using trail cameras to locate bedding

[Seeker529]

I've been struggling with using trail cameras to locate doe or buck bedding . The bedding area i have pinned down is prob 400 yards wide by 800 yards long.. I run the cameras on video mode and can see what direction they are headed at a hour before sunrise..i am assuming im close but not close enough, and with no clue where they go after that! So what does everyone do at this point? Do you just guess a area farther down the line and keep doing that until you locate the bedding area?

[P&YBuck1]

Great question, maybe Buckfever can chime in. He had a nice write up on how he does it, see: viewtopic.php?f=287&t=53136.

[Mathewshooter]

Are you trying to locate the particular beds? Im not quite sure what you're asking. If you have him going into the thicket during daylight then hunt right there. I mostly hunt the outside edges of bedding and run cameras all around the perimeter to find the best spots. Usually it will be where the buck sign is...particularly a primary scrape just outside a bedding area.

[brancher147]

If it was me I would find the bedding scouting boots on the ground. Then backup and put cameras to see how deer are using the bedding. I wouldn’t do all that this time of year though if I wanted to hunt it this year. I would just hunt it and keep moving in farther if needed.

[Seeker529]

Ive walked this area a few times and its so big and lots of changes in cover and thick i cant seem to locate a bed directly..so i was thinking of using cameras to help pin point this deers bedding core area down to a smaller range.. i would setup where ive been getting the pictures now but its a hour before sunrise and after he leaves the frame of the camera i have no clue where he goes after

[backstraps]

If it was me I would find the bedding scouting boots on the ground. Then backup and put cameras to see how deer are using the bedding. I wouldn’t do all that this time of year though if I wanted to hunt it this year. I would just hunt it and keep moving in farther if needed.

THIS ^^^^ exactly

Will also add, you will need to carefully plan out your placement of the cams if you are planning on checking them and hunting the area. If you have some cams to spare, placing cams and letting them soak there until green up has also been a great intel gathering tactic for me

It would be very difficult using trail cams to actually locate buck beds...if you were to get close enough to capture him in his bed, then retrieving that cam would certainly do damage to his secure area

[Mathewshooter]

OK...I got it now. Like others have said, wait until after season and go in the thicket and scout it out. I hunt in the Finger Lakes region so Im probably not that far from you and I've found that the bucks bed in multiple different spots in those big thickets. They will also bed in other thickets, so they're not always in the thicket you think they are. When you scout the thicket also look for any openings inside the thicket you can get in a tree and shoot. One of my best spots is an oak treeline that splits 2 pine thickets. It gives me enough of an opening to shoot the deer as they cross it plus the bucks hammer a primary scrape that is on the treeline.

[Seeker529]

okay ill def have to try that .. i know trying to locate the general core area is super tough with trail cameras

[Mathewshooter]

okay ill def have to try that .. i know trying to locate the general core area is super tough with trail cameras

I set my trail cameras on scrapes on the outside edge of the thickets. If theres not a scrape there, make one. You will get a good idea of the bucks using that thicket and when and where they come out of it. Put multiple cameras up around the thicket if you have to.

[Denisboyko22]

Well bucks usually will bed before daylight , example opening gun I was in a tree 4am heard deer go back to their beds about 5am and sunrise was around 6:30 from being in a tree that early and hearing where the deer went I immediately knew where they were without even putting boots on the ground because I heard what way they went and checked a map for 5 minutes and then got down and bumped deer exactly where I thought they would be , if it's an hour before daylight he's probably pretty close to that area if its public land, just look for terrain features and transitions, doe and smaller bucks will bed on the edge of good spots and the biggest buck will be in the middle where smaller deer will get spooked first unless the biggest buck is wat hing human access and then he will be alone and you could be walking last him everytime you check cameras and hunt, had my buck I shot this year watch me setup cameras and hunt and I didnt know until I doubled back to a spot and he didnt see me do that and he just watched me walk by then he got up and crossed human access and I shot him.

[matt1336]

Find big sign....rubs, tracks...follow the sign to bedding and hang your cams.

[DaveT1963]

Cameras can be a great way to backtrack a buck and find his core area. personally, I seldom find the big well worn primary beds - IME bucks bed in many spots throughout their core area in most environments. And pressure can move them to even more. I put more faith and effort into setting up on bedding areas (entry, exit and staging areas) and isolated food sources near bedding then I do on identifying and hunting a solitary bed. Also, keep in mind, that bedding areas change a lot of times throughout the season. Finding well worn beds in early spring does not assure you he was using it during early season or even during the rut. Bedding can move and a lot of well worn beds might be late winter locations where food sources are far less available.

[MarshRunner1]

Like the others said, I would find the bedding first on foot and then hang your cams strategically. This is where cell cams shine-you dont have to leave human scent or potentially bump the deer when checking cameras.