Well I'm likely the outcast here but I/we have access and run over 100 cams. It's also important to know I haven't filled my Ohio buck tag in 2 years...I realize that most guys only run 4-6 cameras on their property and what I'm about to describe probably is even realistic for most, but I enjoy partaking in this community none the less.
During the summer months, much like most of you, I run cameras for inventory and keeping tabs on shooters and non-shooters but it goes a little deeper than that. Monitoring their summer ranges, travel patterns to food/water/minerals sites, and then bedding. I like to know which bucks group up heavy in bachelor groups and which bucks like to be a bit more isolated. I believe those bucks who do not like to be in good bachelor groups will be even more reclusive come fall...IMO telling us to locate remote areas that he may utilize for bedding come fall. It also seems as though those less social deer are far less active in daylight hours come fall.
During those summer months, we also try to watch and locate doe family groups. Identifying which does have dropped fawns early in the summer and which were late. This gives us an idea of which fawns may come into estrus and approximately when....assuming they reach 70-80lbs. It also allows to us to have an idea of our fawn recruitment numbers and sex ratios.
Once we have several good deer located come late September we move all cameras to gather as much info one specific deer as possible. Typically dedicated atleast 5 cameras per shooter inside their home range. These cards are pulled sparely in the early season typically before/during a rain shower to help eliminate any disturbance of the area. We simply want to know he is still there, if he's traveling or bedding with any kind of pattern. If we have any data showing a pattern, we hunt that deer. Moving on to late October, we start checking these home range cameras as often as the deer will allow...sometimes that's weekly, sometimes that's when the season is over.
Again during the fall, we leave 2 cams out per doe bedding area. We start checking those late October to start monitoring for does showing sign of coming into estrus. Come the 3rd week of October we check these units weekly until the first or second week of Dec. This allows us to know which does are coming into estrus and when. This is pretty vital to us come the following year. For years I never paid any attention to does on my cameras, until a good friend told me otherwise and was able to land a giant mature buck from this strategy. When he had evidence of a hot doe, he hunted near the bedding and connected.....he was also using a cell cam.
Any cameras we have not dedicated to the above, we simply leave out in areas of interest....funnels/pinch points, staging areas, etc. We only pull these cards after the season is over (post season scouting included)
In our grand scheme, after the season is over (post season scouting included) we are collecting and compiling data on specific deer for the entire season to use the following year. There are several well deserved and successful hunters who believe in the 7 day rule. Don Higgins explains this very well.....Assuming similar weather/wind a buck will revisit a destination he visited the previous year within 7 days.
Again I'm not an expert nor do I claim to be. Just my $.02 in how and why we run cameras and share my sickness for chasing and learning about these beautiful creatures that seem to always outsmart me. Hopefully I this year I get to put my tag on something..haha
