WEBVTT - Ep. 1053: The Jared Mills Trail Cam Masterclass 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:04.600 Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast, your guide to 0:00:04.680 --> 0:00:08.719 the white Tail Woods, presented by first Light, creating proven 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:13.039 versatile hunting apparel for the stand, saddle or blind. First 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:18.759 Light Go Farther, stay Longer, and now your host, Mark Kenyon. 0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:22.680 Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast. This week on 0:00:22.760 --> 0:00:25.840 the show, I'm joined by Jared Mills, and we are 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:29.680 talking through his trail camera strategy and routines from A 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:33.199 to Z summer to fall, everything from where he places 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:36.320 them to the settings he uses, the goals he has, 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:40.080 and the strategies he considers when using those photos to 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:46.159 become a better deer hunt. All right, welcome back to 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:49.600 the Wired to Hunt podcast, brought to you by Moultrie. 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:53.880 Today we are continuing our trailcam series and my guest 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:57.440 is Jared Mills. He's a longtime friend of the show. 0:00:57.480 --> 0:01:00.600 He's been on the podcast several times before. You've seen 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:04.080 him on Midwest Whitetail and on his own YouTube channels. 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:08.120 He is an entrepreneur. He is a deer hunting fanatic 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:12.880 and an Iowa resident who has just got his program dialed. 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:16.920 He takes whitetail hunting as serious as anybody, and trail 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:21.440 cameras especially, So he has been diving deep into this 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:24.560 stuff for I don't know, probably close to two decades, 0:01:24.920 --> 0:01:27.280 and today what I want to talk to him about 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:30.640 is the nitty gritty details of how he thinks about 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:33.199 trail cameras, how he uses them, and what. 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:35.240 That looks like through the entirety of the season. 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:37.920 So what's he thinking about and doing right now in 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:41.080 the summer, what are his goals, how all those changed? 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:43.039 You know, where is he put in summer cameras, what 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:45.959 kind of information can he actually get from summer cameras, 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:47.960 and how does he use that stuff? And then we 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:51.320 move into the hunting season itself, where he's putting in 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:54.080 season cameras, how he thinks about moving them, when he 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:57.720 thinks about moving them, how he's changed his perspective on 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:01.360 patterning deer with cameras, and much more when it comes 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:06.920 to the specific details, settings, tactics, decision making around it, 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:09.919 all that kind of stuff. This is truly a deep 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:14.239 dive master class on using trail cameras in twenty twenty 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:17.040 six to become a better deer hunter. So I'm going 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:19.760 to leave it at that. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:23.720 and I hope you did too. And one quick plug 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:26.120 before we get to the chat with Jared here, want 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:28.680 to let you know that Meat Eater's auction House of 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:32.120 Oddities is open right now and it's running till July 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:36.480 twenty second, twenty twenty six. The auction house is our 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:41.400 in house fundraising campaign for our Public Land Initiative, which 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:45.680 is the program that we use to help fund public 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:48.720 access you know, acquisitions across the nation. So this is 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:52.160 what allowed us to do that big campaign around Tuckertown 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:55.560 that led to two hundred acres of public land, you know, 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:58.600 being put under contract to be made public forever. 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:01.320 That's what the pl I does. That's what this. 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:04.680 Auction house is helping make possible. So if you're interested, 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:07.240 you can go to the auction house where you will 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:11.440 see all sorts of different outdoor gear mementos, uh you know, 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:14.880 everything from bows and rifles from meat Ator crew to 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:18.960 the truck that Steve Ranella's dad used as a hunting 0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:22.320 and fishing rig and that Steve used after his dad passed. 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:24.359 We had that old truck, Steve. 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:26.920 We call it Steve's Dad's shitty old truck full of 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:29.920 badass hunting gear because This thing is gonna come with 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:31.120 a bunch. 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:34.000 Of outdoor gear, gift cards, a. 