Timing

[Doc]

The other night, I was looking at the pictures that I have taken on my trail camera. I noticed the randomness of deer visits along what has always been a very active trail. Even with the drought, this trail is tramped down to dirt and so I know it is one of the more well used trails.

But then I started looking at the dates on the pictures and found that several days and sometimes even a week would go by with no deer pictures and then all of sudden there is a bunch of deer using the trail. I started thinking back about all the hours that I spend hunting along this trail and others like it and how quickly I become discouraged when I sit there for a couple of days in a row and see nothing. But now it is clear that that is not the way the deer use these trails. A week or more can go by before a deer uses even the well-worn trails, even though there has been no changes in food resources. To me this is saying that a good stand should be used for a week or more before giving up and moving to another location. I have always tried not to burn out a stand by over pressuring an area. But perhaps that is wrong thinking. Maybe the randomness that deer use even the well-used trails means that you have to put in an adequate number of consecutive days on a stand to give the deer a chance to show up. I always thought that a heavily used trail gets daily use. My camera pictures are showing that that is not true.

So what do you all think? First of all have any of you seen the same randomness in the deer appearances along trails that I have with your trail-camera pictures. And second do you think there ever is danger of burning out a stand with too many days in a row of sitting there.

[BowmanMike]

I agree with the randomness factor completely. It almost seems as if deer do rounds through their range,like hang out in one corner for a few days and then move to a different spot for a while. Sort of like a rotation. Just have no idea when they are going to be at exact point.

 

I think stand burn out is kore likely if you see a lot of deer on your sits. If you don't they won't be any the wiser...

[Buckmaster7600]

Me personally I wouldn't be hunting a trail that goes a week without a deer going on it. And that's counting the Adirondacks where there are no deer.

I run about 10 cameras year round and it has taught me one thing. Deer are naturally nocturnal 95%+ of my pictures come at night. So taking that into account a deer is most likely going to pass your spot at night and if you have been there a few days in a row the likely hood of a deer passing your spot at night and smelling your scent is way higher than if you hunt it 1 day a week.


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[Steuben Jerry]

I'm seeing the same thing on my cameras. But I'm betting when the bucks get careless during the rut, that should change. Or at least that's what I'm hoping for.

I had only nocturnal pics of a particular buck last year, yet he showed up on the edge of a field at sunrise last year on the rifle opener. He looks good on my living room wall!

[stubby68]

On some of my trails I get nights and then 1 day. Meaning 3 days all night pic then 1 day of daylight pick. Others I have activity  all the time. As far as stand burn out goes. I do not believe in it. I can sit a stand for a week straight and get same activity on cams as I do when not there at all. If you shoot a deer in a stand in the am and have a couple guys come help withdrag. Then someone else uses that stand in the pm and gets deer. Then more deer are seen or gotten there the next day it's  a good bet they're  not bothered by the activity at that stand.

[Doc]

Yeah, maybe I am trying to make too much out of the randomness of trail use. But one thing has occurred to me. You can be sitting along a trail that is pounded down to mud, but the cameras don't lie. They will show you all the days you could have been religiously sitting there all day long and still never have even seen a deer if you were there at the wrong time.

So simply finding a well used trail is only part of the story. You have to know when they are using that trail. And then you have to spend an adequate number of consecutive stands to finally make the connection. That explains a lot of deerless days on what looks like nearly guaranteed trails. I'm just not there enough to compensate for the randomness of deer movement.

Interesting stuff. These cameras can be a heck of a learning tool. Like I said....they don't lie.

[growalot]

Doc, I've mentioned the deer rotation on our place often over the years ours is usually 3 days. Now that's not saying all the group's or bucks do this. Some are natural residence and are home bodies making their daily activity a bit more random. They just pick about the property here and there. The "traveler" seem to stick with a fairly good schedule on where they want to be. Even during the rut New traveling buck seem to rotate the hill regularly ,until breeding gets in full swing and they are locking down doe. I switch stands often at first to try and get some patterns down and not mess up others. If I know it's around a week between visits...I'd be checking out other stands in the middle of that time frame.

[Jim Droz]

I agree on varying amounts of activity .. It's cyclical without a doubt. The only caveat I'd add is that we've had success from stands where a deer was nowhere near the camera. I've got cameras on 3 properties and they're all definitely within gun range and most within bow range of a stand .. There's no sense not to place them strategically where you can immediately utilize the most recent information.  I'm hunting Indiana this week. 1st sit I had this giant torment me for an hour .. Ohh so close .. Haven't seen him since ... Where'd he go ??

[Jim Droz]

[growalot]

It looks like he's out where laughing at you..best of luck.

[Jim Droz]

This guy kept running the gauntlet as well .. But haven't seen them since and its 3rd day since  .. Just breaking decent light now. Today is the day !

[LET EM GROW]

I think a lot of it has to do with where you are hunting.. is it around a suburban area, or is it more rural, along the lines of dirt roads, minimal houses big woods less AG etc.. I have a lot of trails on my 8P prop. that look to be "very heavily used" and they are but they are mainly used after dark. for the fact being that there is zero bedding nearby. These big woods deer (IMO) dont have to use the same trail every day to get to where they want to go. where as small wood lots and hedge row grown deer(My 8F prop) have to follow these "edges" to get to where they wanna go and stay covered. Thats just my assumption. My 8F property is 150 acres that borders the town/village lines and housing tracts, small wood lots, hedge rows and lots of AG are very much present. My 8P property has only a few houses and much much bigger wood lots and very little AG.. these deer are a bit harder to pattern IMO and half the time they are not even on a normal heavily used trail when entering or exiting a food source   

 

But i still hunt them, because they do use these trails, i just try to time it per the time of season, the rut pre rut etc.. and which ones are closest to food, bedding, staging or in between a couple of these places... and go from there..

Edited November 3, 2016 by LET EM GROW

[Doc]

The particular camera location that made me take note of the patterns watches a very heavy trail (down to dirt) coming out of a very large swamp/thicket dense area into a grass-lot that I keep mowed. The unique thing about this trail is the high percentage of the pictures that are taken in early morning and late afternoon daylight.

The whole area could be described as dense valley bottom that was last active farmland in the 1940s to 1960s. It is lined by two hills that are old-growth hardwoods. As far as human population, I would call it very rural. It is pretty typical of a lot of western NY. There is no current ag activity to form regular repetitive daily patterns.

Actually, the cameras that I have had up on top of the hills show the deer movement to be even more random than the low-lands.

It is no wonder that it is so difficult to catch up with these critters since there patterns seem to be no patterns at all.....lol.