78 NEBRASKAland • NOVEMBER 2016
S
etting out trail cameras before the deer season is a great scouting tool for hunters. Cameras can capture the areas deer
are using and whether a particular area has does or bucks traveling through its corridors.
Taken during a particular deer season a few years ago, the trail camera photo above has significant meaning as I
never did see this buck during any of the hunting seasons after that. The trail image was taken on an early-season trail
to a food source, and once the food source was gone so was this buck.
Hunters often wonder if the bucks captured on camera or the one that got away made it through the months of deer
seasons. I am no different; I'm always trying to find distinguishing features on deer to remember them by, whether it is
antler points and shape, facial markings, a scar or other characteristics.
I usually keep trail camera images of the larger bucks so I can compare them to bucks throughout the year and into the
next deer seasons – always hoping to see how they've grown and if they are still in the area.
As winter became spring that year I headed to the woods in search of antler sheds. I found a few chalky white sheds lying
in the brown grasses of years prior and some small sheds that rodents have been eating to fulfill their calcium needs. When I
reached the end of the tree claim, lo and behold, I came across a set of sheds almost perfectly placed on a deer trail. Before
touching them, I snapped some photos to prove my great find. Normally, a pair of sheds is not easy to find, especially so
close together. After gathering them, I eagerly took them home to compare them to the buck photos
captured earlier and was able to match them up to their regal owner.
For a hunter, it is nice to know that the big deer made it through the hunting seasons, and it is a bonus
to find both sets of sheds. As the season approaches again, I can only hope for another glimpse of the
deer that left me with the memory of its photo and sheds.
Julie Geiser
September 26, 2016
Through the Seasons
