WEBVTT - Ep. 1049: Then vs. Now: 15 Years of Trailcam Tactic Evolution with Dan Johnson 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. 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:22.040 Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast. 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:24.760 This week on the show, I'm joined by Dan Johnson 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:28.640 to discuss how our trail camera strategies have evolved over 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:37.360 the last fifteen years and where exactly we've landed now today. 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:43.519 All right, welcome back to another episode of the Wired 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:46.040 to Hunt podcast, brought to you by Moultrie. 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:47.960 This week we're talking trailcams. 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:50.559 I think, at least in my life, the month of 0:00:50.640 --> 0:00:53.600 July has always signified the beginning. 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:58.000 Of cameras really being a part of just that kickoff 0:00:58.040 --> 0:00:58.880 of the new season. 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:00.880 July is when I feel you can really tell what 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:03.720 a buck's going to be. The velvet's really picking up steam. 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:05.600 You want to get cameras out, you want to get 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:08.480 out there and looking at bean fields or alfalfa fields. 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:12.240 It's all just starting to happen. And so with that mind, 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:14.840 I wanted to kick off a series of episodes here 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:19.120 over the next couple weeks. Diving more deeply into trail cameras, 0:01:19.400 --> 0:01:21.560 and I wanted to start with this conversation with my 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:24.960 buddy Dan by looking backwards a little bit and looking 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:28.360 at how both Dan Johnson and I have used trail 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:31.080 cameras over the last fifteen to twenty years since the 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:34.000 two of us started riffing on this stuff publicly and together, 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:37.200 and exploring what we've learned along the way, what we 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:40.640 found worked, what didn't work, What kinds of things do 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:43.800 we throw to the wayside, what do we double down on, 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:47.000 and now where do we stand today, what tactics and 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:50.760 strategies are we actually using still now in twenty twenty six, 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:53.960 especially as the technology and cameras has changed so much. 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:57.600 Right fifteen years ago, twenty years ago, it was standard cameras. 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:00.880 Now it's almost impossible not to be using a cell camera, 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:04.680 and in some ways cellcams seem to be swallowing the 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:07.280 deer hunting world, and that's something that Dan and I 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:09.280 want to try to make sense of a little bit 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:11.960 too in this episode. So we're going to discuss our 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:15.320 summer camera strategies, everything from when we put them out 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:17.040 to where we put them out, to why we put 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:19.640 them out and then we move into in season camera 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:23.920 used too, thinking through our goals, our placement strategies, the 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:26.919 actual settings we use in the setups that we create. 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:29.520 And then also how do we think about cell cams 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:32.919 and the questions that they can or cannot answer and 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:35.800 maybe should or should not answer. I think that's an 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:38.680 important part of this conversation too. So, whether you are 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:41.000 new to deer hunting and trial cameras or have been 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:43.639 doing this for decades just like Dan and I, I'm 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:46.440 hoping this will be helpful and interesting to you. So, 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:49.480 like I mentioned, Dan Johnson is the guest today. He 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:52.600 is a longtime member of the Wired Hunt family. He 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:55.200 helped co host for some early years of the podcast. 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:58.160 He runs the nine Finger Chronicles show and plenty of 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:00.680 other amazing work over there in his podcast networks. So 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:02.760 check it out and tune in to the rest of 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:06.519 this chat or an interesting conversation about trail cameras. Then 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:14.560 and now, all right with me on the line is 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:16.320 mister Dan Johnson. 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:17.519 Welcome back to the show, buddy. 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:20.040 It's been a while, mister Kenyon. 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:23.200 I'm glad we're a while. I'm glad we're doing it. 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:25.040 I like how every once in a while, you gotta 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:27.560 slum it. You gotta call me up and slum it 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:28.240 a little bit. 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:34.720 No, No, it's like, well, that's a joke I can't make. 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:39.720 It's just good. It's just really good. As what I'll say. 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:42.240 It's like it's like you meet someone you went to 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:44.840 high school with that but you never hung out with 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:47.280 at like a Walmart or a Target or something, and 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:50.240 you you make eye contact with each other, you don't 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:53.360 want to have the conversation, and so now it's just 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:56.480 just forced awkward conversation where it's like. 0:03:56.440 --> 0:03:57.520 Hey, what are you up to? 0:03:57.680 --> 0:03:57.760 Oh? 0:03:57.880 --> 0:03:59.320 Nothing, just got out of rehab. 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:03.160 It's like, oh cool, did you just get out of rehabs? 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:04.080 No? 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:07.920 Nope, No, how in all seriousness, how are you? 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:09.920 I'm good, dude, I'm good. How are you? 