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:37.200 Bunch of swags, some optics from sigsur, really good stuff, 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:40.040 and I will be delivering it to the winner of 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:43.200 that auction. So you can find all that much more 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:47.040 at the meat eater dot com slash auction that's running 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:49.720 through July twenty second, twenty twenty six. 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:59.880 And now back to the show. All Right with me 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:03.920 on the line is several time returning guests. Jared Mills. 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:04.800 Welcome back to the show. 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.000 Thanks man, I appreciate you having me back. It's uh, 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:09.840 it's exciting good to catch up. 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:12.080 It's always good to catch up. It's always good to 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:14.080 uh to touch base on what you've been up to. 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:15.040 Uh. 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:18.640 And the one thing that I don't like about every 0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:21.040 time we chat on the podcast is it reminds me 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:23.000 to go back and scroll through like all of your 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:26.160 social media, and I do have to get very jealous 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:29.279 every time I'm reminded of just how many good dear 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:31.080 you're seeing and putting your tags on. 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:33.279 It's uh, it's funny. 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:37.320 As the years go on, we're inundated, right with so 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:39.880 many of those things, you kind of lose track of 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:42.760 how everybody's seasons have went. Uh so when you've got 0:04:42.800 --> 0:04:45.040 an excuse to go check it back out again, it's 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:48.160 it's a good reminder that you are you are living 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:49.600 the dream, my friend, You're doing well. 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:54.080 Yeah, there's no doubt I've been super fortune and that's ultimately, 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:56.800 like you know, I have a lot of these conversations 0:04:56.880 --> 0:04:58.880 about that, and like you know, there may be an 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:01.640 aspect that I take granted a little bit just because 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:04.039 it's a natural like where this is all this is 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:06.520 what I know. I'm born and raised in Iowa. I 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:10.200 know Iowa hunting mature year. I was fortunate to like 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:13.320 start to target mature year at a young age, and 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:16.080 so like you know, there's this aspect where I'm living 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:18.520 in my own world. You don't really realize, you know, 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:22.800 that outside perspective like you're talking about, but it's there's 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:26.520 just every time it happens, it you know, it comes 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:29.279 together on a big deer, Like you know, I may 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:32.200 take the entire big picture, the fact that I have 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:34.880 deer like this to hunt for granted, but every time 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:38.159 it happens, I am still as blown away as anybody 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:40.880 else that it all came together. There's just you know 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:43.359 when when people are watching the videos and stuff like, 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:47.080 it comes across easy, it comes across as nothing to it, 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:49.880 just another another day in the office type of thing. 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:53.160 But like living in it, for me, it's unreal how 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:56.880 many factors have to come together to make this work? 0:05:57.480 --> 0:05:59.800 And uh, you know, every time it happens, I'm blown away, 0:05:59.839 --> 0:06:03.360 like how ask how did that happen? Every single time, 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:06.240 even though it's happened you know a number of times now. 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:09.760 So so yeah, it's fun, but that's it's a lot. 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:12.440 It's so funny you say that. I still feel the 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:12.960 same way. 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:15.640 It seems like every time I kill a buck, I 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:18.000 think to myself, I can't believe that just happened, No 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:20.800 way that just happened. It always seems so impossible. The 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:22.840 next buck, You're always like, oh, I'm never gonna get 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:24.320 one again. It's never gonna it's never gonna come, never, 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:27.479 never gonna get this deer. And then it does, and Nick, 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:29.640 you said, you're shocked. So I guess that's why we 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:33.560 love it so much, because sometimes it seems so impossible, 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:38.120 so challenging, and then every once in a while, magic 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:42.159 happens and the stars aligne and it comes together that's right. 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:43.560 And you hope it never gets old. 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:45.120 Yeah, exactly. 0:06:46.000 --> 0:06:50.360 So I think this sets the stage well for the 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:52.120 main thing I did want to talk to you about, 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:55.679 which was what seems to be a pretty significant part 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:58.880 of how you have this success year in and year out. 