FOREWORD:
Some of the best books never written are dreamed up- and eventually
forsaken- by skilled hunters who have incredible insights about deer, bear,
elk and other wildlife, but never have the time nor the interest to sit down
and share their expertise with the rest of us. Then again, is is also rare
to find skilled writers whose hunting insights are worth publishing. And
rarer yet is to find two such communicators, willing to team up and share
their specific hunting knowledge with any and all who ask. Most such
endeavors usually fail because of egos, selfishness and other petty flaws
that can mar the personalities of talented people.
Therefore, the book you are about to read is unique. If someone where to
assign a book project on scouting cameras, and request the best tactics and
setups for using them, Walt Larsen of Minnesota and Dick Scorzafava of
Massachusetts would top the list of potential authors. Although they
developed their hunting and scouting camera expertise independently from
each other, they have helped one another communicate their insights and
tactics through DVDs, television, and magazines.
The book culminates those many years of teamwork, allowing Walt and Dick to brainstorm and mesh their considerable talents to create one impressive, comprehensive package. Perhaps just as importantly, they did it without
ruining a good friendship.
One of the first venues to tap into this team's expertise was Deer and Dee
Hunting magazine. I met both men while serving as the magazine's editor, and remembering marveling at the hundreds of real-world photos Walt Larsen produced in the mid-1990s through his work with early scouting cameras at Scales Advertising in St Paul. It took me a while to see the obvious, but one day in late 1999 I called Walt and said something like:
"We can't stop looking at your scouting camera advertisements. The photos you find are incredible. Could you do a column that uses those photos to give our readers insights into deer behavior?"
That conversation led to the column "Candid Whitetails," which first
appeared in the June 2000 issue of D&DH. Readership surveys soon confirmed our belief that we had a winner. If anyone is keeping score, Dick's byline appeared in a Deer and Deer Hunting publication about 9 months before "Candid Whitetails" began. That's when Deer and Deer Hunting published his feature article on decoying bucks in the 1999 Mathews Solo Cam Bowhunting Annual magazine. Before long, Dick's work began appearing regularly in D&DH itself.
After I moved on to other publishing work, Dick helped out enthusiasts
regularly with some of his most practical and insightful work yet. By then
lots of people were writing about scouting cameras, but Dick's efforts stood
apart. He not only understood when and where to put his cameras, but also
how to set then up to capture the best action every time the shutter
snapped. But as happens so often with space-crunched magazines, Dick could only introduce fellow hunters to the broader details of deploying scouting cameras to monitor whitetail's scrapes, rubs, and feeding areas. In fact, even a three- part series might have left readers feeling cheated and
thirsting for more.
Maybe that is another good reason to publish books. They provide the space
and uncluttered format to best explore the new worlds revealed by scouting
cameras, and to pass along tips and advice to help others uncover the
secrets of their wild places. As you read this book, you will be struck by
how much we missed before scouting cameras came along, especially the images taken at night. Suddenly we could see the 10-point buck that shredded tree trunks ten inches in diameter, and wonder if he would reveal himself in daylight. Or maybe we finally saw that 650-pound black bear that tossed logs like toothpicks and left paw prints that made us gulp. And gulp twice more.
In many ways, scouting cameras fill in those big blank spots once reserved
for our imagination. I'm sure some people would say that's not a good thing,
but photos shared in the pages that follow argue otherwise.
With any luck, Walt and Dick will continue to work together in the years
ahead, and this book will mark the beginning of a collaborative series
worthy of every hunters library
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