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:11.000 Same? 0:04:11.440 --> 0:04:17.320 Just just the the chaos of summer and kids and 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:19.760 other stuff going on in life right now. I don't 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:21.800 I don't have all the sport craziness that sounds like 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:24.880 you have, but a lot of fishing business with my 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:25.560 kids right now. 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:28.479 Yeah, that's one thing that we have not been able 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:33.200 to do a lot of this year. Between my last year, 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:36.720 I felt like we almost we almost had like too 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:39.159 much time sitting around and we're just like, hey, you 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:41.800 want to go hop over to my you know, my 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:46.760 neighbor down the street is her dad owns a piece 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:49.000 of property outside of town that has a pond on it. 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:52.080 So we go fishing their blue gills and bass and whatnot. 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:54.359 And just you know, go out there for about forty 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:56.560 five minutes throw you know, are they biting or not? 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:59.400 Then leave, come back home after all the sports are done. 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:05.720 But this year I do between traveling for my daughter's 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:08.760 uh you know, wrestling, like we were in Indiana a 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:12.239 couple of weeks ago for that, and then both boys 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:15.560 are in travel baseball right now. It's just it's stupid, 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:17.560 how like busy we are. 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:20.320 Yeah, I feel like I'm in this this little bit 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:22.720 of a sweet spot where we're busy with stuff, but 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:24.960 not all the crazy sports stuff yet. 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:25.480 Yeah. 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:28.800 So yeah, the boys their goal when summer break started 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:31.960 was to fish every day a summer break, and we 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:34.120 haven't quite hit it, but it's been pretty close. 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:37.080 Yeah, that's a hefty one, but that's the kind of 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:38.960 goal where you're like, let's see. 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:41.120 If we can do it, you know like that. Yeah, 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:41.839 I'm on board. 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:43.640 I'm on board. So it's been good. 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:46.760 They've they've been getting after it's been fun. Cult the 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:50.200 youngest has never been quite as obsessed with all the 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:53.240 hunting and fishing stuff as ever it has been. Yeah, 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:55.920 and this year it's like you can see the lights 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:57.760 starting to turn on more and more and he's like 0:05:57.880 --> 0:05:59.839 on his own, excited to be doing it, and so 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:03.839 doing tons of just getting their tackle boxes out in 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:06.839 the living room, taking everything out, looking at everything. They're 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:11.279 testing out lures in the bathtub. They're they're bartering and 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:12.440 trading between each other. 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:13.560 It's hilarious. 0:06:13.880 --> 0:06:14.720 Yeah, yep. 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:19.080 So my oldest boy, he's the outdoorsman of all the 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:23.040 all the kids, and he's done the same thing. He 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:27.240 also tries because my father in law is a really 0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:32.600 hardcore fisherman and he's always like, hey, Grandpa, what are 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:32.920 you doing? 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:34.360 You want to come hang out? 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:37.200 And what that is is it's code for take me 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:40.279 to a bait shop so I can buy tackle and 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:43.960 hooks and all that stuff. So he's he's working the system. 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:44.800 Smart kid. 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:45.880 Yep, yep. 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:48.240 Well that's uh. 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:51.880 I feel like this is all kind of in a 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:54.719 certain way relevant to what I wanted to talk to 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:59.960 you about. Mostly today, which is something that used to 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:05.120 consume almost all of my summer and now maybe not 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:08.839 as much as it's different now, and that being trail cameras. 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:10.640 And so when I start thinking about how my summer 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:14.440 trail camera kind of routine has changed over the years, 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:17.240 I got to think and like, man, a lot has 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:21.760 changed about how I think about cameras, how I use cameras, 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:25.280 like like even like the literal specific settings I use 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:27.600 on my cameras and where I place them, and everything 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:34.280 from goals to actual application has changed a ton. Despite 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:36.720 the fact that we talk about, you know, trail cameras 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:39.280 as being this like ubiquitous thing that everybody uses and 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:41.640 that is such a huge part of everybody's strategy, I 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:44.160 do feel like there's been a lot of change within that. 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:47.960 And you and I have been talking about this together 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:52.400 for you know, around fifteen years now or almost that. 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:55.760 So I got to think, and maybe you and I 0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:58.880 should talk that through for ourselves. You know, have how 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:03.240 our trail cameras he's evolved over time? Where do we start? 0:08:03.280 --> 0:08:04.000 Where are we now? 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:05.480 What are those lessons we've learned? 