Game Cameras and the Strategies that they Reveal

I recently wrote about the "Top 5" most important aspects of using game cameras that have contributed to the success of myself and my clients. I hope they can help you too!



"5. Core Areas for Monsters:There are 2 patterns that you typically see with mature bucks including bucks that relate to a core area in and around your land, and bucks that prefer to define their core area on someone else’s land.*Core area (local) bucks will give you pictures frequent and close to shooting hours. There is no better time to kill a local buck than the present! I urge you not to wait until the “sweet-spot” of the rut to go in for the kill on these bucks because you may find that by that time they have temporarily relocated and exposed themselves to your neighbor’s hunting efforts. Bucks are not as nocturnal as commonly believed, but instead if they do not appear until several hours after dark, they often do not have a core area within a 1/2 mile or more of your parcel borders. However, when a local buck is on your parcel he is killable in early bow season and all the way into the early rut.Picture a local buck living within your parcel borders during the daytime hours. He is the king of the pre-rut, tearing up the woods, leaving lots of sign and chasing does as soon as the temperatures are cold during traditional pre-rut periods. Around here in SW WI that is anytime around the 20th of October and it also explains why on 1 parcel the pre-rut is in full swing…while on another the pre-rut is incredibly slow. The difference? The parcel with the extreme pre-rut activity has a local buck on it and the parcel that does not will be waiting for a non-local buck to travel there from another parcel. A local buck finds a receptive doe fairly quickly during the pre-rut within his core area, and after a few days he most likely finds another somewhat easily. But, by the time he is starting to look for a 3rd doe the pickings may become mighty slim and a week to 10 days have passed. With the mid-rut now in full swing he really starts to explore his home range while wandering sometimes great and far. It is also at this time that if you waited, you may have already missed opportunities at a local buck as he travels to neighboring properties with the taste of love still on his mind. Your neighbor now may have a chance at a “non-local” buck traveling from your parcel.



*Non-Core area bucks (non-local) are often very visible during the growing season, either on your own land through the lens of a game camera, or on your neighbor’s fields as they lazily dine all summer long. But whether you see them during the summer months or not, they eventually give way to infrequent pictures....."



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http://www.whitetailhabitatsolutions...etail-success/