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:00.479 I mean, I've been seeing you do it. Folks have 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:02.120 been seeing you do it for years and years and 0:07:02.200 --> 0:07:07.120 years now, and as I've watched your deer hunting trajectory 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:10.000 since I don't know, I probably what was the first 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:11.280 year you were on Midwest Whitetail. 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:11.800 Do you remember? 0:07:12.720 --> 0:07:13.560 Twenty ten? 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:16.920 Okay, yeah, so I was watching back then, so that's 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:21.560 when I probably would have started following your story. You know, 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:26.080 I've seen how you use trail cameras change and evolve 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:28.720 over time. I've seen how you take that information and 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:31.000 apply it to your hunts change and evolve over time. 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:33.000 And that has been true for all of us, right, 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:36.080 for some of us, we started deer hunting before trail 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:39.400 cameras were a thing, And then even for those people though, 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:42.680 who came into hunting in the trailcam era, it has 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:45.800 changed so much over the last five, ten, fifteen years. 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:48.480 What I wanted to do with you is kind of 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:52.880 cover your trail camera regimen today kind of from A 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:56.600 to Z everything you're doing from the off season into 0:07:56.680 --> 0:08:00.800 the season, everything from you know, your goals and your 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:03.480 setups and then how you use that information kind of 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:06.400 everything from here to there, and a little bit of 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:08.360 how that maybe has evolved over time, because I think, 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:11.200 you know, to my point, for some of us, it 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:13.600 has not just been one static thing that we've done 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:16.960 the same way for twenty years. So right with that money, 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:19.600 I want to start here. I want to get your 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:22.080 thoughts on this statement, kind of a truer false statement, 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:28.920 summer trail camera intel is overrated? True or false? 0:08:29.440 --> 0:08:30.280 What do you think about that? 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:35.640 All? Right? True? So a couple of reasons come to mind. One, 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:39.000 you know, I think there I should preface this, preface 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:40.880 it with this, like I do think there are stuff 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:42.920 that you can take and apply from the summer to 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:46.200 the fall, but so often things change so much from 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:48.960 the summer to fall. I would venture to guess that 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:55.520 ninety percent of the deer that I ultimately end up 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:58.160 hunting I don't get picked a single picture of in 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:01.640 the summer, not a single picture, And the ones that 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:05.560 I do, it's maybe half a dozen pictures are less 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:10.000 in the summer compared to fall, and I think it's 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:12.160 you know, it's a combination of a couple of things. 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:15.600 The areas I hunt are just better fall habitat, Like 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:18.440 you know, that thicker cover. It just seems to me 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:23.240 the bigger, more mature bucks especially don't like that type 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:26.280 of cover in the summer. And they're simply not in 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:28.880 the areas where I'm running cameras or can run cameras, 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:31.920 right and two, Like, I think they just don't move 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:35.400 and travel as great a distances in the summer, which 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:37.120 if you're not on the X, you're not going to 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:40.600 get pictures of them if your camera's not on the X. 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:43.559 So I think those two things play a big part 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:46.640 of it. What I love to watch a deer grow 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:48.920 as Antler's the entire thing, and you know, get the 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:52.440 big double picks, of course, but I would rather have 0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:54.840 it this way where I don't get them in the summer, 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:56.839 but get them in the fall when that can actually 0:09:56.920 --> 0:10:00.240 help them. So yeah, I don't take a whole lot 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:02.160 of stock other than the fact I will say this, 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:06.679 if I do start getting a buck in the summer 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:11.080 or get him early, I do feel like my chances 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:15.040 slightly increase of a higher number of encounters in the fall, 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:17.480 Like he's going to be on me more often in 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:21.040 the fall if I can keep him, if he's close 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:25.640 during the summertime. It just seems still last few bucks 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:29.120 that's happened on has kind of played out that way. 