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:07.880 And I think that might be a useful thing because 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:09.320 a lot of people just look at it like it 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:10.880 as an assumed like, oh yeah, you just have to 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:13.680 do it this way, or they started using it twenty 0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:15.400 years ago or fifteen years ago in a certain way 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:17.120 and they're still kind of doing the same thing because 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:18.400 that's what was told to them then. 0:08:19.360 --> 0:08:20.560 So that's that's my idea. 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:23.480 You and I have been we've been jarring about this 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:28.360 for approaching two decades. What's different now? Do you feel 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:30.800 like there's much difference when you look back on your 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:32.920 trail camera evolution? Does it feel like you're in a 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:34.360 different place now? I? 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:40.720 Well, definitely, dude. Turkey season used to be for me, 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:44.840 go out turkey hunt, don't mineral put up trail cameras, 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:48.160 and then the entire spring. I can remember years when 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:52.640 I was watching deer sprout nubs, you know what I mean, 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:56.760 And even to the point where maybe even late shed season, 0:08:56.760 --> 0:08:58.959 I would get a camera out and just throw it 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:01.240 on an inside owner of a field to see what 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:05.080 was going on, right, and you'd see the just the 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:09.440 nubs grow, or to document when it was time for 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:12.120 me to go out and start shed hunting seriously, right, 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:16.080 And so back then it was a three one hundred 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:20.800 and sixty five day deal, but now it's not even close. 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:24.040 Like I have right outside my door. 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:27.120 In here, I have this gear room and it has 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:29.520 all of my trail cameras sitting in a box right now. 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:31.760 Not all of them, but majority of them are sitting 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:33.960 in there. I have a couple out in the woods 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:36.800 that are out of batteries right now, and I need 0:09:36.840 --> 0:09:41.080 to go and you know, do the thing. But I 0:09:41.240 --> 0:09:43.720 feel like not to get ahead of myself here, but 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:47.080 like there was a tipping point for me, and the 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:51.240 tipping point was when I needed to become more efficient 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:55.280 in my time because of kids and family and other responsibilities. 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:59.640 And then when you learn, for like the summertime, right 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:03.200 the summertime, look at all these awesome velvet bucks on 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:04.800 my farm. Look at all of them, Oh my god, 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:06.880 look at this mineral site, and they're just crushing this 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:11.000 mineral site. And then the velvet comes off and none 0:10:11.040 --> 0:10:12.559 of those deer are around anymore. 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:14.120 There's the shift. 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:17.840 And I think when me and you started talking about 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:22.839 identifying bucks coming off of their summer patterns and going 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:27.200 into their fall routines and breaking up bachelor groups, that's 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:31.320 when I was like, velvet pictures are awesome, but they 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:34.640 don't mean anything to me anymore, as like back in 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:36.560 the day, it's like, oh, this buck's in the area 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:41.640 September hits, No he's not. And now it's just try 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:43.000 to get them out. So I get a couple of 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:46.600 cool velvet picks. I want to document, you know what, 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:51.160 deer in the area, just because it's kind of cool. Honestly, 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:54.040 I have a trail camera sponsorship too, so I got like, 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:56.720 I got to check some of those dumb boxes. 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:56.920 You know what I mean. 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:04.120 But it's all about getting them set up for like hardhorns, 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:06.600 and that's kind of what that's kind of where I'm 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:09.560 at right now, is just like getting them out do 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:11.240 a little anyway. 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:13.120 That's where I'm at. That's where I'm at. 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:15.560 Well, that's a good setup because the first thing I 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:18.880 did want to explore was was kind of summer time first, 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:21.440 because I was like, you like, I looked at summer 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:25.480 trail camera season as this massive chunk of the year 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:28.640 and it was a really important part of that year. 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:34.640 And I do feel differently about it now, not maybe 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:40.439 not maybe entirely. It's not entirely irrelevant, but it's substantially 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:43.240 less critical than I used to think of it, I would. 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:44.120 I would say, like. 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:49.760 Back in the day, my summer trail camera goals were 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:52.240 very similar to you know what I thought My goals 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:54.360 were with cameras throughout the whole rest of the season too, 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:56.920 which is like, tell me what bucks are here, tell 0:11:56.960 --> 0:11:58.880 me how good this area is, tell me how big 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:01.680 the deer are, tell me what areas I need to 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:04.000 be hunting, tell me everything is what I thought it 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:05.520 was going to tell me. And then you know, as 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:09.760 you alluded, I eventually learned that, you know, the shift 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:13.880 happens so much changes between summer and fall, so many 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:17.120 you know, the individual patterns, the regions and the property 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:20.760 that you use, all of that stuff can be so different. Ye. 