Trail cameras have taken their place among the most significant tools in deer hunting -- and in deer management. That's especially true when camera users go beyond the routine of simply collecting hundreds of photos and looking for "nice bucks." Anyone can do a lot more with all those photos. Here are some tips to help you do just that.

This doe, obviously a good mother, has produced three fawns. But is that good news or bad for your deer herd? Photo by Chuck Sykes.

STEP 1: IDENTIFY AND AGE
Jason Snavely is a wildlife biologist who works with hunters and landowners all over the country through his Drop-Tine Wildlife Consulting business. Snavely is an expert at 1) using trail cameras and 2) analyzing photos to develop truly useful data.

"Trail camera surveys generally are done in the summer, when bucks are still in velvet," Snavely asserted. "We know that as soon as bucks shed velvet, their whole attitude changes."

We'll deal with how that change affects your use of trail cameras later. For now, however, you can concentrate on analyzing the photos to help you plan your hunting this fall.

Snavely's recommendations are critical to that plan. After completing your survey, it's imperative to go through all the photos to identify "unique" bucks. "We completed a survey for a client that produced more than 1,100 photos of bucks," he said. "After going through all of the photos to specifically identify deer, we determined that those 1,100 photos included 55 unique bucks."

After reducing the raw numbers to a more accurate view of the buck population on the property you hunt, the next step is more important. Take the time necessary to use the body characteristics to age all of the unique bucks as accurately as possible. Because of resources such as posters and books available from organizations like the Quality Deer Management Association (www.QDMA.com), many hunters and landowners already age their bucks on the hoof. If you don't, you should start. Here's why.

Antlers alone don't tell the whole story. After going through your photos and determining the number of unique bucks on the property you hunt, you may decide there's one particular buck you want to hunt because of the size and/or look of its rack. Using available information on body size and characteristics, you could discover that -- yes -- the buck has reached maturity. But maybe it's only 3 1/2 years old.

What will it look like at 4 1/2 … or 5 1/2? Aging bucks on the hoof is imperative if you want to achieve the best hunting prospects on your land. It could be that you eliminate the "best-looking buck" from the camera survey for that season -- because it still has a year or two before it reaches "perfection."

Using photos to age deer on the hoof also will help you improve your ability to do so in real time. That can be important if/when you book a hunt with an outfitter in another area or another state, and you have to make hunting decisions in a few seconds. Even on your own property, it can come in handy during the rut because bucks' ranges inevitably expand when they're focused on finding and breeding does. That's the time of the hunting season when you're most likely to see bucks that never show up in your trail camera photos.

STEP 2: TAKE MORE PHOTOS
By the time most hunting seasons open, bucks have shed their velvet. As Snavely said, their attitude changes when that happens. That's the time to place cameras in any number of spots so you can begin patterning the buck or bucks you want to hunt.

"Placing cameras along major trails is a good idea," Snavely said. "You also should have them at the edges of food plots if you have them, and also in areas where there is hard or soft mast for them."

Natural bottlenecks along travel routes also are great spots.