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:32.040 And sometimes it's a year by year like it's it's 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:34.720 the same book. But you know, one summer I get 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:38.800 nothing of him, just fall pictures encounters, and then you know, 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:42.000 maybe he turns five or five years old or something 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:44.520 and he maybe strengths his core range I'm not real sure, 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:49.600 or relocates the summer range for whatever reason, but it's 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:53.439 has tended to lead towards more sightings and encounters in 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:55.280 the fall when I do see them in the summer. 0:10:57.080 --> 0:11:00.480 Have you ever you know, knowing that the deer that 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:03.960 you typically get in the summer disappear. Have you ever 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:07.640 gotten a buck on camera in the summer and tried 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:10.640 to change that? So gotten a buck and you're like, oh, man, 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:13.319 this buck is so special that I need to either 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:17.160 find him when he find where he's moving to in 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:18.840 the fall so I can keep hunting him. So you 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:21.440 go into some kind of trying to find new permission 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:23.200 try to find him in the fault or number two, 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:25.720 have you ever saw a deer and thought, Okay, I 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:29.040 need to change my habitat plan or something to try 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:30.840 to keep this deer here, even though I know he'll 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:33.320 probably leave. I got to pull some kind of monkey 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:35.640 out of my back pocket here. Have either of those 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:36.400 two things happened? 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:40.760 Not really On the first one, I've never never went 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:43.360 and found a deer and then got permission to kill him. 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:47.680 Like I've always only hunted deer on properties I already 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:50.040 have permission to hunt, or the property I own, or 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:53.200 whatever may be the case. I've never went backwards where 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:55.560 you find the deer and knock on doors. So not 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:58.240 necessarily the first part, but the second part, for sure. 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.000 It's the reason I continue to run cameras the entire year. 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:06.000 You know, I don't just because I don't get pictures 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:08.679 of very many of them, typically in the summer, doesn't 0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:12.600 mean I'm not trying, right, So, because the reason is this, 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:15.480 I've had this happen a couple of times. One. You know, 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:18.360 sometimes you get a picture of a deer, just even 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:22.640 just one picture in late June or early July, just 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:25.360 enough to know which deer it is, and maybe you 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:28.080 thought he was dead, or maybe you hadn't seen him 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:33.480 an over you know, a full season that changes the game, 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:35.560 or maybe it's a deer that you didn't expect to 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:37.480 make a big jump, but he did make a big jump. 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:41.120 The earlier you get that intel, the further ahead you 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:43.880 put yourself in the game of that. So, whether that's 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:47.360 planning a specific food plot for him, whether that's some 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:51.880 extra scouting time, whether that's getting permission like you mentioned 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:56.520 on nearby properties just to maximize your your huntable area. 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:00.360 Just the earlier in the year that that happens, you're 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:03.800 you're you're giving yourself a pretty significant advantage compared to 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:06.680 wait and getting that picture in September, and at that time, 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:09.000 it's kind of like you're you're you're going to have 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:10.760 to just go with what you know at that time. 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:14.840 So that's that's the reason I continue to run them, 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:17.719 But I do try to do things on the properties 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:24.120 that I have the ability to just add more options 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:26.120 for them to want to spend more time on the property, 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:29.640 whether that's better summer time food sources, you know, like 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:32.640 your your high forge, high protein type stuff or clover 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:35.400 chickory plots, you know, if I can give them a 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:39.040 couple more reasons to even just pop in on occasion 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:41.040 just to kind of let me know they're alive, or 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:44.400 you know, I've seen it where I have changed or 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:46.320 it just seemed like I had no food, the deer 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:48.280 weren't there in the summer, and I added good summer 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:50.840 food and I've had a couple of bucks kind of 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:55.000 core up. So yeah, I definitely try to do that 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:57.960 because I do think you create an advantage for yourself. 