Putting in some work, but need group wisdom

[fraginator]

My son and I have been doing desk scouting and identified some areas that look promising for deer. This will be our first year hunting so we're pretty green, but learning fast.

We've hit the ground in three places in the past few weeks. Just trying to touch on them to see where we should be spending our time. Two of the areas are confirmed by non-hunters I know to have deer. So we looked for prints, trails, rubs, droppings, etc. but found absolutely nothing. These areas are overrun with hikers and campers right now, so I guess I'm not really surprised.

However, the third area had tracks everywhere along the roads, and I found a couple of what I think are decent trails. Beyond the roads it's thick brush, too thick to get very far off the roads in most places. There don't seem to be any real good glassing spots. But I'm thinking this spot is worth more attention, so I'd like recommendations on what we should be doing when we go back to spend more time there. I'd like to put up a trail cam or two to get an idea of what's around and see movement patterns, but there are no trees to attach them to. Anyone have advise on how to set up a cam with no trees? Also, I have heard that deer move from higher to lower ground in the colder months and can just vanish if scouting is done in warmer months. I'd hate to spend time here and have that happen. But this is already fairly low elevation so Is it wrong to assume they might actually just hang around? Since access is so easy we'll plan to be in position on opening day. I highly doubt we are the only ones eyeing this spot.

I'd greatly appreciate any advise on what we should be focusing on and what strategy we should be using in this kind of terrain. Thanks!

 

[Deleted member 27310]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on starting a family tradition of hunting. I don't hunt your type of terrain but it looks to me like your doing everything right, you have found deer tracks . Using all your options to obtain intel is great work and at some point you will have your chance at taking some game, don't get discouraged if it doesn't happen right away (took me 3yrs to figure deer out and still learing). as for the cams I have placed some in brush I just found some brush that would hold the weight of cam and find a bush that is not to visible if someone passes by it because if its at about level to a human he might be able to see it easier and some people don't respect others property and take them. Good Luck

 

[TRICER]

Maybe throw a couple Game cams up. ALso if you have time get int there early and get on top of one of those hills in the background put some binos or a spotting scope on a Tripod and just glass for a few hours until it gets to hot. That area looks real thick you will need to be above them to see them.

 

[topher1111]

Welcome to the forum. Those are decent size tracks. Looks like you found a good spot. Nice job! I would also set up game cams. For setting up game cams with no trees, I just put them against a bush and make sure it is facing a good direction. Be sure to hide it well and make sure there are no little branches right in front of it or you will get hundreds of picture of nothing except a stick that moved with the wind. Good luck!


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[TRICER]

Welcome to the forum. Those are decent size tracks. Looks like you found a good spot. Nice job! I would also set up game cams. For setting up game cams with no trees, I just put them against a bush and make sure it is facing a good direction. Be sure to hide it well and make sure there are no little branches right in front of it or you will get hundreds of picture of nothing except a stick that moved with the wind. Good luck!


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X2 bring garden shears and clear the area in front of camera. One leaf can really be annoying.

 

[Snake Charmer]

I have several camera tripods that are modified to hold game cams. I paint them with flat camouflage paint as well as the camera. It works great I usually back them into a bush and clear any leaves or branch's out of the way. They are virtually invisible unless you are looking for them.

 

[fraginator]

Thank you all very much. I've been hanging around SCH for a coupe years now. I figured noob questions belonged in the noob den. Some good suggestions here. So it's game cams for sure! I was concerned about not having anything secure enough to deter people from making off with them, but from what I have read, theft and vandalism goes with the territory so I'll just do my best to keep them hidden. I'm taking snake charmers suggestion on modified tripods and I love Truduct's suggestion to bring garden shears.

As far as game cams, I've learned to only gamble with what I can afford to lose so I have to choose carefully. Am I better off with a single $120 camera or two $60 dollar cameras?

 

[ilovesprig]

Frag,

Welcome to SCH.......Lots of good suggestions.......Get off the beaten path some......Find a good trail and put the camera length wise on it......That way you see them coming & going......I'd start with two $60.00 cams......Heck, just a while back, Walmart was selling them for 17 bucks.....Oh, and try to find camera's that take AA's.

One other thing, just because a spot has fairly easy access doesn't mean other guys will hunt right there.....Many walk past good deer spots.....Good luck

 

[fraginator]

Man, I sure wish I caught that sale! Lengthwise makes perfect sense. I read a lot of poor reviews saying their pics had nothing in them but a shadow. My guess is poor placement. I ordered 2 wild game innovations blade x8 for $50 each from midway. Hope they do the trick!

 

[ilovesprig]

Those cams should be OK.....Also, like others said, try and find places where's there's little tree movement or wind....Here's a couple of pix from this week....The $150.00 Bushnell Trophy cam & the difference of a cheaper Moultrie.

I love trail cams and getting home and seeing what's on them is really cool.

.

 

[fraginator]

Fortunately the spot I'm looking at is not far from home. So I'll probably check on them after a week just to make sure I'm not getting a lot of false triggers. If they are effective for me I think I'll invest in better ones next year and reserve these for higher risk spots. I'm pretty excited about setting them up! I'll post some images if I get any.

