How much stock do you guys put into previous years info regarding game camera pics?
My scenario is I got a good buck on camera last year in daylight on the morning of December 14th checking a well used scrape close to bedding. This year I’m off work Dec 12-15, and it’s looking like the conditions will be almost identical on Dec 13, 14 & 15 to what they were last year when I got pics of him.
So my question is would you throw all your stock in the 14th and make it a one and done hunt? Would you hunt the 13&14? Would you hunt all 3 days if the conditions warrant it?
This is towards the end of the pre-rut phase for my area of the country.
Previous Year Intel
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- Lockdown
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Re: Previous Year Intel
That depends. Do you know for a fact that he’s still alive?
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Re: Previous Year Intel
Lockdown wrote:That depends. Do you know for a fact that he’s still alive?
I do not know if he’s still alive, but also didn’t get any pics of him last year until the 14th. So I’m thinking he’s not living on the property but uses it more during the rut. There are several other shooter bucks in that area using that scrape, so I’m not specifically going for that one buck but he is the biggest.
True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.
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Re: Previous Year Intel
Are you looking for that specific deer? If not I have seen where certain areas seem to heat up at specific times annually. Obviously the location matters but prior year intel either from camera or observation has helped me on more than one occasion get onto a good buck.
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Re: Previous Year Intel
Yes patterns repeat. I left a camera hanging in one spot for 3 years I got pics of the same bucks in and around the same time of year every year. Or another buck if the first was offed, but the days and cycles seemed to repeat year around. Def hunt it with confidence, parts of all 3 days if conditions warrant. Good luck
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Re: Previous Year Intel
I use previous season intel for multiple spots. I've got some that are dead until rut, only morning/evening etc. If i were in your shoes i'd hunt it when you feel the conditions are best, especially if you have multiple good bucks. You may have an opportunity at the one you want, or you may take a different one that gets you fired up.
I'll share my experience with a similar situation. I have a buck that i have a 4 season history with now. He shows up every year in the same area within a 4-5 day window, but he's only there for about 2 weeks then disappears again. He has no apparent pattern that i can find other than he shows up right around dark. Wind, weather, moon, nothing else jumps out. I have passed other nice bucks in that area because i was hoping he might show up, but i've never seen him while hunting. The closest i came to him was year 1, i hunted the same stand 2 nights in a row. I had a camera there so i pulled the chip and viewed the pics while on stand, he came through an hour after pitch black.
I'll share my experience with a similar situation. I have a buck that i have a 4 season history with now. He shows up every year in the same area within a 4-5 day window, but he's only there for about 2 weeks then disappears again. He has no apparent pattern that i can find other than he shows up right around dark. Wind, weather, moon, nothing else jumps out. I have passed other nice bucks in that area because i was hoping he might show up, but i've never seen him while hunting. The closest i came to him was year 1, i hunted the same stand 2 nights in a row. I had a camera there so i pulled the chip and viewed the pics while on stand, he came through an hour after pitch black.
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Re: Previous Year Intel
History seems to repeat itself and bucks will occupy the same bedding/breeding areas. Typically its because does will occupy the same bedding in those areas too. Now I have seen it shift a little bit based on wind, terrain changes, or a hot doe in another bedding area nearby- so he may bed a couple hundred yards away from previous- but generally its in the same area. Finding does is the key for me during pre rut or rut. I would take 1 day to scout it out first, find the sign, then hunt the other 2 days.
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Re: Previous Year Intel
KRoss480 wrote:Lockdown wrote:That depends. Do you know for a fact that he’s still alive?
I do not know if he’s still alive, but also didn’t get any pics of him last year until the 14th. So I’m thinking he’s not living on the property but uses it more during the rut. There are several other shooter bucks in that area using that scrape, so I’m not specifically going for that one buck but he is the biggest.
If there are multiple shooter bucks around I would probably give it more than one sit. But that’s only if they’re showing in daylight or very close to it.
The reason I asked the original question is because the biggest crime we can commit is hunting something that is not there. I’ve done it
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Re: Previous Year Intel
I have found history can repeat itself if the habitat, bedding, hunting pressure, food sources, and weather conditions are similar enough from year to year
Some do. Some don't. I just might...
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