As turkey season winds down and food plots begin to green up, it’s easy for deer hunters to decide to take a break. However, savvy whitetail hunters understand that the offseason is a myth. If you want to stay ahead of the game come fall, now is the time to get the cameras back out.
Many deer hunters share my love for deer in general. It is challenging for a non-hunter to comprehend how we can desire to shoot a deer in the fall while simultaneously loving and respecting them. Watching and observing deer activity during the rut is fascinating and educational; a hunter can learn a lot from using game cameras early in the season. Spring and early summer are prime times for gathering intel, and trail cameras are among the most effective tools a deer hunter can use. It is also incredible to see antlers grow, inch by inch, eventually forming the spectacular racks they will boast throughout the fall. As for does, what a fantastic way to observe survival instincts while raising fawns. Before game cameras, hunters couldn’t appreciate the life of a whitetail deer beyond what they encountered during hunting.
Spring Scouting with a Purpose
Once antlers begin to regrow and bachelor groups start forming, the woods slowly shift back into whitetail mode. Bucks are more predictable during this period, traveling habitual routes between food sources, bedding areas, and mineral sites. Setting cameras during this time offers a low-pressure way to observe their early patterns without disturbing them.
Even though velvet-clad antlers don’t yet signify fall dominance or territory, they provide clues into which bucks survived the season, how they’re progressing nutritionally, and what kind of potential you might be dealing with in a few months. Many times, I have captured bucks early in the season that allow me a visual goal for the upcoming hunting season. The rest of the summer’s preparation revolves around the one to two bucks that you can’t get out of your head, that would make the season complete if only you could take him down this fall.
Mineral Sites and Feeding Areas
Early summer is an ideal time to monitor activity at mineral sites and feeding areas. Whether using commercial mineral attractants or natural salt licks, deer—especially does with fawns and bucks with developing antlers—are drawn to these locations in spring and early summer to satisfy their nutritional needs. Bucks need extra nutrition to bulk up, much like bodybuilders at the gym. This also contributes to producing the healthiest fawns, enabling them to thrive throughout the hot summer and into the cooler days of fall.
Minerals and feed benefit the deer, and placing cameras at these sites provides an excellent opportunity to start cataloging the herd, thanks to the increased number of pictures you will receive at the mineral or feed locations. You’ll gain insights into buck-to-doe ratios, fawn recruitment, and the overall health of the herd. This information can shape your management strategies well before the season begins.
Pattern Bucks Before They Know They’re Being Watched
Another benefit of early camera deployment is the minimal pressure it creates. By running your cameras early and checking them periodically, or even better, using cellular models, you reduce the risk of intrusion. Deer haven’t been pressured for months and haven’t associated your presence with hunting. This provides more authentic movement data and reduces the likelihood of changing patterns before the start of the season. Keeping deer in their natural travel patterns is one of the main reasons I have concluded that cellular game cameras are the most monumental inventions that deer hunters have ever seen. With cellular cameras, hunters can observe deer movement for several weeks or even months when using solar panels to prolong battery life, all with minimal time spent in the woods. That means less scent and less human pressure that could deter movement. If a minimal pressure approach can be maintained throughout the entire summer, hunters will have a better chance of finding deer during the hunting season.
Long-Term Data Pays Off
Getting cameras out now helps establish a baseline for the year. You can begin building historical data on individual bucks, travel corridors, and bedding areas that will pay off when preseason scouting ramps up. Observing how deer transition from summer to fall patterns in your specific hunting area offers an edge that can’t be replicated with last-minute scouting.
One reason I’ve heard some hunters give for not using cameras early in the summer is the false hope that it could bring. Even if the bucks you’re watching now disappear by September, they might show up again in late season. Early photos help identify those deer and aid in planning a strategy when the rut is over, and survival becomes their top priority again.
Don’t wait until mid-August to dust off your trail cams. Spring and early summer offer valuable opportunities to quietly scout, take inventory, and develop a year-round understanding of your local deer herd. Late summer is always the prime time for hunters to use cameras. Hunters are becoming excited for hunting season, and bucks are fully grown; some have even shed their velvet by the time they start using cameras. However, setting up cameras now can yield significant rewards. You don’t need to flood the woods with cameras; just a few well-placed units can give you an edge come opening day. So go ahead and get those cameras back out. Deer season is already taking shape, whether you’re watching or not.