother as a kid, or my future kids playing. The path of a hunter starts with killing the first animal that comes your way and eventually, killing very few, shooting animals at the very end of their lives. My trail cams have expedited my progress on this journey. Each day I get a few dozen photos. Sometimes it’s just wind shaking trees and setting off motion detectors, but with some tweaking of camera settings and adjusting placement, most of the time when my phone buzzes, it’s an animal. Here are some of my favorite moments from the last few months.

Here’s a video of me checking a camera and installing a solar panel with Tim and a family of mountain lions coming and smelling the spot 26 minutes later. It looks like a mom and two yearling cubs.