Long soaking your cams..

[rempse2]

I generally put my cameras out Sept - January. Most times their in places I never hunted and may not even hunt this coming fall, but I like what I see on the maps and want to find out if it's worth committing time there in the future. This is big woods setting with no agriculture. Leaving them there for the season lets me learn how things play out over a season and gives me the info to then dive in deeper.

[NBK438]

I run both methods. We run a good amount of cells and I realized through that the power of just leaving a cam out all season and observing movement. I’ll let traditional cams soak in areas I’m not quite sure about when I want a peek into what is going on throughout the season. If you’re targeting a certain buck or class, I feel the in season checking of cameras is needed you just have to hang them for that kind of frequency especially if they’re a traditional camera. This will be my first year running cams on public as my standards are starting to get higher and those caliber of deer aren’t around every corner.

[Ahawk116]

Just noticed my previous reply didn’t post so I’ll try again.

I have 5 cameras and they do split duty. 2-3 I soak to know when does are coming in. 2-3 I put in areas that are low impact (field scrapes) to know who is in the area.

I may use them differently if I lived in a different part of the country but I’ve seen rut activity as early as sept 22nd and as late as January, and all in between. Figuring the early does to come in has been a key to my success.

Thanks for the input. Im noticing a trend on here to put these cameras to soak in doe bedding. I like that idea and one I think I will take advantage of for next season. Unless I can sneak in these spots now without blowing them out.???

Yeah that’s been a consistent success story for me. I think I’ve killed 6 bucks as a result of knowing when a doe in the group came into heat the year before.

If you get lucky and find the first doe in the area all the biggest bucks will be there. They just know.

One other thought I’ve had for soaking cams would be putting a camera in a suspected area that a buck pushes does to breed. I’ve got one such area in mind that I’m going to soak a camera this year.

[OldFarmBuck]

I long soak a few cameras on the year round food plots that I know the mature bucks in my area are using. This gives me intel on the deer I’m holding on the property and the ones who are passing through as well. The other cams I rotate on the peripheral travel corridors of the buck I’m trying to nail down. I never get in close to where I think the bucks are bedding at. I’m just hanging around the edges. I’ll usually set up 5-6 along where I think the buck might be using as an access to food or bedding. I’ll keep them out for 5-7 days and move them to the next access point. I’m doing this with 60-80 cams. So, sometimes it’s intel overload and sometimes it’s a whole lot of nothing. This is just what works for me.

[tim]

I’m with you muddy, right now I have 21 cams only have 19 out (lazy I guess) lol. I don’t soak cams for real long periods. Im putting cams on same farms or parcels I hunt so if a buck pops up I wanna kill I then go backwards and view all videos from previous 2-3 years to see if I know the buck and figure him out that way. Or if I already know the deer I still do the same thing , there’s no reason for me personally to soak cams for long periods of time because I actually hunt all the parcels I deploy cams. I quit hunting tons of properties and now focus on my favorites. So to me it makes more sense to go in reverse with cam pics or videos and every year it happens it seems a buck shows up I don’t recognize only to go through old footage and realize I do have them on cam but they didn’t stick in my memory cause they grew so much and I’m still using last years intel

See now, that there sounds like WORK!! Granted, after seeing what you have on cam I can see the motivation. Probably better let me come up and arrow one of your management bucks.

Lol it’s only work if it’s not fun

[1STRANGEWILDERNESS]

Looking back I always wished I long soaked more. Still lots of places I wonder about but have no data. It’s bigwoods here so I mean I can soak a cam in areas that are unmolested and likely will remain unmolested the following yr and maybe provide similar action as to what I see on my camera. Food sources are limited here and don’t change a ton yr to yr either. Long soaking in a few areas last season that I didn’t get to, provided me some good information. I now k ow a few travel corridors that mature bucks do use although the sign really isn’t there.

[Edcyclopedia]

I check mine daily, however I keep an Ozonics unit over the camera and 1 each under each arm & 3 on my crotch (it's a sizable area).
I also where Rubby slippers and drive my unicorn to the locations, Muddy, I think it really helps.
Not to mention that I sing Freebird while on the unicorn.

Dave 19somthing or other - I only run 69 cameras for obvious reasons...
All 69, are hard, to set up & sometimes get wet... from rain, you know, rain, go figure...

So in closing, I still use 35mm film cameras, cause I'm old fashioned and an Adonis - just sayin'...
How'd I do Uncle Lou...?

[Boogieman1]

I check mine daily, however I keep an Ozonics unit over the camera and 1 each under each arm & 3 on my crotch (it's a sizable area).
I also where Rubby slippers and drive my unicorn to the locations, Muddy, I think it really helps.
Not to mention that I sing Freebird while on the unicorn.

