Stop using trail cameras for pictures of deer

Deer are not the most important intel hunters can get from cameras

By Jared Larsen / onX Hunt

All hunters revel in seeing pictures of mature bucks taken from trail cameras. Those pictures are often the first thing hunters check when they wake up and the last thing they look at before bed. But pictures of mature bucks are not the only intel to glean from trail cameras. Those pictures of antlers are far from the most important information trail cameras can provide.

For example, trail cameras can be used to see how consistently a doe group is heading to a food plot on a north wind or when sparring starts to pick up. These are the pieces of intelligence hunters are after. It’s not the deer themselves. Rather, cameras can glean valuable information about their behaviors, schedules and subtle cues for greater success in the whitetail woods.

Instead of doom scrolling through trail camera images until antlers appear, hunters should focus more on the patterns these pictures form. One might notice, for instance, that when two young bucks show up sparring in early October there’s a third buck in the distance watching. That’s the buck that is likely to come check out a hunter’s antler rattles. Those early days in October become prime targets for making some noise in the woods, just like that was captured on camera. READ FULL STORY