Cam soak time and no buck pics

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mheichelbech
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Cam soak time and no buck pics

Unread postby mheichelbech » Fri Sep 20, 2019 4:27 am

If you had a cam setting on an area or funnel that you expect a buck to use, over a food source or any other spot you would expect a buck to appear what are your expectations for seeing a buck to say the area is worthwhile to hunt?

Do you just need one appearance? Weekly?

Obviously cameras don’t tell all the story or possibly even most of the story but I think sometimes they can be the best option when it has been super dry and the ground is hard as a rock and you can’t see tracks.


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Re: Cam soak time and no buck pics

Unread postby ODH » Fri Sep 20, 2019 4:39 am

In my experience one is enough. The only questions then are to relate that location back to bedding and food and the time of year (and the travel route). Then you have to figure whether the pic is before or after they relocate (assuming they relocate).

It's nice to see a pattern but you have to get that trail right and with no lingering scent. For example I've sat in stand and watched older bucks and does walk behind a cam while the younger ones pass in front. You know you are in the core area of an old buck when you get a pic the day you hang a cam and then no more yet his tracks and other sign remain fresh!
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Re: Cam soak time and no buck pics

Unread postby Trout » Fri Sep 20, 2019 4:43 am

I want to see bucks on camera when I set them to help.me figure out what buck is using an area or when, but I dont put any stock in not seeing a buck on camera when it happens. Trail cams are so limited in the area they cover, it's just too easy for a deer not to walk past it. Now if I scout it and dont see buck sign, in combination with nothing on camera, then I'm out of there.
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Re: Cam soak time and no buck pics

Unread postby Trout » Fri Sep 20, 2019 4:49 am

Trout wrote:I want to see bucks on camera when I set them to help.me figure out what buck is using an area or when, but I dont put any stock in not seeing a buck on camera when it happens. Trail cams are so limited in the area they cover, it's just too easy for a deer not to walk past it. Now if I scout it and dont see buck sign, in combination with nothing on camera, then I'm out of there.


One exception to that- cameras with timelapse mode set over an area they can see a large area. I will still want to confirm lack of activity with boots on the ground in the surrounding area but that mode is a pretty good indicator you dont have consistent daylight activity.
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Re: Cam soak time and no buck pics

Unread postby Grizzlyadam » Fri Sep 20, 2019 4:53 am

I want to see some consistency of pictures. Once every two weeks is ok, weekly is better. More importantly I want to see pics that are within an hour or so of sunrise or sunset so I know he's bedding at least reasonably close. If I get a random pic here and there at midnight I expect he is spending his daylight time well away from the area I'm monitoring.
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Re: Cam soak time and no buck pics

Unread postby mheichelbech » Fri Sep 20, 2019 5:37 am

Trout wrote:
Trout wrote:I want to see bucks on camera when I set them to help.me figure out what buck is using an area or when, but I dont put any stock in not seeing a buck on camera when it happens. Trail cams are so limited in the area they cover, it's just too easy for a deer not to walk past it. Now if I scout it and dont see buck sign, in combination with nothing on camera, then I'm out of there.


One exception to that- cameras with timelapse mode set over an area they can see a large area. I will still want to confirm lack of activity with boots on the ground in the surrounding area but that mode is a pretty good indicator you dont have consistent daylight activity.

I used to use a time lapse camera a lot...The Plotwatcher...that thing was awesome but you have to have it where it’s easy to get the sd card frequently. Great for looking over an entire field. Especially when you have deer that don’t travel along field edges. I have one farm where they won’t get near the field edge except as they enter and exit.
"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
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Re: Cam soak time and no buck pics

Unread postby RidgeGhost » Fri Sep 20, 2019 8:51 am

I think this depends on so many variables. Some places, one pic is all you need to know he is there and you know exactly where he is bedding. Others, it may be very wind, food, water or pressure dependent and you would need more info.
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Re: Cam soak time and no buck pics

Unread postby mheichelbech » Fri Sep 20, 2019 12:15 pm

RidgeGhost wrote:I think this depends on so many variables. Some places, one pic is all you need to know he is there and you know exactly where he is bedding. Others, it may be very wind, food, water or pressure dependent and you would need more info.

Timing of the season as well. The one part that really bothers me about using cams for intel is the inability to see (using only one cam) if deer don’t come through the field of view for the camera. I have changed cameras from motion detected to time lapse and saw a whole new world of deer movement that wasn’t being picked up on the motion detect function. Was amazing really. In one instance the time lapse showed probably 10 times as many deer moving through the area it was set up over.
Also, as noted, if not set up properly, higher in a tree or something, I believe mature bucks will avoid them if detected.
"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
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Re: Cam soak time and no buck pics

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Fri Sep 20, 2019 12:50 pm

If you know the area well, understand the nature of bucks, one pic can make all the difference. If not, then it really depends on when and where the pic was taken. Some areas of the country a buck uses the same core area all year. Other areas they can have different core areas for spring/summer, fall and winter.


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