Placement of Trail Cams ?

[dreaming bucks]

What's your guys take on where to put trail cams ?

I have always put them right in the heart of the woods on major deer trails, or ridge lines of some sort..... But with some of the talk on this forum, it makes me wonder how many deer I am educating. So this year I am only going to keep them out by the field edges and see if it helps the amount of deer I see hunting this year... I have 3 camera's, and only 60 acres of land, so I'm going to try to keep them on the outskirts of our woods and see what walks by. This way, I figure I won't be putting my scent in the woods everytime I need to change batteries or cards....

How about you guys, do you dive right into the woods that you hunt, and hang camera's, or do you try to keep them towards the field edges ? I'm not sure what is right or wrong, but thought I would try this new approach this year and see if it makes a difference.....

[Wrinkleneck]

I just put a canera on my mineral lick. I use to put camera's on trails, but have not done that the couple of years.

[dreaming bucks]

I just put a canera on my mineral lick. I use to put camera's on trails, but have not done that the couple of years.

Well, unfortunately, I can't use mineral licks.........sure wish I could, but what do you do when they stop hitting the mineral, do you change up your location with the camera to somewhere else ?

[Bucky]

Best spots for summer cams in my opinion are on the edge of fields - beans if you got em, apple trees, or mineral sites. I just want an inventory... I already know where they are bedding

[Bucky]

Also, if you can locate them in an area that you can just drive to that is even better, IMO you don't want to be walking at all on the property you are hunting this fall from now until you hunt it. Deer are more tolerant of scent in farm fields, roads etc where they are used to smelling some human scent...

[Black Squirrel]

Also, if you can locate them in an area that you can just drive to that is even better, IMO you don't want to be walking at all on the property you are hunting this fall from now until you hunt it. Deer are more tolerant of scent in farm fields, roads etc where they are used to smelling some human scent...

I think this is a good qoute, if they are where deer "expect" to smell humans, you will do alot less damage. I try to use them to figure out which trails they are using to get to the food sources. So I like to place them on field edges, sure your pictures will be at night, but if they are early in the night you know they are bedding close by. Like headgear said, if you know where they are bedding, you can then figure out what food sources they are using, and how they are getting there. Then plan your hunt accordingly. I also put them over mineral licks in summer to take inventory.

[cornfedkiller]

Mineral licks in the summer, then food sources during the season.

I used to put them in places that I was hunting, on trails. Thought it was a good way to see if there was good deer in the area and if it would be a good place to hunt. After watching Dan's videos, I have completely changed the strategy..and I feel like what Dan says in the videos makes a ton of sense.

[Wrinkleneck]

I just put a canera on my mineral lick. I use to put camera's on trails, but have not done that the couple of years.

Well, unfortunately, I can't use mineral licks.........sure wish I could, but what do you do when they stop hitting the mineral, do you change up your location with the camera to somewhere else ?

Last year I put a small 40 gallon water tank on the edge of the woods and put the camera on it later in the fall. I was really surprized by how many deer used this water source. Towards the end of Oct. I had lots of deer even mature bucks use it during daylight. There isn't much for available water near me, so I think it is the big key why it gets alot of attention. I have the tank close enough to a water outlet(150 feet) I had dug in for my garden so I can refill it as needed. This is where I move my camera as the mineral lick slows down.

[dan]

Keep the cameras where the deer expect human scent... Field edges, deer trails crossing your human trail, food plots, etc. Keep them away from where you hunt. Keep yourself out of there till kill time too.