Knowing what buck you’re going to target starts with knowing what deer are on your property. There’s no better way to do that then with a trail camera survey. But getting good pictures takes more than set-and-forget.
To get the most out of your pictures, setup a bait site with something the deer will gravitate toward. Corn and mineral blocks work great. Find a place with a dark, clear background — like a pine grove. Avoid areas with excess branches that can make reading antler size difficult.
After a week or two of baiting, setup the camera about 12-feet away, pointing slightly upward. This will eliminate wasted card space on pictures of racoons and gray squirrels. Then lay down a strip of bait corn. This will have the deer feeding trough-style, rather then clustered around a central pile. It’s all about getting good pictures.
Check out previous episodes of DSI:
Introducing DSI: Deer Scene Investigation
DSI: A Spot-and-Stalk Whitetail Hunt
DSI: Evander, Tracy’s First Bow Buck
DSI Video Tip: The Worst Case Scenario
DSI Video Tip: Shoot Your Situation
DSI Video Tip: How to Triangulate Deer Location with Trail Cameras