Over the past 25 years, trail cameras have taken the hunting world by storm.  New technology rolls out every year or so making it easy to relax in the comfort of your air conditioning and observe deer.  But are you seeing the true behavior of your herd?  Are you definitively monitoring the population density of your hunting ground?  

I love trail cameras for numerous reasons but the film will only show a snippet of your herd dynamics.  Whitetails are the ultimate prey survivor and will rapidly adapt to any threat of danger.  Human presence around cameras can and will alter movement.  It’s also my belief that mature deer sense an abnormality with some cameras when they trigger a capture.  Surveillance from slipping around your property during the off-season will yield results that will absolutely better your QDM herd management.  

Dawn and dusk, that’s when deer move the most.  A perfect time to cruise your land and note population numbers.  Fields, food plots, cutovers, bottomland, open timber, water sources, and roadways are optimal for deer sightings within crepuscular hours.  I prefer to slip around on foot and utilize wind direction to my advantage.  Simply minimize sudden and erratic motion to avoid detection.  Take advantage of tree lines and tall vegetation to conceal your silhouette.   

I know what most of you are thinking –  “Why would I add unnecessary pressure and potentially spook deer on my land?”  This is an off-season tactic to better understand how many deer are on the landscape.  How many deer you should be removing annually and how many deer are replacing those that were harvested or died off from natural mortality.  Yes, you will alert some deer but it won’t matter.  Whitetails have a home range that encompasses daily requirements for food and safety.  They are frequently bumped around from various threats but will return to their home base.  Remember, this is a method to use a couple times a year.  Not every week.  If you’re stealth-like and move deliberately and methodically, you can easily go undetected.   

It’s very easy to fall into a rut of only using trail cam photos and observations from the stand to formulate herd numbers.  While those data points are pieces to the puzzle, they are not showing the whole picture.  As mentioned before, deer are cunning and adaptable to perceived danger. They will quickly change patterns to skirt around humans. Surprise them with a different approach and you will watch far more numbers than on the stand after hunters flood the woods.

Add this tool to your QDM toolbox and you will finetune the local herd population.  With better knowledge, you’ll be able to improve huntability, yield more venison, grow more successful food plots, improve overall herd health and increase antler quality.