Trail camera survey question
- Thread starter TreeDaddy
- Start date
I use the obvious "flaws"/physical traits I see that will be with them until they are no more. Curled hair/uniques hair on their heads, cuts/tears in ears, scars on face or body, and uniqie colorations on legs and neck, the neck patches really have a lot of uniqueness in them. Sometimes there will be a way a certain buck always stands in a certain way. They aren't perfect but it feeds my OCD.
EngineerinSquid
Yearling... With promise
their racks are also generally pretty unique. what I have been going with is finding some pics of them on the same camera turning their head, that way i have guaranteed different angles from the same buck to compare survey pics with
Really tough from drop through velvet unless unique body features. I will set up folder for a new year, then sub-folders for points, spike, cow, fork, 6, 8, 10 etc. As I go through a batch of picks I copy/paste bucks into main folder, later goes through those and slide to appropriate subfolder. Within let's say the 8s folder, pic deer, make unique folder for him, 8-1, 8a, crabclaw, whatever. It's time consuming.
As far as individuals, unless clearly unique, brow time position, angle, and length usually vary enough to ID. G2 and G3 length and angle plus unique bends, knots or twisted tips help. Of course kickers or trash around bases can ID.
One tip is don't keep every pic of every buck. Once you've started, skip bad pics of known bucks unless place/time is of interest. You'll have some bad pics left outside of subfolders where you know he's different but pick won't allow good point count. You might get better pic later that matches up completes classification. The little guys are the hardest to pinpoint and require clear closeups. As season goes on you will recognize 90% at a glance or quick zoom. Laptop while watching TV works best.
Jon
As far as individuals, unless clearly unique, brow time position, angle, and length usually vary enough to ID. G2 and G3 length and angle plus unique bends, knots or twisted tips help. Of course kickers or trash around bases can ID.
One tip is don't keep every pic of every buck. Once you've started, skip bad pics of known bucks unless place/time is of interest. You'll have some bad pics left outside of subfolders where you know he's different but pick won't allow good point count. You might get better pic later that matches up completes classification. The little guys are the hardest to pinpoint and require clear closeups. As season goes on you will recognize 90% at a glance or quick zoom. Laptop while watching TV works best.
Jon
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
I don't really have any great tips. I don't use bait (which is the validated MSU protocol). That means bucks are often much further from the camera. This is where higher resolution pictures come in as you can zoon in much further for detail. The other thing I do when trying to identify individual bucks is to use photoshop to clean up pictures. Of course Antler configuration is probably my first factor. One some deer you will see something unique about the hide like a unique throat patch or eye patches. These are secondary, but depending on picture angle, you only have some much to work with. Body characteristics are generally last on my list.
Sometimes it comes down to making your best guess.
Thanks,
Jack
