Field trips 2.0

[BigTreeWalker]

I listened to the recording. I heard some thuds but couldn't really make out much more. The bare dirt spot was probably a scrape. Bucks mark their travel routes with them. It just seems kind of early in the season for them to be making them. 

As I mentioned before, deer and elk both stomp when they are disturbed about something. 

[wiiawiwb]

On 7/13/2020 at 11:49 PM, Explorer said:

Just got back from 6 days of exploring a small portion of the Six Rivers National Forest and the Siskiyou Wilderness in Northern California.

Spent 2 nights car camping in the SRNF and 3 nights backpacking into the wilderness.

The best part of the trip was the backpacking part, since I went deeper into the wilderness and I saw plenty of wildlife.

Below are some pictures of the wilderness area and the lake where I camped the first night.

Also showing a picture of my thermal imager setup. 

This was the first time that I backpacked with a large lithium battery (the Jackery 240 Wh portable power bank).  I had backpacked before with my full size tripod, since the image quality is better when stable.

I wanted to test the ability to run the thermal imager and video record all night (8 hours) for 3 nights (without having to monitor and replace the 4 AA lithium batteries every 7 to 8 hours).

 

First night, I heard noises coming from the brush, got out of the tent ~9:38 PM, started recording on the thermal, and saw the buck in the photo.

The unit recorded as the buck came out of the bush and walked in front of thermal imager.

The time stamp and date on this FLIR unit is not correct and cannot be fixed (apparently the battery that runs the clock is internal to the unit and cannot be replaced unless I ship the unit to manufacturer; this is a design flaw).

 

The 2nd FLIR photo was the 2nd night and occurred down 600 ft in the valley.

Again, I left the unit running all night for 8 hours and it captured this bear walking towards the creek.

While the photo is not clear (because the bear is far), the video shows its bear shape and motions more clearly.

 

BTW, the buck moved on to the other side of the lake and disturbed the only other backpacker there from 1 to 4 AM.

I saw the guy in the morning and he was so scared that he did not sleep and started a fire.

He never saw what was making all the noises and stumping the ground.

I told him it was the buck, since it did the same in my campground earlier that night.

Not sure what was the problem with this buck, but I also captured a doe in the imager that came later, so maybe the buck wanted to clear the area?

I was happy to have a thermal imager and see what was making the noises.

 

Beautiful area and great ideas about the thermal. Does your thermal begin to overheat when it has been recording for a period of time? I've noticed that when I have my Pulsar on "pause", and ready to record at a moment's notice, it tends to heat up.

 

I wonder if there is a way to connect a IR detector that would trigger the thermal to record.

[Explorer]

12 hours ago, wiiawiwb said:

 

Does your thermal begin to overheat when it has been recording for a period of time? I've noticed that when I have my Pulsar on "pause", and ready to record at a moment's notice, it tends to heat up.

 

My thermal imager does not overheat when recording all night long (~8 hours straight) or when in standby mode.

 

The problem I have with my thermal imager is that it consumes too much power and drains rechargeable batteries fast.

 

Quote

I wonder if there is a way to connect a IR detector that would trigger the thermal to record.

 

I don't know and have not pursued that inquiry.   I am not tech savvy, so don't know if we could adapt these imagers to do that.

My imager was designed as a portable field unit for patrolling (law enforcement) and not as a game camera type that will trigger recording with change in IR detected.

Thus, I understand why it does not have that capability.

 

I basically have 2 ways of operating the thermal imager in the field:

1)  Low power consumption mode:  Keep it powered-on but in standby mode inside my tent and ready to look at anything that makes noise outside (this will use all rechargeable battery power overnight even if not used much).

2) High power consumption mode:  Keep it powered-on and video recording all night long outside the tent in a tripod (this will require either 4 brand new lithium energizer AA batteries or the portable power bank).  Advantage of this mode is that it is already on tripod and recording and all I have to do it move the camera to the target area where the noises are coming from.

