What info can I get from this years trail camera pics?

[DoubleDrop]

OK so my season has come to a close and since I discovered the site and all the great info I can't wait to put it to use this next season! With that being said I was curious as to what info I could potentially get out of this past years trail cameras that may give me a little extra info to help out for next year. I read on another post that you can go back on wunderground.com and get different weather details for each day so I was thinking of going back and making an excel spreadsheet with detail. What information would you say is important to keep record of? Temp, wind, pressure etc..

Also I am particularly interested in if there are any specific pics that you would say give you more information than others. An example of this is would you pay more attention to pics taken early season/during rut/late season? Also time of day, would you log pics taken at any time? (example does a picture taken at 1am give you any info or should I just focus on any close to dusk/dawn).

One last thing...This past season our trail cameras were all setup in areas right off an ATV trail. We have a ton of pics but as guessed most of them are at night. The cams were not setup real close to any particular stand sites so would I really get any good info from them?

Would the work be worth it for this type of situation or should I just wait and do it next season once cameras are setup more strategically?

[magicman54494]

That seem like a lot of busy work to me. Your probably going to discover that deer move before and after a front and that deer like cooler temps and low light days. You may be able to test against the moon chart though. I don't use cameras so maybe my input isn't of much value. I guess what I would study from the photos is what deer are using the property and maybe how far away they are bedding based on how late they are showing up or how often. I would use the times on the photos to get a better idea what direction they are coming from and zoom in on their bedding areas. Maybe another way of explaining it would be to map out the places ,times, and number of times that a specific animal showed up and use that info to determine where he beds and where to hunt him.

[Bucky]

DoubleDrop - how big is the property you hunt? How much pressure? I been using trail cameras for many years and the way I like to use them is to gather inventory early (summer) and late (this time of year). During season I will use them to spot check food sources (is a buck coming to a certain food source and what time is he getting there). Once you have a target animal on the food I will work cameras in different directions to try and pinpoint which way he is traveling from and try to work it all the way back towards bedding - usually you need a bigger chunk of land to do this effectively. Sometimes you can burn your bridge by messing around too much in areas that deer are sensitive to human scent (not used to smelling you there). But then you have the information for the following year to work off of without intruding into the bedding/travel route zone. This method works well, but you have to have enough ground to work with to do it effectively.

[Wrinkleneck]

The best info you can get from your camera for next year, is after the season is over you can put your camera on the best food source around to get a good idea of what local bucks made it thru the season All the other photos of deer earlier in the year will not help you much, except for how they travel the land. Myself I just really want to know what bucks I will be able to target and hunt next season. Just my .02 from how I use my trail cameras.

[DoubleDrop]

Thanks for the info Magicman & Wrinkleneck!

Bucky, my property is about 200 acres. We only have 2-3 guys that hunt throughout the year (only on weekends) but there was a lot of ATV use (going to and from stands)during hunting which we plan to minimize next year.

[matt1336]

"but there was a lot of ATV use (going to and from stands)during hunting which we plan to minimize next year."

NO offense- but you might wanna think about not driving to and from stands (if that's what you're doing) all together if you wanna improve your hunting. Especially w/ older deer. Just an idea/suggestion.

[Bucky]

200 is plenty of acreage to work with for the above listed method... like I said though, you will likely burn your bridge a time or two with ground scent. I now try to go in and check only every 2-3 weeks in the summer when trying to pattern a buck... most of the time during a thunderstorm if possible. Sounds crazy but it helps keep ground scent minimal and provides me with the information I'm looking for... once you pinpoint the bedding area it is easier to set stands and approach stands without being winded + you have a pretty good idea of where the deer are going if you know the preferred food.

If the deer do not bed on your property, I would try and create some thicker bedding cover more than I would worry about using trail cameras.

[DoubleDrop]

Matt1336 I agree totally with u and I am committed to not use them next year. The problem is that the others aren't as committed

Great advice from all!

Is there anybody that actually does keep track of this type of info for each pic taken? For now I will probably just use them for inventory and maybe next year use them more strategically

[matt1336]

I know how you feel drop. I've been in your shoes...hunting the same piece of property w/ others who aren't as motivated as you. My advice is to try to bring them to you're way of thinking gradually. Remember friends are more important than bucks, at least the good friends are. Also browse some older topics on the forum for anything deer hunting related. Have your friends do the same. There are some talented hunters here that I've learned a lot from.

[Wrinkleneck]

Is there anybody that actually does keep track of this type of info for each pic taken? For now I will probably just use them for inventory and maybe next year use them more strategically

I keep all my pictures of the bigger bucks (with the date and time stamped on them) in my area for ever. I look back at them to get a better handle on when the bigger deer will be using my property in the daylight. There seems to be a good pattern forming that I want to take advantage of this year. The bigger bucks don't bed on my property, but do seem to use my property alot more during daylight (around the seeking phase) just before the experts perdict my area to be peek rut. I hope this helps you out!!

[PLB]

Welcome Drop! I think you are doing good by NOT putting you're cameras near stand sites! I think by having you're cameras out now until the bucks shed will give you an idea as to what to expect next year. Then put them back out in late spring and summer near mineral stations or food plots to see what is hanging around near your 200 acres. Even on lightly hunted land, most if not all of your mature buck pics will be at night. But they are great for taking inventory!

[Wrinkleneck]

Welcome Drop! I think you are doing good by NOT putting you're cameras near stand sites! I think by having you're cameras out now until the bucks shed will give you an idea as to what to expect next year. Then put them back out in late spring and summer near mineral stations or food plots to see what is hanging around near your 200 acres. Even on lightly hunted land, most if not all of your mature buck pics will be at night. But they are great for taking inventory!

Spot on PLB This is where I also get most of my pictures for resident deer, but have found that moving my cameras near doe bedding around the seeking phase area will produce some great bucks moving thru during daylight hours that are not normally on my property the rest of the year. I am starting to notice once they get to my land they hang around for a few days by getting trail cam pictures of them. I believe because the does that bed on my land probably come into heat close to the same time every year. It sure is starting to look like a pattern to me