Night Time Trail Cam Pics

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backstraps
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Night Time Trail Cam Pics

Unread postby backstraps » Mon Aug 13, 2012 4:56 am

When you guys get some late night early morning pics on your trail cams...

You can tell from the picture sequence the direction the deer came from. You can research the moon phase, positioning, and the wind direction for the time and date the picture was taken....

[glow=red]How would you try and make an educated guess of which bedding area close by he would be using?[/glow]

I think for me it is hard to guess because who knows how much farther he is going to walk away from my camera site, and bed down before daylight.


Pic was at 0331 this morning (08-12-2012)
56 degrees
Baro Pressure 29.86
Wind was calm
Moon is waning Crescent 24% and was overhead at 9:26am at the cameras location.

Wind has been calm at the site all day, had a breif moment when the wind hit 3 mph blowing into the east at 11 am

Image


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Stanley
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Re: Night Time Trail Cam Pics

Unread postby Stanley » Mon Aug 13, 2012 6:03 am

Great question. If I have a picture of a good buck the camera was placed in a spot where I am very confident I know where he is feeding and where he is spending daylight hrs. This comes from scouting and being very familiar with the area he is hanging out (beds/bedding area). If you are getting a ton of night time pictures that is a clue he isn't spending daylight hrs there. I don't think you can arbitrarily set up a camera and expect great results too often. Topos can give you an idea where to look for bedding areas but actual sightings are hard to beat. I think a lot of guys place cameras out to find bucks. I set cameras out where I'm almost certain bucks are.
Lets say you know where a bedding area is located. If you set up a camera where you think you want to hunt, how can this possibly help you if you are in there checking cameras twice a week? I have mentioned quite often I always feel the first time a stand site is hunted, that is likely the best chance. If you want to develop some ideas on how productive the bedding area is, set up a camera and don't check it all season. Now you will be scouting the area with no human encroachment and developing a game plan for next year. Think of it like shooting pool, the ball you are trying to sink isn't going to win the game, the next 3 or balls is what wins the game. Sure you can sink the 9 ball on the break, but being able to run the table will win you more games. There are no shortcuts it takes time and dedication to become proficient at running game cameras effectively and putting that to use.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Edcyclopedia
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Re: Night Time Trail Cam Pics

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Mon Aug 13, 2012 7:21 am

Stanley wrote:Great question.

Think of it like shooting pool, the ball you are trying to sink isn't going to win the game, the next 3 or balls is what wins the game. Sure you can sink the 9 ball on the break, but being able to run the table will win you more games. There are no shortcuts it takes time and dedication to become proficient at running game cameras effectively and putting that to use.


Geat analogy Stanley - that speaks volumes to me!
Expect the Unexpected when you least Expect it...
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backstraps
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Re: Night Time Trail Cam Pics

Unread postby backstraps » Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:10 am

Stanley thanks. Your post makes perfect sense and to be honest I think the buck im after beds nearly 3/4 a mile from this mineral site.

I am actually in the process of building two cams with enough battery to operate for nearly 8 months. This is going to be part of my post season plans.

The buck I had a pic of, I seen him coming from where I think he beds last year....1.2 miles away.

Which would lead me to ask y'all another question....at night time non rut..how far do you think a buck would travel and use his same the bed next day

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