subject: Use Your Digital Scouting Camera To Do Deer Surveys [print this page] Your digital scouting camera can and should be put to use in the off season to perform deer surveys on your hunting property. It gives you a great excuse to get out in the field to scratch that itch that really sets in about July 1.
In addition to the same old benefits of knowing which bucks survived the previous season and who are the "up and comers" for this year, there is much more to be learned by watching the bucks as they grow their new antlers.
The photos that are captured by using a trail camera can tell you so much more. Here are a few suggestions that may help get a better handle on what is really happening on your favorite hunting land.
First, instead of the one camera per 50 acres, try placing a Cuddeback camera everywhere you have a variation in type of cover. For example field edges, thickets, pinch points in big woods, etc. are prime locations to set up a photo ambush site. Check your local regulations and, if allowed, bait these sites (shelled corn is quite effective) during the preseason. This will hold the deer in the location and can help assure they end up where you want them to get a good picture.
The photos will likely include both bucks and does. When you inspect your pictures it will soon become apparent that there are a several different bucks hitting these sites. Take the total number of buck photos and divide that by the number of different bucks photographed. Now take the total number of does and fawns and divide that by the number of unique bucks and you will get an approximation of the buck to doe ratio.
Example:
40 buck pictures divided by 5 different bucks = 8
120 pictures of does and fawns divided by 8 = 15
In this example there is a buck to doe ratio of roughly 15/1. Four or five digital scouting cameras spread in strategic locations across your land will perform this non-scientific study and help you set your harvest goals for the fall. In the example above, the first goal may be to harvest some does before you pursue that big boy that may just show up in some of the photos.
