The Hunt Starts Now

By: Dane Jones

August 24, 2015

 

As summer starts to wind down and the dog days finally look to be over, it is time to start focusing attention to hunting Whitetails. In just over a month's time, the Wisconsin archery season opener is approaching fast and there is still plenty of work to be done in preperation for a sucessful hunting season. Some of the most time consuming work needs to be done now. Things like hanging stands and clearing shooting lanes are the most obvious tasks required to have a sucessful hunt. However, to truely have a great season, you must strategically put those stands in areas that will give you best chance at shooting quality deer.

 

One of the most simple and effective ways to finding where to place those stand is by recording deer movement. The easiest method of finding deer in your neck of the woods is with a trail camera. Today's cameras aren't your typical old school, noisy, and not very user-friendly camera that was the norm only a few years ago. Gone are the days of 35mm film and blurry photos. Today's high tech units take high quality photos and videos that can be sent right to you in an email and track exact locations of the deer in real time. This may seem a bit of an overkill to most hunters, but during the deer season, it is invaluable for minimizing wasted time and providing the hunter with the best chance at a trophy. The issue many hunters face though is cost. An email-capable unit can run you north of $500. Then there are the monthly service fees associated with such camera. For that cost, a hunter could buy multiple lower end cameras for the price of one top end unit.

 

The trail camera market is flooded with good, high-quality cameras that outperform anything that was available even 5 years ago. What used to be a top-of-the-line $500 camera only a few years ago can now be purchased in the neighborhood of $100. Companies like Reconyx, Cuddeback, Wild Game Innovation, and Moultrie lead the way in cutting edge technology and offer affordable units that anyone can learn to use in a matter of a few minutes. To get the most bang for your buck, look at trail cameras that do not have a view finder or screen. This may seem counter intuitive and bring up the question as how one would be able to view the pictures in the field. The solution is simple and is probably already in your pocket, your smartphone!

 

A cheap alternative to buying a screened trail camera is to purchase an SD card reader for your smartphone. For less than $10, you can have a mobile screen that you can take with you to each of your cameras to view your pictures. The one we use was purchased on Amazon and can be found here. It simply plugs into your phone’s USB port and shows up just like it would on your computer. From here you can view the photos, save them to your phone, send them to your friends and also clear the memory card to make room for more photos.

 

During the hunting season, trail cameras can be used for quicker, more instant results. It allows the hunter to be in multiple areas all at the same time. One issue hunters face is selecting the right stand to sit in and not to second guess your decision. With the help of trail cameras you can certainly know if you’ve chosen the best spot on your land. If you are uncertain of your decision, let the trail camera do the deciding.

 

Trail cameras have been around for more than a decade. Knowing how and when to use them is vital to creating a confident pattern for the deer on your property. Putting in the time to scout your hunting land is invaluable and gives you the best chance at shooting a monster buck.