Camera Site Location: A Seasonal Breakdown for Whitetail Success

Whether you’re a die hard whitetail fanatic or a weekend warrior, camera setup and seasonal location will seriously impact your success in monitoring, inventorying and tracking your local herd. As most hunters know, seasonal movement and location change with the ever-evolving needs of your local whitetails.

As far as whitetail monitoring goes, I break the seasons down as follows:

1. January through mid-March

2. Summer patterns June through mid-September

3. Mid-September through late October

4. Late October through November

5. December leading into New Year

(It should be noted these are the time frames I specifically work with in the Upper Midwest – variations will occur when trying to monitor your herd the further south you are located)

Here is a monthly breakdown of why and where I set camera’s and typically find the most success inventorying.

January

Many seasons across the country are still in full swing, late season mode. Food and thermal cover is king, and your deer typically aren’t traveling a great distance. If you’re fortunate enough to have thermal cover on your property, cameras on food sources or bait sites (where legal) in close proximity to that cover can provide monstrous insights into what has survived the season, daily patterns, and deer to possibly still target. Besides the still images, the GoLive feature allows you to know direction of travel and where the deer are coming from and going too.

February to Mid-March

From an inventory standpoint, you’re still looking at food and thermal cover being primary in the upper Midwest. I utilize this window to monitor the herd on food sources, most importantly to know when those antlers drop and when I can begin stomping around and looking for sheds.

June to Mid-September

June through August is peak antler growth/development season and your herd will be keyed in on high quality, protein rich food sources such as soybeans, alfalfa, and clover to name a few. Inside corners of fields where entry and exit is the most common, along with mineral sites (where legal) and water sources should provide outstanding results when it comes to watching antlers develop and learning the caliber of deer around your property.

Add in quality summer bedding and you’re looking at a recipe for getting a lot of summer inventory photos. When referencing “summer bedding,” you’re typically looking for mature stands of trees with minimal undergrowth and some topographical change. It’s been my experience that many herds seek this type of summer cover because it provides shade but does not obstruct wind/breeze from passing under the canopy to keep them cool during the warmest summer months.

Mid-September to Late October

Mid-September leading into early October can be tricky as many of your bucks you watched all summer will begin to extend their ranges and some even relocate to their typical fall ranges. This time of year, scrape activity significantly picks up, and I will spend most of my time shifting my Spartan’s to large, community scrapes. Based on personal experience and several studies I have come across by leading deer researchers, you can expect 90 plus percent of the photos rolling in to be active on scrapes at night during this time frame. Even though most of the activity you will catch will be after dark, the plus side is you know the quality of deer in your area and know those deer are utilizing your property at some point.  

Community scrapes yield massive amounts of success during this window when it comes to inventorying, but a close second for placing a camera, and never to be overlooked is water. Water sources will be discussed more in the next section.

Late October through November

Peak pre-rut and RUT TIME!!!

Many hunters and individuals I have spoken with over the year bring up the fact that photos really seem to die out during this window. The conclusion I have come to is this is caused by lack of camera relocation.  

During this window, your bucks obviously have only one thing on their mind; finding the next receptive doe. Though they can be caught on camera and observed on food sources, a predominant amount of their time will be spent walking from point A to point B while scent checking in search of their next girlfriends.  

Over the years, I have found the most success with cameras hung on secondary trails which are usually located 5-10 yards off food sources, paralleling the tree line. Bucks may not be as wary and intelligent during this window, but they aren’t necessarily stupid. Utilizing cover, they can scent check trails entering and exiting food sources while still observing entire fields. Camera’s hung at intersecting trails which parallel a field edge will surely assist in showing you what rutting bucks are around during this time frame.  

As mentioned above: water. Never to be overlooked during any season.

Rutting whitetails will forego food, sleep and travel countless miles during the breeding season, but the one constant they must have each day is water. Spending time to establish a water source, even a small 40-70 gallon tub, will draw deer the entire season. Specifically during the rut when the bucks are running, chasing and traveling extensive distances, they will frequent water sources at all hours of the day.  

December

Though some locations may see a smaller, more subdued second rut, many properties will fall into late season mode in December. Thermal cover and food once again become king when it comes to inventorying your herd.

Conclusion

In short, when it comes to successfully inventorying your deer… be mobile, move those cameras to where the deer are going to be depending on the season you’re in.