Still time for Trail Cam recon on bucks in NW NC?

[WSalzNC]

Hey guys - I just got permission on a new place and bought my first-ever Trail Cam yesterday-- it will arrive on Feb 8 and the first day I'll be able to put it up would be Feb 13. Do you think there is still time to capture photos of bucks with antlers still on, or am I too late? I'm in the Northwest Piedmont area of North Carolina.

[mathews418]

i think you will still be able to get pics of bucks with antlers still for about the next 3 weeks before they really start dropping. i am sure some have already but who knows. what county are you in i am in wilkes. and i dont think it is ever a bad time to have a cam out you never know what you may get pics of and what kind of information you can learn from them. just do not be too anxious to go and check it all the time, they will get wise to your comings and goings no matter what time of year it is.

[WSalzNC]

i think you will still be able to get pics of bucks with antlers still for about the next 3 weeks before they really start dropping. i am sure some have already but who knows. what county are you in i am in wilkes. and i dont think it is ever a bad time to have a cam out you never know what you may get pics of and what kind of information you can learn from them. just do not be too anxious to go and check it all the time, they will get wise to your comings and goings no matter what time of year it is.

Thanks Mathews. I'm in Forsyth. There are 3 distinct areas to go out and scout on this property. I'm hoping to scout and hang a camera all in the same day, and probably won't check it for a month or so. Not sure if I will be able to get 2 more cameras this month-- I'm going to try to get a camera up in each section by end of the summer.

Will probaby turkey hunt this place so I will coincide camera hanging/checking with that since i'll already be in the woods. Agreed on not checking too often.

[mathews418]

no problem man, we arent that far apart im about 25 minutes or so from the the forsyth county line. trails cams led me to my target bucks bed just yesterday as a matter of fact i placed some cams out after the season closed and went and checked them yesterday. all the bucks i had pics of the night before and yesterday morning still had both sides. i didnt find this sight until after the season opened so i didnt really push the envelope on trying to find beds until after the season closed so i hit the woods and put the information that i have learned from everyone here to work a couple weeks after the season. i began too look at things differently, and noticed a lot more. i was starting to see why a deer took a certain route and why. by looking it led me to places where deer where and people was not. i actually found a few nice buck beds, when i started seeing the signs, things started clicking, the droppings, loads and loads of droppings, trees that had been rubbed year after year, and it all finally lead me to the beds. i hung my cams back out away from them on what i thought was entrance and exit trails and left them for about 3 weeks. long story short i went in and removed the cams yesterday so i could move them to new areas, but low and behold one of my target bucks from this past season was using one of the beds. i got trail cam pics of him all season this past year, but all of them were at night usually showing up a few hours after dark. i know why now, his bed is about 3/4 of a mile away. i will be going back in the area about the 2nd week of march to shed hunt and i will stay out of his way up until Sept 10, 2016.

good luck man!!!

[WSalzNC]

Cool! Great info man. Good luck to you too!

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[Southern Man]

I run cameras well into April. Bucks here will not lose their antlers at the same time but scattered out over a couple months. Some go a bit longer. Also, in late January through February I get pics of bucks that left the area back in November and return to my area where they will hang out until next rut time. I actually like to run cameras all year.

[WSalzNC]

My next question is about camera placement. To my knowledge, no one has ever hunted this property beast-style before so I am hoping that I can find undiscovered buck bedding areas. If I have 3 cameras to cover 3 connected but very different areas, would you recommend setting cameras on entry/exit trails between 100+ yards off of beds?

[sunset samurai]

What county are you In, I have 6 cams still out in the NC foothills I plan on pulling them the 13th. But u should be okay for a few weeks. Even if theyve dropped you can still see which areas get most activity n relate it to available food. No intel is bad intel.

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[WSalzNC]

It came in the mail today!!!!! A full week ahead of schedule. I swear it was like Christmas morning when I saw the box on the porch! looks like I'll be in the woods this weekend after all.

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[Tufrthnails]

Congrats now get that camera soaking!

[Wlfpckhuntr27]

I am in Ashe County and I set up a camera 2 weeks ago while grouse hunting. I will not pull the camera till mid-March. I have a friend in Rowan Co the will still get pics of bucks with headgear as late as March as well.

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