I could hardly believe it. Through the balmy air, a common foe approached from the cedar thicket. The fog had lifted enough to see Skyscraper, a mature 8-point buck that had eluded me for weeks. I had all but admitted defeat, assuming the wily buck had lost his life at the hands of a hapless commuter or another hunter’s arrow or bullet
Scouting for Whitetails is a serious business for many hunters. Even for those that don’t emphasize it, there are those times when seeing a new or unexpected buck means adding one to the infamous hit list.
Reasons to act on your sightings include towering antlers, non-typical points, and mature large-bodied bucks. Seeing and harvesting the latter is valuable for great antlered specimens and mediocre-at-best racked bucks alike.
But, “seeing what you got” ain’t enough.
Keeping Tabs
Private land owners and hunting lease members love to inventory deer. In my home state of Texas, doing so can get you gobs of extra deer tags – all in the name of game management.
There’s a catch though.
To get those tags and enjoy an extended season, you’ve got to perform management practices and record deer data. Then there’s estimating the number of deer on the grounds you hunt. The decisions stemming from daytime, nighttime, and even helicopter surveys ultimately result in a healthier herd – and even larger antlers over time. Quality deer management is a big deal.
Still, for most serious hunters, intel-gathering comes at the hands of trail cameras. They not only work but can be fun. The latter can be so true that we often forget to put the images to work for us. For game managers, professionals, and enthusiasts alike, putting eyes on whitetail bucks is invaluable, but the key is to document and use the information.
Don’t just capture images, document the deer traits, behavior, and travel pattern.
In the Moment
It’s hard to ignore the great utility offered by trail cameras. When well-thought-out, they provide valuable coverage and yield a ton of images and video ripe for analysis.
However, there is no substitute for seeing whitetails in person. With feet firmly on the ground, witnessing deer and deer behavior has much to offer. With game cams, it’s like bucks magically appear under a feeder or on a heavy trail. The boots-on-the-ground approach means you can witness the direction from which a deer comes. This is a be a huge part of the puzzle.
Pictures or it Didn’t Happen
As a hunter, you already own binoculars or a spotting scope. As a human, you already own a smartphone. Be honest, it’s practically attached to you.
Add a Phone Skope digiscoping kit to the mix and you can snap off images and video from the field. Digiscoping allows you to reach out farther, increasing your phone camera’s capabilities. The best part is you can leverage digiscoping during both dedicated scouting trips and actual hunts.
Shoot-Don’t Shoot
There is no doubt that the leading whitetail management philosophy emphasizes establishing an older population of bucks. This entails managing harvest parameters and habitat – with the goal of protecting the younger bucks. It’s more about selective harvest rather than the oft-misplaced strategy of culling. It has everything to do with age class.
Trail cameras definitely have their place, but provide less evidence of deer age than in-person sightings.
Judging bucks on the hoof is far superior to viewing images from a trail cam. Except for extremely obvious cases, determining whether a deer makes the cut can be hard. Witnessing bucks in-person means you get to view clues born of deer behavior. In addition to body size, you have the benefit of seeing posture, chest depth, leg length, and neck size.
Digiscoping boosts the selection process by revealing whitetail body traits and behaviors. This is huge for selection and harvest.
While judging on the hoof isn’t an exact science, seeing bucks of different age classes in person means capturing different angles and behaviors. It’s effective. It’s fun.
The data is useful, but you’ve got to collect it and analyze it. You can also share the images with hunting buddies if you dare…
We all know that current smartphones are equipped with highly-functioning internal cameras. While they’re no substitute for digital cameras with good zooming operability, these very phones are fantastic companions for your favorite optics.
If you want to up your scouting game, add digiscoping to your hunting and scouting repertoire. Sit back and record video and still images of the deer you pursue. More than anything, learn from them. This unique, effective, and inexpensive form of photography will greatly enhance your ability to determine age structure through deer behavior, size comparisons, and antler traits.
It’s the next best thing to hunting itself.