Do you (and this may play hand in hand with the other thread about better photos, this year) think we place an inordinate amount of weight on "where" we get our best trail cam photos?
What I mean is......where they are now (the bucks) might be totally different from where they will be when we can actually hunt them. So if your cam isn't sitting by a feeder........what's the chances he'll be in that area come season? Really? This would also apply if you have your cams set on trails.
Funny you ask this because I just talked with a friend about this not long ago. I'd like to see what's in my other areas but I've had fun watching a few bucks grow this summer behind the house and I want to see when they start losing the velvet so I haven't pulled them from behind the house.
I just enjoy the pictures and don't really use it for scouting. It's too public where I am at and guys will steal them, I know it. They've already stolen stands (not mine) but I know they have so why risk the camera.
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Jeff, last year i had over 1,000 pictures of two 8 points at my feeder in August and September. I ended up seeing either of these deer a total of 0 times after September. They would still occaisonly show up at the feeder, but it would be well after dark. This tells me that once the weather started getting colder they dispersed out to other areas.
Now this year, i got one of those 8 points coming back again, but i have a buddy who has his pictures about half a mile away too. Im pretty sure he will be gone once the season rolls around.
On the other hand, i had my cameras out all year and i still saw at least 2 bucks that i didnt have pictures of.
As a note - i never hunted over the feeder, so he could have showed up after i took the cams down.
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Poster of the GREATEST photo in HNI history, 12/09/09
"My god Siman...............you just made me sick"
I usually use cameras in the summer to tell me what deer are in the area, i don't usually hunt that exact spot where the camera is.
The only time that i will be hunting a deer where i have been seeing him all summer is at the begining of season when they are still holding to thier summer patterns.
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Michael Hunsucker
Heartland Bowhunter Pro-Staff
I say it's very possible by the time your hunting them, your hunting different deer. Last year, we pretty much had pics of every buck we seen. Then In January a nice 9-pointer showed up that I had never seen before.
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This tells me that once the weather started getting colder they dispersed out to other areas.
Close to what I'm getting at.....
When you say "Dispersed out to other areas"....what I assume you're referring to is.....his food source has changed. It's "cool" and all we have photos of them....but unless we have our cams over feeders......or on trails DURING the season.....are we getting a little "giddy" over nothing?
I think the cams are GREAT for inventory purposes...and I've loved using mine for that. But when it comes to hunting season....I NEVER saw a buck I've taken until much later in the season (because he came looking for does).
I pretty much agree with what your saying, and feeders are bad examples because they can draw in deer from all over that wouldnt normally be in that neck of the woods. I would also have to assume that if a few certain deer come from far away to a feeder that they would just go right back towards where they came from, so its not good for trying to pattern deer.....
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Poster of the GREATEST photo in HNI history, 12/09/09
"My god Siman...............you just made me sick"
The big reason I put cams out is to see If I can catch that one big SOB that might lurk the woods I'm hunting in. The 130 to 140's are nice to see but I'm still waiting to catch that 170"+ on camera. Thats the big reason why I have these camera's. I'm not really trying to pin point where there coming and going with the camera's. I tried that last year (early season) and that didn't work one bit. I only seen the same buck (150") on 2 different occasions at the same spot otherwise all of the other mature bucks never showed there face again in the same spot. Maybe they skirted the camera too but I'm just out to see if I can get that one big boy on film.
There is a good way to determine this. I have used this method for the last 2 seasons. I will put corn out in a remote area where I feel deer are traveling. I only put out enough corn to last maybe 1 feeding visit. I leave my cam there for 2 weeks. If I go back and have pics of deer only while the corn lasted, and the rest of the days have no pics, I can very well assume that they were only there for the corn, and this is not a good travel route. If I put out the corn and have deer pics even after it is gone, I have found a natural travel route. Pretty simple. Now, as for the crop/mast changes, that is a given that the deer will usually change routes as these food sources change. Not saying their overall pattern will change, but at some point when leaving the bedding area, a short distance away, it will change. I have noticed that deer normally enter and exit the bedding area on the same route year round. But when they get a short distance away, the trail changes to meet where the food is.
Just my 2c.
LT
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The only time that i will be hunting a deer where i have been seeing him all summer is at the begining of season when they are still holding to thier summer patterns.
I'm kind of using the same method. I've never put out cameras before, and this year I finally did. I got a pic of a nice 150"+ buck, and my thinking is that my best chance to get him will be early season while he's still using this area for his summer route.
I know once it starts to get cooler he will move on most likely, but I'm hoping that his patterns will hold through until the early season atleast.
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Another game cam question.....
