Historical Trail Cam Data

[MitchB]

How much stock do you put in this when it comes to patterning deer?

The biggest buck I’ve gotten on camera until recently has only shown up on my cameras in the middle of the night. I’ve found sign that I believe is his around one bedding area and got an in person sighting of him in a different spot around the middle of November. Both areas would be very difficult to hunt (go figure right?).

2 days around the end of this month he showed up at one of my cameras right at the beginning of legal light for the first time. Every other time has been in the middle of the night. He was sniffing around and went into cover so I think there was a doe in the area he was after.

I’m tagged out this year so there’s not much I can do anyway, but assuming he makes it through gun seasons and the winter, is this just a one off anecdote or if I have a tag in my pocket at the end of next November is it worth trying to set up near by?

[Quest1001]

I’d try move some cameras around if you can and get closer to where you think he’s spending more time. Sounds like you are catching him on the outside of his loop.

[MitchB]

I’d try move some cameras around if you can and get closer to where you think he’s spending more time. Sounds like you are catching him on the outside of his loop.

There’s a couple places I want to add a camera to see if I can do that, but I think a lot of his daylight time is being spent in a prairie with not much for trees around. So maybe some longer distance glassing could be the way to go.

[Jdw]

It gets my attention when I get a picture of a 4 yo or older buck within an hour of daylight.
I have seen multiple mature bucks move either the same day or under the same conditions at very specific times during the year for multiple years.
I have seen bucks that were extremely difficult to get in front of where past years of history were the key to figuring out where to be and when to be there.

I haven’t seen yearly patterns with all mature bucks but I’ve seen it enough to pay serious attention to it.

[Bio1]

I’ve found it to be pretty spot on within a day or two over the years. Last couple bucks I killed were shot due to those bucks showing up at that time the previous year. I had multiple years of these same bucks doing it though. If you get him again this year around the same time I would absolutely be ready for him next year.

[Lockdown]

Historical patterns hold true pretty regularly. I’d say it’s about a 50/50 chance they repeat their actions.

Especially if you’re trying to capitalize on a pattern during rut, all it takes is a doe or two to ruin your plans. Early and late season habits are much more consistent from what I have seen.

[Lockdown]

I think there are a lot of variables that come into play. Is it a buck that showed up for a week to ten days during rut? Or does he call this place home for most of the season?

If he showed up randomly for a short period of time during rut, ONE season, for all we know that was a hot doe forcing him to break his normal pattern. Maybe the neighbor 1.5 miles away was wondering where he went Maybe the following year he has a hot doe right at home at the neighbors…

[Brokenarrow1980]

I think the only thing that is dependable is the date they are seeking and dates when they are locked down. Careful attention to the activity spans will tell that if you run multiple cameras.

[Hawthorne]

I’ve got a date nov 13 , 2023 with big Lewis