After nearly 50 deer seasons, the end of each one has always brought a bittersweet mix of emotions. Regardless of whether the season was one filled with success or missed opportunities, there hasn’t been a single one where the final day wasn’t punctuated with a feeling of sadness it was over. But is it really over? Is there really an “off” season? Now is actually the time you should be keeping your focus on the deer woods…or at the very least, keeping them monitored with trail cameras.

These amazing devices, which have come so far in technological advances and photo and video quality in recent years, are the ideal tool for gathering the intel needed to begin building success for next season. And if you’re using cellular-enabled trail cams, which in this day and age are exactly what you should be using, keep that cell plan paid for at least a few more months is important. 

The plan goes beyond just capturing photos of bucks, though that’s a big part of it, but your cameras can reveal vital information about the deer herd in general, deer movement on your property, predators and the daily flow of life on the land itself. From monitoring which bucks survived to tracking off-season movement patterns, your cameras are invaluable tools for understanding what’s happening in the woods when you’re not there.  

 Five Reasons to Keep Your Trail Cameras Active After Deer Season

Here are five reasons to keep those cameras active and tips for getting the most out of them.

Begin a Buck Inventory with Your Trail Cameras

After the last shot of the season, deer begin to relax, and surprisingly quick. Their behavior becomes less erratic and their patterns settle back into a post-season feeding routine. Bucks that stayed hidden during hunting season will often reappear, giving you a chance to inventory the survivors. 

This is important so you can determine, which bucks are local, versus the ones you only saw during the rut that may have been roaming from their smaller pre-rut ranges in search of does. You can also determine which bucks are going to most likely be bigger and the ones you want to target next season. Catch them in photos day in and day out before their antlers drop and you’ve likely determined their home range and the place you want to target during the early feeding cycle before the rut begins next season. 

Set your cameras on food plots, winter wheat fields or feeders (where legal) to capture images of these survivors. Record details about their antlers, body size to determine age and unique characteristics to track their development into next season and be able to better identify them when next season rolls around. 

Understand Off-Season Movement Patterns

Deer movement shifts after hunting pressure eases, and understanding these new patterns can be crucial for planning future hunts. Trail cameras placed near bedding areas, food sources and travel corridors help you learn where deer feel safe and how they navigate the property in the off-season. These insights can inform stand placement and hunting strategies for the coming year as these will be where most of them will be found in the first weeks of next season.

---

SUBSCRIBE TO THE iSPORTSMANUSA NEWSLETTER FOR MORE STORIES LIKE THIS

---

Trail Cameras Make Shed Hunting Easy

Trail cameras are excellent tools for tracking when and where bucks shed their antlers. Focus your camera setups on well-used trails between bedding and feeding areas, as well as late-season food sources. Every year on our plots, we invariably find sheds lying in the open. Using your cameras, you can identify high-traffic zones, which will also be prime areas to search for sheds. Using cams that send photos via cell directly to your phone or your iSportsman ARX account are a perfect way to know exactly when bucks begin dropping their antlers as they will show up one day with headgear and the next, there are just vacant bases where the bone has dropped. It’s time to get outside and start a new type of hunting…for sheds.

Keep an Eye on Predators

Predators, particularly coyotes, can have a significant impact on your deer herd, especially during the coldest winter months where deer may be weaker and food scarcer, meaning predators are more tenacious. Trail cameras are a great way to reveal their presence, helping you determine if predator control measures are needed to protect fawns later in the spring and ensure a healthier deer population. At the very least, it will give you a better idea of how big or little your predator problem on your land is.

Enhance Property Security

Your trail cameras aren’t just for wildlife—they’re also great for keeping tabs on human activity, the kind of human activity you don’t want such as trespassers or poachers. Over the years, we’ve had several break-ins on our farm and it was thanks to cellular-enabled trail cameras that one of our fellow hunters was able to alert another who lived nearby that three people were on the land and probably breaking into the house. The nearby hunter and his son leapt into action and with the help of the Virginia State Police (and the trail cam photos) the perpetrators were arrested that week and later sentenced as they did indeed break into our hunt cabin.

While you may not have a home on your land to worry about, chances are you have treestands or other hunting equipment there. Chances are also high that trespassers or thieves will be local, so nabbing their image can be extremely helpful in catching those who are up to no good. And even if you don’t get them sentenced in a court of law for something illegal, word will get out that you have cameras out and that can serve as a deterrent to the rest of the local rabble rousers to stay away. It’s not worth messing around there. 

Conclusion: Keep Your Trail Cameras Running

Keep your trail cameras operational after the season, you’ll gain valuable data to make strategic decisions about how to approach next season and protect your existing herd in the meantime. Whether you use them to identify bucks for next year, find sheds or plan stand placement, your cameras are the silent scouts working year-round to ensure your next season is one to remember.  

Read more about trail cameras on iSportsmanUSA.