In the Field: Trail Cameras

by Anna Mitterling, Wildlife Cooperative Coordinator

Trail cameras can be great fun, bringing additional anticipation for the coming seasons. While most guys are looking for deer with antlers this time of year, it can be fun to see what else is wandering around your property.

Trail cameras can be used to run a deer survey on your property. QDMA has a great article explaining how here. Grab a couple other deer hunters, have them bring their camera pictures too, and you can sit down and run some numbers together.

Pictures from your trail camera can be used to start conversations with your neighbors. Take pictures next door and let them know what you have, maybe they will share what kinds of deer and critters they are seeing on their property. This is also a great opportunity for you to discuss whether you plan on harvesting or passing different bucks.

It is just fun to come back from a quick trip in the woods, pulling up your pictures to see what you will find. The pictures through out this blog are from one of my trail cameras, after being up for a week. It was a lot of fun trying to track patterns of travel for the deer and turkeys and use this to plan a little for what we plan on doing this fall. We understand that patterns will change over time, but it is still a fun practice! And taking the time to get to know the animals in our back yard is a really neat experience.

As we are gearing up for archery season, be smart, have fun, and do what you can to plan. These will increase your chances of success!