Dave 19somthing or other - I only run 69 cameras for obvious reasons...
All 69, are hard, to set up & sometimes get wet... from rain, you know, rain, go figure...

So in closing, I still use 35mm film cameras, cause I'm old fashioned and an Adonis - just sayin'...
How'd I do Uncle Lou...?

Aren’t you the same guy who chooses to use scentlok clothing to cook a brisket low an slow? Heard rumors u prefer to shower in a saddle due to maneuvering and hiding behind the bush. Same guy who carries micro shafts in his quiver on his honeymoon for deeper penetration

[Wannabelikedan]

Several reasons
1. Learn new property pattern
2. Inventory who made it through season
3. I'd new wandering bucks during rut in areas I may not hunt
4. Confirm rut funnels
5. Keep track of doe movements
6. Monitor community licking branches
7. Monitor pressure
Etc....

There's plenty of reasons. If I take out a Target bucket in an area that has few mature bucks I typically will set up one or two cameras on well established travel corridors and leave them for a year sometimes 2 years only checking them about every 6 months. I do this to determine if another mature buck moves into the area.

I would say I have 15 cameras that stay out all year. Another 40+ get moved or are ready to deploy if I find something that I want to monitor

This whole idea that you only need to monitor the buck you're after is just not something I ascribe to. I keep tabs on the entire herd is much as I can for any given wildlife Management area and I also use some cameras to track human pressure. I just look at cameras as a tool to collect information that I may or may not find useful in the short term..... But all of it is valuable in the long term.

You keeping tabs on me Dave?

[DaveT1963]

You keeping tabs on me Dave?

100%

[Brian1986]

I think what your strategy, hunting style, & end goal is all play a big part in how you choose to use trail cameras.
If I am doing a long soak- where I am checking a camera maybe once or twice in let's say a 6 month period of time, it's usually more an observation/learning or doing an experiment type of thing. And the reason I am only checking them once or twice is I am trying to learn what the deer movement is while removing human intrusion from the equation the best I can (though other people could obviously be unknowingly be present).

If I have a camera set up in a stand location that I know really well, I usually only check those cameras when I am going in to hunt. But those spots I have a handle on when they get good so in those cases I usually am just getting an idea of what's been happening and what bucks are in the area. If I see a trend has appeared on the camera, I will use that info on future hunts. Sometimes I'll find a situation where the camera was hot with action for a week and then its cooled off for several days and I missed out by not checking the camera sooner. I will file that info away along with the weather conditions, food, cover etc and try to take advantage of it the following year. But generally speaking in spots I know well, I'd much rather not get my scent in the area unless I am hunting.

In thinking about it more, there aren't many times anymore that I check a camera more than once a month. I think the reason for that is for the most part I am not using the camera to actively hunt the deer in real time. Instead I am using the cameras to run experiments on deer behavior, area usage, and notice trends. Then I am trying to use that info on future hunts. I will use the info to either take advantage of a trend I have picked up on or to better recognize a good set up in real time while I am hunting my way in on a spot that I don't have any trail camera intel.

Instances where I would check cameras more often- when I have lost track of an individual buck, or a spot went cold. I would then check any cameras I have at low impact areas that aren't necessarily where I am hunting them (ex: road crossings or a scrape that big bucks only check at night). If the camera I had to check was in a spot that was high impact, then I usually would rather just hunt the spot versus getting my scent in there only to check the camera. I just really, really don't like getting scent into a spot I am hunting any other time except when I am hunting it.

[Uncle Lou]

I check mine daily, however I keep an Ozonics unit over the camera and 1 each under each arm & 3 on my crotch (it's a sizable area).
I also where Rubby slippers and drive my unicorn to the locations, Muddy, I think it really helps.
Not to mention that I sing Freebird while on the unicorn.

Dave 19somthing or other - I only run 69 cameras for obvious reasons...
All 69, are hard, to set up & sometimes get wet... from rain, you know, rain, go figure...

So in closing, I still use 35mm film cameras, cause I'm old fashioned and an Adonis - just sayin'...
How'd I do Uncle Lou...?

True poetry Ed. Well Done

[KLEMZ]

I check mine daily, however I keep an Ozonics unit over the camera and 1 each under each arm & 3 on my crotch (it's a sizable area).
I also where Rubby slippers and drive my unicorn to the locations, Muddy, I think it really helps.
Not to mention that I sing Freebird while on the unicorn.

Dave 19somthing or other - I only run 69 cameras for obvious reasons...
All 69, are hard, to set up & sometimes get wet... from rain, you know, rain, go figure...

So in closing, I still use 35mm film cameras, cause I'm old fashioned and an Adonis - just sayin'...
How'd I do Uncle Lou...?

True poetry Ed. Well Done

Edcyclopedia, I've been chuckling at your posts for ten years now. Thank you! The highlighted section of this post made my day!