[Comments in brackets are by Jeannine and Duane]
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From the Northern Crew:
Greetings from the North.
Last week we finished repairing most of our traps and began scouting and baiting potential trap sites. Bret delivered the trailer, and we made a few modifications so that we could haul more traps.
Deer are visiting several bait sites, and I suspect that they are all active by now. This week’s plan is to set as many traps as possible and pair each one with a cellular camera. Hopefully, we’ll have caught and marked a bunch of deer by the end of the week.
-Tom
Northern Crew Leader
PA Game Commission
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From the Southern Crew:
Hello all!
Another exciting week is officially in the books. And perhaps even more importantly- we start trapping soon! We began our week with a flat tire on our trailer. Typical Monday, but at least we got to brush up on our tire changing skills. In spite of the drizzle and soggy wet ground, we got the tire off without a hitch (Ha!). Then we headed into the field with a few traps to our bait sites. As we were setting them, we discovered some stubbornly rusted bolts and it was all Leathermans on deck!
Working our rounds through the state forests, we “discovered” a conifer someone had decorated with Christmas ornaments! I’m a little surprised they all stayed on with the wind and weather we’ve had, but it was fun looking through all the décor. There was even a little Cervid hiding in the branches! Probably intended to be a reindeer, but in the spirit of deer trapping season, let’s say it was a Pennsylvania white-tail.
We investigated a collar mortality signal in Bald Eagle and had an ensuing adventure trying to get to it. The whole team soldiered through the brush and the water until we found it lying in a field! He was a beautiful buck, and we were all excited to collect the collar to find out more about his movements.
Later in the week, we set a few more traps in the field and worked on organizing the trucks. As we sorted through some of the bins, we discovered one of the thieves that have been chewing through our bait. We released him with a warning this time 🙂
Fingers crossed for our trapping endeavors!
-Michaela
Southern Crew Leader
PA Game Commission
