Scouting camera placment...

[magicman54494]

Maybe try a mock scrape and scent dripper?

This idea sounds pretty good. I read the law on it and though it says that scents are considered bait you can use up to 2 oz. statewide. The nice part about this is I think scents would attract from a long distance and I can place it where I want it so I can choose my entry and placement to do the least amount of damage and still get a decent survey of the deer.

[RUTIN]

You got it brother.... hope it works for you, I know alot of people who prefer this over minerals just bc it becomes a established scrape during the pre rut and rut for good hunts to come!

[KLEMZ]

I used to frequent Chasingame trail camera website. There was a member there that made his living by doing deer surveys for people that owned hunting land. He seemed very knowledgable. His number one technique for inventorying bucks was placing blackflash (invisivble, not red glow flash),cameras over natural scrapes.
I don't remember him mentioning mock scrapes so I won't comment on that.
For big woods inventory taking I really like the idea of a creek crossing. This is an all season long funnel with the bonus of easily referencing their tracks in the mud.
Another idea for the big woods is to moniter spots that show good big buck sign with the intent of hunting there NEXT year if the pictures deem it worthy. Set a camera in a funnel NEAR known buck beds early(spring or early summer) and just leave it without checking it until late fall. You already know there are big tracks and beds. But how big is his rack? Are there more big bucks in the area?
It takes so long to figure out great spots in the big woods. this could help cover more ground and cherry pick the best spots as you find them.

[dan]

bump

[Stanley]

This is a great thread I missed some how, the first time around. I have used trail cameras now for 8 years. This will be my ninth year coming up. I started with one Leaf River camera. I then started making my own. As the years progressed I used all home made cameras and have slowly switched to commercial cameras. I used one home made camera last year and 7 commercial cameras.

This year I will run all commercial cameras. I feel the technology of the newer commercial cameras has bypassed the technology of cameras I can make. Plus they are much easier and faster to operate. Any way enough on that.

I use trail cameras for a couple of reasons and neither are for actually gaining an advantage for this years hunting. I set my cameras up where I know I will get pictures of bucks. I don't set my cameras up to get pictures of bucks and then set up on them. The # 1 reason I set cameras up is to inventory what bucks are on the property. The # 2 reason I use trail cameras is because it is fun.

I like the anticipation of what is on that card. That is my Christmas as an adult. The # 3 reason I use trail cameras is to do testing, surveys, stuff like that. I also like testing different brand cameras. I don't like running one brand of camera that gives no valuable opinions on how cameras compare.

I place my cameras on travel routes form bed to food, from bed to bed, on old logging roads, on parallel trails, mineral licks, corridors (my version), holes in fences. I have placed a camera in an area I plan to hunt but never check it until the season is over. I do gain some great knowledge this way for next year as it is like I'm setting there 24/7 with no human intrusion. I also like to set the cameras up on beds. My success with this is marginal but fruitful.

I have beds that are used multiple times but it may be a year in between, but they do use the same bed (this is what you can learn on the Beast). This is why I use cameras to learn what is going on in the area for future reference. I am a low impact style hunter and trail cameras are a great tool for me in that respect.

In conclusion; I am of the opinion if you are using cameras to gain an advantage for hunting this year. You may very well be shooting yourself in the foot. I'm not saying you can't set up on a buck you have located with your camera. I'm saying you may have lowered your odds if you know where that buck is with the use of your trail camera.

[dan]

Stan, I agree with most of what you said, because hunters tend to set the cameras where they intend to hunt but setting the camera in areas that don't spook bucks can give you intel "NOW" that don't spook the buck. In a lot of the areas I have hunted, a camera that monitors a place where humans walk often or is far away from the bucks daytime travel, can give you some details about a bucks travel pattern and whereabouts now... I know it can work, seen a lot of bucks killed that way.
And, finding out that a world class buck was on your property "last year" don't help you a lot "this" year.

[Stanley]

Stan, I agree with most of what you said, because hunters tend to set the cameras where they intend to hunt but setting the camera in areas that don't spook bucks can give you intel "NOW" that don't spook the buck. In a lot of the areas I have hunted, a camera that monitors a place where humans walk often or is far away from the bucks daytime travel, can give you some details about a bucks travel pattern and whereabouts now... I know it can work, seen a lot of bucks killed that way.
And, finding out that a world class buck was on your property "last year" don't help you a lot "this" year.

I agree using the cameras for tomorrow is a super good way to use them if you can. The new E cameras can make a huge difference in regard to collecting data that can be used for this years hunt. I should have mentioned that. I don't use them at this point and time. I will guess the future will be all about checking the cameras from afar.

This will change the way I think about low impact usage. We have come a long way since the day of stretching a thread across a trail to see if anything went through there. I think cameras will advance a long ways from what they can do today. A lot of guys are much better at using cameras that help them today not next year. My low impact don't check them often holds me back sometimes.

[Ghost Pointer]

Finally a chance for me to post some of my experiences...while I am a newly converted "beast". I have been using trail cameras for many years now. It is legal to feed in VA up until Sept. I agree with what Dan said about setting several cameras in areas that are easy to access and leave little footprint to see where a buck goes and where he doesn't. We have a field about 500 yds x 100 yds, the field is surrounded by a swampy marsh (created by beavers). We have 2 cameras one about 100 yds in at a crabapple tree and another at the end of the field, surrounded by woods on 3 sides. We have had several bucks that will show up on one camera and never at the other. No corn or minerals here, just natural entry points into the field. One would think, 2 cameras + same field = same deer, but not always.

