tgreeno wrote:Babshaft wrote:Awesome man, thanks for the info. How close do think you can get to a bedding area when observing? How close for an observation stand and how close for setting/checking a camera? Particularly in large public swamps and marsh? I know it’s a tough question to answer but is there a general rule of thumb or place to start without having to do too much trial and error?
Thanks
For observation sits, far enough away to not be detected and see as much areas as possible. Might be 100 yards, might be 250 yards. Last year I had a couple remote fields, I just walked into, and sat on the opposite side of the field from the bedding exit trails. Right on the ground. I'm not going to get my cameras real close to bedding. I want to just get pics of target bucks after dark. Then you know the bucks there, and you can gauge by how late it is, how fast he's moving that distance. And I'm gonna try some summer mineral blocks for inventory.
In past years, I've been lucky to get more than a couple bucks on camera. I rarely have a target shooter on camera before the season. Typically I'm hunting strictly by sign & pre-season scouting. So I'm changing it up this season.
Yep, agree 100%. I typically have 10-15 bucks that I know are in different areas preseason. I then break down which ones I know most about and which spots I have my highest odds in. I also get a lot of this info post season. Right now, there are at 7+ bucks I know well that made the season. This really then shifts into high gear what areas I am going to pay attention to for post season scouting.