Using your trail camera to scout out your next big buck

Trail cameras are great for locating and patterning an individual buck. The method I use is to start off in late July. By this time most of the larger bucks will have grown enough antler to be able to distinguish them from other bucks. I will place at least one camera over each major foodplot. These cameras are simply placed over the whole foodplot, not over any specific trail. I will use these to determine which areas an individual buck is using most of the time. I will then place more cameras over the one or two areas preferred by the buck. These cameras will then be centered in the middle or on the edges facing in different directions. This will clue me in as to which direction he is coming from (first picture of the night) and which way he is leaving (last picture of the night). Once the entry and exit areas are determined, I will place cameras on the major trails in those areas. Sometimes this is not even on the food source, but instead is several yards back into the cover. I usually like to go back and place cameras overlooking the intersection of trails. By this time I will have narrowed down the buck’s preferred trails into and out of the area. By continuing to move cameras further into the woods and down the trails, I will eventually hit upon his bedding area. At this time, I will only place my cameras up once near the bedding area and leave them for a couple of weeks. I will go in and remove them and then not disturb that are again until a rainy or windy day comes along so that I can place a stand close by and leave it until season opens. This method can take some time but will lead to the most desired travel paths of a specific buck. By hunting your stand as early in the season as possible, you just might catch that big buck with his guard down. As the rut nears, these trails will become less reliable. However, if he has not been spooked he should return to the same area during late season to recoup from the rut.