UWOL 27 "The Rut"

[Bryce Comer]

Hello all,
Here is my entry for round 27. With the theme of "timing" I couldn't help but think I would try to incorporate this entry into what I am trying to achieve with my "Mountain Caribou" film. For 4 years I have tried to get footage of the mountain caribou in the rut, however, it seems like every time I headed up to the mountains, it was a case of getting the timing wrong & never being there when they were. I decided this year to try to set aside more time & with this round & the theme, it just seemed to fit perfectly. It was great fun doing this short film, & inspiring to really work at getting it finished since it would work not only for this challenge, but also I hoped to get some footage for the main film. I had some exciting times with lots of signs of bears around which was more than likely the reason for the absence of the caribou.
Thanks for watching, & I look forward to your feedback.
Regards,
Bryce

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[Tim Lewis]

Good work Bryce. It sure looks like a lovely place to go filming. I liked your use of the camera traps too.

The Victorian (SE Australia) Wildlife service just reported capturing a Tiger Quoll on one of its traps in The Grampians, first confirmed sighting for 140 years!

Your shots of the other wildlife and hide visitors was lovely and the scenery is spectacular.

[Steve Siegel]

Amazing what patience will bring you. Excellent work. Your editing on this piece was perfect, with the views of small animals and your in the hide shots put right where they should be. From films I have seen of Barren Ground Caribou in the rutting season, I gather there is a lot of running around. How do you plan to accommodate for movement among the trees of the forest? Please be careful. It's Bigfoot country.

[Woody Sanford]

Very nice! Made me sick for the north country, great footage.

[Bryce Comer]

Ok, so I have tried to embed the video here, but it doesn't seem to want to play.
Here is the link:

The Rut on Vimeo

Ok, so looks like the link is now showing up like I embedded it. Oh well, works!!

[Bryce Comer]

Woody,
Thanks for your comment, yes the country up here is really beautiful!!
Steve,
Thanks for the encouragement. Yes patience is a virtue that's for sure. I think I spent between 40 & 50 hours in the hide for that 6 minutes of footage! Unlike the barren ground caribou, the mountain caribou (a subspecies of the woodland caribou) don't migrate vast distances, rather they tend to move up & down in elevation within a certain range. Problem with this particular herd is that there is only (at last count; winter 2012) 27 individuals in this herd in a range of approximately 1000 square kilometers, so finding them can still be a bit tricky!! Since now is my best chance of getting footage, I have been feverishly working on some remote cameras. I tried one out today, & it looks like it will work nicely. The idea is to have at least 3 cameras set up where I hope to encounter the caribou, & from those 3 cameras be able to get different angles & of course be able to better contend with trees etc.
I haven't yet run in to any sasquatch, but you'll be sure to hear it here first if I do!! :)
Tim, thanks for your kind words,
Yes the camera traps are in invaluable part of me finding where the caribou hang out the most. Without them, I would have far less idea where to concentrate my efforts. Very interesting that a tiger quall was captured on a trail camera! I grew up in south west Victoria, & only immigrated to Canada about 5 years ago, but I do remember one night up on the pinch river north of Bairnsdale with my brother when along came a bilby. Now the interesting thing is, they are not supposed to inhabit that area but both myself & my brother are 100% sure it was a bilby. I contacted a biologist working with them in SA, but never heard back from him. I guess he just thought I was mistaking it for a bandicoot, problem was, this had ears like a damn hare! If only I had a camera to capture it with that night, might have made for some interesting news.
Thanks again for all the words of encouragement.
Bryce

[Woody Sanford]

Wow, 27 total in the herd. Sure hope your winters can stay mild for them to build back up a bit.

I'm kind of the opposite from you Bryce. I spent the majority of my life in Interior Alaska and am used to seeing thousands of caribou, then five years ago I moved south to North Carolina.

You won't need to worry about Bigfoots. They are easily run off by showing them your camera. :-)

[Paul Wood]

I really enjoyed this trip into the woodland!

As others have said above, very well paced, shot and edited - I love the shots in the hide.
A source of inspiration, Bryce. Well done!

[Geir Inge]

Thank you for being back in Uwol, Bryce.
I've missed your movies and you deliver well.
Your contribution is well edited and the sound is fine, too.
Well suited around the theme; timing.
To shoot in the wild often means three things: to wait, wait and wait.
In other words, patience.
Your film is exciting and entertaining at the same time and you have a nice mix of well-structured clips.
Must get me the kind of tracking camera you show up With ;) Is it Uovision?
The scenes in the camo tent was superb.
Only good words from me this time, I can not put my finger on anything I'd change.
This is the kind of Wildlife viedoes I'd like to make.
Thanks for sharing, it was a pleasure to watch.