Another tactic that I used this year on a field bordering big woods was provide some minerals early and corn late at an easy to access spot just outside of a field. The deer used the minerals as a staging area before heading into the fields for the night. The pictures were very frequent and of many different bucks. When Aug-Sept. came and we had to stop using the corn...the deer had left their "footprints" so to speak. There were 2 main trails that I backtracked to find numerous fresh rubs on one trail and none on the other. I moved the cameras to the trails and found the bucks using one and does the other. If you can get the deer coming in frequent enough to wear down easy to see trails, you can find where they are coming from, how they are using the land, and best place to increase odds of a good ambush. Don't know if it will help you guys, but it certainly gave me the info. I needed to be successful.

I, also, pay close attention to direction of travel and time of day the pictures are being taken. I often will keep pushing cameras back in the direction of travel until I can pinpoint a good ambush spot. Obviously, most of this is (bed to food) setups.

[Stanley]

Finally a chance for me to post some of my experiences...while I am a newly converted "beast". I have been using trail cameras for many years now. It is legal to feed in VA up until Sept. I agree with what Dan said about setting several cameras in areas that are easy to access and leave little footprint to see where a buck goes and where he doesn't. We have a field about 500 yds x 100 yds, the field is surrounded by a swampy marsh (created by beavers). We have 2 cameras one about 100 yds in at a crabapple tree and another at the end of the field, surrounded by woods on 3 sides. We have had several bucks that will show up on one camera and never at the other. No corn or minerals here, just natural entry points into the field. One would think, 2 cameras + same field = same deer, but not always.

Another tactic that I used this year on a field bordering big woods was provide some minerals early and corn late at an easy to access spot just outside of a field. The deer used the minerals as a staging area before heading into the fields for the night. The pictures were very frequent and of many different bucks. When Aug-Sept. came and we had to stop using the corn...the deer had left their "footprints" so to speak. There were 2 main trails that I backtracked to find numerous fresh rubs on one trail and none on the other. I moved the cameras to the trails and found the bucks using one and does the other. If you can get the deer coming in frequent enough to wear down easy to see trails, you can find where they are coming from, how they are using the land, and best place to increase odds of a good ambush. Don't know if it will help you guys, but it certainly gave me the info. I needed to be successful.

I, also, pay close attention to direction of travel and time of day the pictures are being taken. I often will keep pushing cameras back in the direction of travel until I can pinpoint a good ambush spot. Obviously, most of this is (bed to food) setups.

Good information, how do you keep the deer from changing patterns as you move closer to the bedding areas?

[Ghost Pointer]

Being that I started out at the feeding source, I have always been cautious of getting too close to bedding. I probably only move the cameras about 50 yds or so at a time. When I have a good feel for where they are coming from and bedding, I stop. I will hunt the trail heading to food. I plan a hunt on what information I have found, sometimes it pays off, but others it has left me seeing only does and smaller bucks, because I am too far from bedding. Hopefully, by scouting more now and over the next couple of months I can combine the 2 tactics to hunt.

I am thinking find the bedding areas now, with entry/exit routes, and how the winds are effecting the bedding of the bucks I get on camera. Then use the cameras at a distance to hone in on which beds and trails are being used most frequently.

I will say this about trail cams...they have increased my confidence and drive to hunt. Getting pictures of big bucks that I would never have known existed, keeps me in the woods a lot more. Even if I don't see them while hunting, I know they have been there and could still be hanging around.

[Ghost Pointer]

Also, to add to what you were looking for, I do not check my cameras too frequently. I would say when I am near the food source I check them about once every 2 weeks, as I move back I might go just before I plan to hunt or even check while I am on my way in to hunt. I have checked a camera, with the stand on my back, only to find no pics of what I was looking for and changed my plan for that day. I have not noticed a change in patterns with this approach.

[QDMAMAN]

Just a "tip" that i learned the hard way. I find it imparitive to face the camera NORTH whenever possible. This will eliminate the rising or setting sun from glaring out your pics.
The QDMA has a great book (Award Winning) on the Science of Scouting with cams. http://www.qdma.com/shop/deer-cameras-t ... ng-by-qdma

[dreaming bucks]

Do you guys think leaving a camera up in the woods where you hunt is ok, if you mount it up high (10 feet), & put it there in July, & don't check it until the first time you hunt the spot, say maybe opening weekend in WI? (Sept 13)

[ Post made via Android ]

[BassBoysLLP]

Do you guys think leaving a camera up in the woods where you hunt is ok, if you mount it up high (10 feet), & put it there in July, & don't check it until the first time you hunt the spot, say maybe opening weekend in WI? (Sept 13)

[ Post made via Android ]

Yes. If you place enough cameras out, you'll eventually lose one to a thief. Hanging them high helps.

Careful setting them high during the early spring. They are tempting bird nest locations. You should be safe in July.

[ Post made via Android ]

[dreaming bucks]

Do you guys think leaving a camera up in the woods where you hunt is ok, if you mount it up high (10 feet), & put it there in July, & don't check it until the first time you hunt the spot, say maybe opening weekend in WI? (Sept 13)

[ Post made via Android ]

Yes. If you place enough cameras out, you'll eventually lose one to a thief. Hanging them high helps.

Careful setting them high during the early spring. They are tempting bird nest locations. You should be safe in July.

[ Post made via Android ]

I'm not too concerned about thieves, this is on private. I was more wondering about mature bucks avoiding the area if a cam is there.

I was thinking over a waterhole that is in the middle of my land...... Put the cam up in July sometime, and leave it there until the first time I hunt that waterhole.