 

[fraginator]

The boy and I finally got out last weekend to put out our new trail cams. I checked them today and camera 1 took about a dozen pictures of a long piece of grass blowing right in front of the sensor. Camera 2 took just one picture...

Frankly, I never thought we'd get this far our first year. And it may be premature after confirming just one doe, but I'm starting to feel like we might actually have a chance. I have questions about strategy that are specific to this spot that I'd rather not post. We could really use some veteran hunter advice at this point and would be grateful for some help.

 

[Aeon]

ummm how are we going to help if you cant ask what your problems are here?

 

[Bonejour]

+1
Can you ask in general terms so you don't give away your secrets?

 

[TonyS]

Unlike the others, I would avoid gadgets. Go sit in the area you think is promising. You learn alot more about who lives there then hoping someone wants their picture taken. Look for sign and that includes looking at vegatation. Look for scat. When and if you find does carefully watch where they go. This isn't a tomorrow thing. Put in the work and reap the rewards.

 

[MJB]

One doe I'd move to another spot where multiple tracks are seen. Water is key around here.
You could use one of these for the cams http://m.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-901154HD/204331911

 

[fraginator]

ummm how are we going to help if you cant ask what your problems are here?

I figured talking by PM would be better than blasting out details on the forum.

Unlike the others, I would avoid gadgets. Go sit in the area you think is promising. You learn alot more about who lives there then hoping someone wants their picture taken. Look for sign and that includes looking at vegatation. Look for scat. When and if you find does carefully watch where they go. This isn't a tomorrow thing. Put in the work and reap the rewards.

I definitely don't want to rely on the cameras, but seemed like a logical way to confirm there are actually deer currently in the area. I have not found any scat, and I can not determine a food source although I am not yet familiar enough with the plants there. I can say the area is basically a wash and is very green. Some of the plants indicate there is water just below the surface, so I imagine there may be seeps above ground in the area. It may be a travel route to food or water, but not sure yet. This is something I am trying to figure out. I do want to put eyes on them and that is part of the question I have, when and more importantly where in the specific area based on wind and topology. I want to know whats out there, where its going and when. I plan to spend more time there, but I don't want to spook the deer out of there.

One doe I'd move to another spot where multiple tracks are seen. Water is key around here.
You could use one of these for the cams http://m.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-901154HD/204331911

It looks like a lot of animal traffic. Can easily find of deer, coyote, rabbit and quail tracks in the spots that show good prints, but there is a lot of sand and most of the tracks are impossible to identify. I think the reason I only got one image is because there are multiple game trails routing through the area. I picked spots that were bit more secluded to keep my camera hidden.

+1
Can you ask in general terms so you don't give away your secrets?

I'm really mostly concerned with It is a curved canyon. The best glassing spots on the outside of the curve that offer a full view of the canyon are kind of up wind. To be downwind requires sitting on the inside curve or at the end of the canyon and really cuts down on what you can see. There is also a hiking trail that runs through part of the area. I guess I am curious how far upwind we have to be to not cause a problem? And how directly upwind do we have to be to get noticed? With the hiking trail there, people are passing through all the time, so will the deer there be less sensitive to us? Also, I do want to spend more time walking through the canyon to get to know it, but are we risking pushing out deer that might be around?

 

[Bonejour]

Seems like there are a lot of variables beyond just the wind direction and your presence. The most important from your point of view is how many people use that trail. If there is a lot of (non-hunter) traffic on the trail, your scent will just be one of many, and being upwind may have no effect at all. Similarly, if there are people around right up to and through the season opener, maybe the deer won't care if you're there as well. If it were a remote site, you'd probably want to leave it undisturbed for at least a week before the opener.
Finally as to choosing where you want to glass from, I'd pick the spot with the best view and take whatever measures you can take to reduce your scent. You can't eliminate it, but all you need to do is minimize it in an area that gets a lot of human traffic. My two cents.

 

[fraginator]

Seems like there are a lot of variables beyond just the wind direction and your presence. The most important from your point of view is how many people use that trail. If there is a lot of (non-hunter) traffic on the trail, your scent will just be one of many, and being upwind may have no effect at all. Similarly, if there are people around right up to and through the season opener, maybe the deer won't care if you're there as well. If it were a remote site, you'd probably want to leave it undisturbed for at least a week before the opener.
Finally as to choosing where you want to glass from, I'd pick the spot with the best view and take whatever measures you can take to reduce your scent. You can't eliminate it, but all you need to do is minimize it in an area that gets a lot of human traffic. My two cents.

Thanks Bonejour, there are definitely a lot of variables. Definitely a decent amount of non hunter traffic. Aside from the hiking trail I haven't seen a single human footprint in the area. I did find some 30-06 and shotgun shells but they were very old. I suppose I'm just going to have to keep exploring and watching. I went out there yesterday for a couple hours and snapped some images of the area. I suppose anyone who recognizes it already knows about it. If a picture is worth 1000 words hopefully this is more helpful than my previous rambling post.

 

[ilovesprig]

Wow!......That's a real cool looking spot.....Appears to be a young buck walking with those does.....Also, got a cat there.....I'd have a trail cam on that deer trail pronto.....