07/19/2005 -- I knew this was going to be good when the very first picture to download was a portrait of a deer.  The second and third pictures turned out to reveal the doe keying into the camera almost as if posing.

That was the start of my first use of a new game camera.  I placed it out over a heavily used game trail where I was sure to get some action.  It was also going to be part of the young naturalist photography program.

It quickly became more than that as deer revealed themselves and in their presence, started to give evidence to the timing of their movements and habits.

Doe are basically without distinctive markings so it is nearly impossible to tell one from another, but bucks have antlers of course and before two weeks were gone, it appeared that I had seven different bucks come by the camera.

Then I had a bad spell where the camera lost battery power one time, and another windy day with about 300 photos of waving grass.  That's what you get when the camera is a motion sensitive device.

Game cameras have evolved over the years; my first was a 35mm which took a 6-volt battery and some AA's as well .  You couldn't of course see what you had until you developed the film.  It took a few good shots, but nothing very interesting.

Enter the digital world where the camera is small and can be downloaded onto your laptop and is capable of storing hundreds of photos and now we have something.  It still eats batteries at a prodigious rate, but with rechargeable batteries, that's OK.

I am planning to leave the camera out all summer and possibly watch the bucks grow up.  It should make an interesting slide program at least.

I am also planning a few experiments such as testing deer feeds and salts to see what the deer prefer.

Perhaps surprisingly is the lack of other animals getting their picture taken.  In the month or so I've had the camera out, I've only seen one coyote (I have a photo of the tip of his nose) and one rabbit, and one raccoon.

The deer appear to be creatures of the night for the most part, at least along this trail.  The camera has a date/time setting and most of the action is right at dark (no surprise) but continues on till 2 or 3 a.m. when it really drops off.  There is the occasional morning shot and very rarely a noontime picture.

It will be a fun project to follow throughout the summer, watching a few bucks grow up.