Private Land/Game Cam Question

82ndAirborneVet

Four Pointer
Update:

I went out to the property today and followed the creek again to where I found that initial crossing previously mentioned, this crossing actually led me to a small sliver of land that has a concentration of oaks. I found a lot sign in this area, including old scrapes, the trail then led me to a bigger crossing across the main creek channel. A really big beaver dam was built upstream a bit shallowing the water out to a trickle. Plenty of tracks to and from in this section. I was really happy to find the bigger crossing and white oaks with a lot of sign. That was very encouraging.

I set up the mineral plot in that area and a trail cam viewing the plot.

I will hopefully be posting pictures later on.

Thanks again for providing the direction. I feel I am getting better and better each time in the woods.

Thanks.
Sounds great man.. congrats!
 

Ex Military

Eight Pointer
Hello All,

You all were very helpful to me in my first year hunting in NC. I deer hunted public land around jordan and learned quite a bit about scouting and locating deer etc, from this forum and boots on the ground experience.

Fortunately I just got access to private land (70 acres) 30 minutes from here. I am ecstatic as nobody deer hunts the land. The owner said only one other person has access to it and he is a turkey hunter. The owner uses the land for archery practice and ATV riding however he himself is not a hunter. He did confirm there are deer on the property.

The 70 acres has a creek running all around it and it is mostly hardwoods. The hardwood borders two fields which are on land I do not have access to. There is a thin line of trees connecting two areas of hardwoods between the fields, which is a pinchpoint. I have yet to go scout the area and setup game cams as I just got access today.

That said my questions are:
  1. Where should I set up the game cams? Is this mostly trial and error on new land?
  2. Where should I focus my scouting efforts? Around the creek that circiles the property and try and find potential crossings?
  3. Deer corn placement should be just outside those fields?
  4. What do I do if i run into someone hunting the property who doesnt have permission?
Thank you for the suggestions and any tips are always helpful. I am pumped.

Thanks

-Desert_Hawg
The best way to find a good place to hunt that property is to walk it. It's only 70 acres so it wouldn't be that much of a hike. Find where they are traveling the most. This is just my opinion but find a place between where they are going in and out of the food field if there is one. Don't know if you are hunting with bow or rifle but that would be a good place for me. I f you see somebody that ain't supposed to be there tell the land owner and call the police if you have to... Game Warden. Also i wouldn't put corn just outside of a corn filed. Just use what's there if there is enough of it and set up a stand or ground blind just inside the wood line somewhere.
 

Desert_hawg

Four Pointer
Update:

I went out this morning to put a lock on the trail camera. I also switched out the SD card to see what was on the property after 10 days. Now that the camera is locked, I plan on not being back to check the camera until early August.

I pulled some photos from the sd card camera after it had been out for 10 days. See the attached photos. My take aways from the photos are below:
  1. There are deer on the property
  2. They were not interested in my salt/mineral plot at all.
  3. They seemed to avoid the area due to my ground scent being so fresh after the 2nd day. Any deer moving through would pause sniff around and then leave the frame, no attention at all to the salt lick. One big bodied deer with small buttons on its head is clearly stomping the ground in alert. This was the day after I set up the trail cam.
  4. The trail cam caught a total of 5 deer. 2 bucks. The antlers looked like they are just now growing in on both and still looked liked buttons on one of them, but the buttons appear on a large body deer. See the deer in the close up image attatched below. It has buttons on its head and a large body. When do deer start growing their antlers in NC?
  5. All deer seemed very skittish due to my scent
  6. The trail the camera is set up is heavily used by other game, I saw raccoon, opossum, coyote, rabbit etc.
Do you all think the deer will return to normal patterns after a few weeks, or will they continue to avoid this area even though its a funnel and heavily used game trail. Thanks again for the tips.

See the attached photos below.
 

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georgeeebuck

Ten Pointer
Antlers should be growing and visible by now . That deer in the close up looks to be a very pregnant doe . She may be reacting to your scent or she may be hearing or seeing the camera ,who knows ? I would leave it alone or mount it higher above the line of sight. I bet they will find the minerals . Good luck !!
 

Desert_hawg

Four Pointer
Antlers should be growing and visible by now . That deer in the close up looks to be a very pregnant doe . She may be reacting to your scent or she may be hearing or seeing the camera ,who knows ? I would leave it alone or mount it higher above the line of sight. I bet they will find the minerals . Good luck !!

good to know. Ok will hang tight.
 

Ex Military

Eight Pointer
Update:

I went out this morning to put a lock on the trail camera. I also switched out the SD card to see what was on the property after 10 days. Now that the camera is locked, I plan on not being back to check the camera until early August.

