Trail Cam PICS during the RUT

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Voz
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Trail Cam PICS during the RUT

Unread postby Voz » Mon Dec 02, 2019 3:13 pm

I'm sure most of us run cameras on the properties we hunt and I am curious to see if any of you have really dug into the pics you're getting during the rut. For example, I have a bunch of cameras setup up between doe bedding areas in hopes of keeping tabs on rut cruising. Has anybody tried to put together a correlation on the following:

Let's say a buck shows up on camera overnight for the first time checking out doe bedding. Have you noticed any relationship between the first picture you get and how long before he shows in daylight (if he actually shows during daylight)?

On one property I hunt, multiple bucks showed up on cam overnight or early morning roughly two days in a row before the cameras caught them for the first time during shooting hours. Some bucks that were on camera overnight never showed during daylight but most did on this particular property. Obviously my sample size is very small but I've been noticing this more and more that past two seasons.

Anybody else notice something similar?


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Lockdown
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Re: Trail Cam PICS during the RUT

Unread postby Lockdown » Mon Dec 02, 2019 4:00 pm

In my rut grove there will be only does and a small buck or two all summer. Once in a while a nice buck comes through in the middle of the night but not with any consistency.

Early October the little bucks (new ones) start showing up at night. Mid October the shooters show too.

The young bucks start showing in daylight fairly frequently mid October then very consistently late October. Late October I should see a shooter in daylight at some point. Last couple days into the first week of November is fire.

It’s a worthy spot to hunt up until roughly December 1st.
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Re: Trail Cam PICS during the RUT

Unread postby MarshRunner1 » Mon Dec 02, 2019 5:16 pm

Lockdown wrote:In my rut grove there will be only does and a small buck or two all summer. Once in a while a nice buck comes through in the middle of the night but not with any consistency.

Early October the little bucks (new ones) start showing up at night. Mid October the shooters show too.

The young bucks start showing in daylight fairly frequently mid October then very consistently late October. Late October I should see a shooter in daylight at some point. Last couple days into the first week of November is fire.

It’s a worthy spot to hunt up until roughly December 1st.


This describes exactly my experience on a scrape I had a cellular cam on this year. The little guys where there almost every day - the shooters were there maybe once, and usually at night.
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brancher147
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Re: Trail Cam PICS during the RUT

Unread postby brancher147 » Mon Dec 02, 2019 11:22 pm

I can only remember once that my cameras captured a shooter buck that hung around doe bedding and came increasingly daylight active. I did get an arrow in him no thanks to my camera as I don’t check them that often. But most my pics are one or two and that’s it in the mountains as mature bucks don’t consistently hang around the same spot very often. Im sure a lot of times they are hanging around the area more, a camera just shows you very little.
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strutnrut716
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Re: Trail Cam PICS during the RUT

Unread postby strutnrut716 » Tue Dec 03, 2019 2:08 am

Lockdown wrote:In my rut grove there will be only does and a small buck or two all summer. Once in a while a nice buck comes through in the middle of the night but not with any consistency.

Early October the little bucks (new ones) start showing up at night. Mid October the shooters show too.

The young bucks start showing in daylight fairly frequently mid October then very consistently late October. Late October I should see a shooter in daylight at some point. Last couple days into the first week of November is fire.

It’s a worthy spot to hunt up until roughly December 1st.



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DaveT1963
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Re: Trail Cam PICS during the RUT

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Tue Dec 03, 2019 3:32 am

If you find a primary scrape near bedding and don't over check your cameras you should get multiple pics of mature bucks - I certainly do. I get pics of mature bucks on natural licking branches all year long (not as frequent as late oct-Dec but consistent). My guess is that you are 1) over checking your cameras/spooking the mature bucks, 2) setting up on secondary scrapes, or 3) you have really bad buck to doe ratios and thus they don't need to use scrapes much during the breeding season.

I will add this, just as their are primary bedding areas for big bucks, there are also limited breeding areas for whitetails. While they scrape all over their home range - IME most deer gravitate to very secure, and often over looked, breeding areas. Most hunters just simply do not find these areas because they tend to focus on where all the BUCK sign is not realizing that the actually breeding locations may not have any sign until it fires up. Bucks are NOT the only deer that gravitate to overlooked spots - mature does do also and breeding happens where they are.
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Re: Trail Cam PICS during the RUT

Unread postby vtbuck » Tue Dec 03, 2019 2:20 pm

Most of the pics I get on one of the properties I hunt during the rut and before and after are of the landowner looking for my cameras. It’s annoying and pointless to say anything. He doesn’t see a problem with it. I just avoid him and play dumb when I’m there. I never have any good bucks on camera
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Re: Trail Cam PICS during the RUT

Unread postby vtbuck » Tue Dec 03, 2019 2:25 pm

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Re: Trail Cam PICS during the RUT

Unread postby trob_205 » Tue Dec 03, 2019 3:38 pm

A certain buck that I’ve been after the first times I’ve seen him or for pictures of him have been in daylight. He’s not a full timer there but his time there is becoming predictable with this and previous seasons Intel. Let’s hope he makes it through this year.

This year I’ve seen no correlation. The bigger bucks are there all times of the day with no rhyme or pattern at least during the rut.
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Re: Trail Cam PICS during the RUT

Unread postby LukeTM » Wed Dec 04, 2019 6:59 am

Lockdown wrote:In my rut grove there will be only does and a small buck or two all summer. Once in a while a nice buck comes through in the middle of the night but not with any consistency.

Early October the little bucks (new ones) start showing up at night. Mid October the shooters show too.

The young bucks start showing in daylight fairly frequently mid October then very consistently late October. Late October I should see a shooter in daylight at some point. Last couple days into the first week of November is fire.

It’s a worthy spot to hunt up until roughly December 1st.



Then after December 1st you are anticipating the mature bucks are no longer in that area? Have they moved back to early fall patterns? Moved closer to food? If mature bucks have tight core areas, could you assume they aren’t too far away?
I ask because I spontaneously hung a camera up for about 3 weeks and caught a couple dandees day walking. At least one made it through opening weekend. Second weekend showed fresh BIG tracks and poop. This is on the edge of a massive bedding area. About 120 acres of dogwood and willow.
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