 

 

Edited July 16, 2020 by Explorer

[bipedalist]

On 7/14/2020 at 10:45 AM, BigTreeWalker said:

 

Looks like you had some great country to see there. 

I have a question about what you called stumping. I assume it's the animal stomping? I'm glad you mentioned that. I have seen both deer and elk do that when disturbed. Just another thing to be aware of when out in the wild, especially at night. 

 

I have seen the white-tailed bucks do that stomping in the Blue Ridge, they have a loud low toned blowing and even a higher pitched screeching blow they do and it takes some getting used to to understand what you are hearing.  I ran into one on the AT once and froze as I saw it first.  It didn't realize what I was and tried the stomping trick to get me to move.  I have since learned they will stomp you too if you get too close so I don't try the freezing tricks any more when at ground level eyeball to eyeball close to them.  The stomping is an alert signal like the blows and the flashing of the white-tail as they run. 

Edited July 18, 2020 by bipedalist

[bipedalist]

On 7/16/2020 at 2:59 PM, Explorer said:

 

My thermal imager does not overheat when recording all night long (~8 hours straight) or when in standby mode.

 

The problem I have with my thermal imager is that it consumes too much power and drains rechargeable batteries fast.

 

 

I don't know and have not pursued that inquiry.   I am not tech savvy, so don't know if we could adapt these imagers to do that.

My imager was designed as a portable field unit for patrolling (law enforcement) and not as a game camera type that will trigger recording with change in IR detected.

Thus, I understand why it does not have that capability.

 

I basically have 2 ways of operating the thermal imager in the field:

1)  Low power consumption mode:  Keep it powered-on but in standby mode inside my tent and ready to look at anything that makes noise outside (this will use all rechargeable battery power overnight even if not used much).

2) High power consumption mode:  Keep it powered-on and video recording all night long outside the tent in a tripod (this will require either 4 brand new lithium energizer AA batteries or the portable power bank).  Advantage of this mode is that it is already on tripod and recording and all I have to do it move the camera to the target area where the noises are coming from.

 

 

 

Before the publicly available low cost FLIR, people such as Michael Green of Squeaky fame used to use Aiptek video cams hooked/wired to small thermal devices set to record movement detection (which the old aipteks allowed), quite sure that is how he captured the Squeaky thermal video in the back of a mini-van set up with open hatch as he departed the campsite in a false camp-type scenario.  I have not investigated thermal movement options to trigger recording but sounds like something to pursue especially on a multinight hotspot.  Great pictures Explorer, and good luck in the pursuit.  It never ceases to amaze me the extent of beetle damage in the west it is quite disheartening and I am battling similar invasive pests in the east attacking our Eastern and Carolina Hemlocks. 

Edited July 18, 2020 by bipedalist

[Kiwakwe]

@wiiawiwb @Explorer Beautiful country! Cool set up with the thermal too.

[gigantor]

reposted for the slider.

 

[NCBFr]

On 8/14/2019 at 2:39 PM, Hikingcoyote said:

 

Posting again hoping someone may see this and like to join or plan some thing in the state! 

 

Love to join but am in NC.  I know the area pretty well as I have hiked RMNP as well as several areas in the Denver region.  Beautiful country.

[wiiawiwb]

I got back yesterday from a quick sasquatching adventure. Went in at 6am Friday, poked around by day looking for tracks, then did night ops and left Saturday morning. For the second time in three weeks, I came across a Timber rattler...up close and personal. For decades, I've hiked and backpacked in an area known to have them but never once saw them nor knew anyone that did. Why, suddenly, the recent encounters?

This incident was about 2 1/2 miles from the one three weeks ago. I went with a fellow sasquatching buddy and we decided to approach this general area from a different location. To get there, we had to ascend over 1,100' with full packs so I cut weight wherever I could.  I wrestled with my decision, but the snake gaiters got left in the car. It allowed me to save a whopping 22 ounces!

