3 Strategies To Optimize Trail Cameras in The Spring

As we creep closer to spring, trail cameras can still be optimized in a number of ways. Here are three ways you can get the most out of your trail cameras during the spring months.

By: Alex Comstock

Now that we’ve entered into the month of February, I’m starting to get springtime fever. For me personally, I’m not a huge fan of winter. Short days, cold temperatures, and next hunting season stills seems so far away. But when we hit February, all of a sudden spring seems like it’s just around the corner. When it comes to spring, there are ways you could be utilizing your trail cameras, and below I’ve highlighted a few of those. 

Mineral Sites

Spring is a great time to get out and start replenishing those mineral sites. I’d recommend getting cameras out and monitoring those mineral sites as well. There’s a lot of shifting going on in the spring, with deer moving out of their wintering area, and back to where they spend the spring, summer, and maybe even the fall. Your mineral sites can help aid antler growth, provide nutrition to does that are getting ready to birth fawns, and by having a trail camera up, you can monitor your local deer herd, and it can give you an idea of what to expect deer numbers wise the upcoming year.

The Start of #Velvetfest

There isn’t much that gets me more excited than velvet bucks. The end of spring signifies the start of bucks growing antlers, and there’s so much that I love about this time of year. A lot of hunters are anxiously awaiting this time of year, hoping to find out what bucks are back, and what new faces will be around. In some ways, spring is the start of hopes and dreams being formed. I like running trail cameras in the spring because of velvet bucks for two main reasons. The first is what I already hit on, and that’s to try and identify bucks. It won’t be until summer though that bucks develop enough of their antlers to identify small, specific characteristics. The second reason is that I love to watch bucks develop from nubs to a full framed rack. It can be fascinating to look back at pictures from the spring, and see how a buck went from point A to point B.

Turkeys

It seems to me that most whitetails hunters also double as turkey hunters. I know a lot of people that run trail cameras to help identify where turkeys are, what time they’re in areas, and if there are any toms to go after. I got my first taste of this last spring when I went down to Nebraska for my first ever turkey hunt. I hunted with my cousin who is a turkey nut, and the first thing we did was look through his trail camera photos to help determine where to hunt. The first-morning hunt, we knew based on trail camera pictures there was a great spot to be sitting come about 9:00 am. Knowing that we tried a new area right away in the morning, hoping to find birds come off the roost, and struck out. With the previous trail camera knowledge, later in the morning, we switched spots, and right on cue, I arrowed a bird a little after 9:00 am. Long story short? Don’t be afraid to use trail cameras to aid in your turkey hunting efforts.

Conclusion

Between the start of velvet bucks, mineral sites, and turkeys, there’s plenty of reasons to be running trail cameras in the spring. It can be an exciting time of the year, and there’s a lot of information you could be learning. Be ready, because spring will be here before you know it!

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