Hunting smarter: upgrade your deer season with tech

If terms like “efficient” and “successful” are how you’d like to define your next deer season, it’s time to embrace the new age of hunting. Technological advancements are giving hunters unprecedented ability to locate and harvest mature bucks. Here are some modern tools to reduce your intrusiveness in the woods and minimize how deer perceive and react to hunting pressure. Deer woods efficiency Efficiency is “the accomplishment of a job with a minimum expenditure of time and effort.” What’s interesting in the context of deer hunting is that inefficiency — or more accurately, a lack of success — can snowball. The more time you spend in the woods without connecting with your target bucks, the more you’re increasing the odds of spooking them. Deer are better at avoiding us than getting away from us. That line is worth letting sink in. Think about your current habits. What actions might be tipping deer off? Walking in to bait a spot, checking cameras, or trimming lanes mid-season all increase the human footprint you leave behind. During the season, we want to hunt under the best conditions — when we know our target bucks are around — and avoid unnecessary intrusions. The less obtrusive you are, the better. And the place to start? Scouting. Cell cams change the game Trail cameras are nothing new. Most hunters are using them. But cellular trail cameras — or cell cams — are a relatively new and powerful tool. If you’re not using them, you’re missing out. While they capture the same images as regular trail cams, the magic is in their data delivery. Instead of walking into your spot to pull cards (and risk bumping deer or laying down scent), cell cams send the photos right to your phone in real time. Applying this knowledge basically allows you to go hunting when you know deer are arriving. Having multiple cameras out helps to ensure you know deer are in your spot and can paint a picture as to how they are moving about the property. Running three or four cameras across your property gives you a better picture of deer movement without ever stepping foot into the woods. This makes a huge difference, especially on smaller properties where hunting pressure can quickly educate deer. Some hunters in Ontario may hunt large tracts of land that clearly always have deer, but a great many others will hunt