In the years since cameras have come into play, I’ve deployed cameras as an additional aspect to my long established year round scouting program. As I operate in such a large area of land mass, cameras can only capture a small bit of information – a snap shot if you will, of what I have for deer in any given area. My old standby of summer spotting while bucks are grouped up during the antler growing timeframe, is a far more effective way to see what kind of crop of bucks I’ll have each season, along with to keep track of some I’ve been watching for months, or even years.

My camera program does add a level of interest and excitement for my hunters though, as they can sometimes get to glimpse what I‘ve been seeing, and follow the stories created by some of these bucks that I already know of, or new ones that I don’t.

These live pics also give you a very good reference for aging and antler judging before your upcoming hunt. Almost every person viewing automatically underjudges a particular buck – usually by 10”. This is mainly due to our northern deer being bigger in body size & weight, along with the extra ‘mass’ our antler has. So your judging ‘eye’ you’ll have is that relationship between body & antler.

Enjoy!