In this post, I explain how to scout deer in July. Hunting preparations in July can mean the difference between success and failure this fall. It’s important to understand whitetail movement throughout the year to be ahead of the game.

Whitetails transition between summer and fall habitat. Knowing how to scout in July with the fall transition in mind makes all the difference.

How To Scout Bucks In July

Trail Cameras

At this time of year, you can finally start to identify individual bucks, so I put my trail cameras out in July at the latest. I have a dozen or so trail cameras and add to my collection every year. These trail cameras will be placed both in newly scouted areas and in previously determined hotspots from years past.

Often, I start putting trail cameras out at the beginning of June. Trail cameras are one of the best ways to scout during July. This gives me adequate time to get all of my trail cameras out by the 4^th of July.

The cameras that are set out before July are only to identify any camera malfunctions that may be occurring. In my experience, this has worked very well for me. Trail cameras that have been out for about a month will be checked around the 4^th of July.

This will ensure cameras are running properly and that there are no obstructions for the rest of the all-important month of July when real data collection begins.

I have also been experimenting with checking trail cameras less and less because I do feel like it can have very negative consequences. Often I will leave regular trail cameras out for the entire season. Or even better, I’ve also started using cell cameras to keep my disturbance virtually non-existent.

The downsides are that most cell cameras don’t have a big enough battery to last from June through December and they cost money every month. I place cell cameras in September so they will last through the hunting season. This isn’t ideal since it’s so close to the hunting season but I try to pick my days to set them when the weather is dry and windy or rainy.

Newly Scouted Areas

In newly scouted areas where I have no previous data, my main goal is to determine the caliber of buck/bucks that made the previous year’s sign. If I start getting pictures of a target buck I will leave the camera in this location, checking the camera at most once a month. I will then start to put the pieces together to determine where I think this target buck is spending most of his time. Then I will pick the tree I will hunt out of.

Previously Scouted Areas

In areas I’ve historically seen, or captured big bucks on trail camera I will attempt to re-capture them to see if they made it through the season and are using the same core area as the previous year. If they are still using the same core area this will likely be a good place to hunt in the fall. Additionally, I will be able to see if new bucks have moved into the area.

High-Quality Bedding Areas

It is important to note that the cameras I am placing are almost always near high-quality bedding areas. High-quality bedding areas often hold particular bucks in their core area until the rut. Pictures of these bucks in July means they will likely still be in the area come October.

Big bucks not near high-quality bedding areas are less likely to stay once the hunting season begins. A previous post How To Place Trail Cameras For Mature Bucks goes into more detail on high-quality bedding areas and will help you succeed in trail camera placement.

The movement will likely change as hunting season approaches. Pictures in July will often reveal many daylight pictures of bucks when compared to the hunting season. Daylight pictures are never a bad thing, but I am not so much interested in the time of day bucks are showing up on camera. Instead, I am looking for the frequency. This tells me how close I am to a buck’s core bedding area.

Boots On The Ground Scouting

Although scouting in July is getting late in the game and you risk the potential of permanently bumping deer out of an area, I still think boots-on-the-ground scouting in July is worth it.

That said, it is harder because the buck sign from last year is harder to see, so you have to pay closer attention. You can still find excellent spots in July. Additionally, in some areas, bucks haven’t moved from their summer areas to their fall areas so you’re not disturbing much in that instance.

I focus my efforts on finding big buck rut sign in the shape of big rubs and scrapes and their proximity to a high-quality bedding area. I usually refrain from going into bedding areas to keep stress levels at a minimum in July. Once I find the sign I’m looking for I will hang a trail camera.

I may or may not hunt that spot in the upcoming hunting season. My trail camera will tell me if it will be worthwhile the following year. If the property has excellent deer sign and I want to prepare a tree, I do it that day. Accomplishing everything in one day eliminates repeated invasions which keep stress levels to a minimum.

