Some people like to use trail cameras all year long and some use them only during a certain period. I use both strategies. Some of my cameras run all year, and some are only used from the end of the velvet period through antler shedding. The reason I use some cameras a limited amount is to limit intrusion into certain areas. Checking trail cameras can be one of the biggest intrusions onto your property so I prefer to use cameras on the very outer edge of my property year round, but I only use interior cameras beginning in late July when we are nearing the end of the velvet growth period. Here are a few of my tips for capturing the biggest and best bucks on your trail cameras.

• Don't get started to early trying to get the photos, let bucks calm down from the previous season and get comfortable through July.
•   Big mature bucks will not tolerate human intrusion and they will pattern you quickly. 
•   When hanging trail cams practice scent control
•   Use cameras with a fast trigger speed, high resolution and long battery life. Use high capacity memory cards that can hold months of images.
•   Check them as rarely as possible. It’s tempting I know, but honestly putting a camera out in July and then checking it a few days before hunting season is the best practice.
•   Hang cameras in high opportunity locations such as fence crossings, gate holes, pinch points, water holes and feeding or supplement stations. The best location is where deer have no choice but to move through a certain point, or a point they want to come to.
•   Use attractants in front of your cameras. A simple mineral salt block is the cheapest method, but it will leave a wallow that could create legal trouble during hunting season and may not be legal in all states. Supplemental feed offers better nutrition for deer but are more costly and must be refreshed more often. I use BB2 on many of my cameras on the outer edge because I can get to them with less intrusion.
•   A weed eater is a great tool when putting cameras out in late July. Most weeds and grass are full grown now and going dormant. Knocking them down will help you avoid getting 4000 images of nothing on a windy day.
•   Know and understand the settings on your camera. Leaving it in "trail" mode at a feeder can be a disaster. Your card may fill up in a week and if you are practicing minimal intrusion you could lost a lot of photos.
•   Protect your investment in your cameras with a lock, if they are easy to steal, they will disappear sometimes. Adding just one layer of security such as a cable lock that a person cannot defeat with what they have with them in the woods will probably save you a camera. If its just hanging on a tree with a bungee cord it's much more likely to walk away. Been there and its frustrating!

Shed Hunting Tips by Jason Smith

It’s springtime and that means a couple of things as the seasons relate to antlers. A circle has no end but in antler development you can consider spring to be the beginning and the end of the antler development cycle. Obviously as a deer loses its antlers, its starts growing a new set, hopefully bigger and better for the upcoming fall.

I like most of you love the woods in the fall, I dream about it all year long but spring is pretty special too. Besides the ability to turkey hunt and find mushrooms I get to take home all the antlers that fell off in the late winter. Shed hunting is always the rage in February and March but as April comes and folks turn their attention to turkey hunting they often forget about shed hunting. There are thousands and thousands of acres out there that have not been hunted yet and you now have the advantage of being one of the few still looking. If you have your own ground great, but shed hunting is a sport all of its own, stop and ask neighbors if you can shed hunt their place, or any other location that might hold a few sheds. If nobody else is going to shed hunt those spots why let them go to waste? All those un-hunted acres are just waiting for you to come collect your treasure.

Some of the best antlers I've ever found turn up deep into the turkey season and beyond. Here are a few tips you can use to track a few of the big bones down.

• You have to hunt sheds where there are deer! If you watched the deer herd recently you'll have an idea of where they are at. Deer stay close to food and don't move much in the late winter to conserve energy. Look for signs of deer when you are walking. Concentrated areas of deer droppings and muddy trails loaded with hoof prints are a sign you are in the right spot.
• Bedding areas, feeding areas and the trails that connect them are the most productive. Find those good heavily used trails to maximize your efforts and follow them back and forth from food to bedding. Most food sources have several feeder trails that lead to and from the food plot.
• Before you start throw a few sheds on the ground and stare at them, get your eyes accustomed to looking for them. It’s easy to lose your concentration when shed hunting and walk right past them. A few years ago I actually stopped right next to one to take a break and didn't see it until I looked back because I heard one of my fellow shed hunters coming. It seems crazy but if you don't train your eyes you can miss them. When I am walking I identify everything I see on the ground. I am constantly looking at one item and I say to myself what it is stump, stick, grass, droppings, snow, ice, acorn, walnut, thorn, branch, cedar....I name everything I see and it helps me to look at each and every item on the ground.
• The most successful shed hunters are patient and realize it takes miles and miles and miles of walking to get those cool piles you see pictures of on Facebook. Its hard work finding sheds. I've heard estimates that people find one shed per mile of walking. I couldn't disagree with that as I average a shed every 3/4 to 1 mile of walking.
• I use a 4 wheeler to help cover ground when I can. Its great in open grassy areas but you have to go slow, really slow. Don't get in a hurry to cover ground and find the next shed.
• Feeders help me concentrate sheds in one area. Deer don't like to move far from food sources in the winter. I keep my feeders full after season closes and besides getting great photos my sheds are always within 3-400 yards of the feeders. Some people even use shed traps with feed in them but I don't mind walking the woods to find the antlers myself! I think that’s a part of the challenge that makes it fun.
• When you find one antler the other side is probably close. I begin walking a circle around the location I found the shed. If you bring a bright cloth with you, tie it to a branch where the first shed is at so you can keep track of your location in relation to it. If you are in grass lay it out on top of the grass. If I still can't find it I get in a high location and use my binoculars to try to spot the other side.
• Trespassing is illegal. Hopefully you own your own land but if you don't make sure you have permission.
• Make sure you have a phone with you. Even if you don't want to be bothered just shut the ringer off but if you need help you want to make sure you have communications.
• Take your family and friends with you! You get to hang out and enjoy the excitement together plus you can cover more ground. Just be sure everybody understands ahead of time who gets the sheds. When we cover the 270 acres here on the DreamDirt Farm I am sure to offer prizes for certain antlers as well as a big tasty meal. We always walk some state ground too and then its "finders keepers"

Enjoy your time outdoors, take care of the land and it will take care of you!

Jason Smith
Whitetail Properties