We set up camp then hiked to an area a mile away and poked around looking for fresh tracks. We saw one that was really deep but only about the length of a quart-sized Gatorade bottle. Our footprints barely sunk 1/4" whereas this was 2" deep. I couldn't pull away litter without unearthing soil.  Maybe it was nothing.

 

As we returned, the Timber Rattler was on the trail and nearly impossible to see until I was almost on it. I was closest with my buddy behind. It rattled and I stopped, then I kept my eyes fixed on its head, as it was clearly upset. I was near the business end. I "guessed" it was ~5' while my friend said longer. In either case it was big, camouflaged, and in no mood for visitors. It crawled into the brush and I tried to get a picture before it disappeared but wasn't too successful. I was only interested in knowing where its head was. Taking my eye off it to view settings was not going to happen.

Clearly, this rattler, and the other one a few weeks ago, just wanted to be left alone and chose to exit when it could. That doesn't change the fact that I couldn't initially see either and got way too close for comfort with both. If I was motoring along on the trail, as I would if I wanted to get back to camp, I might have stepped on it.

Three weeks ago, I said I would always wear the SP gaiters when in this area. This time, I rationalized that saving a small amount of weight was more important as lightning rarely strikes twice. Shame on me as I was in further this time and, if bitten, the hike back to the car would have taken close to three hours with no cell service anywhere around.

 

That said, all-in-all it was a fun time filled with adventure and a loon happily provided melodic entertainment all night. The view of the area around this secluded pond was gorgeous.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2020 by wiiawiwb

[Kiwakwe]

@wiiawiwb, Survived yet another close call!! Bet the gaiters are on next time and you never see another. That "print" looks as if a sas was running on its toes. Does seem to have potential. Love hearing the loons at night, nothing like it. I had 2 run-ins with rattlers in 4 days while in the AZ strip. I saw the first before stepping down off of a rock onto it, the second I didn't see but the warning sent me flying, don't think I've ever jumped so far.  Did a bit of research on gaiters after that. The latter encountered in the appropriately named Snake Gulch and pictured below, a Grand Canyon rattler I believe:

Screen Shot 2020-07-17 at 7.56.59 PM by LIght Pirate, on Flickr

 

[hiflier]

Doesn't look like it's missed a meal either, K. Glad you and "w" came out of things okay.

 

In fact, even though witnesses sometimes describe "skinny" BF's most of the pics and vids (blurry as they are) says that BF's don't miss meals either! Hard to believe a few berries can pack on that much weight, but we all know it isn't just berries and that if bears can do it year after year? Then BF's can too. Now all we have to do is secure a bit of proof, right? Or a LOT of proof depending on how fortunate one is.

Edited July 30, 2020 by hiflier

[wiiawiwb]

@Kiwakwe  Great picture of a rattler and a close call with the second one. Wowser!  I've had three rattler encounters and the thing I remember most of all three is how much energy was focused on watching its head and every micro-movement it made.  I tuned out everything else.

[PNWexplorer]

I'm going on a short 2-day tent camping trip in Idaho with my girlfriend next week in a pretty remote area.

 

Our main focus will be on taking the UTV on some trips to huckleberry patches and digging for garnets.  Lots of bears in the area and a few wolves.  Not going to be a "Bigfoot Expedition" per se.  I don't have a thermal camera, or even a video camera with night vision, yet, so not sure how effective we would be going out at night.  But at least we will be out in the wilderness and aware of our surroundings and looking for evidence.  Better than nothing, I suppose.

 

Area we'll be in:

 

 

[BC witness]

You and your lady have a great time out there. Many of my trips are not specifically Sasquatch searches, but hunting/prospecting/exploring outings, with my eyes open for BF evidence while out there. With a name like Emerald Creek, the area bodes well for your gem search. I have 2 watersheds near me that are full of garnets, named Garnet Creek and Ruby Creek.

[Kiwakwe]

Looks like prime habitat PNWe, good luck, enjoy!

 

Oh...post some pics of the place if inclined eh.

Edited July 31, 2020 by Kiwakwe