Depends on location and purpose for me. I run some cams year round but most I put up when I'm doing fall plots or pre-season scouting. I do the velvet hunt so there are a few properties I run cams on all winter & summer long so I can get a feel for whether there's a buck I want to hunt or not. And It's fun watching them grow from nub to full rack. While many of them are pretty consistent, not all of them are. Lots of the older bucks are still really scattered, erratic, and solitaire. Not near as easy to pattern and hunt in velvet as a lot of folks proclaim. 3yr olds yes. 5yr olds no. Otherwise most of my cams go up after the bucks are hard horned & dispersed. I do it same time frame as fall food plots and pre-season scouting.