Lack of bucks on trail cam - adjust hunting plans??
 

What would you do about this situation?

I have scouted and am very familiar with one property in my hunt club. There are two other properties which are further from my home, but I am not familiar with them at all in terms of where the deer movement is.

On the familiar property I saw more bucks last year than I have ever seen in a hunting season. It is 700 acres and I saw at least 6 different bucks. This year I am using a trail camera for the first time and I only have one small buck on camera. The camera has been out for about six weeks in two different locations and I have about 1000 pictures of raccoons, does, foxes, and coyotes, but only one small buck.

Reading this forum I have heard other guys say they didn't get any bucks on camera until late September last year.

So what I am debating is whether I should move properties based on lack of buck pictures. The other two properties are about 2 hours from my home, whereas the one I have been scouting is about an hour, which is a big difference for me. Also, there are only three more weekends before the archery season opener, so there is very limited opportunity to scout and use the camera to see what is on the properties.

What do you think?

If you saw bucks there last year, they must still be around. Most likely you just do not have the trail cam set up in the right spot. Do you have an established salt lick you can set the camera on?

I would just stick to your plans, take a doe early if that is all that you see, and when the rut comes the bucks will appear.

When in doubt I always go back to my proven spots. I think I would still go and throw a camera on the other property just to see what is happening in there. Get yourself some buck and doe interdigital and buck and doe preorbital scent and set up the camera there. You will get pictures. Your best luck will be at an active scrape.

I would stay on the familiar spot while trying to learn as much as I can about the new spot. You stated that you have gotten a lot of doe pics. Well if there are does there, the bucks will eventually be there too. Good luck.

Blessings......Pastorjim

I used deer cain black magic which seems to be very effective at attracting does, foxes, and coyotes.

Both spots the camera has been in are spots where I saw bucks last year.

I think yall are right, this property cannot be entirely absent of bucks. It must just be an anomalie, and hopefully I will see them as the rut gets started.

I have the camera now in a third spot that is a dirt road with a major deer crossing, and I will check it in a week or two.

This is the second week without any Bucks coming in to feed after months of a consistant pattern of showing up at my spot. Still lots of Does with fawns in tow coming to the sight though. I know the Bucks are still in the area so I'll plan to hunt them like before and in the pre rut and rut press them harder. For now I hope to take a Doe or 2 and fill the freezer back up. Like you it concerns me that they arn't around of late but I'm sure there is a natural reason why they have all moved to a different food source.

Velvet shedding, bucks will be on the move for sure.
Now is just about the time to move the cams to traditional scrapes and buck travel routes.

I'd sit tight, where there are does there will be bucks eventually.

I am with the others, I would sit tight. If you have the does, the bucks should show up. But I think I would move the cam to your other spot just to see what is around that spot.

I have been using the aid of trailcams for scouting for 20 + years now.
You need to scout/put other cams in new area's just in case. But dont abandon the area's you currently have confidence in. What I do if I dont have pics of shooters during shooting hours in a paticular area from the 2 weeks prior to the season to the start of it, I wont hunt that particular area during the early season. But I will still check my cam in that area every week or so just in case. ( because area's in the deer woods can get hot or go completely dead in a matter of a couple days) It doesnt matter if I have pics of 10 different shooters in July, August, early Sept etc. because unless I have rubs etc., I wont invest any of my precious hunting time in that spot unless I have proof that a shooter is frequenting the area during shooting hours.
I pretty much use this philosophy during the entire season ( with the exception of the rut) also never base a hunting area etc. based on what you experienced there last year or even last month for that matter!! All 6 of those bucks could be dead or living 5 miles away by now. ( That is called HOPING not HUNTING!!) But also dont give up on the area entirely because if those bucks started showing up in Oct. last year they might show up again this Oct. but there is also just of good of chance that they never show at all.
Trailcams dont lie and hunt 7 days a week, 24 hours a day and do not give off the scent of a meat eater. So if they cant see shooters neither will you (outside the rut) Pike

Is your trail camera close to the deers trail?
If its not put it about 15 to 20 foot from their trail.
Then pour some Deercane in front of the trail cam.
I have mine in between two deer trails that run parrale with each other, about 20 feet from each other.
It started out just does, then the bucks started showing up.
These are from April 2011,







This next one is a good one. :barmy:



Now these are from August 30th, to September 4th - 2011,