Scout For Bucks In July By Glassing Fields

Bucks are taking in as much nutrients as possible to put on weight and antler growth in July. Glassing fields during this time has proven to be a pretty successful tactic for me in recent years and is one of the best ways to scout deer in July.

Bucks are much more relaxed from the lack of hunting pressure and the increase of cover from summer foliage. I try to capitalize on bucks having their guard down. On roads that don’t get a lot of traffic dawn and dusk seem to be the most successful times for glassing. I like this scouting tactic because it requires little effort and can produce a big reward.

Scout For Bucks By Shining Fields

I prefer shining fields at night over glassing fields at dawn and dusk. Both can work well but in my experience, the biggest bucks seem to like having the cover of darkness. Mature bucks know from experience that when they show themselves during daylight people/hunters driving by stop to check them out.

Being the weary creatures they are, mature bucks will only tolerate so much of that stress. I have found bigger bucks learn to avoid that stress completely, opting to only enter fields in the dark. I have had a lot better luck seeing big bucks at night than daylight or dusk. Sometimes they are not far from the road and when I pick my flashlight up I am surprised how close I can find myself to a big buck.

You’ve Located A Big Buck In July, Now What?

When I see a big buck in a field whether glassing or shining I will mark the location in my phone on a GPS App. When I get home I will analyze the surrounding landscape and see if I can identify any key features that may point me in his direction. To learn how I do this check out: 15 Best Tips For Scouting Deer Using Google Earth.

To keep stress levels at a minimum I will do a quick but precise scouting mission to see if I can figure out where bucks in the area are spending most of their time. For example, if I see a lot of old rubs and scrapes from year’s prior I will find a tree to hunt out of for the hunting seasons and place a trail camera. Depending on how close to the season it is, I will wait a month at least before returning to check the camera.

July Is For Practice & Preparation

Routine

When I was younger I only gave myself a week or two to prepare for the upcoming season. Being out of practice going into the hunting season cost me a few deer. When I got tired of failing I adopted a routine that works for me. My routine leaves me feeling confident with my equipment for the hunting season and confidence is key.

I start my routine once there is enough daylight after I get home from work to shoot my bow outside, which is usually after daylight savings time around the first week of March.

My routine consists of shooting at least a dozen arrows or so every day after work to keep my focus and strength up for the hunting season. Most times I end up shooting more.

Gear Preparations In July

This is the time of year to start thinking about gear. When I think back at the previous hunting season I ask myself; what worked? What didn’t work? Do you wish you had anything? What broke and needs fixing?…etc.

Asking these kinds of questions and making the improvements sooner rather than later allows me to make the upcoming season less stressful. For me personally, when things don’t go as planned I tend to get stressed out (like metal clanking metal together when climbing up a tree in a bedding area). I like to enjoy myself on the stand, after all, it is supposed to be fun! Making sure I have the right equipment and gear adjustments completed early has helped me to create a less stressful and seamless hunting experience.

Conclusion

You can still do a lot of scouting in July to put the odds in your favor for the hunting season in the fall. Boots on the ground scouting is a great options, but does have some cons being so close to the hunting season. My preference is to let my trail cameras, binoculars, and flashlights do the heavy lifting where possible.

While these are doing the heavy lifting I focus my efforts on getting in shape and preparing for the upcoming hunting season. I hope this post has helped you be more effective in scouting deer in July.

Many of the concepts for scouting deer in July apply to the other summer months as well. Check out the next post in this series: How to Scout Deer in August.

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Trail cameras are expensive, and if you’re like me you are trying to get the most out of each trail camera you own. Proper placement is necessary to do this, especially for mature bucks. There are two types of trail camera placement in my opinion, inventory placement and bedding area placement. I go into detail on both.

Inventory Trail Camera Placement For Mature Bucks

The first method is inventory placement of trail cameras. Inventory placement is the placement of trail cameras over food sources, bait, deer trails, rubs, scrapes, or a combination of these, basically any location that is not bedding. Inventory placement can work well to inform you if a mature buck is in the general area. Finding a mature buck to hunt is in my opinion the hardest part. Getting a few trail camera pictures of him means he’s most likely living nearby (outside the rut).

