Late February in Wisconsin is boring. Trapping/snaring ended on the 15th. All small game seasons are coming to an end if not already completed. There’s still too much snow to shed hunt, and spring turkey season seems to be light-years away. Unless you are a yote hunter or ice fisherman, there’s literally nothing to do, besides snowmobiling I’ve come to find. I live alone with my toddler, so ice fishing and coyote hunting isn’t something I can do on a daily basis, especially with the sub-zero temps we’ve been having.
One thing that keeps me busy, keeps me in the outdoors, and is something that my son can do with me is checking trail cameras. Most people tend to keep cameras out during the rut in the fall to keep tabs on their “hitlist” bucks. Some people put a couple cameras over bait piles or known strutting areas to scope out the turkey flocks for spring. I run cameras year round: fall for big buck patterns, winter for furbearers, spring for bears and turkey, and summer for baby animals and whatever else comes along.
Lately I’ve been creating “scent posts” next to cameras to spark the curiosity that most animals have. I’ve been tying various animal parts, tails, hides, etc., to logs and saturating them with different trapping lures; everything from bobcat glandular scents to fox urine scents used for breeding. Most of these lures are ground up animal sex glands mixed with potent smells like skunk, urine, fish oil, etc. The combination of repugnant smells drives animals wild, and they lack the willpower to not check the site out when cruising by.
Since signing on with Mossy Oak Prostaff, I was introduced to Covert Scouting Cameras. I have used all brands currently on the market, dating back to the first Moultrie that required 8 D batteries and needed to be hooked up to a TV to view. 
The camera did not take night pictures, work in the cold, and the batteries would be drained within a week. I currently run MP6 Blacks (Now MP8) in the woods, and trail camera technology has come a long way in the last decade. Last weekend I checked a camera that I keep over a couple dead deer carcasses; a spot that has produced some awesome pictures of eagles, hawks, fox, and other critters. I had the camera out for 13 days. When checked, there were over 3500 pictures, and the battery bar was still full! You can check out the different models of Covert Scouting Cameras at http://www.dlccovert.com.
My next adventure is to get some pictures of the many wolves that are running around Wisconsin, as well as a super intelligent river otter that keeps evading my sets! Check back to Victory Outdoors to see if I accomplish my goal! For now check out my best from the last few months and a few other favorites of mine!!!
