Not giving up my cameras!!! In hunting as in my business, I believe in setting myself up for success, and game cameras are an integral part of the hunting "puzzle".
Just think of the anticipation after driving 8 hours and not knowing what could walk up!!!!! lol
Just think of the anticipation after driving 8 hours and not knowing what could walk up!!!!! lol
For years, I would leave home at 4am on Friday morning just to have time to get corn and my cameras out before the evening hunt, and I couldn't wait to check them after the Saturday morning hunt. In that situation, patterning is essentially impossible, so I had to figure out where I'd have my best chance at a decent buck by Monday morning (I almost always head home after the Monday morning hunt). My success rate during those years was significantly less than the last few years with the cellular cameras. I've got a friend that calls me a high tech redneck, and I've come to accept and embrace it.
Make technology work for you. Especially given that drive!
Since you started using those cams, do you keep track of mature buck movement based on weather, date, etc? I did for a few years with just my regular cams, then my schedule got so busy that I just went whenever I got the chance anyway, so I quit keeping notes.
I'm pretty sure he is. If I remember correctly, he drove up after patterning a buck via camera and killed him the first hunt last year.
I haven't found weather to be a noticeable factor in movement on my place, but I killed my 2014 and 2015 bucks on new moons. I didn't start putting any serious credence in moon phases and deer movement until the last couple years. It may be a total coincidence, but after these two years successes, I've become a believer.
I'd like to go back and try to "back pattern" a couple other kills to see if they might have been on new moons too, but I haven't been able to find moon phases from past years.
This is an old pic from about 4 years ago. This was a very young buck that was passed numerous times. He didn't change much from 2 to 3 years of age because of drought conditions. Neighbors friend ended up shooting him. No telling what he would have become in 2 more years. To each his own.
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Here's a few we got this year so far.
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That's a waste of an almost certain trophy buck. My neighbors shot a 3 year old 140 class main frame 12 point last year, so I feel your pain.
