While we are in a time of year where we are past early season land prep like prescribed fire, warm season planting, and things of that nature; yet, it isn’t quite time to plant cool weather plots, hang stands, and start chomping at the bit to go chase deer; there are still things that we can be doing to improve our chances of bagging a trophy and/or filling the freezer come autumn and winter.

June is prime time for having your cameras rolling and studying the deer you will be chasing. In fact, I’d venture to say that the true “chase” starts with your cameras in the off-season. While travel routes may change throughout the year, you can still gather enough data to understand more thoroughly how the deer on your property relate to that property. How do they get from one plot to a water source? Where do they tend to bed down? Questions like this will help you out later when you DO get out to hang stands and can greatly increase your confidence in an area, especially if it’s a new property or public land.

Another great benefit to paying close attention to your cameras this time of year is knowing your herd. Just like with a rancher who has livestock in a controlled environment, a good herd manager should be able to make decisions on which ones need to be persevered, which ones need to be culled, and ultimately which ones need to be harvested. Try to fine tune your knowledge of which does have dropped babies this year. Which genetics are you seeing in the yearlings? How many years has this 8-points been hanging around? This can really help pinpoint many of your goals for later in season and lead to some very good population management for years to come.

So, as the summer heat rolls on, keep your cameras fresh and don’t start slacking on setting goals for the 2022-2023 season! In the meantime, check out some of our camera deal as part of our Father’s Day sale GOING ON NOW!