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I hope this is the right community.
I was walking through the woods and found this weird thing, it was in front of a hunting tower, and a wildlife cam was pointed at it.

There where traces of deer(?) around it.

It's basically a big metal crank that is mounted to a metal stick and something seems to drag it in circles. Does anybody know what this might be?

enter image description here

(click to enlarge image)

This picture was taken close to Vienna Austria in the Danube meadows/wetlands.

Mast
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gries
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1 Answers1

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The fact that's it's staked out near a hunting tower suggests it's bait to attract animals. A couple of factors suggest it's meant for wild boar (which are found in Austria), or at least to withstand them:

  • It's clearly tough, and so are boar. A heavy (recycled machinery?) bait holder will keep them still or slowly moving for a good shot.
  • Hunting towers are used for boar, not far away in Germany (they give a good view, and the shot is downwards meaning that a miss hits the ground). Bait is sometimes used with them.
  • Omnivorous, curious boar are more likely to be attracted to bait in a device like that than other species that are legally hunted (deer), and will spend time trying to get the bait out, or drag the whole thing away.

You mention deer-like tracks. Wild boar tracks are similar to large deer tracks, but the dew claws are particularly obvious and widely spaced as seen in this image (not embedded due to unclear licensing).

Chris H
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