I pulled some photos from the sd card camera after it had been out for 10 days. See the attached photos. My take aways from the photos are below:
  1. There are deer on the property
  2. They were not interested in my salt/mineral plot at all.
  3. They seemed to avoid the area due to my ground scent being so fresh after the 2nd day. Any deer moving through would pause sniff around and then leave the frame, no attention at all to the salt lick. One big bodied deer with small buttons on its head is clearly stomping the ground in alert. This was the day after I set up the trail cam.
  4. The trail cam caught a total of 5 deer. 2 bucks. The antlers looked like they are just now growing in on both and still looked liked buttons on one of them, but the buttons appear on a large body deer. See the deer in the close up image attatched below. It has buttons on its head and a large body. When do deer start growing their antlers in NC?
  5. All deer seemed very skittish due to my scent
  6. The trail the camera is set up is heavily used by other game, I saw raccoon, opossum, coyote, rabbit etc.
Do you all think the deer will return to normal patterns after a few weeks, or will they continue to avoid this area even though its a funnel and heavily used game trail. Thanks again for the tips.

See the attached photos below.
Antlers start growing in the summer. As far as the scent thing, that's why i say go out and scout now and see where they are coming in and out in a particular area and it sounds like maybe you have found that so get out now, let things calm down and the deer will be back and don't go back til maybe 3 weeks or so before you plan to hunt, put some corn out or just leave it as it is and set up some kind of stand or blind and don't go back out there til the day you plan to hunt and see what happens.
 

Desert_hawg

Four Pointer
Antlers start growing in the summer. As far as the scent thing, that's why i say go out and scout now and see where they are coming in and out in a particular area and it sounds like maybe you have found that so get out now, let things calm down and the deer will be back and don't go back til maybe 3 weeks or so before you plan to hunt, put some corn out or just leave it as it is and set up some kind of stand or blind and don't go back out there til the day you plan to hunt and see what happens.

Ok, this is solid advice. I wont go back until a few weeks before bow season with some corn. Switch SD cards and then plan accordingly.
 

CutNRun

Ten Pointer
Contributor
Make sure you're aware of the points of the compass when you're at that property, so you can enter your stand sites from downwind. Prevailing winds in Fall/Winter are predominantly from the northwest. Look for stand sites that will blow your scent out & away from areas deer are likely to approach from. I'd be looking at that pinch point, unless it is where most human traffic there is. Make the entry point to stand site as short as possible to minimize the chances of alerting or bumping deer on your way in. It is a lot easier to hunt relaxed deer that have no idea you're there.

JIm
 

Desert_hawg

Four Pointer
UPDATE:

Hello all, went out the property and checked game camera for the first time since early June. I wont be back out there till first week of September for another check.

All the advice mentioned here has really paid off game camera wise. The deer are hitting the mineral plot plenty and the ground was all turned and pawed at by the deer. Needless to say i was ready to check the sd card when I got home.

I saw A LOT of deer. Plenty of bucks as well I would say probably 8-12 nice bucks and one or two really nice bucks. Plenty of coyotes and racoons as well.

I was impressed that the deer found the mineral plot, even though it took some time, now they keep hitting it over and over. Very encouraging and I look forward to what lies ahead. I attached some photos from the trail cam.
 

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Desert_hawg

Four Pointer
Antlers should be growing and visible by now . That deer in the close up looks to be a very pregnant doe . She may be reacting to your scent or she may be hearing or seeing the camera ,who knows ? I would leave it alone or mount it higher above the line of sight. I bet they will find the minerals . Good luck !!

They sure did find the minerals! thanks!!
 

YanceyGreenhorn

Still Not a Moderator
Update:

I went out to the property today and followed the creek again to where I found that initial crossing previously mentioned, this crossing actually led me to a small sliver of land that has a concentration of oaks. I found a lot sign in this area, including old scrapes, the trail then led me to a bigger crossing across the main creek channel. A really big beaver dam was built upstream a bit shallowing the water out to a trickle. Plenty of tracks to and from in this section. I was really happy to find the bigger crossing and white oaks with a lot of sign. That was very encouraging.

I set up the mineral plot in that area and a trail cam viewing the plot.

I will hopefully be posting pictures later on.

Thanks again for providing the direction. I feel I am getting better and better each time in the woods.

Thanks.
Hey buddy have the landowner fill out a written permission slip. Keep it on you at all times. Says a lot more than a trespasser who claims to have permission but can’t provide proof . Doesn’t mean you have to confront them. Come up with a contingency plan w/landowner. Here’s permission slips you can print out. Trapper Jon aka @41magnum (God rest his soul) turned me on to these when I first started trapping. Wallet sized too. Just throw it in a ziplock or get one of those $2 laminate sleeves they sell for fishing license.
 

