Summer Deer Scouting Strategies with Attractants and Trail Cameras

With the passage of the Fourth of July on the calendar, a subtle shift occurrs in the gray matter of most whitetail hunters across the country; the countdown to deer season is officially on for another year.

With weeks remaining before the opening bell in the year’s whitetail hunting campaign, many hunters are hanging treestands and conducting daily sessions of punching 3D targets to hone bow shooting skills. And as time permits, they are setting up a scouting and recon strategy on hunting properties with trail cameras to see how the local deer population is doing and which bucks will fill our autumnal dreams.

For North Texas bowhunter Jim Lillis, a retired senior regional director with Ducks Unlimited, that last chore is one of the most enjoyable parts of the deer hunting pastime each year, the first cyber-glance at what might be possible in the hunting woods later in the fall.