Trad Gang

Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Mint on February 25, 2025, 05:44:32 PM

Title: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: Mint on February 25, 2025, 05:44:32 PM
In listening to some bowhunting podcasts like Wired to Hunt I was kind of shocked to hear that most of the guest they have on run anywhere from 50 to 200 cameras. I have three old Bushnell cameras and two Spypoint Cells that i use but I use my cameras to access new spots to see if it's worth sitting or not. I kind of like seeing the pictures, got a piebald a couple of times, foxes and even a flying squirrel but it wouldn't bother me one bit if they banned them on public land.
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: Terry Green on February 25, 2025, 05:48:28 PM
I had one YEARS ago, when they used film, it was fun. Most of the time I ran it in the off deer/bear season, and ended up getting a lot of hogs as well as deer. So, I haven't had one for over 20 years.

I saw a deal for two spy points yesterday. How do you like them?

I want to get a couple for hogs at night.

Thanks,  :campfire:
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: BAK on February 25, 2025, 06:15:41 PM
I have about a dozen, but their on private land and are used more to watch for trespassers than anything else.
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: David Mitchell on February 25, 2025, 06:51:16 PM
None.  Never owned one and don't plan to. It just doesn't seem to me to fit the spirit of traditional bowhunting when high tech stuff is introduced.
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: Tim Finley on February 25, 2025, 07:35:32 PM
After getting a camera I realized I had spent a lot of time hunting places that there was nothing there I wanted to shoot .I have 7 or 8 camera and run about 4 at a time I have two new spy points but I dont use them . They are nice if you want to stay out of your hunting spots till you hunt . In cold weather you need lithium batteries regular batteries die fast when it gets in the 20s or below .
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: Orion on February 25, 2025, 11:39:04 PM
DM x 2.
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: Tom on February 26, 2025, 07:59:52 AM
DM X 3
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: Terry Green on February 26, 2025, 08:19:40 AM
Tim, are you saying the spypoints don't email you pics?

Thanks.
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: Stringwacker on February 26, 2025, 08:23:09 AM
My thoughts about cell camera's are similar to the thoughts of the great outdoor writer Aldo Leopold...in fact a lot of other things as well.

"I have the impression that the American sportsman is puzzled; he doesn't understand what is happening to him. Bigger and better gadgets are good for industry, so why not for outdoor recreation? It has not dawned on him that outdoor recreations are essentially primitive, atavistic; that their value is a contrast-value; that excessive mechanization destroys contrast by moving the factory to the woods or to the marsh. The sportsman has no leaders to tell him what is wrong. The sporting press no longer represents sport; it has turned billboard for the gadgeteer. Wildlife administrators are too busy producing something to shoot at to worry much about the cultural value of the shooting....I do not pretend to know what is moderation, or where the line is between legitimate and illegitimate gadgets. Yet there must be some limit beyond which money-bought aids to sport destroy the cultural value of sport...our tools for the pursuit of wildlife improve faster than we do, and sportsmanship is the voluntary limitation in the use of these armaments. It is aimed to augment the role of skill and shrink the role of gadgets in the pursuit of wild things." - Aldo Leopold "A Sand County Almanac," -1949
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: trad_bowhunter1965 on February 26, 2025, 10:37:13 AM
I have three a 1 Primo and two Browning I use mine more to video wildlife than for hunting.
 https://youtu.be/yH44cLWclG0
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: mnbwhtr on February 26, 2025, 10:45:13 AM
3 Browning cameras I have to pull the cards to see.
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: Trenton G. on February 26, 2025, 03:07:23 PM
I've got 3 WG innovations that are about 8 years old now and still work really well.
I also run 2 tactacam cameras as well in certain spots that I don't want to muck up by walking in and checking camera cards. Also ran them while bear hunting so that I didn't leave scent on the camera to attract unnecessary attention to them. They're a great scouting tool, and certainly can be helpful at times. It's also fun flipping through pictures.
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: kennym on February 26, 2025, 04:58:51 PM
I have two or three or five, didn't even have em out this year.  Still killed a decent buck, but anyway I've never killed a buck I had a pic of when I had them all out...

Getting old I guess, simpler seems better anymore...
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: Ryan Rothhaar on February 26, 2025, 05:04:04 PM
I think the guy claiming he has 200 cameras out is an expert on bovine scatology. He’s talking like 50 grand in cameras hanging on trees. 3 or 4 thousand bucks a year in batteries. I bet every buck he shoots scores 200 inches too  :biglaugh:

I have 8 or so cameras. Usually have 4-5 up during the season. All are old school pre-cell. I’m too cheap to pay for cell plans for a deer camera.

In my experience there is a place in pretty much every woods where a single camera will sooner or later get a pic of every buck using it.  When I put multiple cams on one property I just end up with the same deer all over.

