[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/deer-hunting-roll-call\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/deer-hunting-roll-call\/","headline":"Deer Hunting: Roll Call!","name":"Deer Hunting: Roll Call!","description":"What Is A Survey? No doubt about it, one of the most exciting times of the year is pulling trail...","datePublished":"2014-12-23","dateModified":"2018-12-04","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/#Person","name":"Hector Agosto","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Legendary Whitetails","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","url":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","width":522,"height":226}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/camcorn-e1430861652154.jpg","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/camcorn-e1430861652154.jpg","height":405,"width":615},"url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/deer-hunting-roll-call\/","about":["Hunting"],"wordCount":1427,"keywords":["Deer","Hunting","Tips"],"articleBody":"What Is A Survey?No doubt about it, one of the most exciting times of the year is pulling trail cameras during late August.\u00a0 Hardcore hunters know all about the importance of taking pre-season \u2018roll call.\u2019\u00a0 Collecting a pre-season inventory of a deer herd is as simple as finding heavily used trails, food plots and\/or using attractants (where legal), and placing a trail camera over the area.\u00a0 Pre-season surveys give hunters a general idea of what deer are in the area and how they\u2019re utilizing their home range, offering hunters a better idea of what to expect during the upcoming season.Trail cameras are the best tool for finding out what bucks are still roaming around come late season.Post-season surveys, although somewhat different than pre-season surveys, provide just as much information when they\u2019re taken seriously.\u00a0 Post-season surveying via trail cameras is the best way to find out what bucks survived another pressure packed deer season.\u00a0 Knowing mature bucks could very well be completely nocturnal from human intrusion, glassing picked cornfields at dusk isn\u2019t always going to offer superior results compared to conducting a trail camera survey.Here\u2019s how to find the bucks and start tallying them up for a way-too-early 2015 hit list:When You Own The FoodWhen starting a post-season survey, it\u2019s important to keep in mind exactly what it is that you want to accomplish.\u00a0 The entire purpose for conducting post-season surveys is to find out who survived, no more, no less.\u00a0 In order to get the best possible results you must know the land and how deer behave on it throughout the year.Where I do most of my hunting, it seems every deer within miles will spend a significant amount of time near the best food source when temperatures get brutally cold.\u00a0 If the property you hunt has the winter food, it\u2019s essentially the grocery store, leaving it up to you to locate your customers, because believe me, they exist!Conducting a survey on a trail leading to a food source is a great strategy.\u00a0 Finding trails with the least resistance leading to food will most likely garner solid results.\u00a0 However, if budget allows, purchasing a trail camera with time-lapse technology and placing it over a large food source is even better.\u00a0 Using time-lapse mode will tell you where the deer are entering, feeding and sometimes exiting the field depending on if there is still sufficient daylight.Using time lapse is ideal for scouting larger fields (above). I would choose this option over placing a camera on a trail leading to the food simply because we know that buck is going to the buffet, what we don\u2019t know is which route he\u2019ll take to get there.When You Don’t Own The FoodNot every property has prime food sources December through March. If your property falls into this category, there is no need to panic.\u00a0 You\u2019re right, you might not collect hundreds of pictures like neighboring properties, but if you understand how deer travel and use cover to their advantage, a survey can still be successful. Hunters who don\u2019t own food must place cameras in two critical areas \u2013 sunlight and cover.Deer will often bed in areas where the sun can warm their body and low cover breaks the wind.When deep snow piles up deer will be dogged and lazy, using the most convenient travel routes.\u00a0 Convenience could be a logging road that has no obstructions or a ridge top runway.\u00a0 Sunlight is oftentimes overlooked by late season hunters, including those attempting a survey.\u00a0 Without question, using sunlight to your advantage will aid in your late season camera survey efforts.\u00a0 Sunny, south-facing hillsides and trails will be the ticket for producing trail camera results when food is buried.\u00a0 Much like a lazy housecat perched in a window cill basking in sunlight, whitetails behave similarly while buried in cover exposed to precious sunlight.\u00a0 I can\u2019t imagine too many things feeling better to a whitetail than warm sunlight on a frigid winter\u2019s day.\u00a0 Knowing deer enjoy the warmth of the sun you\u2019d be wise to place a camera on trails exposed to sunlight.Warmer temperatures, less wind and less snow are all favorable characteristics found in conifer stands. \u00a0These are great spots for trail cameras and shed hunting.Placing a camera in a pine plantation is another prime wintering spot for deer.\u00a0 Coniferous trees are the ultimate wind-blocker and areas with pines usually remain much warmer than barren hardwoods.Camera surveys over bait (where legal) such as corn and various powder attractants probably works the best and receives the data you are looking for the fastest. \u00a0You will typically see lots of does and fawns gorging themselves for lengthy periods, and bigger bucks bouncing in and out.\u00a0 An additional strategy hunters fail to think of is licking branches.\u00a0 Although the rut is in the books for northern states, placing a camera over what was a prime early scrape will likely yield results.\u00a0 Bucks will not paw the ground and show aggression at the branch, but they will scent check them year round.\u00a0 Running cameras over scrapes is obviously an excellent tactic late October through the rut, but don\u2019t count out scrapes and licking branches as a way of getting a census come post-season.Length Of SurveyThe length of your survey really depends on what the land has to offer.\u00a0 Hunters who have food on their property or use bait can get away with having a shorter survey.\u00a0 In contrast, those who don\u2019t have food will have to be patient to get an accurate showing of a herd.\u00a0 Take things very slow when doing a post-season survey.\u00a0 If your hunting season is over, I advise you start your survey and have it run at least four weeks or until you\u2019re positive the batteries are dead.\u00a0\u00a0 There really is no need to check cameras too often this time of year, unless your hunting season stretches weeks into the new-year.\u00a0 The consequences of checking cameras too often are obvious \u2013 minimal pictures due to human intrusion.What To Learn From A SurveyLately, a lot of attention has been put on camera surveys and how they reflect deer ratios and herd balance.\u00a0 There is much to be debated over this topic and opinions amongst professionals even vary greatly.\u00a0 I am certainly not a biologist and I have no place in telling you what bucks to shoot or how many does you should have on your land, so I wont.\u00a0 One thing is for sure, a well-placed camera will accumulate excellent late season photos of bucks to keep your morale and motivation sky-high heading into next year.A quick word of caution, all hunters enjoy seeing a new boss around, but keep in mind, some (but not all) bucks will travel great distances to winter, only to return to their normal home ranges come green-up.\u00a0 Keeping expectations and dreams in check is always smart.\u00a0"},{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Legendary Whitetail's Blog"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/deer-hunting-roll-call\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Deer Hunting: Roll Call!"}}]}]