TALLADEGA, AL — Local deer hunter Wesley Purvis, 39, sent 14 increasingly urgent text messages to his hunting club group chat Saturday morning, all containing trail camera photos of what appears to be a dark, slightly blurry section of woods containing no visible wildlife of any kind.

"Look at the top left corner. No, the OTHER top left corner," Purvis instructed in one message. "See that shadow? That's a shoulder. That's a BUCK shoulder. You can tell by the angle."

The photo in question, taken at 2:47 a.m. by a Stealth Cam positioned on a white oak ridge, shows approximately three trees, a portion of the forest floor, and what may be a moth. Despite this, Purvis has identified no fewer than six points of interest in the image, including "a rub line" (a slightly lighter patch of bark), "a scrape" (a leaf), and "possible bedding area" (more leaves, slightly flattened).

Hunting club president Doug Felton says this is typical behavior. "Wesley sends about 30 trail cam pics a week. I'd say three of them have deer in them. The rest are raccoons, his own truck, and whatever you'd call this. But God love him, he's enthusiastic."

Other club members have developed coping strategies. "I just respond with a thumbs-up emoji and move on," said member Ray Compton. "It's easier than spending 20 minutes trying to see the deer that isn't there."

Purvis remains undeterred. "Y'all just don't know what to look for," he said, already queuing up another photo — this one featuring what he swears is "at least a 10-point" but what appears to be a cedar stump.

His wife, Crystal, declined to comment but was seen muting the group chat notification.