Using Trail Cameras During the Summer by Grant Woods
Turkey season has closed and my thoughts have switched to creating better habitat and to the coming deer season. Patterning bucks is one reason I keep my trail cameras out during the summer.
Not only do I enjoy watching antlers develop, but the cameras help me learn about travel patterns that may be helpful during hunting season. Deer season opens in most areas just before or after bucks shed their velvet. During this time bucks typically travel between food and cover – using the same travel routes daily.
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If the food sources don’t change and the bucks don’t associate the area with danger they rarely change their pattern. Hence, placing trail cameras along travel routes between food sources that will remain plentiful and attractive to deer until deer season starts is a great way to know where to hunt when deer season opens.
I like to place trail cameras during the summer in travel corridors where there are multiple attractants for bucks. These often include trace minerals, scrapes that are active year round, and some type of bottle neck between food and cover.
In this video a group of bucks is using the top of a steep ridge that connects a bedding area with multiple food plots I added Trophy Rock’s Four65 trace minerals and the bucks established a scrape there last fall They are obviously still using that scrape.
I’ll keep a trail camera there throughout the summer to keep tabs on antler development and if the bucks are still using this travel corridor when deer season opens this fall!
Growing and hunting deer together,
Grant
