Using trail cams to increase confidence in an area.

[dreaming bucks]

The one thing I don't like about using camera's before season starts is, it seems like the nice bucks are grouped up & not necessaryly living where they will be living (bedding) come October-November... it just seems like they move around enough between pre-season to in season to keep you guessing.

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I know what you mean. You can still get on them from 9/15 to early October or so though. After that they do seem to disperse a bit.

ya, it seems like on our land, once the velvet drops, they go their own ways, probably not far, but just enough to throw you a curveball. It probably don't help, that is when they start switching over to acorns & that might change up their bedding habbits also......

[mkuf79]

In the bigwoods of northern WI, I like to run as many cameras as I can to narrow down potential spots. During my spring scouting, I pick out good areas for a camera. I will hang my cameras at the end of June/early July. I won't hunt a spot unless I get a picture or have visual evidence a big one exists. It's hard to go by track size since there are a lot of 200 lb plus 110-120 inchers running around. I've also found that sometimes big bucks don't leave any sign. Without the camera, I would never had hunted that section of county forest. I've also noticed that as soon as bear hunting starts, especially with dogs, the bucks change dramatically. I may have to move over a section and relocate a buck. Cameras are very useful but you have to know how to use them.

[BassBoysLLP]

In the bigwoods of northern WI, I like to run as many cameras as I can to narrow down potential spots. During my spring scouting, I pick out good areas for a camera. I will hang my cameras at the end of June/early July. I won't hunt a spot unless I get a picture or have visual evidence a big one exists. It's hard to go by track size since there are a lot of 200 lb plus 110-120 inchers running around. I've also found that sometimes big bucks don't leave any sign. Without the camera, I would never had hunted that section of county forest. I've also noticed that as soon as bear hunting starts, especially with dogs, the bucks change dramatically. I may have to move over a section and relocate a buck. Cameras are very useful but you have to know how to use them.

Good point on the bear hunting.

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[yungbuck]

i just got a camera this winter and placed it in the woods to do some inventory after season closed- i was very very surprised by the deer I caught on the camera and now my standard for that property is upped after seeing a nice 10 point that should blow up this coming season! i placed mine away from my stands but wth a mineral lick and some corn just to get them aware it was on site. they so far have not seemed too alarmed in the videos its taking- i do not want close to my stands since that spreads my scent, but I have enjoyed reviewing the film and seein different animals and deer in the woods day and night

[hunter_mike]

Does anyone use trail cams to increase their confidence in hunting a particular area?

This is actually the MAIN reason why i put up cams

In the bigwoods of northern WI, I like to run as many cameras as I can to narrow down potential spots. During my spring scouting, I pick out good areas for a camera. I will hang my cameras at the end of June/early July. I won't hunt a spot unless I get a picture or have visual evidence a big one exists. It's hard to go by track size since there are a lot of 200 lb plus 110-120 inchers running around. I've also found that sometimes big bucks don't leave any sign. Without the camera, I would never had hunted that section of county forest. I've also noticed that as soon as bear hunting starts, especially with dogs, the bucks change dramatically. I may have to move over a section and relocate a buck. Cameras are very useful but you have to know how to use them.

Any tips on placing cams in the bigwoods/county forest areas? I think i'm going to place one or two an old logging road this summer. Seems like it would be a good spot to place one without startling a buck with my scent.

[mkuf79]

In the bigwoods, I like to place them in funnels between swamps or a runway on the edge of a slashing. Mock scrapes are my favorite place for a camera starting the first week in October. If it's in a good spot, bucks will start up the scrape again the following year. If I find a good rub line during my spring scouting, I will place a camera in that area in late summer to see if that buck is still around. Once the acorns start falling, place a camera near a hot tree or ridge. Make sure you put your camera up 8-10 in a tree and angle it down or bury it inside a spruce tree cause the bears will find your camera and tear it down. Even when its up high they still know its there and will try to get it down. I have a couple theft boxes for my cameras, but the bears still can break the camera. There's nothing worse than leaving a camera for a month and find out a bear tore it down hours after I hung it.

[KLEMZ]

It's hard to go by track size since there are a lot of 200 lb plus 110-120 inchers running. around.

I agree, The Wisconsin northwoods grows big bodied bucks with smallish racks. I disagree that big tracks will often lead to 110-120" bucks. I have hunted Bayfield county for a couple decades, and my take is, if you can find an area with 3.5 finger width tracks or better, the bucks leaving those tracks is usually 130" or better. 150" is about the usual top end buck in the Wisconsin northwoods ( Bayfield county anyways). This ain't Iowa. The winters are harsh and the food is tougher to come by. But the bodies of bucks are BIG!

I use to run trail cams up there that i would set out in July and leave till mid November. I started by leaving them in funnels. After I found the Beast (5 years ago), I eventually figured out to set the cams in areas that have alot of POTENTIAL buck beedding (based on topos and aerials). I started getting pix of mature bucks. I also noticed that when i set the cams where I saw BIG tracks near SUSPECTED buck bedding I would get the most pix of big bucks.

Placeing cams out in the bigwoods is alot of work for me since i live 7 hours away. Using cameras up there and paying close attention to tracks and droppings (the last 5 years) has shown me that I can be just as succesful observing only tracks and droppings and not running cams at all. For me, I am a better hunter (in bayfield county Wisconsin ) by not using cams and simply finding the fresh big tracks and droppings. But let me be clear, I NEEDED the cams to verify to me that the sign I was finding was gonna help my hunting. Now, I feel I can kill a bigwoods pig without the use of a trail cam.

[yungbuck]

i need all the help I can get so I will use cams this year...once this year is over I may use my cams on new properties or public

[JoeRE]

This is how I use trail cameras. It allows me to focus on areas that have the deer I want to hunt. Like Bass said, you can see giant tracks and think you're on a monster until he pops out with a 116 inch eight point rack. If you use them correctly, they will help you spend your time in the better areas.

That is what I use them for too. It really helps narrow weed out the places that don't show a buck I want to target.