Tips & Tactics

Trail Cam Tip: Don’t Just Pile It On

Trail Cam Tip: Don’t Just Pile It On

By Gail McKee

For those of you who use trail cameras like I do, I think you'll find this tip very useful. It might become part of your standard operating procedure when it comes to capturing images of whitetails.

I've noticed deer will stay longer in front of my camera if I take a moment to broadcast the corn and other attractants instead of just dumping it in a big pile like many hunters do.

I've found a 10-foot by 20-foot area of distribution to be the best for persuading deer to linger in front of the lens.

Make sure to test your camera’s panorama and make notes of just how wide you can go and still keep the deer in frame. Try not to broadcast outside this area.

White-tailed deer love carrots, so I like to cut up several into 1/2- to 1-inch pieces and broadcast those as well as corn, feed and other commercial attractants.

This method of broadcasting (as opposed to piling) has worked very well with the deer I experiment with in my backyard, and I bet it will work well for your hunting area, too.

Please note the deer I photograph and attract to my backyard are reserved for my family's viewing pleasure. I wouldn't consider it fair to hunt any of those that live close to my house.

Another important reason to spread out your feed is to keep deer from eating from the same pile, which is known to spread diseases.

We need to do everything we can in today’s deer environment when it comes to preventing the spread of diseases that are contagious among whitetails.

– Editor’s Note by Tim H. Martin

In addition to Gail McGee’s tips for keeping deer around trail cameras longer, we received a good one a couple of weeks ago.

It was submitted by Buckmasters fan, Jeff Maynard, and it will help deer linger in a jiff. You can read his tip by clicking here.

If you have a unique or special tip you’d like to share with Buckmasters fans, please email it to huntingtips@buckmasters.com and, if chosen, we will send you a cap signed by Jackie Bushman, along with a knife!

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