With deer season quickly approaching, it’s a perfect time to make sure your buck inventory list is complete. If you aren’t monitoring your deer herd 365 days a year, I would encourage you to start. You can learn a lot about the animals on your property and how they use it, and it is a great way to stay engaged during the off season. Whether you’ve monitored your deer all year, or are just getting cameras out, it can pay off in a big way to have a buck inventory list and know what bucks you have where you hunt.
Setting trail cameras over highly trafficked areas will allow you to get the majority of your bucks on camera. To get your buck inventory list started, the main thing you need to do is cast as wide a net as you can, to identify as many deer as possible. As that list grows, you can begin to focus on the images and area that those most desirable deer are in. As you drill down to those specific deer on your inventory list that you want to hunt, a plan for fall will start to come together.
HOW TO START TAKING INVENTORY
There are easy methods for capturing deer on camera. During late summer, temperatures are usually still high and deer are using water sources a lot more. Placing a camera over water troughs, ponds, or creek crossings can get you a good amount of photos. Targeting late summer food sources such as agriculture or food plots can also get a good number of photos.
If legal in your state, using mineral sites or feeders are a great way to bring most of the deer on your property to one spot, at least occasionally, and give you a good idea of what your buck inventory for the coming season is starting to look like.
HOW WILL A BUCK INVENTORY HELP?
Getting a good buck inventory list can really pay off when you are looking to hit a homerun with the right stand, on the right property, on the day you have to hunt. However, to get there, you need to start with a broad approach to identify as many deer as possible, and then start to focus in on and pattern the bucks that really appeal to you for the season.
Building a buck inventory is no guarantee, but it will help put the odds in your favor by hunting smart, and knowing the deer on your property as well as you can.
