hoosierhunter Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 The other post got me thinking on this topic as I'm sure this varies greatly by individual. What are your goals to accomplish from your cameras? Is it a hobby? To see what's out there? To pattern deer? or something else? I use my cameras in several ways. First it's to inventory deer from July to Sept. Right about now I switch the cameras off the food plots to trails to determine travel routes. I'll leave the cameras on for about 5-7days and then move them throughout the woods. This allows me to put together a plan for where the specific deer are moving and how long it takes to get from one camera to the next. Once about the 3rd week in Oct hits I create mock scrapes and monitor those until about the second week in Nov and then the cameras go back to travel routes. In Dec then the food source is covered again. The next part to this is analyzing the data. I go to weather.com and pull up the previous days data like barometirc pressure, humindity, wind direction, precipitation, etc. Once that recorded I can track over multiple days, weeks, months, years how the deer and specific deer move in certain conditions. It's amazing the details you will learn. For example I found that my mature deer were moving in a wind direction that I never would have expected them to. On the scrapes I found last year that the majority of daylight activity in my area happened from 930AM-1230PM from Nov 1st to Nov 8th. Every day I had a mature deer in a scrape. This all might seem like a bunch of time and work for most people, but it's resulted in two bucks that I targeted specifically with certain sets in certain situations and tagged them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 First and foremost to give me an idea of what is out there so I know where to set my goals. I cannot expect to kill a 5.5 year old 140 class deer if one does not exist where I hunt and my cameras allow me to have a realistic idea of just what is around. Secondly to get an idea of when they are moving and the direction they are moving, rare to see any set buck patterns here on our small property, however you can kind of get an idea of where(the direction) a deer is coming from and where he is going to when using multiple cameras to help better set yourself up to be in "the right place" at the best possible time. That said, unfortunately only have one operational camera right now, I absolutely have to get another going and on a scrape set where year after year we get good movement leading up to the rut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 all of the above. before now it's usually just having them out to relieve the itch of wanting to get out in the woods. once october rolls around i start taking what i see more serious. i don't really use them as much during the season. pressure and raging hormones usually make the pictures useless where i hunt. i will use them at a stand to decide if i'll sit there more than that first day. i really don't like to go into a spot and walk around a stand much at all though, especially during the season. i mainly use them to pick out a deer or two on the property that i want to hunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 Interesting stuff you're doing Pat. I may have to get more into those details too. With the peak of our rut happing in late December mock scraps or the real thing aren't much good until the 3rd week of November here. It's very rare for me here in MS to get daylight pics of bucks on scrapes. These deer aren't the same kind of deer I've hunted in the midwest. Mature bucks are a lot more nocturnal. In past years IMHO I was spending too much time with my cameras inventorying deer and less time learning about specific buck's movements. Why? It was one of those things I was asked to do and post pics of bucks that met our club's minimum criteria in our camp's computer (I donated) so all of our members would know we had a lot of quality bucks there. No details were given regarding where the pics were captured, just the information on the pics. In most cases I used night pics to try to avoid potential problems with hunters getting on top of other hunters because of pics. Now...do to some changes in our clubs rules this year, which were reguested by the same hunters that wanted to see TC pics, I won't be doing that anymore! Yep...the same guys that want to know what's out there and are too lazy, or whatever, to run their own cams are blaming trail cam users for their lack of success. Too much added pressure they say. OK...enough of my rant...but this is a case of "be careful what you ask for...you just might get it". This year I'm using my cams as a scouting tools but due to those rules changes I mentioned, I didn't get the 1st trail cam in the woods until the 3rd week of August. That one was an exception too...I couldn't put out the others until after 9/1. I have an inventory of 71 bucks from last year and I know who the survivors were so it's just a matter of getting on some of the mature buck survivors again and figuring out there movements and changes in their patterns as the season progresses. I'm on a few bucks right now so for the time being it's a matter of determining the preferred places those bucks are coming from and going to while they're on a late summer feeding pattern. 1 Reconyx cam is sticking with some I want to know a lot more about for now. My other cams are out either searching for other survivors or, in the case of one, set near one of my best friends stands to scout for him until he brings his own cams this weekend. As I find mature bucks I'd like to hunt I'll use the cam to help scout them too. With a late December rut I'm concentrating on food sources now and probably will to some extent through the 2nd week of November when scrapping begins here. I may back into some trails like you're doing before scraping begins. Once scraping begins I'll make almost all of my sets on scrapes unless I set up on a hub of trails. During the post rut period my cams will mostly be on the remaining food sources. In the past I've noted weater conditions with some of the mature bucks but I've never gone to the extent you have Pat. Thanks for the tip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosierhunter Posted September 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 Thanks AL! Some might think I'm a little nuts but I can say without a doubt that chasing whitetails is a true passion of mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebohio Posted September 14, 2011 Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 First and foremost to give me an idea of what is out there so I know where to set my goals. I cannot expect to kill a 5.5 year old 140 class deer if one does not exist where I hunt and my cameras allow me to have a realistic idea of just what is around. couldnt agree more. as far as weather and conditions in relationship with time of pics it really doesnt matter for me. im only going to get to hunt on the weekends regaurdless of conditions. with that said i love the dedication you have to do that. most people arround here think im crazy for spending the time and energy i do on deer hunting. it is nice to see others as addicted as i am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted September 14, 2011 Report Share Posted September 14, 2011 I know where the deer travel going to and from feeding/bedding..I hang my cams to find a buck I want to kill...then it's just a matter of putting in the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
layin on the smackdown Posted September 15, 2011 Report Share Posted September 15, 2011 I know a lot of guys like to run cameras year round or just the majority of the year...I dont. I don't start running cameras until late august and early september. I do as much scouting from July through august in as i can, and i do it from a distance with optics (binos, video camera, spotting scope etc.). I want to get as much information as i can without posing a threat. When i think i know where they are feeding most of the time, i set a trail camera up and only try and go in and out when its raining, or in the middle of the day. I will play this game until they change their food pattern which happens around here right around now through the opener. As a matter of fact, i moved a camera today in the pouring rain to a different part of the farm that will capture these transitions. I will leave these set until i start seeing natural scrapes...Once scrapes are being made, i am extremely careful on my approach in and out, but will hang a cam a tree that can monitor these scrapes. This, to me, is the best way to get inventory on what is on, near or traveling through your hunting ground. All in all, i use my cams mostly for an inventory tool, and if possible for patterning - the only problem with patterning deer where i live, is that they generally switch patterns right after they shed their velvet, and if they don't, they begin to turn nocturnal. Bottom line is, if used effectively, and carefully, trail cams can be an enormous and priceless asset to your arsenal... however, ive seen more people bump mature deer permenantnly or keep mature deer nocturnal on their ground by pressuring it while checking cameras. In my mind, even though its a camera, you have to treat it as if its one of your stands....always play it smart...the pictures will tell all. dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosierhunter Posted September 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2011 I know a lot of guys like to run cameras year round or just the majority of the year...I dont. I don't start running cameras until late august and early september. I do as much scouting from July through august in as i can, and i do it from a distance with optics (binos, video camera, spotting scope etc.). I want to get as much information as i can without posing a threat. When i think i know where they are feeding most of the time, i set a trail camera up and only try and go in and out when its raining, or in the middle of the day. I will play this game until they change their food pattern which happens around here right around now through the opener. As a matter of fact, i moved a camera today in the pouring rain to a different part of the farm that will capture these transitions. I will leave these set until i start seeing natural scrapes...Once scrapes are being made, i am extremely careful on my approach in and out, but will hang a cam a tree that can monitor these scrapes. This, to me, is the best way to get inventory on what is on, near or traveling through your hunting ground. All in all, i use my cams mostly for an inventory tool, and if possible for patterning - the only problem with patterning deer where i live, is that they generally switch patterns right after they shed their velvet, and if they don't, they begin to turn nocturnal. Bottom line is, if used effectively, and carefully, trail cams can be an enormous and priceless asset to your arsenal... however, ive seen more people bump mature deer permenantnly or keep mature deer nocturnal on their ground by pressuring it while checking cameras. In my mind, even though its a camera, you have to treat it as if its one of your stands....always play it smart...the pictures will tell all. dan I don't have to see it to know it, This guy kills big deer...... BTW I'm glad I'm not the only one in the the rain doing stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted September 15, 2011 Report Share Posted September 15, 2011 BTW I'm glad I'm not the only one in the the rain doing stuff. Me too! Helps to have a Polaris EV (electric power) with a windshield. Our place is ~2,700 ac. & the only open areas are food plots and the majority of them are small (less than 3/4 ac.). Our place is ~97% wooded with ~75% being timbered within the last 6 to 8 years. The timbered areas are pretty thick. It's about an 8 mile drive from our camp on the north end to where I'm keeping tabs on those bucks on the south end of our place (I posted in the photo & video room). ~3.5 mi. on rural blacktop & ~4.5 mi. through our interior roads. Glassing from a distance is extremely limited here but there are a few options if the wind is right on the few bigger food plots we have. In some cases it requires glassing through timber like I did last Thursday afternoon. We don't have the multiple options to glass from a distance like many hunters do in the midwest farm areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddyboman Posted September 15, 2011 Report Share Posted September 15, 2011 I mainly use mine for inventory purposes. Summer - salt/mineral sites. Fall - active scrapes and food plots. Winter - food plots and a pile of corn. I often have wanted to try and use trail cameras more for patterning deer but I am fearful I will bump deer by moving them around so much so I never have done it.... However this year I am going to try to do some patterning with trail cameras. Time will tell how it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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