My long “hunting weekend”, planned once a month, has now begun…
My long "hunting weekend", planned for once a month, has now begun.
Unfortunately the weather is shaping up to be quite rainy, but as I arrived at my lodging and was unloading my hunting gear, the two-hourly camera-sync notification on my phone went off more often than usual, compared to how things have gone so far.
The Spypoint Flex-S is set to take and send one photo with every sync, without fail,
and given the all-day game movement at the big green wallow, a few photos might have come from there too.
Since I was in a big hurry, I just "dumped" the thousand-and-one pieces of gear and equipment I’d brought into the lodging, so I could get the 5 kg mineral lick block I’d picked up on the way out to my new feeder as soon as possible.
I didn’t even glance at the photos that had come in.
The dirt road leading into the area from the Vése–Inke road had gotten thoroughly soaked, with puddles here and there, but luckily it was still just barely passable by car.
When I reached the feeder I was surprised to find that the large pile of fermented corn that had been sitting out there for days had vanished, and the entire area around the feeder had been freshly "plowed", covered in fresh tracks, with only the small amount of corn from the most recent dispensing cycle sprinkled over it.
I quickly checked the app to see what the cameras had just sent, and, well, I very nearly sat down right there in surprise.
The big sounder that had already been wallowing alongside the red deer — 3 sows together with a total of 18 piglets between them, plus at least 6 yearlings running with the sounder — had found my feeder and spent nearly an hour digging it up and eating everything down to the last kernel.
So many photos were taken that would delight any hunter’s eye!
What an incredible experience!
The sounder left when the automatic feeder went off for the 6 p.m. dispensing.
My thoughts were racing — how could I replenish the feed as soon as possible, and when should I actually sit out here, if they’re already picnicking here this early, in broad daylight. . .
I also found an excellent stand site by the big green wallow, which I likewise thought, early that same morning, of getting ready for bow hunting as soon as possible, by putting up a hang-on stand in a tree and clearing away the branches and twigs blocking a good line of sight.
This spot has exceeded all my expectations so far.
So much so that I could practically think in terms of non-stop hunting days.
From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. here at the big green wallow, and then I’d move over to the feeder until morning.
