By Ryan Fair 

 

There’s no better way to kick off the month of July then to get your trail cameras out to start locating bachelor groups and track down your next target buck. Sure, bucks have been growing antlers since the end of May, but July is the month we can really start to tell what kind of potential they will have as far as antler growth goes.

Let’s break down all the things you need to know to kick off velvet fest while we all wait patiently for the start of deer season. 

 Trail camera tips and placement

Let’s start with the cameras themselves. The first of July came with a big announcement from Tactacam with the release of the new Revel 3.0’s. they couldn’t have released a new camera at a better time. These cameras are some of the best on the market for picture quality and reliability. But why should you have them out now? With only a few short months till many seasons start to open, July is the best time to get your eyes on your target buck. Bucks are starting to put on some serious antler and are frequent flyers at their summer hangouts. These are the spots you want to have your cell cameras collecting valuable intel daily. 

It may take a little time behind the Vortex spotting scope to locate some of these spots, but we will cover more on scouting later. The go to spots we like to hang our Revels are places we are unable to watch from a distance. The first place is over our Trophy Rocks from Redmond Hunt. Bucks will seek out these mineral sites to help balance out their diets, so naturally this is a great place to hang a camera. The next spot is Creek crossings. These cool areas are frequented by deer daily to keep cool and get a drink. This makes for another great place to monitor what’s showing up. The last spot that is hard to monitor from a distance is funnels and trials leading to a food plot. Our Rakk Fuel clover plots are getting hammered hard this time of year by both bucks and does. Monitoring travel routes to and from these food plots can help to start putting the puzzle pieces together for an opening day bow hunt before patterns shift.  

When hanging cameras there are a few things to keep in mind. The first is batteries and SD cards. Make sure you use the biggest SD card you can for your camera. This will save you from disturbing the area because your card is full. The same goes with batteries. If you can run a solar panel that is your best bet, if not I would recommend lithium batteries. They last 4 times longer than alkalizes and provide constant power until they die. While on the topic of batteries make sure you change your camera settings to only send pictures once or twice a day. This is another great way to conserve battery power. 

When heading in to hang your cameras I would suggest taking a good hand saw and a little bottle of round up. This allows you to clear out the area in front of your camera and prevents weeds from growing up after you leave. This will help prevent false triggers. I also like to soak my camera straps with permethrin to keep unwanted bugs such as ants away. If you ever seen the damage ants can do to a camera you will know what I mean. Lastly, make sure your camera is aimed in the exact location you want. There is nothing worse than getting your first images sent to your camera to find out you should have faced it a different direction. Our Revel Pro's have a built-in screen that allows us to see exactly what the camera sees before ever leaving the woods. 

 

Summer Scouting

There is nothing better than taking a ride in the side by side or truck cruising the back country roads looking for bucks. This is one of my favorite past times to do in the summer months leading up to deer season. It is best to head out about an hour before sunset to start looking. There are a few key places to check, but keep in mind they are deer so they could pop up anywhere so always be looking. The number one spot I will check every time is a bean field, alfalfa field, or other food source especially if it has a hard-edge meeting up with timber. The next spot is a food plot that can be observed without spooking any deer. Lastly, I like to check thickets or other preferred bedding areas in my location.

The best way to find these spots without burning up too much fuel is to study a topo map like Spartan Forage. It will allow you to locate areas deer will want to be before you ever leave. I like to look for bedding locations, creek crossings, and small patches of remote timber. These are all locations that bucks like to frequent. You can even mark these locations on your app if you are using one to make finding them easier. 

There are a few things you still want to keep in mind when summer scouting. Keep a far enough distance from the bucks that you don’t spook or disturb their natural movement. That is easy to do with a good set of binoculars or spotting scope. That’s why we prefer Vortex Optics, they are crystal clear and allow us to observe from a distance. Keep your wind in mind. Bucks still rely on the wind to alert them to danger in the summer months. If you don’t believe me, get up wind of a bachelor group and let me know how long they stick around. Lastly, remember bachelor groups are usually made up of 3 to 8 bucks. Once you locate one or two hang tight. The bigger bucks will stick to cover till closer to dark. Most importantly though, remember to have fun. 

Here are some Discount Codes to help you save some money on these great brands!

Tactacam - WCH10

Redmond Hunt - WCH15

Rakk Fuel - WCHUNTER