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:25.520 That said, though, I do still find some value in 0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:30.400 it today, and I think like my goals now are 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:35.360 just kind of establishing a vibe almost, And I guess 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:37.599 twofold one is like a vibe of a place. So 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:40.600 if I'm in a new area, the summer cameras will 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:43.400 give me a little bit of a possible preview of 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:45.520 what's to come, like just a sense of what might 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:48.560 be possible out here. There's some properties that I've found. 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:53.120 I'm sure you've seen right where there might be different 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:55.920 deer in the summer and then different deer in the fall, 0:12:57.360 --> 0:12:59.599 but there will be some bucks there, right, It's not 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:03.400 like there's zero and then a bunch. So, yeah, buck 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:06.960 X that's here now, that might be a mile away 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:07.440 in the future. 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:09.439 I think it still tells you something about the region. 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:11.040 If you know it, Oh, there's a bunch of five 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:13.880 year olds in here in the summer, that probably means 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:16.080 that the rest of the area has something like that. 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:19.880 I just don't get too hung up on any one 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:25.120 particular buck. I feel like, now, you know, something like 0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:28.520 fifty or sixty percent of the bucks that I get 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:32.199 on camera in the summer probably though, are still around. 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:34.400 So there is maybe you know, maybe half for a 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:35.880 little bit more than half, that are going to be 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:38.720 around and so there is value in that at least 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:41.520 knowing like, hey, this buck is these bucks could be 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:43.439 around here, especially if it's a buck you know from 0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:46.560 previous years. That's when it does become useful, right because 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:48.280 you can say, oh, yeah, I know this buck's been 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:50.679 around here in the fall in the past. Now I 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.880 can confirm he's alive. Now all of a sudden, you've 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:56.480 got a month or two head start to start thinking 0:13:56.520 --> 0:13:58.920 about Okay, I know he's back. Now what do I 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:01.120 know from the last year or the year before? 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:04.520 Right, I have a specific example about that. I have 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:06.840 a new farm. It's new word. This is only like 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:10.080 my fifth year hunting. It coming up this year, and 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:15.719 there's been a big ten pointer who has showed up 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:19.480 the last three years. So he's on there right now. 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:22.040 My guess is we found the neighbor found a shed, 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:24.400 shared a picture of him, a picture of the shed 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:28.560 with me. I knew it's the same buck. So he 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:36.120 made it through March all right. Last two years, the 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:40.080 last two years he has showed up on or in 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:44.200 the summer on the mineral sites. Big giant buck disappears. 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:48.480 And so if I don't have my cameras out in 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:52.600 the summertime, I don't know about this buck. First off, 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:55.000 I just don't know about him. I go and I 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:57.400 put my trail cameras out on the farm. Let's just 0:14:57.440 --> 0:15:04.000 say October first, he shows up three different times throughout 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:08.440 between the last week of October and the second week 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:11.800 of November. This buck has some kind of routine that 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:14.520 I haven't figured out, and he's coming in like once 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:18.920 every seven days to this one do betting area and 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:21.560 he comes in I'm gonna guess like once every seven 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:26.520 days on a northwest wind, And so I set up 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:30.920 a tree stand for that northwest wind this March before 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:36.520 the knee surgery. And now what does that summer picture 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:39.680 tell tell me? It tells me that he's alive and 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:43.560 I have an opportunity at this buck within this timeframe. 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:46.320 Which is pretty substantial to know. 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:49.160 That exactly and specific wind directions based off of what 0:15:50.240 --> 0:15:54.480 other pictures are telling me. So I basically gather all 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:58.880 that intel and I say, okay, a is this the 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:01.720 only buck that I want? If it is, then why 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:05.280 am I hunting? And that this betting area or here 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:11.040 at all until that timeframe hits? Okay, if that is 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:13.920 my number one target buck, if I'm a buck specific hunter, 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:16.520 I'm not going to go try to kill that buck 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:20.880 in early October at all, or during the mid October 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:25.360 October or even I mean maybe late October or not 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:28.400 late October, late November or December or whatever the case is. 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:33.400 But my goal then is those three weeks and finding 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:37.560 the right opportunity for those that three week period. But 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:39.200 if I don't have a summer picture, I don't know 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:41.280 if he's alive, and then at that point I'm going 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:44.000 in and I'm guessing if he's alive or not. 