I’ve noticed when hunters start getting pictures of a mature buck they get excited and become content with their camera placement, ultimately leaving their trail cameras in the same spot in hopes that they will get more pictures of the particular buck. Usually, hunters will get a few more pictures of this buck until the season changes and the buck moves core areas.

Placing Trail Cameras and Buck Seasonal Shifts

The biggest problem I had when placing trail cameras in inventory locations was bucks disappearing from their core areas as hunting season approached. This frustrated me because I took extreme precautions to avoid spooking deer when checking trail cameras, so I was fairly confident that was not the issue. I found it especially difficult to hunt a particular buck.

What I noticed was I would get pictures of hitlist bucks fairly consistently until about the first weeks of September when they started to shed their velvet, then they would vanish. The funny thing was they would be right back in the same spot at the exact same time the following year, only to vanish again before the hunting season. Only a small percentage of bucks I got pictures of would stay in their core area into the hunting season.

Above you will see photos taken of big bucks in the summer. In both years the trail camera was placed over a well-used deer trail. Although camera’s exact placement changed these pictures were all taken in the same spot. These pictures show the same two bucks during the summer of 2016 and 2017.

Bucks in this area show up at the same time every year in the summer but then vanish in August every year (The date and time on the photos is not correct, I was able to figure out the exact date and time and have inserted the correct date and time as text below each photo.) “Buck 1” shows up within 3 days of the previous year. “Buck 2” shows up within the same hour as he did the previous year. This year I will have to move my cameras and figure out where these bucks are bedding.

Place Trail Cameras Where Bucks Will Be During Hunting Season

Unfortunately, inventory trail camera placement will likely not be where a mature buck feels comfortable during daylight hours during the hunting season. More often than not when hunting season rolls around bucks aren’t using food sources, bait, deer trails, rubs, and scrapes during daylight hours, especially if you’re hunting an area with hunting pressure. As hunting pressure increases daylight movement tends to decrease. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule but in general, I have seen less success when I leave cameras over inventory areas throughout the hunting season.

If you have located a mature buck using inventory trail camera placement that is fantastic, finding a mature buck is the hardest part, but now you need to take it to the next step. Where is this buck likely spending his time in daylight during the hunting season? Bedding areas.

Trail Cameras and High-Quality Bedding Areas

I felt that if I could just figure out why a small percentage of bucks remained in the same area for longer periods I could put myself in similar situations and start capitalizing on particular bucks. After a few seasons of brainstorming, increasing my arsenal of trail cameras, and testing hypotheses I started to notice a pattern; my cameras, even though they were over inventory placement they, by chance, were on the border of bedding areas. Cameras at the edge of high-quality bedding areas were more likely to keep bucks in their core areas longer into the season.

This is how I first discovered high-quality bedding areas. I define high-quality bedding areas as an area that provides excellent protection in the form of security from hunters and predators, so much so, that mature bucks feel safe and relaxed. However, in this definition, I include proximity and availability to does, food sources, and water. The more readily available these are, the higher the quality of the bedding area.

From trail camera observations I found that the higher the quality of the bedding area the more likely I would be to get pictures of a particular buck into the hunting season.

Bucks Spend The Most Time In Bedding Areas

The more I thought about this the more it made sense. High-quality bedding areas are where mature bucks feel safe which is where they will be spending most of their time during most times of the year. Additionally, even if deer seasonal patterns change due to food availability, loss of foliage, testosterone levels increasing… etc, mature bucks will likely want to remain in the same high-quality bedding area because it is where they feel secure.

The highest quality bedding area on a property can likely hold multiple bucks depending on its size. These bucks will want to take advantage of its safety and compete for the safest areas in that bedding area. Mature bucks will push satellite bucks out to maintain the highest quality bedding areas for themselves. Camera placement near high-quality bedding like this increases the odds of catching dominant bucks and respectable satellite bucks on camera during daylight into the hunting season.

