Midnight cam pics of target bucks

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Midnight cam pics of target bucks

Unread postby Lockdown » Sun Aug 29, 2021 3:55 pm

We’ve talked about this many times, but I don’t think we’ve dove in deep with it. When a good buck shows up in the middle of the night, I think it’s only natural to jump strait to the conclusion that he’s bedding a long ways away. Could easily mean 1/2 mile or more. Could easily be 1-2 miles. To me, 12:00 - 3:00 in the morning are classic times for “he could be anywhere”.

I will post some 2020 date/times from the drop tine later on. But before I sway the conversation one way or another, does anyone have any experiences with those middle of the night pics being from bucks that were bedded much closer than you thought?


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Re: Midnight cam pics of target bucks

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Sun Aug 29, 2021 4:20 pm

Depends on time of season for me. Early season, especially b4 the hunting season even starts has shown middle of the night pics to be no Bueno for me.

Starting late October when I get late night pics of a buck cutting a route back in the timber I like my odds. Have also had bucks bed directly in front of my cams this time of year. Appears they are hunting the same features I am.

Late season here is completely different. Don’t get that harsh cold that forces them to feed to survive. Pressure is at a all time high and there is a lot of nocturnal movement just exiting the best bedding.
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Re: Midnight cam pics of target bucks

Unread postby Stingray713 » Sun Aug 29, 2021 7:31 pm

I have a couple apple tree spots that provide a good inventory, but the apples aren’t secluded so no daytime pictures. The older bucks don’t show up until usually between 11p and 2a.

If I only see a buck during that time period, he’s probably coming from a ways off. Bucks that are living close hit the apples again before bed around 530a sometimes a little later.

This doesn’t happen every night or every week in some cases. But if the buck is relatively local, I’ll see him later in the morning at least a few times a month.
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Re: Midnight cam pics of target bucks

Unread postby Stingray713 » Sun Aug 29, 2021 7:46 pm

The apples are a great indicator because they love them and can’t help but to swing back by the orchard before heading to bed. And when legal shooting light is at 6:15 and they get photographed at 5:50, they aren’t going far.

Other spots I have my cameras, the movement is usually too random for me to really pin down. I had a buck a few years ago hit a clover plot of mine all summer in the midnight time frame. Then disappear until October 30th when he would show back up around midnight. He ended up getting jumped by guys running dogs about 200 yards from the plot.
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Re: Midnight cam pics of target bucks

Unread postby Huntress13 » Sun Aug 29, 2021 10:23 pm

I was just wondering about this. I have a camera on a scrape and I think the big guy is coming through at 3 and 4 am. He is just far enough away that he triggers the camera but the pic isn't good enough to identify the deer. Big body though. And not every night.

The does usually come across on the trail the scrape is on. And I have small bucks doing the same. But this guy is about 10 yards more, on a parallel trail. During hunting season, I did see a buck cross exactly there at closing time... but it was just a bit too dark, and just a bit too far for me to shoot.

So, where is he coming from and where is he going.... is he coming through the property on a different trail on other nights?

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Re: Midnight cam pics of target bucks

Unread postby brancher147 » Sun Aug 29, 2021 11:01 pm

The recent ones I can think of in the middle of night are really big old bucks. I never did know where they were consistently bedding after years of searching. Most other bucks I can get in daytime and figure out bedding pretty quick usually
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Re: Midnight cam pics of target bucks

Unread postby Brad » Mon Aug 30, 2021 2:31 am

Listen to a recent episode of the Southern Outdoorsman Podcast episode called Breaking Down a Bucks Core Area with GPS data, with guest Bill Thompson. He has a great deal of information using GPS data, but analyzed for benefit of hunting mature bucks. He does talk about some places that a mature buck was living very close to cameras and stands, but since they only had a few pics of him over the years they always thought he was a "traveler buck". It's a great episode, and I highly recommend everybody listen.
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Re: Midnight cam pics of target bucks

Unread postby Lockdown » Mon Aug 30, 2021 4:00 pm

I didn’t get time to look it up tonight :whistle: , but I know the first time I laid eyes on the drop tine I had him on cam the night before in the wee hours of the morning.

I had several other pics showing him coming through just after dark, so I knew he was in one or two bedding areas on those nights. But getting that 1:00 a.m. pic then having him bedded 225 yards away was surprising! Did he lay down several hours before daybreak? Maybe kill several hours in a couple hundred yard area? I don’t know.

I’m pretty sure there was two different times where he’d come through hours and hours before daybreak, then show up that evening just after dark. So I know he used the same bedding and didn’t end up on the neighbors even though there was a ton of time to head wherever he wanted.
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Re: Midnight cam pics of target bucks

Unread postby Lockdown » Mon Aug 30, 2021 4:06 pm

Boogieman1 wrote:Depends on time of season for me. Early season, especially b4 the hunting season even starts has shown middle of the night pics to be no Bueno for me.

Starting late October when I get late night pics of a buck cutting a route back in the timber I like my odds. Have also had bucks bed directly in front of my cams this time of year. Appears they are hunting the same features I am.

Late season here is completely different. Don’t get that harsh cold that forces them to feed to survive. Pressure is at a all time high and there is a lot of nocturnal movement just exiting the best bedding.