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:46.320 So well, that makes a big difference. If you can 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:50.760 confirm he's alive in July. Right now, all of a sudden, 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:54.160 you can use your weekends in July or August when 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:55.800 you maybe have a little bit of free time prior 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:57.840 to the season to do that work to prepare for it. 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:01.240 If you didn't have that month to a window of 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:04.800 possible work, now you're not finding out till October or November, 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:08.320 and you're just limited a little bit more limited in 0:17:08.359 --> 0:17:09.760 what you can do in that changes thing. So I 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:13.080 do I do really think there's value in that summer 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:16.919 kind of verification like oh, yeah, he's here, or he's not, 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:21.080 or this type of deer could be here. You know, 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:25.159 it's like a temperature check on a lot of things. 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:30.120 That said, though, I probably don't put out as many 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:33.000 cameras that I used to in the summer. I definitely 0:17:33.080 --> 0:17:34.960 don't obsess over them as much as I did in 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:39.199 the summer, and then I definitely have changed, you know, 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:43.399 actually the setup itself. I used to and this is 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:45.880 a little bit because of just like changes and regulations. 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:49.800 But I used to do the trophy rock or dump 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:52.480 some mineral or dump corn or whatever just in a 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:54.800 random place along a field and do a bunch of 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:56.359 that and then get a bunch of pictures of everything 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:59.639 and be really excited, you know, for that reason. And 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:01.600 then you know, in my home state Michigan, that just 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:03.840 became illegal, so we couldn't do that, and that that 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:06.600 just then forced me to take a different approach, which 0:18:06.680 --> 0:18:10.280 now I've just ended up taking that approach everywhere. To 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:12.040 keep it simple, I guess, and to stick with kind 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:15.600 of how I do things. So my typical summer camera 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:19.000 approach now is to have you know, a handful of 0:18:19.040 --> 0:18:23.000 cameras on any property or region couple in the summer, 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:25.919 and they're going to be focused on either like the 0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:29.960 best food, the best water, or some other thing that 0:18:30.000 --> 0:18:34.119 it's like that concentrator of summer activity. So that's like 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:36.800 the inside corner of a soybean field, or that's a 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:40.240 little watering hole. And then the one other thing I 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:46.280 would just say is that I was very indiscriminate, you know, 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:48.719 fifteen years ago, would that camera placement and just like 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:50.639 pick a good looking tree on a field edge and 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:51.040 go with it. 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:54.200 Yeah, when now it's. 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:56.639 Much more detail oriented and like trying to find this 0:18:57.160 --> 0:18:58.840 just like hunting. Like I'm trying to find the spot 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:00.879 within the spot. If I want to be on a 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:03.159 bean field, because I know they want to feed on 0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:05.439 those beans a lot in the summer. I'm trying to 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:10.520 find what is the best concentration of deer movement on 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:12.520 this soybean field going to be? So is it the 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:15.080 inside corner, Well, not just the inside corner, but then 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:19.919 that's also put it closest to that down portion of 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:21.879 the barbed wire fence that goes around it. That's going 0:19:21.960 --> 0:19:24.240 to concentrate deer a little bit more. And then oh, 0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:25.960 by the way, I'm also going to try to get 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:29.400 this licking branch in the frame too. I think that's 0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:32.439 because if you're not using an attractant or mineral to 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:35.120 get deer to come to you, you have to really 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:38.640 work hard to find the absolute best spot that they're 0:19:38.640 --> 0:19:42.000 going to pass through naturally to get that data point. 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:45.159 So I've just put a lot more time into getting 0:19:45.160 --> 0:19:47.040 that set up right. I don't put as many cameras up, 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:50.159 I don't spend as much time, I don't buy money 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:51.879 or use money to buy any of these attractives. But 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:54.600 I do put more time into those handful of cameras 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:58.520 per place, and I do think that has helped in 0:19:58.560 --> 0:20:02.280 the absence of the mineral or a tract. And I 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:04.360 definitely don't get as many pictures as as I would 0:20:04.400 --> 0:20:07.480 have gotten that stuff. You can't deny it gets a. 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:10.159 Lot of pictures, yeah, absolutely, but. 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:11.440 It's it's still made it. 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:14.480 I can still get useful information this summer without it 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:15.399 as it guess what I'm getting on. 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:19.320 And so for me, you know, like the example of 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:23.480 the bean field right, here's just what you've learned about 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:25.760 deer movement over the years. They're coming out at the 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:29.240 lowest let's say you meet a field, a field edge 0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:33.400 against a timber edge, right, a very hard transition. They're 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:39.040 coming out more than likely at the lowest topographical point 0:20:39.280 --> 0:20:42.520 in that field, right. And so I look at something 0:20:42.600 --> 0:20:45.240