Desert_hawg

Four Pointer
Hey buddy have the landowner fill out a written permission slip. Keep it on you at all times. Says a lot more than a trespasser who claims to have permission but can’t provide proof . Doesn’t mean you have to confront them. Come up with a contingency plan w/landowner. Here’s permission slips you can print out. Trapper Jon aka @41magnum (God rest his soul) turned me on to these when I first started trapping. Wallet sized too. Just throw it in a ziplock or get one of those $2 laminate sleeves they sell for fishing license.

Cool I did not know these existed. Thanks for the heads up. I will get these filled out.
 

Ex Military

Eight Pointer
UPDATE:

Hello all, went out the property and checked game camera for the first time since early June. I wont be back out there till first week of September for another check.

All the advice mentioned here has really paid off game camera wise. The deer are hitting the mineral plot plenty and the ground was all turned and pawed at by the deer. Needless to say i was ready to check the sd card when I got home.

I saw A LOT of deer. Plenty of bucks as well I would say probably 8-12 nice bucks and one or two really nice bucks. Plenty of coyotes and racoons as well.

I was impressed that the deer found the mineral plot, even though it took some time, now they keep hitting it over and over. Very encouraging and I look forward to what lies ahead. I attached some photos from the trail cam.
Very good. I might add, if you want to keep the deer around there and active, get rid of the Coyotes. If you see em, shoot em !!
 

Ex Military

Eight Pointer
UPDATE:

Hello all, went out the property and checked game camera for the first time since early June. I wont be back out there till first week of September for another check.

All the advice mentioned here has really paid off game camera wise. The deer are hitting the mineral plot plenty and the ground was all turned and pawed at by the deer. Needless to say i was ready to check the sd card when I got home.

I saw A LOT of deer. Plenty of bucks as well I would say probably 8-12 nice bucks and one or two really nice bucks. Plenty of coyotes and racoons as well.

I was impressed that the deer found the mineral plot, even though it took some time, now they keep hitting it over and over. Very encouraging and I look forward to what lies ahead. I attached some photos from the trail cam.
You're all set then. Yea, If somebody else owns the land, as the other guy here said, do get that permission slip and keep it with you while you are on the land, hunting or not.
 

georgeeebuck

Ten Pointer
They sure did find the minerals! thanks!!
Keep in mind in your planning ,deer will tear up minerals and salt durning the hot months but will usually slow down in using them as the weather cools down. Minerals are great for getting pictures and taking inventory and if they continue to use them daily until the start of bow season that may be a great spot in the early season. But you may also want a back up spot or two with some good acorns or trails between bedding and food for later in the season. Good luck man, you have some nice bucks there. That big 7 looks real good .
 
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Ex Military

Eight Pointer
Keep in mind in your planning ,deer will tear up minerals and salt durning the hot months but will usually slow down in using them as the weather cools down. Minerals are great for getting pictures and taking inventory and if they continue to use them daily until the start of bow season that may be a great spot in the early season. But you may also want a back up spot or two with some good acorns or trails between bedding and food for later in the season. Good luck man, you have some nice bucks there. That big 7 looks real good .
Agreed
 

Desert_hawg

Four Pointer
Keep in mind in your planning ,deer will tear up minerals and salt durning the hot months but will usually slow down in using them as the weather cools down. Minerals are great for getting pictures and taking inventory and if they continue to use them daily until the start of bow season that may be a great spot in the early season. But you may also want a back up spot or two with some good acorns or trails between bedding and food for later in the season. Good luck man, you have some nice bucks there. That big 7 looks real good .

Yes sir, this will be my first season on this property, so as the season progresses I will have to adapt my approach as I get more familiar with the parcel. Thank you for the tips.
 

JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
Yes sir, this will be my first season on this property, so as the season progresses I will have to adapt my approach as I get more familiar with the parcel. Thank you for the tips.
Someone here can tell you more about prevailing winds but googlefu tells me that the typical prevailing wind at RDU airport is ENE in September and W, WNW, WSW for hunting season.

Statistically, set up east of the trail and east of where you think the deer are coming from if possible for October, November, December...but have more than one stand and more than one access as best you can. After I started paying attention to that when I decided which stand my deer sightings went up.

My .02, you can stink like Menthol cigarettes and Aqua Velva aftershave, and it won't matter if the wind is right; if it's wrong no amount of cover scent or scent control will help.
 

Desert_hawg

Four Pointer
Checked the trail cam today. The mature bucks have moved off the mineral plot. There were plenty of does on the camera, which is encouraging come rut. Thanks again for all yall's help.
 

Desert_hawg

Four Pointer
Hello all, hunting private tomorrow will update you if i get anything. saw this guy on the cam along with 3 other bucks yesterday morning.
 

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