Every whitetail hunter knows deer movement changes depending on the time of year, especially throughout the fall season as deer are transitioning in and out of the rut phase. Hunters modify their tactics as movement changes to dial in on their target, and the same thought process should be applied when scouting.
Trails camera scouting has come a long way over the years with the development of cellular cameras, higher quality images and faster trigger speeds. But what good is all of that if the camera is not in an area deer are going to be? Just because a trail camera was providing frequent pictures last fall, doesn’t mean that camera should be in the same spot this summer.
In this video from Midwest Whitetail, Max Mongrello breaks down some summertime trail cam strategies you can share with customers to help increase their scouting success. He sets out on a new property with four trail cameras and discusses where he is going to place each one and why.
The first camera Mongrello places is on the edge of a field containing a food source. An obvious spot that can produce year-round and will provide consistent pictures during the summer months when bucks are grouped together. The biggest takeaway for field edge placement during this time of year, is choosing the shady side of the field during the evening as its often preferred by animals staying out of the summer heat.
The next area he talks about is a fence gap or fence crossing. The fence crossing in this video is located between a bean field and an alfalfa field making it a great summertime camera location as both crops will be ripe for munching during the late summer months.
The third setting mentioned in this video is a creek crossing. If available, these funnels are easy to find and offer high-traffic areas at all times of the year and can produce dependably during the summer heat as deer cross at the path of least resistance or stop to quench their thirst.
The last location Mongrello aims a camera toward is a mineral site, which may not be be an option for some depending on their location and local laws but is one of the best ways to get a high number of pictures. From spring to summer, mineral sites are hot spots for deer activity and will provide high-quality photos as deer are mostly stationary when licking the mineral.
Don’t wait until fall to put trail cams on the shelves and start promoting them. Have those cams out now and let shoppers know that a few places they can hang them for success right away, because when it comes to scouting for deer season, there’s never an offseason.
