Trail cam site maturing ?

[Brambles]

I set up one of those damn infernal trail cam thingies.....not really for me but in an attempt to find a spot to set up a blind for next year when my son turns 10. I think it would be a better experience for him to sit in a spot and hunt, instead of raising a truck Hunter. I typically just dress warm and hunker next to a tree, but keeping a 10 year old still enough to get a whitey would be difficult and I can toss in a heater in a blind to keep him warm if needed.

its only been out a week but I got 1 doe, 1 cow elk and some whiskey jacks and stellers jays.

how long before more animals in the area find it and realize free food ain't that bad?

it wasn't my first choice in locations as the deer are currently moving about 500 yards away at the other end, but it's a more accessible spot and lots of people driving in and out....so I decided to tuck it in a hidden corner that you have to walk to see.

[Cyrus]

once they find it more will come especially when snow flies. i usually switch to some type of oats this time of year and find it can take a couple weeks but when the snow starts to stick i seem to get a lot of does and fawn then the bucks start to follow. i believe whitetail are more habitual than mulies as well so they apparently like to stick to an area.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Depends on the elevation but it generally needs to get cold and snowy for whitetails to think more about high calorie food.

[J_T]

Brambles, good on ya. It is such great time spent with a youth. We still talk about those days.

I raised my four boys using tree stands and bowhunting. I set two stands side by side up about 15 ft. I always took a thermos of hot chocolate and treats, but I have to tell you, I never had an issue with any of the four of them sitting in a stand. They loved being invisible to nature and watching things unfold. I think they felt safe being up off the ground. Started them about about age 5. When I saw them climbing trees in the yard. Of the four of them, I had one I would call my good luck charm. Never had trail cams back in the day. Had to rely on hoof prints and poop.

[sparkes3]

I was baiting a spot for nearly two years , before I got enough traffic on it to put out a camera.
I had basically give up on the spot but I was driving by it one day and my kids were bored so I said lets go for a walk , sweet jeebus am I ever glad I did..
we haven't hunted over it but for the past two seasons we have been baiting and checking the camera about once a month and boy have we got a pile of pictures .
its in a area that's about two hours from the lowerwasteland and we get lots of mule deer (bucks and does)bears a cow moose and young bull, a big bull, bob cats, lynx , a fox , some other little guy that I cant identify and recently two cow elk have been showing up ever week or so.

[monasheemountainman]

Are you baiting? Try putting out some apples

[Caribou_lou]

Throw down a bunch of salt and they will be all over it next spring. Half the fun I have is checking my cams. The kid will love doing it with you.

[dd3boss]

If you put down some water conditioning salt you will have steady visitors within a week. Animals just love that stuff!

[Brambles]

I have put down some COB(corn, oats, barley mix), Ruminant mineral and both water softener salt pellets and regular pure ice salt.

needless to say, I expect a 170"+whitetail to show up and stay on the site during daylight hours.....immediately dammit.....lol...

[monasheemountainman]

Haha does will show up and they will be the bait in November for the bucks

[Buckmeister]

Just checked a cam that has been sitting for 2 or 3 weeks since I last checked. Darn deer have gone nocturnal, every pic taken was in the dark, not a single daylight pic. Granted, all I had sitting out was a salt lick. When I had a pile of apples I was getting some daytime pics. The deer really, really like straight kernal corn. I put it out an ice cream pail at a time just before and during the rut when I know i will be in the blind every day or every second day. Problem is, sometimes the deer will already be hanging around, or bedded next to the bait, when I come walking up to the blind.

[monasheemountainman]

Just checked a cam that has been sitting for 2 or 3 weeks since I last checked. Darn deer have gone nocturnal, every pic taken was in the dark, not a single daylight pic. Granted, all I had sitting out was a salt lick. When I had a pile of apples I was getting some daytime pics. The deer really, really like straight kernal corn. I put it out an ice cream pail at a time just before and during the rut when I know i will be in the blind every day or every second day. Problem is, sometimes the deer will already be hanging around, or bedded next to the bait, when I come walking up to the blind.

Try baiting it more often with smaller amounts. Then it will create some urgency for the deer

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Make sure you put it near the intersections of some good game trails. Makes a world
of difference.

[GoatGuy]

Problem is location. Maybe try Reg 8 or 4E

[Elkaholic]

Give it time, once found it will pick up. Once the doe's find it thats all you need. They wont stop until its all gone. I would think deer should find it well before the main rut starts. Most licks/baits I start get smacked once the deer find it, and in my experience it has generally taken a week to two weeks for things to ramp up. The bucks will find it when they start chasing the tail that's coming into the bait already.

