Early-Season Strategies for Placing Deer Trail Cameras

Summer is swiftly fading, bringing the opening day of bow season along with plenty of plans & good intentions. If your strategy doesn’t include scouting cameras – it should. If it does, here are some early-season deer trail camera strategies to make the most of your surveillance.

Concentrate On Food

During the early season, bowhunting success hinges on one thing… food. It makes sense any opening day plan should connect to food. includes deer trail camera placement to pattern bucks around their feeding schedules.

For early season deer trail camera placement, we recommend field edges or areas between bedding & feeding (along transition routes). Success depends on how you access these spots without disturbing the deer herd. If your entry & exit routes educate the deer, it’s time to rethink your approach or move your deer trail camera.

Deer tend to overlook many food sources in favor of a timber favorite – acorns.

Most successful early-season hunts happen during late evening hours. As such, deer trail cameras (and eventually treestands) should be set far enough from field edges to capture bucks while they’re still active & shooting light remains. Your deer trail camera images should show which entry routes your target buck prefers.

Big-timber bowhunters should locate mast crops before opening day (if available) & set up a deer trail camera nearby. Once you find a good acorn crop, it’s time to place your cameras. Once you determine it’s worth hunting, hang your stand. Sneaking in at midday & staying until the last shooting light could give you an edge for that early-season bruiser feeding undisturbed.

Avoid Spooking Deer

It may seem like hunting pressure is low since the season hasn’t started, but this is far from the truth. In the weeks before opening day, human traffic increases as hunters finalize their plans.

Whether scouting or hunting, don’t spook the deer in the process.

Contrary to popular belief, deer don’t differentiate between scouting & hunting activity. All they know is that people are suddenly in places where they’ve had peace for months. Eventually, they adapt their travel & feeding patterns to avoid you.

No matter your last-minute plans, be cautious that your pre-season scouting/camera placement doesn’t disturb the deer’s natural feeding habits or it could be game over before it even starts.

Control Your Odor

Often, scent control is neglected during the early season. That’s a big mistake. Summer scouting & managing deer trail cameras comes with high temps & humidity. These conditions cause sweat, which can ruin a weak scent control regimen. Ensure you’re as scent-free as possible before heading out to scout or hang deer trail cameras.

Also, take wind direction into account. Don’t enter a potential hunting spot to scout or set a trail camera if the wind will carry your scent into the area where you expect deer. I shouldn’t need to explain the consequences of that.

Incorporating Mock Scrapes

In addition to food sources, one method for attracting bucks in the early season is mock scrapes. Scrapes are simply calling cards used by bucks to communicate with other deer & establish dominance. When a buck scrapes & paws the ground, he creates a visual sign. He also leaves a distinctive scent by urinating in the scrape. This scent lets other bucks (and does) know he’s claiming the area.

You have two options for scrapes: you can either work with an existing scrape or create a “mock” scrape. The goal is to spark the curiosity of the dominant buck, hoping he returns looking for the “new” buck you’ve led him to believe is on his turf.

Scent control is vital when creating or enhancing scrapes. Also, think carefully about where you set your camera & how often you check it. Consider placing your camera higher up, out of the deer’s line of sight. Mature bucks are highly aware of changes in their surroundings, including a camera near the “new” scrape you created or the one already present.

Make sure your camera has the best batteries (lithium is recommended) & the largest SD card you can get. Both will reduce how often you need to check the camera. Repeated trips only increase the risk of spooking your target buck or any deer.

Conclusion

The early season is a prime time to pattern bucks. Food drives their movements. Deer trail cameras play a crucial role in pre-season scouting. But, it’s important to consider carefully where you place them & how often you check them. Do it right, & you’ll maximize your efforts & hopefully tag that early-season buck.