To keep tabs on your bucks you must keep your trail-camera locations moving throughout the season. Once hard antler occurs, their need for minerals will decline. When this happens, switch your camera set-ups from BioRock mineral sites to mock scrape locations and specific food sources.
Food source preference should begin to change from heavy legume utilization (both annuals and perennials) to cereal grains and certain brassicas, depending upon temperatures. You can also use supplemental food sites to get photos, but keep your cameras moving if you wish to get a true message of what’s happening in your area.
Using your trail cameras to back-track a mature buck is a proven tactic to get close for a shot. Just like you back-trail a fresh track to see where it came from, attempt to do this with your cameras. You have an image of the buck at a specific spot and time, but where did he come from or where was he heading? The closer you can get to a buck’s bedding area, the better your chances for a shot during legal shooting light.
This tip is courtesy of the GameKeepers Field Notes, a weekly wildlife and land management email newsletter produced by the Mossy Oak GameKeepers.
A GameKeeper by definition is someone who truly loves AND lives the land, the critters and nature…not just during hunting season but all the time. A GameKeeper wants to be outdoors every day and work the dirt while living their personal “obsession”.
Find out more about what makes a GameKeeper by visiting our website.