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:05.560 So it seems like major goal is just establishing presence, 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:08.760 like who's here, who's hopefully going to stay, who maybe 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:11.480 isn't gonna stay, but but basically confirming dead or alive, 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:12.960 and who's gonna be around hopefully. 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:14.600 Do you ever. 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:19.040 Learn something more than that from summer cameras? Have you 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:23.880 ever found a behavioral pattern or a trend or anything 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:26.680 else you know that has helped you during hunts, Because 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:29.080 I feel like a lot of people, especially when I 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:31.400 was younger, when I was just getting into this, I 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:33.680 would have these summer pictures and I'd see all this 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:36.160 bucks coming in and out of this swamp, and he's 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:38.920 feeding in this bean field, and when I was twenty one, 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:40.880 I thought, oh man, that's gonna be where I'm gonna 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:42.640 kill him, And then I realized that doesn't hold up 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:44.960 for all the reasons you already stated. But is there 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:47.920 anything that does that? Is there anything you can learn 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:51.560 from a summer photo or series of photos that can 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:54.080 in some other way help with hunting other than what 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:55.280 you mentioned already. 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:58.840 Yeah, one thing comes to mind. I think it's I 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:01.840 think it's very small in general what you can learn 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:05.840 from summertime, but a couple of things. I guess one 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:10.480 would be I enjoy seeing how they interact with other bucks, 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:13.880 especially I think you can learn a lot about the 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:18.320 behavior and maturity and kind of social hierarchy of a buck, 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:20.560 especially in the summer when they are hanging out with 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:24.720 other bucks. So I think that that would be one. 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:27.200 And then two, I can think of a couple of 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:30.760 examples of bucks that you know, we think about summertime 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:34.240 being this time of bachelor groups, and it's very common 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:37.560 to see that. But I've had a couple of bucks where, 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:40.400 even during the summer they were loaners, I never saw 0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:44.800 them with other bucks, and that usually held true into 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:47.440 the fall too, where you know, you would think you 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:50.560 have a pretty good betting area and like this would 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:54.320 be a good spot for a buck to core up. 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:57.680 And this loaner type of personality. Buck just doesn't just 0:15:58.360 --> 0:16:00.640 you know, he's by himself in the summer, buy himself 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:04.760 off all and basically until late season when the deer 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:07.480 become a little more concentrated. But it just seemed like 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:10.600 he had the loner personality. So I'd say those are 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:12.880 the two things that at least in my experience, I've 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:16.520 seen that I could learn from summertime encounters. 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:20.680 Okay, so summertime cameras, when do you like to put 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:23.760 them out? And what's you know, after doing this for 0:16:23.800 --> 0:16:26.800 so many years, what is your go to absolute best 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:29.440 type of location to set them up? And how do 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:31.720 you dial in that setup for a summer setup. 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:37.200 Yeah, so the timing at least by the beginning of June. 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:41.400 You know, obviously there's a few months there where you're 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:44.440 likely not going to recognize a deer anyways, you know, 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:47.280 if you're trying to get intel unless there's some type 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:52.560 of markings are very distinct characteristics. But at least by 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:55.440 the beginning of June, when they're starting to pack on 0:16:55.480 --> 0:16:58.720 some some of that growth. I like to have them 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:05.880 out by then a couple of different locations. But and this, 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:09.680 this one's tough because you know, you want to think 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:12.560 about summertime food soores where the deer is spending time. 