Move cameras for big bucks?

[muzzyman71]

Hey fellas I was thinkin to myself this morning while pullin trail cameras, and came up with a good questions for ya. I have to salt licks setup on a 66 acre property. All woods and thickets. I have 5 bucks on camera this year the biggest being a little 8 point. Would you leave your cameras on the salt licks or seek other places to put them?

 

[BSK]

How long have you run cameras at the licks? My data, from salt lick censuses across the region, suggest you will have around 57% of the bucks you can catch on camera after 7 days of monitoring the lick, 80% after 14 days, and 93% after 21 days. It can take 26 days to photo-capture every buck that is going to use the licks.

If you have run cameras at licks for 3 weeks or more, then I would move them to other locations.

 

[muzzyman71]

Ok then. BSK that is excellent in one way and terrible in another for me. That is one of the greatest stats I have heard and I am happy to retain that now, however I have been running cameras for a couple months now. So the down side of it is I am pretty sure, after reading that, that I have my inventory on camera. Oh well the rut will bring the big boys cruising through I hope. Thanks again BSK.

 

[BSK]

After several months, you have all the bucks that will use the licks. I would considering moving the cameras to a concentrated food source or even a habitat/terrain bottleneck. It will be interesting if you pick up any new bucks from those locations (bucks that wouldn't use the licks). However, expect to see "new" bucks showing up in the next few weeks anyways. The summer to fall shift usually starts the first week of September. The shift of bucks associated with the rut usually occurs about 2 weeks prior to breeding exploding. As an example, in my area, peak breeding is around Nov. 12-19 each year. Rut range-shifting bucks start to show up on camera the last few days of October.

And by the way, your best camera locations post-summer are going to be concentrated food sources (like food plots). Best camera locations as the rut approaches will be scrapes. I shift at least half my cameras from food sources to natural or mock scrapes in early October.

 

[double browtine]

How long have you run cameras at the licks? My data, from salt lick censuses across the region, suggest you will have around 57% of the bucks you can catch on camera after 7 days of monitoring the lick, 80% after 14 days, and 93% after 21 days. It can take 26 days to photo-capture every buck that is going to use the licks.

If you have run cameras at licks for 3 weeks or more, then I would move them to other locations.

That is great info. Thanks for sharing!

 

[muddyboots]

On our lease we can move cameras on bait piles and get totally different bucks as little as 200 yards. Also it seems this time of year the bigger bucks are always in the same areas year to year.

 

[cozy23]

Good question/answers.

 

[Rackseeker]

The summer to fall shift usually starts the first week of September. The shift of bucks associated with the rut usually occurs about 2 weeks prior to breeding exploding.

I hope some of the fellas that hunt the property where I hunt doesn't figure this out. LOL... They will get pics of a buck late summer and they will hang a stand and hunt there the entire season. On 66 acres deer may travel thru that you have never seen before. During the rut you may have a buck come thru the property that has never been there before.

 

[muzzyman71]

Great conversation so far. Well I think I will move one to a good funnel. about 3 yrs ago I had two bruisers running around, their offspring are on camera now. I just wonder if they will show up at a travel location. Food to bed is my next spot however, mid October I am putting one on a mock scrape.

 

[BSK]

On our lease we can move cameras on bait piles and get totally different bucks as little as 200 yards.

I like to see a high density of baited camera sites used the first year or two someone runs a camera census. From that initial data, they can later determine if they need to continue the high density or not. If they saw numerous situations where an individual buck was ONLY photographed at one camera/bait site, then a high density of sites is necessary to keep from missing bucks.

I've seen situations where a high density is necessary (due to small summer deer ranges) and situations where it is not.

Also it seems this time of year the bigger bucks are always in the same areas year to year.

I believe that's habitat related, as I've seen that pattern hold true UNTIL the landowner makes some major habitat modification. Then, where the big bucks are in summer suddenly changes.