At the Ranch – Whitetail: Summer Trail Camera Usage

We’ve talked about cell cams, how to get the best trail camera pictures, and more in some of our other videos. In this video, I want to specifically discuss some of the pros and cons of running trail cameras in the summer months. Right off the bat, some of the pros are that it gets you excited for deer season. With running trail cameras in the summer, you get an inventory of bucks and you kind of get to start knowing what’s going on in the area.

There’s a lot of pros when it comes to running trail cameras in the summer and those are really more easily identifiable. When it comes to inventory, especially if you hunt the same properties year after year, you can kind of see what bucks are back, who’s in the neighborhood, what the deer herd looks like in the summer as we lead into fall, and it can just give you that kind of that base to establish what’s going on in your neck of the woods.

Some people might begin to wonder what the cons of running trail cameras in the summer are. The first con is that sometimes it can give you false hope. It’s tough to be told, but a lot of times bucks are shifting their home ranges from summer to fall and you might get pictures of all these big bucks in the summer. However, as you get closer and closer to the fall season, they kind of disappear and you might wonder where they’re going. There are certain properties that set up better for the fall and there are certain properties that set up better for the summer. Sometimes you have a summer heavy property that can kind of be a bummer and kind of give you this false hope. Or, if you get a new property, you might see some big bucks in the area on your trail cameras and identify the area as a great spot to hunt come fall when in actuality it might not be.

Another con of running trail cameras in summer is putting too much pressure on your property. If you’re constantly going in and checking, you may be doing more harm than good for the upcoming fall season. Once I set my trail cameras, I’m letting them sit for about four to six weeks before I go back and check them. I know a lot of people that happen to go back every week or two and they’re constantly checking external cameras. All it’s going to do is hurt you and all you’re going to be doing is putting more pressure on your property and that can be a big time con of running trail cameras in the summer.