Using Game Cameras for a Successful Hunt

By David Hale

Many hunters spend hundreds and maybe thousands of hours hunting trophy bucks on their property that don't exist. I learned that by using a motion-sensor game camera, I could determine if a piece of property had the size of buck I wanted to hunt before I ever hunted that land.

When to Use Game Camers

If I'm hunting on property that I own or lease, I prefer to have my game cameras out about two months before I hunt. One of the things I've learned is that many times, deer will change their movement patterns before you hunt. So, the information we get from the cameras two to three days before we arrive is the most critical information for the success of our hunt. If the deer have changed their movement patterns, we need to move the cameras and find the deer before we get there.

The Importance of Multiple Game Cameras

I don't think you can have too many cameras. Most of the time, I'll have at least three or four cameras out. I'll have the cameras set up at different stand sites so that I can hunt under different wind conditions. The good thing about these cameras is when I'm on one stand site; those other three or four cameras are recording deer movement at the other sites for me. So, I'm actually scouting while I'm hunting. With cameras watching my other stand sites, I can better predict where a buck is going to show up tomorrow if he doesn't show up at my stand site today.

For Hunting in States that Allow Feeding of Deer

Also, if I'm hunting in a state that allows the feeding of deer, I'm going to put cameras on every feeding station. When deer are coming to food sources, younger bucks and does will come down the same trail about the same time everyday. Even when mature bucks are going to a food source, trail cameras are somewhat accurate at predicting the time that they'll show up.

Four Things that a Game Camera Can Tell You

All-in-all, there are four specific things I want to know from my motion-sensor camera:

• Is there a buck on the property that is the size I want to take?
• Where is that buck coming from and going to?
• How often is that buck coming down the trail I want to hunt over?
• Where along the trail can I pinch the terrain down to set up a tree stand downwind and close enough to take that buck with a bow?

About the Author, David Hale

In 1972, Harold Knight, the barber, and David Hale, the farmer, dedicated themselves to creating the most natural-sounding game calls ever produced, and by embracing innovation, they succeeded in building more than a thriving game call business named Knight & Hale, a lesson to all who strive for greatness in any field. David is one of the co-Authors of "Calling Whitetail Deer" by Harold Knight, David Hale and Bill Bynum, Derrydale Press, January 1996. ISBN 1564161609

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