Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a piece of software that organized all of your hunting data, even your trail camera pictures, so you could better manage your hunting property? For years, I have been waiting for something like this to come on the market. Well…. The wait is over.

W.I.S.E is software made by hunters for hunters and does it with style!

I got my hands on a couple of copies of this software and ran it through its paces along with fellow Pro Staffer, Brent Sawyer. We both came to the same conclusion. “W.I.S.E, where have you been all my life!” This software did everything I needed it to do and then some. Organizing my trail cam pictures was just the hook to get me started but what closed the deal for me was all of the additional data I could include and the reporting features to show me what I needed to know to better manage my hunting property.

Let me start with some info from their website. This will show you what they promise and then I will get more into my thoughts on this software.

From The W.I.S.E website (http://huntersclub.com/WISE.aspx)

• Import images from your games cameras or record your field observations
• Works with all digital game cameras (works with any digital image)
• Sync your images and observations with data from over 20,000 weather stations
• Advanced reporting, including filtering and grouping on 30+ different fields
• Save reports that you want to use at a future time
• Calculate deer density (acres per deer) buck to doe and fawn to doe ratios, and even how many deer to harvest to reach the buck to doe ratio you want to achieve
• Record harvest data for each deer you take
• An internet connection is only needed for the weather download. You can take W.I.S.E. to your hunting cabin in the boonies because the data is stored locally on your computer.

What is W.I.S.E?

W.I.S.E. (Weather & Imaging Synchronization Engine) is a software solution that combines trail camera images and field observations with weather conditions and solunar data (sun and moon), allowing you to easily pattern deer.

How did W.I.S.E. come about?

As a hunter and avid outdoorsman, I have always wondered about the “clairvoyance” that animals seem to have with Mother Nature. I always questioned why there are days that animal activity is so high, and others where you may not even see a squirrel. That is what drove me to create W.I.S.E.

How does W.I.S.E. work?

W.I.S.E. imports images downloaded from trail and game cameras. It then reads the time stamp and syncs them with the weather (for the zip code in which the image was taken). When the sync is complete, W.I.S.E. has the ability to display a very detailed ad hoc reporting tool of the combined data.

Why would someone use W.I.S.E?

W.I.S.E. was originally geared towards those who spend their Fall Saturdays in the woods – deer hunters. Hunters can use the advanced reporting tools from W.I.S.E. to give themselves a better idea of when – and why – deer are more active. By discovering patterns and trends via W.I.S.E., hunters increase their chance of success.

Does this actually work?

Yes. In the very first few months of W.I.S.E. development , I discovered that the deer on my property moved the most when it was raining! I had never hunted in the rain, but this past season I did not miss a day in my stand when the skies opened up. I saw twice as many deer when it was raining than not. That is when I knew W.I.S.E. was the real deal. A W.I.S.E. user may find out the deer on their property are more active when the humidity is over 70, when the temperature is less than 50, but only when there is a Full Moon. W.I.S.E. allows for that kind of detailed reporting!

What else can W.I.S.E do besides weather and image reports?

W.I.S.E. also allows you to do Herd Monitoring and log Harvest data.

The Herd Monitoring feature will allow a user to determine the deer density, buck to doe ratio, as well as how many does that need to be harvest to meet a set ratio for that area.

The Harvest data feature allows a hunter to enter a detailed record of the deer harvested on their property.

These two feature are a must have for the serious hunter who cares about quality deer management.

Can W.I.S.E. be used for anything else?

Yes. While W.I.S.E. will initially be geared towards deer hunters, it will soon transcend a wide array of users. A future version of W.I.S.E. will include an ad hoc activity log, which anyone can use, including fisherman, students, scientists and anyone else interested in seeing how weather affects the world.

• Fisherman will be able to see if the weather affects how the fish are biting.
• Students can use it in their science projects.
• Scientists can use it in their research and studies.

