Cold fronts do affect deer movement..?

[Ski]

Here's my 14 years of data for mature buck (4 1/2+) trail-camera events from October through December. Notice the lack of trail-camera events mid-day. Why? Because my cameras are placed in typical hunting locations. Doesn't mean mature bucks don't move then. Just means they don't move through typical hunting locations then.

That's the biggest hurdle for trail cam data, for me at least. The movement during those hours is so unpredictable because it's not happening where I have cameras. I would absolutely hang cameras there if I knew ahead of time a 10yd wide swath of ground I knew one would walk, but that's a blind dart throw at best. Even if I did get it right one time for one buck, it's unlikely I'd get any others or him ever again in that spot.

While hunting I can watch a whole lot more ground than a trail camera can see so I see those random cruising bucks the cameras don't catch. That's why trail cam data doesn't necessarily align with hunting experience.