From trail camera placement trial and error I have found that buck bedding that provides food, water, and does nearby gives bucks less of a reason to leave in September and into the hunting season. Do I still have bucks disappear on me in September? Absolutely. Each situation and buck is different but the rate at which they disappear has reduced.

It is important to note that I rarely intrude on a buck’s bedding area when placing trail cameras, as this will likely result in the buck leaving his core area or becoming nocturnal before the season starts. Instead, I put my trail cameras as close to the bedding as possible but where I am confident that the buck will not be alerted in any way by sight or sound. I assume some of my scent may be left behind but I take precautions mentioned below to minimize this as much as possible.

The one exception is if I place a camera deep within a bedding area in the spring, during spring scouting, and leave it there throughout the entire hunting season. I will only check this camera after the hunting season has ended. The information on this camera will help me plan for future hunts because I will be able to see what days and times bucks are moving through the bedding area.

High quality bedding location: I had this buck (above) on camera from the beginning of June through the middle of August. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn my camera on for the last check of the season. However, on October 13th, 2017 I had a deer walk by at 20 yards, 5 minutes after quitting time. I couldn’t see him, but when I got out of my tree I smelt what was unmistakably the smell of tarsal gland. I’d bet a lot of money it was him. The location of this camera was just on the outside of a thick winterberry and alder swamp, this buck made many appearances.

When To Place Trail Cameras For Mature Bucks

Most of my scouting takes place just after snowmelt in spring. When I find a buck bedding area from scouting I will come back and place a trail camera at the edge of the bedding in May. To learn how I scout for buck bedding check out my article Finding Pressured Bucks. I like to put my cameras out in May.

I check my trail cameras about once every two months preferably during windy or rainy weather conditions. This way I leave almost no evidence that I was in the area and the bucks have a minimal chance of catching onto me. I always wear rubber boots and use scent-free wipes to clean my cameras when I’m done setting them up. I also am quick to download pictures and get out of the area to reduce scent contamination.

If I am not getting any mature bucks on camera after two months I will adjust accordingly. Sometimes I’ll move the camera and other times I will leave a camera out over the hunting season to see what it turns up if I have a good feeling about an area. Sometimes there’s not much activity in an area until the hunting season starts. Other times I will move the camera to another bedding location I feel has potential.

I will continue to check my trail cameras until one month out from the season opener, sometimes later if there is really bad weather that lets me sneak in undetected. This gives the area time to cool down before hunting season.

There is a balance between checking cameras close to the season and having high-quality information telling you that a mature buck is moving in daylight close to the start of the season. During this check, I wear full scent-lok clothing that has been carefully stored to minimize scent.

Trail Cameras And The Rut

I have found that during the peak rut most bucks have left their core areas in search of does, making it much harder to capitalize on a particular buck. For this reason, I won’t check my trail cameras again for the rest of the hunting season. I let trail cameras collect valuable data that I can use and apply to future hunts.

Being that the buck I am after is most likely gone during this time there is no reason to check cameras. Instead, during this time of year I rely on last year’s trail camera dates and times. Deer are habitual creatures and often visit areas at the same time and dates each year.

I will use the dates of rutting buck pictures from the previous year and use them to determine when to hunt during the present year. This way I do not contaminate my hunting locations with my scent from checking trail cameras. I don’t want to be checking my cameras during the season because as the season progresses and hunting pressure increases bucks will become much more sensitive to human presence. Checking trail cameras during the season is a great way to ruin a spot.

Conclusion

If you are a hunter who is having trouble capitalizing on trail camera pictures of bucks then I recommend you try the method above on how to place trail cameras. Although placing trail cameras near bedding areas can be risky, I have found it to be worth the risk with the proper precautions. I hope you can take away from what I have learned and apply it to your trail camera strategy to capitalize on mature bucks.

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