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We use a complicated expensive homemade software for patterning bucks. It is called 'hover over image with mouse, right click, then left click properties". Date and time on the beside 'Created:' are copied and pasted over the file name (it was PICT011). An abbreviation for cam location is placed after the time. We are running a special on the program this week....free!
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A file for each buck of interest is created on Desktop. Renamed images are cut and pasted from SD card or other file. Our imaging software naturally sorts images according to date and time in the form of a list which is easy to follow! IF a buck visits a site for <15 minute duration then one image is saved. If >15 min or several visits within a few hours, then save first and last image. Once velvet is shed, we start a file for potential each hit list deer. Complicated? Point being we want to identify 'travel corridor' between sites.
He visited 7 camera sites which depict a core area of 1/4th mile radius (1/2 mi diameter). Four sites were visited most frequently, one of those being the area he was harvested on 27 Nov. Most visits were at night.
A few notes worth mentioning.
29 Sept to 16 Oct corresponds to first persimmon drop and laying down of sign rubs mainly. He was seen by visitors a couple evenings in persimmon and feeding on pasture forages at night during that time.
Dates for the last few days in Nov are incorrect (he was 1 day dead on the 28th). Prolly mis-set date stamp when swapping batteries. Hence, our program is not responsible for user error!
On 20 Oct (highlighted file), he traveled for a night to a cam site (erf) nearly 1 mile from his logical bedding area of his core. This same pattern showed in his 2015 file. Maybe it is a preemptive move before breeding?...making/visiting scapes/rubs for a calling card?....maybe looking for a hot doe? Who knows!
No images of him were seen from 25 Oct to 10 Nov (timeframe of blackpowder season). This denotes a shift from core to a breeding area. This contrasts 2015, in that he shifted to center of property for breeding that year. I don't know where we went this year but suspect to the fringe of the ranch as a cattle herd move just proceeding 11 Nov prompted the image at site cb. That site is a mock scrape....he was seen courting a doe as well.
For the first 7 days of rifle season (19-25 Nov), no images of him were recorded (hell, like everyone else thinks....neighbors shot him! Why are we so pessimistic in nature?). Was he avoiding hunting pressure?.....or residing in a small area of his core recovering from rut before refueling his body starting 26 Nov? I feel the latter is more true as other bucks displayed the same pattern!
Being at the right place at the right time and a token of LUCK made harvesting this buck possible. His visit to that site during daylight in the AM would put him in close proximity to the stand and likely in daylight of PM. That is the hunch I gambled upon. Predicted 4:45 PM arrival and he was late, 4:50 PM. I will tell the actual hunt story later this week.
I hope you find this program useful for pattering bucks on your property. One frequent complaint about 'deer management' is that harvesting mature bucks is difficult. I think a big part of that is because we place too much emphasis on the 2-3 yo bucks which are more visible. The older bucks seem to require more effect to figure them out. You don't need 1 GIG of cam images to pattern a buck.....just a few over several months!
One last note, for 8 1/2 straight days I hunted the same stand and maybe saw one mature buck at last light on the 8th day. Mid-day on the 9th day, I changed the way I think and was rewarded! It's not about where you hunt, it's about where he is!
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