Okay so I was thinking today. When and if you meat hunt, how do you determine where to hunt. I understand that terrain and sign play the biggest role in this but I am talking about trail camera wise.
If you put out a trail camera, what makes you decide what spot to go to aside from sign and terrain? And what I mean is say you put out a trail camera, how often does a deer have to frequent that area for you to consider going to that spot for a sit? Does a deer have to trip the camera once a day? Once every two days? Two times a day everyday? (I say this lightly, it does not have to be the same deer, just a spot that the deer frequently visit.)
I only ask because I have one spot that a deer trips the camera every two days or so, and this camera is on one trail entering and exiting a bedding area. Its not the only trail exiting the bedding area I am sure, but I have not had enough time to mark all the trails.
I only ask because it seems like people are seeing at least a few deer every sit or every other sit. And me, I am seeing 1 deer every few sits. lol.
Question for Meat Hunting
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Re: Question for Meat Hunting
I think amount of deer you see per sit is highly variable. Where I live I can go a week between pictures and every few days is not uncommon, farm county on the other hand a slow day might be 3 deer. I don't think you can compare yourself to someone else's situation
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Re: Question for Meat Hunting
Please forgive me if I'm wrong but I seem to remember that you hunt a small area or two with a couple buddies and y-all have put the hammer down on a handful of deer this year.
That could be your reason for limited deer sightings.
We hunted CT, we shot the first 3 deer we saw on opening day. Might not see another one and usually didn't. IMO, hunting often and seeing a lot of deer don't go together - stands get burned out easily, deer smell where we've been, etc.
That could be your reason for limited deer sightings.
We hunted CT, we shot the first 3 deer we saw on opening day. Might not see another one and usually didn't. IMO, hunting often and seeing a lot of deer don't go together - stands get burned out easily, deer smell where we've been, etc.
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Re: Question for Meat Hunting
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Re: Question for Meat Hunting
Rich M wrote:Please forgive me if I'm wrong but I seem to remember that you hunt a small area or two with a couple buddies and y-all have put the hammer down on a handful of deer this year.
That could be your reason for limited deer sightings.
We hunted CT, we shot the first 3 deer we saw on opening day. Might not see another one and usually didn't. IMO, hunting often and seeing a lot of deer don't go together - stands get burned out easily, deer smell where we've been, etc.
Yeah that was my private land spot. But I am talking about public land. I have about 6 or 7 different spots on public land that I can rotate through. Next year should be more. I am just trying to put myself in high odd situations later on.
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Re: Question for Meat Hunting
Depends on the area really.
A good day for me might be a horrible day for you. I have different areas across the state and have different expectations for them.
I hunting a spot the opening day of Michigans gun season and I saw 10 doe. To me, that seemed slow. Upon talking to a seasoned hunter that hunts that very area every year on the opener, i learned that I had a fantastic day for the area.
Opening day here in PA up north I saw somewhere around 30. That's about normal for that spot on opening day.
Time of year plays a role. I had a camera in a spot this fall and averaged atleast afew deer a day...last January I didn't get such steady pictures.
In the winter over a pile of feed ive gotelten pics with 8-12 different deer...in ONE picture lol. Same spot in the fall might yield a few pics a day..
You have to know the area and base things off that.
Meat hunting I usually sit closer to the food source than the bedding.
You say you have a camera on a trail exiting bedding...you've obviously checked it a few times to know a deer comes by every 2 days. That's a recipe for failure IMO. If I have a camera anywhere besides on a people trail or a field edge I won't check it for a very long time. I know if I check it that I'm spooking and educating the deer.
Lots to take into account.
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A good day for me might be a horrible day for you. I have different areas across the state and have different expectations for them.
I hunting a spot the opening day of Michigans gun season and I saw 10 doe. To me, that seemed slow. Upon talking to a seasoned hunter that hunts that very area every year on the opener, i learned that I had a fantastic day for the area.
Opening day here in PA up north I saw somewhere around 30. That's about normal for that spot on opening day.
Time of year plays a role. I had a camera in a spot this fall and averaged atleast afew deer a day...last January I didn't get such steady pictures.
In the winter over a pile of feed ive gotelten pics with 8-12 different deer...in ONE picture lol. Same spot in the fall might yield a few pics a day..
You have to know the area and base things off that.
Meat hunting I usually sit closer to the food source than the bedding.
You say you have a camera on a trail exiting bedding...you've obviously checked it a few times to know a deer comes by every 2 days. That's a recipe for failure IMO. If I have a camera anywhere besides on a people trail or a field edge I won't check it for a very long time. I know if I check it that I'm spooking and educating the deer.
Lots to take into account.
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Re: Question for Meat Hunting
I would guess I'm more of a meat hunter than alot of guys on here. I hit a doe early and never recovered her. Since then I haven't even had another opportunity. I've been hunting buck since. My spots can be streaky. 5 deer one night. No deer for 3-4 sits.
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Re: Question for Meat Hunting
mauser06 wrote:Depends on the area really.
A good day for me might be a horrible day for you. I have different areas across the state and have different expectations for them.
I hunting a spot the opening day of Michigans gun season and I saw 10 doe. To me, that seemed slow. Upon talking to a seasoned hunter that hunts that very area every year on the opener, i learned that I had a fantastic day for the area.
Opening day here in PA up north I saw somewhere around 30. That's about normal for that spot on opening day.
Time of year plays a role. I had a camera in a spot this fall and averaged atleast afew deer a day...last January I didn't get such steady pictures.
In the winter over a pile of feed ive gotelten pics with 8-12 different deer...in ONE picture lol. Same spot in the fall might yield a few pics a day..
You have to know the area and base things off that.
Meat hunting I usually sit closer to the food source than the bedding.
You say you have a camera on a trail exiting bedding...you've obviously checked it a few times to know a deer comes by every 2 days. That's a recipe for failure IMO. If I have a camera anywhere besides on a people trail or a field edge I won't check it for a very long time. I know if I check it that I'm spooking and educating the deer.
Lots to take into account.
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I would be lucky to see 10 deer in a season never mind seeing 30. Everywhere I look in my area, theres usually 2 or 3 local deer in a large area. When I was getting 70 or 80 pics on my camera it was around february or march of last year. But it seemed like the same 3 or 4 deer lined up in the picture. I am thinking the group was a group of bachelor bucks that had shed there antlers. Because come August I would get 1 or 2 deer trotting by with velvet. IDK. It is just crazy.
I usually drop my cameras on field edges if my spot has them then I check to see where they are coming from. Then I follow the trails back as far as I can before I lose the sign and I leave them for 4 or 5 weeks to do what they gotta do. Then the closer to hunting season I get I usually let them sit longer maybe a month and a half or more depending on the spot.
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Re: Question for Meat Hunting
I dont use trail cameras(yet), but i pick the most well used trails goin into, or coming out of, the thickest stuff i can find.
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Re: Question for Meat Hunting
Can any of you post some pics of your set ups? I like to see what you guys see in the tree.
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Re: Question for Meat Hunting
If you're getting daylight pics every other day, that's pretty good odds IMO. Even every three days isn't bad to me. You have to keep in mind your camera isn't catching all the movement in the area.
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Re: Question for Meat Hunting
Lockdown wrote:If you're getting daylight pics every other day, that's pretty good odds IMO. Even every three days isn't bad to me. You have to keep in mind your camera isn't catching all the movement in the area.
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Yeah I would say that would probably be very close to what would be good for me. I need to find some spots this year that deer tend to travel a lot. I found a few spots that interested me this year but one of my spots was so hot I just did not have time to hit these spots. Next year should be good though
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