As you can see, this software is very detailed and really delivers. Here is what Brent Sawyer’s input was after using W.I.S.E

{Pro Staffer Brent Sawyer}
I inputed close to 2,000 trail cam images into the program.  The images span a time period from the end of season 2008 until September 2010.

The input and designate time is pretty time consuming, but fun and interesting enough to not be too bad.  I believe that if one were to keep an ongoing record and loading new images periodically instead of years worth at one time, it won't be too taxing.

The Data is only as good as the:

      camera placement
      number of cameras
      camera distribution over the property
      persons ability to distinguish individual deer and deer ages.

With this in mind, the final reports are still surprisingly informative and detailed.

I used a client’s property and the images we had been collecting.  I was of the opinion that their system of passing all bucks because none were 5.5 years old but still shooting a maximum number of does was causing herd ratio and ecological issues.  The W.I.S.E. program verified my thinking.  It reported that we had a 7:8 buck to doe ratio. This information is beyond what most hunters and landowner have had access to in the past.  For me, as a consultant, I can use this to assist my landowners in a new way.

The weather and lunar phase option is very sweet.  I wish it was able to collect weather from further in the past, but that is not a huge issue.  Being able to see that 50% of day-time deer movement is during a waxing moon is very cool.

I like that you can also add personal observations and harvest data. 

The potential for long-term data management for use in herd management is a valuable tool.  For $30 a year I feel this is well worth the cost. 

With the additional upgrades they are planning, I would not hesitate to invest in W.I.S.E.  I will be using it for my company as well as my personal use.

Summary:

Depends on users competence
Takes time but offers good data
Inexpensive for the results
Very cool.

 My opinions match Brents. This software is a must for any hunter that wants better management information about their property and wants it at the tips of their fingers.

Here are some of the high points I really liked:

I like that you can not only track deer through trail cam pics, but that the software also allows you to record field observations at activity points as well.

I like that it correlates picture times and observation times with moon phase, and weather data.

I like that it help to calculate buck to doe ratios, as well as deer density, and bucks per acre and does per acre.

It also has a QDMA style harvest log fro tracking your harvests.

Users do need to to be able to age deer and to be able to identify each deer as a unique deer or not to get the most from the program.

This is one those tools that the more data you can feed it, the more accurate the results you will get out of it.

I really like that you can group data by field column. i.e. you can see take your pictures, and group them by moon phases, which easily allows you to see which moon phases produce the most pictures of deer. This can also be done with your field observation.

You can also add several more columns categories to the data tables.

I highly recommend this product and with a free trial available from their website (http://huntersclub.com/Wise/Download.aspx) you can try it for yourself with no risk.

This software is $30 per year and in my opinion…. Worth every penny!

By Denny Chambers

TalkHunting Pro Staff Director, Denny "Bugfixer" Chambers, of Summerdale, Alabama, was introduced to hunting at age six by his father. He began hunting small game and gradually moved up to whitetail deer and turkeys.

Denny has many years of experience hunting whitetail in the thick woods of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. He just recently started chasing the elusive Eastern Turkey that Alabama is known for, and he harvested his first gobbler during the 2009 spring season. Denny is currently working on becoming an accomplished turkey caller.

Denny is currently the camp leader for Scotland Ridge Hunting Club - East Camp, located in Tunnel Springs, Alabama. Denny along with other club members manage a 1340 acre hunting lease, maintaining 17 food plots for deer and 9 food plots for turkeys.

Outside of hunting, Denny is an Army veteran of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Denny also has a Computer Engineering degree from Auburn University, and currently works as a software engineer. Denny has been married to his wife Samantha for over 10 years, and is a father of 4 children, three girls and boy, who all share in his love of hunting, fishing and the outdoors.

Comments(2):

1. W.I.S.E. Support

   Send any specific questions you have about W.I.S.E. to wise_support@huntersclub.com. Thanks! Chad

   Saturday, November 06, 2010 Chad

2. I'll say it again!

   I really like this program. I think it offers great value for a small price.

   Tuesday, December 07, 2010 Brent