During the season I would get 200-300 pics on each trail cam every week. Now Im getting 20 pics a week. My camera that got the most pics sometimes only has 3 after a week. Did I have a deer exodus or something? I have moved them around probably a dozen times. Pretty much every trail on my farm has had a camera for at least 4-5 days and all I see are coyotes.

Not surprising at all! They will move around the area from season to season based on the cover and food sources available.

yup....kinda like when you picnic in the spring, the summer is hotter so you might change location to where its cooler at, and in the winter where the sun shines the most. food and water have alot to do with it too...so if the creek bed is iced over, they probably found a spot where it isnt...if ya make a hole in the ice, is that baiting?

A trail cam can tell you a lot; it can also give you a lot of information you don't want to hear. Like not making an appearance at the big condo you just built.
It's a terrible dilemma if the hunter will actually have to be in shape to follow deer around.

Yea I have not gotten nearly as many pics in the past month but its always that way in Janurary for me

My guess would be that you are lacking a good quality food source on your property and/or a good bedding area.

This time of year deer are slaves to their stomachs more than any other time of the year. They will travel long distances to seek out the best food available and once they find it they will stay very close to it.

Think of a beautiful bean field in the summer. The field will fill up night after night with deer. Just because the deer are there then doesn't mean they will stay after the beans are harvested or after they dry out. Those large groups of deer will not be seen in that field at other times of the year. They will disperse and seek new food once the beans are no longer the best food source. The same is true, and even more pronounced, in the winter.


Also a lot of the cover that was available in the summer and fall has now succumb to winter and been knocked down. That means that areas that use to provide good cover may no longer be preferred bedding area's.

If you are lacking good food and good cover than you can expect the deer to leave. The good news is that they will be back again next year because you obviously provided them with a good home range this year if they were that heavily located on your ground.


Don't forget also that the number of deer alive right now is the lowest it will be all year. A good portion of the population was just wiped out by hunting season.



EDIT: I just realized that you are down in SC so the effect that winter has on the deer is probably alot less than it is for us up here in Michigan.

A lot of things man, hard to know thought without more info, How much land ya got and what is it like ?

Vegetation might be cut back, (unlikely though been a mild winter so far for Tennessee, I'd assume same for you guys.)


They're also smart animals and while they are animals of habit they do have a tendency to mix up routes and find areas that are better suited for them.

They other thing is coyotes, might want to do something about that man. Pup season is in a couple months be good to get em while they hot right now.