So this weekend I went up to my 2 hunting properties to do some work. cut shooting lanes, hang tree stands, etc..

We'll i went out and checked my trail cams and i noticed the severe lack of bucks on my cams. last year I had 15 different bucks on my cams at one property by the opener of bow in mid October. This year all I have seen so far is a 6pt and a spike.

Am I being overly concerned? Do you think it is just too early to be seeing the bucks? Has anyone else ever had this problem, how did it turn out?

thanks guys

Everything changes in the rut

I think alot of guys have been having the same problem. Me included.

How do you have your cameras mounted on the tree? I know this is going to sound crazy but I've started getting a lot more pictures after I did this:

Instead of placing the camera right off the ground almost level with the deer, I've started mounting my cameras about 7 foot in the tree angled downward. I don't know why this has been working for me but it definitely has...

try giving it a shot.

Last year i hardly got any buck pics at all until about the end of september. After that i got plenty of them.

The weather is a major factor when dealing with these early season scouting problems... For instance last week in Iowa, during the day it was god awful hot out... the deer dont use their normal patterns during adverse weather. Our deer elected to stay closer to the water source rather than go all the way back to the bedding areas.

we do that too if you have a camera with a flash on it it helps a lot it wont spook them as bad looks like lighting in the sky to them instead of a flash level with them heres a pic of a buck that grossed 175 that we took a couple years ago.

Thanks guys,
thats an interesting idea with mounting the cameras from an elevated position. I might have to give that a try. Hopefully the next time up i start seeing more bucks. Maybe a move of the cameras is in order as well.

I am right there with you, I have only had 3 this year...a spike, 4 pt. and a 6 pt.....at least I have does coming in consistently so eventually I will have some boys chasing.

I've only got one buck on camera so far - a four point.

This is my second year hunting the property and my first year using trail cameras. Last year I saw at least five bucks while hunting, the most I have ever seen in a single season by far, so I was imagining my trail cam having at least a dozen pictures of bucks. It hasn't happened yet, but archery season doesn't start until October 1.