elkyinzer
WKR
This experience was borne from whitetails but my reasoning is relevant to any cam that you have to check by foot in sensitive areas
To me it all depends on placement. Those cameras that you have right adjacent to treestands, I would absolutely minimize my trips in there, and take my best impression of scent precautions when I do. Rubbers, go before a hard rain, the whole 9. I would say best case there is to leave it up all summer and grab it your first sit there in the fall. Each trip you take in there is a chance you will tip off mature animals and ruin a chance down the road. If you are taking 3-4+ trips in there over the course of a summer it’s a pretty safe bet you have done some damage to your odds.
That said, I don’t put summer cameras near treestands, because I use minerals to locate target bucks over very large areas simply because that is so efficient. I am not patterning, just surveying. I feel much less concerned in that scenario about spooking big bucks, I just want to leave them up long enough to know that I’ve seen all the bucks in that core area. At an established mineral site I seem to be able to get picture of everything in 3 weeks.
To me it all depends on placement. Those cameras that you have right adjacent to treestands, I would absolutely minimize my trips in there, and take my best impression of scent precautions when I do. Rubbers, go before a hard rain, the whole 9. I would say best case there is to leave it up all summer and grab it your first sit there in the fall. Each trip you take in there is a chance you will tip off mature animals and ruin a chance down the road. If you are taking 3-4+ trips in there over the course of a summer it’s a pretty safe bet you have done some damage to your odds.
That said, I don’t put summer cameras near treestands, because I use minerals to locate target bucks over very large areas simply because that is so efficient. I am not patterning, just surveying. I feel much less concerned in that scenario about spooking big bucks, I just want to leave them up long enough to know that I’ve seen all the bucks in that core area. At an established mineral site I seem to be able to get picture of everything in 3 weeks.