[Bryce Comer]

Paul,
Coming from you, they are very encouraging words indeed! Thank you for watching my film. Like I said, I have learned lots from watching your films & your latest only makes me realise I still, have lots to learn!
Woody,
Wow, coming from a place like Alaska & moving south to North Carolina, I can only imagine how much you miss it. To be honest, i'm not sure that a mild winter really is a benefit for the caribou here. Most of the losses incurred by the herds are coming through predation & most of that happens in the summer months. Logging in and around the caribou's habitat has made these area's far more attractive to moose & elk & subsequently, their numbers have exploded. Naturally, the predators numbers increase in response & unfortunately the caribou are simply a by catch of these predators. One of the herds north of here between Revelstoke & Glacier national park had around 130 animals just thirty years ago. At that time, there were about 40 moose inhabiting the same area. There were also 7 known wolves in that area. With the intense logging in that area however, the moose numbers went up exponentially & the wolf numbers followed suit. In the last 15 years, the caribou herd has gone from 130 to just 7 animals!!! I started working on a film about the mountain caribou for a long form UWOL film 4 years ago. I never finished the film for the contest but decided it was too interesting to stop doing it. In that time the numbers of mountain caribou have dropped from around 1900 to around 1400!! Considering we are supposed to be doing what we can, it is pretty clear we are not doing enough. Ultimately, I think there will be more herds that are extirpated & only the strongest herds will have any chance of surviving.
Pretty sad stuff really, but ultimately, I guess jobs in forestry, & people having fun on snow mobiles etc are far more important than a species of animals that are a key indicator of the environment.
Regards,
Bryce

[Bryce Comer]

Geir,
They are very kind words indeed!! It's great to be back. I have missed being a part of the UWOL challenge & this has been very inspiring for me.
The trail cameras I have are the older Bushnell 1080p versions. While it is 1080p, the compression is pretty weak & i all the foliage tends to fall apart pretty quickly, especially if that foliage is rustling in the wind. I have started to put together some cameras that I can use remotely to be able to get better quality footage, but so far I am limited with battery life so won't be leaving them for any more than a couple of days at a time. Filming in the hide was fun. I got to use the infrared capabilities of the XA20 I recently purchased & I have to say, I very impressed with the quality of the footage.
Thanks for watching,
Bryce

[Trond Saetre]

Hi Bryce,
Good to have you back with uwol.

You made a quality film, and I enjoyed every second of it.
Pretty cool to see the mist in the woods, the little spider... and the list goes on.
Nice to have the footage from inside the hide, as others also have commented. It gave your film another dimention.

Well done! I look forward to your next films.

[Bryce Comer]

Thanks Trond,
I appreciate your watching my film and commenting on it. It was certainly a lot of fun making it. There were certainly some more interesting moments like when I ran into the mother bear with her 3 cubs. That certainly had my heart pumping as I was only about 40 meters from where they were, however, they were behind some huckleberry bushes & I didn't see them until I was that close! Actually I didn't see the mother & two of the cubs until they came running out from behind different bushes at the sound of my voice saying "hey bear. hey bear" Thankfully they went the other way, & that's when I decided it was time for me to do the same, in the opposite direction!
Glad you enjoyed it. I have certainly enjoyed all the films in this challenge.
Regards,
Bryce

[Gordon Hoffman]

Hi Bryce. Not much I can add that hasn't alrweady been said but again hey really well done. In country like that I can see where it is a challenge to get shots of caribou. A little jealous, the huckle berry crop was a bust down here.

Gordon

[Marj Atkins]

Bryce
Welcome back to UWOL Bryce and with such a stunning entry.

Your take on the theme is spot on and - not with a cherry on top but - with a huckleberry as the final finishing touch!

This is the most polished of all the entries. Your video has all the right ingredients for a perfect story: The story is well grounded at the beginning and built up gradually over time while keeping the audience continually engaged in the challenge you were facing. As the story unfolds you added suspense and setbacks and at the end of this waiting game came the solution – not entirely resolved but well on its way - making one eager to see the next episode. Really well done!

You have included some absolutely stunning landscape and detail shots. I felt some of the self shots in the hide were a bit too close up. I am also doubtful of your use of the infra-red in the hide when outside it was daylight in full colour. (Okay new toy :) ) (The first time you showed yourself in the hide it was in full colour and it felt like a better fit.) Also I think you could have dropped some of the description of what we had just witnessed – info about the bull – but not all of it because I like the sense of excitement and satisfaction you expressed in getting that shot.

One last note – the music at the beginning was a tad loud for your voice. A most enjoyable entry.