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:18.840 And we always as hunters think high activity areas, right, 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:21.760 like what we know as high activity areas, whether that's 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:28.280 food source, trail pitch whatever. I've gotten the most summertime 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:33.960 pictures of at least bigger deer in the most random locations, 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:39.080 Like it could be a little island of trees out 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:42.160 in the middle of nowhere, protected by big tall canary 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:45.600 grass all around, and and like you're not gonna get 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:48.040 very many pictures because there's a lot of times in 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:51.040 those areas there's nothing to like dictate the movement or 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:55.719 or or funnel down the movement, you know, so some 0:17:56.240 --> 0:17:58.639 I would say, more often than not, those those areas 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:02.160 tend to be a bust. But with that being said, 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:04.760 that's where I get the pictures of the of the 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:07.200 best bucks in the summer, just a spot where they 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:12.240 can be out away from everything, high level cover. That's 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:15.199 the other thing too, Like it just seems like I 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:18.119 don't get anything in the thickest spots. You know, they 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:21.919 want the high canopy, you know, shade or tall grass 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.600 kind of protecting them. I think they try to. It 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:26.600 almost seems like obviously it's hard to say this, but 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.120 it seems like they find areas to kind of tuck 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:33.560 away from bugs, to like kind of bury themselves in 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:38.320 grass almost. But yeah, very very random places. Where is 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:41.080 where I've picked up the most mature bucks, but for 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:43.760 a number of like a higher number of images and 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:47.240 occasionally getting that that goodyear. I like to be near 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:51.400 soybean fields this time of year. I really like if 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:55.679 you can find a spot where corn and soybeans intersect 0:18:56.840 --> 0:19:00.639 or along that edge is another good spot. You got 0:19:00.760 --> 0:19:03.879 to think, like this time of yere the forage and 0:19:04.280 --> 0:19:08.159 the vegetation is so tall and deer as we know 0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:12.240 from from fall trail camp placement. Like they they like 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:14.080 to take the path of leash resistance. So if you 0:19:14.080 --> 0:19:16.200 can find little things like that, like like I said, 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:18.359 the edge of a corn and beanfield there's a little 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:22.600 bit of gap there, or like even like sprayer tracks 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:27.080 that you know where an agricultural sprayer left a soybean 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:30.240 field and it leaves that kind of big bigger gap 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:33.480 between soybeans. If that enters into the woods, like that's 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:35.400 a really good spot where the deer going to come 0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:37.920 in and kind of take that easier path rather than 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:43.240 just walking through you know, waste chest high beans. So yeah, 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:45.560 little stuff like that. It kind of varies by property, 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:47.640 but those are some of my favorite spots as we 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:49.520 as we sit right now in mid. 0:19:49.400 --> 0:20:04.320 July, the kind of off the beaten path random spots. 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:07.719 Have you just found a handful of those kinds of 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:11.480 locations by chance over the years or do you seek 0:20:11.520 --> 0:20:13.640 that out? And like, no, on any in any given year, 0:20:13.720 --> 0:20:16.520 you're gonna throw some flyers out there, You're gonna put 0:20:16.520 --> 0:20:18.600 some cameras in really weird places that you have no 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:19.399 idea what's out there. 0:20:19.400 --> 0:20:21.119 But you do that on purpose just to try to 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:21.960 find that kind of thing. 0:20:22.680 --> 0:20:25.280 I do it now on purpose, but I initially learned 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:29.159 it from jumping deer. Like if I'm out on a 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:32.439 property doing work or traveling through a property to to 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:36.560 do something, like I think about the areas that I've 0:20:36.680 --> 0:20:38.960 jumped the bucks out of their bed in the middle 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:41.320 of the day, and it's just like, man, what is 0:20:41.359 --> 0:20:43.840 he doing way out there? You know? Like you know, 0:20:43.920 --> 0:20:47.440 one that comes to mind. I have the one property 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:50.960 that I least I won lease and there's just there's 0:20:51.040 --> 0:20:56.320 probably seven trees in this island surrounded by marsh and 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:00.840 canary grass. I mean nothing for probably a radius of 0:21:02.119 --> 0:21:04.399 two hundred and fifty yards, not another tree, but this 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:07.320 little high it sat up just a little bit. That's 0:21:07.359 --> 0:21:10.600 why there are trees growing there, and the buck just 0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:12.800 bedded right in the middle of that. Actually, I think 0:21:12.800 --> 0:21:16.000 there was probably a couple of them. But that's that's 0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:19.200 the kind of example of a location where just over 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:22.760 the years I jumped up enough bucks in those scene 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:24.520 kind of random, but if you start to think about 0:21:24.520 --> 0:21:26.760 it makes a little bit of a little bit of sense. 0:21:28.119 --> 0:21:30.800 But that's why I started targeting those locations. And like 0:21:30.840 --> 0:21:35.000