Hey guys, I just pulled my only trailcam I have, it has been out since early June and I plan on putting it back soon. This is my first year using a cam and I am not too experienced on how deer movements change as summer moves on so I thought I might get your opinion. I have this cam set up Just past a little creek that overlooks a path leading from a logging road to a little hollow (not sure if its called a hollow, but there is a dip between two hills) It seems like a hotspot, but I am new to figuring out how the wind is affected in hilly areas such as my spot. I got a lot of activity on this cam, roughly 40-45 pics within a 65 day period, and I know that the deer are using trails just out of the cameras Field of view as there are trails coming from 7 different directions, the camera is only watching the main path. However, I noticed that during june/early July, the deer showed up almost every day. Then as we went into late july/August, the deer showed up only every third or fourth day. there was also a 9 day lapse when not a deer walked that trail. Which seemed odd to me. Is this regular behavior? I have a close to even doe/buck sighting ratio and the barometer never leaves 28 inches in any of the sightings. If you need more specific info let me know. Thanks!
During the summer......and basically anytime besides the rut......deer activity is drivin by 1 main facto- Food! alot of the movement will be between bedding area and food/water sources (especially with mature bucks). I caint tell you much bout hunting hollows because my land is extremely flat. what I do know from hunting farm ditches is that they will use the ditches between fields that connect 2 wooded areas to travel because it provides more cover. a deer will to an extent use the path of least resistance as long as they feel safe doing so. I don't know what kind of food sources you have but if there are certain types of fields in your area did the food become a little more scarce? of did a field get picked? or did some berries start to pop up in abundance somewhere else to draw your deer there? the water is good...they will ALWAYS go there, they have to to drink. as it draws closer to the rut and the velvet removing time....that is the best time (except for they day after season goes out) to get a good pattern on your bucks. they will hit trees and start markin their territories at a higher rate. look for "off trail" trails. meanin smaller trails that don't look quite as used but are in close vicinity or skirting heavier used trails...I have found in my experience that the bigger bucks tend to stay on their own little route. to get a idea of when a buck is using that trail....pin point a known feeding are and known bedding area and see what side of the tree he is rubbing.(make sure there is an abundance of trees rubbed in the same area.....bucks will make stray rubs here and there in places they don't frequent) being creatures of habit, it is VERY likely that if the rubbed portion of the tree is facing the feeding area...that he is using that route in the morning time heading back towards his bedding area. and vice versa. try moving your camera....literally....a trail over from what you are set up on now because any little change could make them slightly detour their movement pattern where it is just out of camera range on another trail. being you have 7 different trails coming into an area you could be missing them by literally feet....
During the summer......and basically anytime besides the rut......deer activity is drivin by 1 main facto- Food! alot of the movement will be between bedding area and food/water sources (especially with mature bucks). I caint tell you much bout hunting hollows because my land is extremely flat. what I do know from hunting farm ditches is that they will use the ditches between fields that connect 2 wooded areas to travel because it provides more cover. a deer will to an extent use the path of least resistance as long as they feel safe doing so. I don't know what kind of food sources you have but if there are certain types of fields in your area did the food become a little more scarce? of did a field get picked? or did some berries start to pop up in abundance somewhere else to draw your deer there? the water is good...they will ALWAYS go there, they have to to drink. as it draws closer to the rut and the velvet removing time....that is the best time (except for they day after season goes out) to get a good pattern on your bucks. they will hit trees and start markin their territories at a higher rate. look for "off trail" trails. meanin smaller trails that don't look quite as used but are in close vicinity or skirting heavier used trails...I have found in my experience that the bigger bucks tend to stay on their own little route. to get a idea of when a buck is using that trail....pin point a known feeding are and known bedding area and see what side of the tree he is rubbing.(make sure there is an abundance of trees rubbed in the same area.....bucks will make stray rubs here and there in places they don't frequent) being creatures of habit, it is VERY likely that if the rubbed portion of the tree is facing the feeding area...that he is using that route in the morning time heading back towards his bedding area. and vice versa. try moving your camera....literally....a trail over from what you are set up on now because any little change could make them slightly detour their movement pattern where it is just out of camera range on another trail. being you have 7 different trails coming into an area you could be missing them by literally feet....
I went back to the spot where I am planning to hunt yesterday and found that the creek was completely dried up, this year has been pretty hot and I think that could definitely explain why there were more deer around that area earlier this year. And as that water source dried up, they had to change their pattern and find a new water source, thus explaining why there are fewer deer sightings during the middle of July/August
Hi axtell, Bo is right on. During the summer focus on food or areas around thick areas that could be used for bedding such as old timber clear cut areas where things grew up and got thick and nasty. In your instance, 1 cam to get roughly 40 pictures in a 65 day period is really low to be honest but I also don't know your area as well. Typically when I check my cams during the summer i'm getting about 300-600 pictures a month per camera depending on the spot. Some cams I've gotten over 2,000 pictures but it can vary on settings of the camera etc. Sometimes just finding the right oak tree to put the camera on because it always drops acorns will get you a ton of pictures as well. Learning the land will really help you figure them out. Trail cameras are very addicting so you will definitely enjoy it. How big is this area that you have the cam at? If you wanted, you could post an arial picture and we could give you a better idea on camera setups for the area depending on how big the chunk of land is.