R
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: Mint on February 26, 2025, 05:37:35 PM
Like Kenny M, i never shot a buck i had on camera but I mostly used them for scouting a new area. In the woods I hunt there are multiple trails that one camera can't cover so I think you really need to sit a spot to get a real feel. I do like the camera picking up other hunters in the area so then I will avoid the spot.

I believe it was one of the Drury brothers that stated they have over a 100 cameras out. Now maybe they were trolling I don't know. I forgot which guy said his group runs about 200 cameras over several states. 
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: fishone on February 26, 2025, 08:14:33 PM
I have one cell camera and 5 older sd cameras. I like to see the nocturnal bucks, but I also like to see eagles, coyotes, red fox, hawks, etc. I probably pull the sd cards every 2 weeks during hunting season.
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: stevem on February 26, 2025, 11:00:09 PM
Have 2 old ones, seldom used.  Agree with some above posts that using them sort of takes away the challenge of what traditional hunting should be. 
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: stillhunter on February 27, 2025, 10:30:06 AM
I have two now. My personal use for myself is for fun and to see what lives in an area. Enjoy my pics of bobcats, bears, etc. as much as deer pictures. My personal rule is to pull them before the season starts. I put them often in places I don't even hunt just for fun to see what critters live there. My neighbor puts out over 100 cameras. He takes clients with a guide business. He knows every buck by name. Whatever. Personally I wish he would stop guiding the area but I have come to the conclusion I can only do what I need to do for myself or else I may find myself becoming a hypocrite in other sporting pursuits. In the other direction some preach hyper ethics that can be boggling too. LOL.
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: Terry Green on February 27, 2025, 10:38:44 AM
Wow, 200 cameras? That sounds like a full time job. Wonder how he finds time to hunt.

I've kill many of hogs at night with no camera and just a bow light.  However I was thinking about getting a couple for LTR so I can enjoy camp with the guys and get notified that there's an opportunity for a stalk. If I just stay out till 12 I miss a whole evening with the guys.

VERY COOL video Blake!!!
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: Honest Jon on February 27, 2025, 11:24:12 AM
Zero.
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: Chuck Jones on February 27, 2025, 01:44:24 PM
I have several spypoint cameras around my property in Tennessee because I’m gone a lot. They send the pictures to my cellphone and I can keep track of people trespassing or delivering packages, etc. I don’t really use them for hunting, but can’t help but see deer, turkeys, and varmits sometimes. The batteries last around 6 months or more, so once I put the camera up, I don’t have to go back to it again for a long time. I don’t use cameras on my property in Illinois, as I am so familiar with it, it doesn’t make sense. Using cameras for hunting is counter productive sometimes, if you have to walk around and check the cards or replace batteries too much. I like to be surprised anyway when I see a nice buck.
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: trad_bowhunter1965 on February 27, 2025, 02:23:14 PM
Wow, 200 cameras? That sounds like a full time job. Wonder how he finds time to hunt.

I've kill many of hogs at night with no camera and just a bow light.  However I was thinking about getting a couple for LTR so I can enjoy camp with the guys and get notified that there's an opportunity for a stalk. If I just stay out till 12 I miss a whole evening with the guys.

VERY COOL video Blake!!!
Thank you and I see a slow glow green light and camera in my future
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: dnovo on February 27, 2025, 02:25:09 PM
I have about 10 or 12. I like seeing pics of the deer. Like others I have never shot a deer that I had on camera, but it's still fun to see them plus all the other critters, turkeys, coyotes, foxes, owls, etc.
And the ones I have out now I haven't checked the pics since sometime in November so not an assist for hunting.
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: MnFn on February 27, 2025, 05:28:58 PM
I was given one and I did use it three or four times, years ago.  Don’t use it at all now.
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: eminart on February 27, 2025, 08:43:41 PM
Zero.

Well, technically, I do own one, but I don't use it for hunting. I just use it to see what visits the edge of my yard.
Title: Re: How many cameras do you use?
Post by: Hud on February 28, 2025, 01:18:28 AM
I thought of buying a couple to see what was knocking down the bird feeders, but then my dog cornered the possum and I knew then.   I admit, I agreed with some of the reasons they are banned for hunting, in the following states:

"Trail cameras are legal in most states, but there are some restrictions on their use. For example, in Nevada and Arizona, trail cameras are banned for hunting purposes. In Montana, Utah, Kansas, New Hampshire and Alaska, the use of wireless or cellular cameras is prohibited during the hunting season"; that probably includes using drones.

Anyone that needs 50 or more, probably is using them for poaching.  A couple years ago, the authorities arrested a group of poachers in Cowlitz County, WA.  It was a costly experience on both sides.