A successful deer hunt isn’t complete until the photographs are taken.
Those photos, called grip-and-grin by some and hero shots by others, can be taken in a variety of ways and at sundry locations. As outdoor editor at the Cumberland Times-News for four decades, I saw thousands of them. Many, if not most, were not very appealing.
The most common bad photo of a hunter with a deer was taken in the back of a pickup truck. The deer would be on its side and the hunter would be standing nearby or seated on the tailgate. Bad photos, though, were submitted from driveways, convenience store parking lots and back porches. I even got one taken at the entrance to a church. The prints I disliked the most showed the hunter sitting on the deer.
On occasion, I would receive a lovely photo. It would be taken in the woods or a field where the deer had been killed. The hunter would still be wearing the garb of the day and usually exhibiting the bow or rifle with which the animal was harvested. An extra bonus would be a nicely cropped photo, rather than one in which the subjects were small items in the center of a lot of nothingness.
I try to take nice photos of my personal hunts.
A few years back I tried a new tactic. I hunt mostly from ground blinds now and I usually strap a trail camera to a nearby tree. After shooting at a deer, especially one which will have to be tracked as often happens when hunting with archery equipment, I will disengage the camera from whichever oak or hickory tree it has been hugging and put it in my pack.
When I find the deer, I will attach the camera to a nearby tree, get with the animal and induce the motion-activated camera to begin snapping images. It’s fun.
I suggest using the camera’s fastest image delay. The Stealth Cam cameras I use allow for an image every five seconds. That will let you take a lot of photos rapidly. Try to position yourself and the deer properly in the frame. You will have to move something to activate the camera. Try a quick left or right turn of your head or perhaps twisting a buck’s head by its antlers.
All you really need is one good shot for the scrapbook. If you get 19 bummers and one winner, you’ve achieved your goal.
I’ve always preferred morning hunts so that I don’t have to track, gut, drag and check a deer in the dark. Morning hunts are also better for this different use of trail cameras, although the cameras also work well at night.
Have your photo card reader/viewer with you so you can check the first couple images to make sure you are lined up properly within the photo’s frame. If you have a cellular camera, you can check the image on your smart phone.
PRO TIP: There is a lot to do once you find your deer, take photos and field dress the animal before dragging it out. Don’t forget to remove your camera from the tree and replace it into your pack. I’ve heard that happens. Speaking for a friend, of course.