Wildlife Biologist and Land Manager Mark Thomas Uses Motion-Sensor Cameras to Improve Lands
Day 2: How to Set-Up Motion-Sensor Cameras to Photograph Older-Age-Class Bucks with Mark Thomas
Editor’s Note: Mark Thomas (forestrywildlifeintegration.com/) is both a registered forester and a registered wildlife biologist and an active member of the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) and the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF). Thomas consults for the timber and the wildlife industries and constantly evaluates and improves properties for hunting. One of the key tools he uses in his daily work is motion-sensor cameras, often having as many as 50 cameras on one piece of property doing various surveys. This week we’ve talked with Thomas about what he’s doing with his motion-sensor cameras, and how cameras can help you improve you land.
  Question: How do you set-up to photograph older-age-class bucks?
Thomas: I set-up on active scrapes to do a census during the rut. I try and find 15-20 active scrapes throughout the property, and I set-up the cameras to take photographs of those scrapes. Using this technique, you’ll photograph not only your older-age-class bucks but also your yearling bucks and a large number of does. If I’m surveying a deer herd that has a really-good age structure where 25% of the bucks are more than 4-1/2-years old, I usually won’t get photographs of those older bucks around a bait station. But when I do a 2-day active-scrape buck census, I’ll see many of those older-age-class bucks. Then I can merge the information I’ve taken from my bait station survey in with the information I’ve gotten from my active-scrape survey, thereby increasing the accuracy of my overall deer herd survey by 2-4%. With a normal census, using cameras over a bait station, you’ll have about a 92% accuracy rate. But when you factor in the active-scrape camera survey, your accuracy rate goes up to about 96-98%. But you’ll always have a certain percentage of deer on your land that you’ll never photograph.
  You can learn more about hunting deer in John E. Phillips’ Kindle eBooks by clicking on these: “How to Hunt Deer Like a Pro,” "How to Hunt Deer Up Close: With Bows, Rifles, Muzzleloaders and Crossbows,” and “PhD Whitetails: How to Hunt and Take the Smartest Deer on Any Property.”
About the Author
John Phillips, winner of the 2012 Homer Circle Fishing Award for outstanding fishing writer by the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors. Click here for more information and a list of all the books available from John E. Phillips.
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