It’s funny you mention that. In 2012 I headed in to pull a cam 2 nights before gun season because I had bow only permission and I didn’t want those yahoo’s jacking my cam. I had two different night pics of a real nice buck that just showed up that week.

My “ace in the hole” rut grove wasn’t panning out so I decided to try for him. Got lucky and grunted him in to 8 yards that morning. He is still my biggest MN archery buck.

Nothing better than notching your tag the day before the guns come out.
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Re: Midnight cam pics of target bucks

Unread postby hcooper84 » Tue Aug 31, 2021 12:29 am

To say that mid night pictures are deer that are bedded farther away is a troubling statement. It definitely could be the case, but it could be just the opposite as well.

This summer I have two cameras placed on an isolated bean field. The bean field has a creek that runs through it and connects to wood lots. I have one camera on the wood lot and one camera along the creek. I am getting pictures of the same deer on both cameras but the times have been quite a bit different. The woodlot camera I was getting consistent morning and evening photos. The creek camera has a mixture of everything, with the majority being those weird mid night hours. These cameras are only 1-200 yds apart but would tell you two completely different stories about where the deer could bedding.
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Re: Midnight cam pics of target bucks

Unread postby tim » Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:06 pm

I don’t put as much stock into late photos as most. The more cams you have the more knowledge you will have and usually realize just because they were in front of one camera at midnight doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have been in front of another at 5:30 had you had more cameras out to capture that movement . Deer aren’t always covering tons of ground regardless what time they show up on those cams
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Re: Midnight cam pics of target bucks

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Tue Aug 31, 2021 10:24 pm

I run quite a few cameras and I will just say I have pictures of several mature bucks that show up at any time of the night or day. I don't think Bucks travel as far as people think they do when food is abundant and the rut is nowhere at hand. I also don't think every Buck just packs their bags and moves for yonder hills come October. I think some bucks do but I think there's some bucks that stay rght where they live all summer. There are a lot of factors that go into deer movement. I just don't think in the middle of summer when food is abundant that bucks go very far at all. IME, if I'm getting consistent pictures, day or night in the summer, I feel pretty confident I'm right on the edge OR IN his core area. As I've said several times I personally believe many bucks move in early fall because of the influx of last-minute people scouting and setting up tree stands. There antlers are hard by then and thus they can get into the thicker brush that they tend to avoid while their antlers are in velvet and growing so yes some bucks will be pressured into more secure tight density cover.
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Re: Midnight cam pics of target bucks

Unread postby Brian1986 » Wed Sep 01, 2021 3:54 am

I think its very dependent upon the circumstances- time of year, location of camera, terrain, density of cover near the photo site, etc. But in short unless there is some feature that overwhelmingly says the buck would have to be bedded a long ways away from the camera location (ex: camera placed at a known road crossing between wide open large cut bean fields), then no I don't think a midnight photo means the buck is necessarily bedded far away.

Here's one specific instance. This was a nice 12pointer I was going after for a few seasons.
Big 12 Midnight Scrape 2.jpg
This picture was taken 150yards away from what we learned was one of his two main bedding areas. Even though it was close to the bedding it was in wide open woods. I never got anything over a 2yr old on that camera during hunting hours. But occasional big stuff would show up at night. However on the camera I had 300 yards down the ridge on the edge of security cover I would get daylight pictures of the buck. Spoiler alert, I didn't get him! I was pretty confident he would be in this bedding area in the Nov 5-12 time frame if I got the right wind. When I looked at the extended forecast I was getting the wind I thought I needed on both Nov 7th & Nov 8th of that year. But Nov 7th was going to be in the low 70s. Nov 8th was going to be in the 50s. The problem was I had to vote on one of the two days and this spot was a couple hours from home. So I played the odds thinking the 8th would be the better day. I only check my cameras once or twice a season if they are in locations I hunt (using them more for data gathering than to hunt with). I climbed into my stand on the 8th and saw small stuff. On the way out I swapped cards on my camera and checked it at home that night. Sure enough there he was walking by the camera 15 yards from the tree I would set up in:
Big 12 Switching Bedding areas1.jpg
The picture says 9am but it was actually a little after 8am as I had set the camera a couple months before and it was still on daylight savings time. Sigh at least the Trumpster won haha.... Anyways, both cameras were within a relative short distance of the bedding area but only one location would get daylight pictures.
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Re: Midnight cam pics of target bucks

Unread postby ODH » Wed Sep 01, 2021 5:54 am

I have to agree with Dave and Brian on this one. I don’t think we can draw any immediate conclusions from time stamp and bedding location. I posed a similar question here a couple of years back. Turns out that buck had two main bedding areas (that I could find anyway). One was about 100 yards from the cam and the other was about 400 yards away and over a ridge. But I had initially assumed much further away based on time stamp. I find two pieces of info are telling though - one, where is the camera located? And two, how many times do I get a pic. The more times tells me he lives here, as opposed to a random drive by.
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Re: Midnight cam pics of target bucks

Unread postby Stingray713 » Wed Sep 01, 2021 5:58 am

The love drunk zombie look on that bucks face is great, can’t wait to see more of that.
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