Im going to put trail cameras out on public land this weekend. and i have two general areas in mind to place them. what i want to gain from this is, determine where to hunt, and if there is sufficient deer traffic. since i dont know much about this land. my question is is the deer traffic going to be completely different by fall? should i put salt/mineral/corn by the cameras, or just put it on a trail? one location, is hopefully on a trail between bedding, and a corn field, is it too early to get a pattern on the deer for this area? the other location has a half mile of thick woods on private land, going to a corn field, then the public land side kindve funnels to the woods on the public land. will deer still be moving here without the corn being planted? it seems to be a great area im just not sure, if i should bait since there is no corn planted, and hope they go the same trail to the corn this fall or....?
If you are unsure of the traffic, look for paths. My property is pretty slim, but i've found that deer basically follow the same path. In a lot of ways they are like water or electricity, they follow the path of least resistance. If it were myself, I would just put the cameras out for a while. See what kind of traffic you are getting. Then once you find an area of sufficient traffic, then toss some food or whatnot on that trail. You have to be careful though, it's very easy to start putting too much human pressure on deer. A farm business next to my house started allowing their employees to hunt. I'm hoping they screw up again this year so they will not be allowed too. Anywho, they hunt that place non stop. Ive found that deer that used to travel through the top of my property, now travel at the bottom (hillside), away from the hunters. Though the neighbors are strictly not allowed to hunt on my property, the deer know they are there and move away. One area where i need to work on restraint is this area. I love being in the woods. I'd go sit in my stand every day if i could. I want to check my cameras every day. I don't, but it's hard not to. If you go to the moultrie site, they have tips for stuff such as scent removal from cameras and such. My plan is to be out there enough my scent is natural lol
I put my cameras on trails where I hang my stands. I always put Monster Raxx Trophy Minerals in front of my cameras to get them to stop so I get more and better pics. Putting corn can definetly draw deer in front of your camera, but if you are trying to pattern deer, you would have to constantly be putting out corn or they will change there travel routes when the corn is gone.
i think i will just put salt out for now, just something to keep the deer around the camera longer,( since im using cheapo cameras it may take awhile to get the picture) and that way i wont lure any deer to a paticular area, since i cant hunt over food, there is no reason to bait them all summer (atleast i dont see a reason?) so hopefully ill find their main trail and be able to pattern them decently for the fall. hopefully their pattern wont change too much between now and then.
You might want to check your local baiting regulations too. A lot of states are going with a NO baiting policy due to the CWD and any other illness. Illinois used to be able to bait 30 days prior and after seasons start and end date. Now we can not do it at all. So be careful what you do if you dont know.
As long as it is legal definetly place a bag of mineral down. It will really help you to determine how many deer around.
ok thanks guys, it is legal to use food as long as it is removed i think 30 days (cant remember exact amont of days, but im well ahead of that) before season. and we can use mineral or salt year round. im going out today to scout for some good trails, and out mineral down.
One thing to keep in mind with Mineral Stations. It does give you a good inventory of whats in your area; however remember summer patterns are different then fall. We had a spot that was getting pounded all summer and by October/November the action slowed considerably... We won't make that mistake again!
