How to Use Trail Cameras to Unlock the Mysterious Whitetail Rut

As much as we all look forward to the annual whitetail rut and the potential for a big-buck encounter at any moment during a hunt, the breeding season can often be feast or famine for hunters. I’ve had mornings—you probably have as well—when bucks run does this way and that, grunt, snort-wheeze and lock horns. I’ve also hunted from dawn to dark for days on end without seeing a single deer during what should’ve been the peak of the rut.

One way to win the rut game, or at least improve your chances, is through the strategic placement of trail cameras to keep tabs on target bucks during a time when their movements are almost completely unpredictable.

SURVEIL SCRAPES

Scrapes are an excellent location to capture photos and videos of bucks since a buck often remains at a scrape for a while, pawing the ground and moving its head as it works over the licking branch. Because of this, you can collect intel about the size and age of the buck easily.

I always set my scrape cams to video mode and set the run time to the max setting. I feel like I can learn so much more and gain a deeper understanding of a buck from a video versus a photo. The only downside is that video mode, especially over a hot scrape, will drain standard alkaline AAs quickly. If the scrape is on a field edge or in a clearing, I attach a solar panel to the camera to keep it running longer.

RECON RUB LINES

When you find a string of five rubs or more in a generally straight line and all are less than 200 yards apart, get a camera up. Whitetail rub lines indicate a buck’s travel pattern between two areas, and if you set your cam to video mode, you’ll see what bucks are using the rub line and when. You may also learn, based on where other cameras are placed, where a particular buck is headed or returning from.

I often find the best rub lines deep in the timber where there isn’t good, consistent sunlight throughout the day, rendering a solar panel useless. That’s when I reach for a rechargeable battery pack. This summer, I got 84 days of run time on a single charge of Moultrie’s Power Mag+ II connected to an Edge 3 Pro, and the camera averaged 30 videos of deer and turkeys per day.

KEEP TABS ON KILL PLOTS

While bucks will run themselves ragged during the rut, does will continue to hit isolated food plots. Bucks know this and will pop in and out of the plots regularly as they search for a doe that smells right. I like to position my kill plot cams on inside corners or anywhere a heavy-usage trail comes into the plot from thick bedding.

A lot of times, there isn’t a good tree for hanging the camera, so I always carry a Moultrie Edge Series Camera Stake or two. And since a camera in a kill plot is usually exposed to direct sunlight, I’ll add Moultrie’s 10W Solar Power Pack II to the stake, which will keep the camera powered, even after nine consecutive days of no sunlight. When paired with the Power Mag+ II, which the Solar Power Pack II will charge, your camera will never be without juice.

WATCH WATER

I’ve noticed that whitetails prefer to drink from a standing water source, like a pond or swamp, more so that a moving one, like a stream or river. Perhaps it’s because they don’t want to stop in the middle of a river or creek and drink, or maybe because the running water creates excess noise. A still-water source, especially one near bedding cover, allows deer to pop in and out without much exposure, and they can listen while they drink.

I have two manmade ponds on my whitetail property, and I have a cam running on each during the rut. Believe it or not, I get twice as many pictures of deer—both bucks and does—at my ponds from October through November as I do during the heat of summer.

I like to hang my pond cams high to capture as much of the shoreline as possible. Moultrie’s Easy Aim Mount enables me to angle the camera perfectly to do just that.

MIND THE (FENCE) GAPS

Funnels of any kind are excellent locations for trail cams during the rut, but given the chaotic nature of this period, I like funnels I can create and/or control. All you need to make an excellent rut funnel is to open a gate or create a gap in a fence for a short period. Of course, if you don’t own the property, be sure to obtain the landowner’s permission before doing so.

Deer will find and utilize these openings immediately. Hang a camera on a post with Moultire’s Flex Mount 2, set a treestand or ground blind nearby, and good things will happen for you this November.

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