Not sure if I am against or for them... why do you?

[Brian Krebs]

I think its totally unsporting; and I bet you $10 that if you sent me 10 trail cameras I would feel the same way !!!

 try it- go ahead and try it!


 www.killdeercoppingasquat.com

[tyee]

I hate the idea of trail cams.
They echo the call of the techno hunter
faster more success bigger racks more points
higher gross scores it all makes me want to puke in my stew. What ever happened to woodmans ship
This really gets me going I just can not see how or why a trad hunter of all people would except this> I thought we hunted with stick bow for the added challenge the nastalgia. Why stop with trail cams why not hire ex-marine recon scouts to go out and find deer and call you on the phone so you can go shoot them. This is insane what we have turned hunting into. I am very afraid of where we are headed and so should you be

[Curveman]

It's funny that I was just having this discussion tonight before I read this post: I'm with tyee in that part of the FUN of HUNTING is challenging yourself to find the best spots through "skills the Indians used" as it were, and that to me all goes hand in glove with the whole traditional thing as not soley defined by the implement used to kill the beast. I think trail cams is a form of cheating really. OK, flame me! Let 'er rip!      

[James Wrenn]

I like seeing pictures people post taken from there cameras.I don't use one myself even though I have one but sure don't care if others do.Deer around here are spooky and the camera seems to alert them so I quit useing it.

[longbowben]

I use trail cams because i hunt for bucks 140 and above.So i do a lot of looking before i hunt an area.But im real lucky we have managed our farm for 12 years we have lots of big bucks.And if you do alot of work you like to see your fruits of labor.So i must be wrong viedoing a booner 2 nights ago.

[Can Hahaka]

I like natures pictures: scrapes, rubs, tracks and the occasional hair on the fence.

[Orion]

I don't use them.  In deciding to use or not use any piece of new technology, I first look how it might impact fair chase.  That concept has at least two major components.  First is that the animal has a reasonable chance of escape.  That's why shooting animals in enclosures, swimming, with locked horns, tangled in a fence, etc. isn't considered fair chase.  The second involves the element of fairness to the animal, of not taking unfair advantage of the animal.  Most technology additively stacks the odds in the hunter's favor.  Each person has to make his/her own decision as to how much technology they use and still consider their hunting fair to the animal.  For me, trail cams don't meet the fairness requirement.

[Killdeer]

Brian...you made me look!  :eek:  

 

[eidsvolling]

Originally posted by Orion:
I don't use them.  In deciding to use or not use any piece of new technology, I first look how it might impact fair chase.  That concept has at least two major components.  First is that the animal has a reasonable chance of escape.  That's why shooting animals in enclosures, swimming, with locked horns, tangled in a fence, etc. isn't considered fair chase.  The second involves the element of fairness to the animal, of not taking unfair advantage of the animal.  Most technology additively stacks the odds in the hunter's favor.  Each person has to make his/her own decision as to how much technology they use and still consider their hunting fair to the animal.  For me, trail cams don't meet the fairness requirement.

Yup.   I enjoy seeing pictures of animals, but I do not hunt with a camera, unless the camera's in my hand and I'm stalking the animal for a closeup.  And it's why I quit using a GPS to mark a scrape location, right in the middle of doing it a few years ago.  It was a "double head slap" moment for me.

[DRR324]

I think they are great just for getting pictures of deer doing what deer do.  I only have a 20 acre piece, so scouting is not really an issue, only have a good 6 locations for stands- my piece is a travel route- so I can get pics of deer as they are moving through.  I have been seeing a whopper 8 point and two of his buddies each morning on my way to work.  Been trying to get pics with my sony, but it hasn't happpened yet.  I've narrowed down the travel route and put the cam out last night in hopes of just getting a few pics of him.  We don't normally have bucks this good running around my area, so to me it would be awesome to have a few shots of him to show my brother and buddies.  Not sure how guys think they are cheating- or whatever, you still gotta put your butt in the right place at the right time and make it all happen.  The camera laser won't kill em, at least I don't think it will.....

[Orion]

The laser won't kill them, but the camera will tell the user the right place and the right time to sit/hunt.  It also shows the specific characteristics of the deer.  No more sitting over big tracks that turn out to be a doe's, unless you're after a doe, of course.  It also alerts the user to deer he/she would never have known were there otherwise.  It allows the user to "scout" 24/7, etc., etc.,  In short, it takes away any vestige of sanctuary that the deer might have had.  These are the reasons I don't use them, but as I said, folks have to decide for themselves what's fair to the animals they hunt.

[BowHuntingFool]

I don't have one or want one! I'm not against them but not for me! I like doing the leg work and enjoy being in the woods! I scout from distances and do a lot of shining, this gives me a very good idea of what's in my area, where there coming from and going to!

[recurvist]

I think they are a great tool especially on land u are trying to manage. The more u see these bucks thru pics or sightings the easier it is to recognize that deer, detect age, growth potential and so on ... besides its almost as fun to check a camera as it is to hunt!

[Whip]

I don't know, maybe I just don't understand how to use them or don't try hard enough.  

I do have a camera out for the summer and fall months and love looking at the pictures from it.  I've gotten some great shots of all kinds of deer.  Fawns, does, small bucks, big bucks, along with all kinds of other animals.  I have one sequence of three pictures of a coyote, each taken at a different time and each with a small rabbit in his mouth.  Obviously he had found a productive feeding grounds and kept coming back for more.  Very cool!  

And I have gotten pictures of a number of good sized bucks that I never saw while hunting.  Still cool to know they are around.  But I personally think the possible benefits or unfairness of using cameres is greatly overexagerated.  

Like I said, maybe I just don't get it, and am not a good enough hunter, but it just doesn't seem like I see the deer doing the same thing at the same time of day over and over.  I've had my camera on the same tree overlooking a small seasonal water puddle.  I seem to get plenty of pictures.  Maybe if I just tried harder I could make it work to help me kill more deer....

In the meantime, I'll keep using the camera and enjoying the pictures I get from it.  I just don't hunt any differently because of anything I've seen on it.

[Don Stokes]

Using a game camera has extended my pleasure by showing me what's out there. Don't fool yourself into thinking it's somehow unethical- you still have to hunt the deer just as hard, and just because you got a picture of a good one in a particular location, it doesn't mean that you can shoot the deer there. If you've hunted much, you know better. I have one picture of a deer that I managed to shoot later, at a different location. I think that's cool, and it doesn't detract from the experience in any way. Nothing "unfair" about it.

[Onestringer]

Why not it give me something to do, and sometimes I get some really cool pics.

[Onestringer]

Plus I have been know to moon a couple that weren't mine.