[Brambles]

Problem is location. Maybe try Reg 8 or 4E

Too far of a drive.

[Brian011]

I have found that activity level will drop this time of year, through the spring and summer I have lots of deer and big bucks frequently on cam, then once they shed velvet they come to the salt less and then it picks up again after the rut. Still have some bucks consistently on cam all year round, and some move from one spot to another. I just saw a buck posted that got shot on a main road that was on my cam in the summer, a few km's away from any rd, so they move around lots this time of year. Some spots that I have take over a year for deer to frequent the spot.

[GoatGuy]

Too far of a drive.
no wildlife left in wk...

[MOOSE MILK]

You guys sure have double standards.
You all seem to be against baiting bears calling it unethical, unsporting, and illegal, (which it is in BC)
But your all up for baiting deer, elk, and moose. DOUBLE STANDARDS, :mrgreen:

[Linksman313]

You guys sure have double standards.
You all seem to be against baiting bears calling it unethical, unsporting, and illegal, (which it is in BC)
But your all up for baiting deer, elk, and moose. DOUBLE STANDARDS, :mrgreen:

United we stand, divided we fall. Bait vs non-bait, bow vs rifle, bow vs crossbow, meat hunters vs trophy hunters, private land vs crown land hunting, meat hunters vs predator hunters. All this talk only hurts the hunting community and does the antis work for them. Hunting is hunting. Anyone who thinks the way they hunt is the only "real way of hunting" is being close minded.
Sitting by any food source is a form of baiting. As far as bait being unnatural and changing patterns; bush roads are unnatural and change patterns, farms are unnatural and change patterns, cutblocks are unnatural and change patterns. Unless your naked throwing rocks at goats in some far off backcountry there is something "unnatural" about your hunt.

Quoted from Junkyard_g 07/07/2012

[skibum]

You guys sure have double standards.
You all seem to be against baiting bears calling it unethical, unsporting, and illegal, (which it is in BC)
But your all up for baiting deer, elk, and moose. DOUBLE STANDARDS, :mrgreen:

Don’t hijack the thread man – it is about setting up a kid to get a deer.

[todbartell]

try a Trophy Rock too

[Backwoods]

Make sure you put it near the intersections of some good game trails. Makes a world
of difference.
Tried this in a few areas last season! Your absolutely right Steve, made a big difference in Numbers of game I would get in

[todbartell]

Tried this in a few areas last season! Your absolutely right Steve, made a big difference in Numbers of game I would get in

makes sense that's what I always try to do when placing a trail camera. Would be the same when choosing a ground blind location

[Ourea]

Brams, if ur dropping in a site you need to do some due diligence.
Dropping one in blind is a Hale Mary.

Walk a known area out.
You will probably find what I call a "hub".
This is where numerous trails will intersect in a relatively small area.
9 out of 10 times you will get instant results rather than waiting for deer to eventually find ur site.

Well over 50% of my cam videos, come the rut, are deer just passing by and not even coming to the site because I am set up on a converging trail system.

[J_T]

^^And clean up those trail systems. Remove the deadfall and limbs. Make your route the path of least resistance. Definitely know the area, the key focal point and then enhance it.

[Sitkaspruce]

Had one stolen in the last few weeks: a long ways off the road in the middle of nowhere (at least I thought it was), asshat that found it must have been well prepared with a set of bolt cutters for the lock and a full socket set for the lag bolts as he took everything, including my favorite HD trail cam........Make sure it is not easily found in on crown land. I think the reason it was found was because it was at a "hub" and he must have followed one of the trails.

I have tried a few new things this year to see if there is something to keep them around from about mid August until the end of Oct. Some of the things I have tried have been dried Alfalfa pellets, alfalfa/timothy or alfalfa cubes, alfalfa bails, range salt with selenium or cobalt and trophy rock or its equal. Jury is still out on some stuff, but some has been working.

Good luck with the young hunter Brambles, sitting in a blind can be fun, make sure he has something to keep his mind active.

Cheers

SS

[Brambles]

I just typed a reply, but we had a power bump here and I lost it...gotta hit the sack and get up early to chase bullwinkle...try and bang it off again tomorrow..thx everyone.

[skibum]

I was taken aback by the deer traffic around an old cow lick I found last week. The lick was gone, but the deer were still all over where it use to be - sucking up whatever was left in the dirt.

[GROOTSKY]

I have a whitetail doe & her fawn frequenting my baitsite and the occasional muley doe and odd muley buck. Even though there is a much higher concentration of mulies in the area the majority of the pics are of the whitetails. Do the two species co-exist or will the whitetail doe rule the site?