Are Trail cameras fair?

[LoneWolf73]

Fair? The game laws seem to think so, society says yes.  Technology probably pulls one away from the simple form of hunting. Personally I use one for the fun/enjoyment of it. Might get me in the woods more during the non hunting times. Sometimes what I see on a trail camera(nocturnal shots)gets me excited about getting in the woods more often. Rarely see the smart old big boys during the day! Unless it is rut time then anything goes. But then we "can" use a buck lure that society says is okay. Beauty is.. we all get to choose amongst all these things and that is between you and mother nature.

[longbow59]

Just to respond to you KyleAllen. I never said I was hard core tradionalist, there will be some deer that will die by my rifle and muzzleloader this year. I just thought when you decide to hunt the hard way, you hunt the hard way. I guess i am in the minority.

[trashwood]

the more knowledge you have about the deer population the better ya can make the decsions about hunting that will benefit the herd.  a trail cam can aid in those choices. deer ratio, rack size, deer condition, undesirable genetics.....all things that need to be considered with food sources, fawn crop...trail cam can help secure data.

good tool, sorry you don't use one.  a deer count happens once a yr, trail cam can supply up to the minute info about important issues.

rusty

[MI_Bowhunter]

So far for me:

Trail cam: More squirrels then deer.

Deer taken as a result of using trail cam:  zero, 0

Its just a tool, it in no way is a guarantee for success.   I just enjoy seeing the pictures.  My cabin and primary hunting ground is a 6 hour drive from my house.  It just not possible for me to drive and scout as many weekends as I should.

[LPM]

Let me tell you about my neighbor.

He is a non hunter.  He owns a chunk of land next to mine.  He lets my daughter and I bowhunt deer on his land as well.  He had some carpentry work done to his house, and one of the workers asked his wife for permission to hunt.  She let the guy in thinking no problem.  Well my neighbor got to thinking about it and called me up to ask what I thought about it.  I thanked him for careing enough about what I thought to call me.  He told me that this guy didn't think he would hunt the property very often, and that he already had his trail cameras and tree stands up.  How does this sound to you guys?  Well I had to keep my temper under control.  I told him that it was his property and he had to decide if the guy was ok.  He said, "yeah I know" but he didn't understand trail cameras and thought it seamed unfair and didn't realy like the idea that he couldn't walk in his own woods without someone watching him.  I educated my neighbor about trail cameras and how some folks use them to find out what kind of deer are in the area and travel times.  I also told him that these folks use their "intell" instead of woodsmanship.....

Oh yeah I can here the toes being stepped on and the cries of those who like trail cameras.  Anyhow I told him this without too much bias....so help me God.  

My neighbor knows how much time I and my daughter spend "traditionaly" hunting deer, I mean with recurves, woodsmanship and bootleather scouting.  My neighbor thanked me for educating him and promptly asked the fellow to leave.

Now....I know that a lot of famous respected bowhunters and genuine good folks use trail cameras, and they could tear me up in a debate about traditions and equipment issues.  Lets be honest about the bottom line.  Show me a guy with a trail camera picture of a monster buck consistantly visiting his stand at 8:15 a.m. up to a day before season starts, and I'll show you that guy sitting in that stand opening morning.  Just the same....You show me a guy with a forty yard sight pin on his bow and I'll show you a guy that won't hesitate to use it on that same monster buck when his level of woodsmanship let him down.

[trashwood]

LPM - well OK let me tell ya about my neighbor.  He has owned his 800 acers for 15 yrs.  for the first 10 yrs we took nothing but does.  ratio was very poor.  next 2 yrs we took doe and poor genetic bucks.  now he has some really fine bucks and guess what.  he has almost quit hunter.  he has over 20 trail cam out.  named all the bucks, and is not goning to hunt again till the herd needs thinning.  he has turned his land into one of the National Hertiage sites.

it ain't the trail camera it's the people.  using one or not does not make a good hunter.  personal ethics make the person and the hunter.

would ya want the guy on the land if he said ok I won't use trail cameras?  

rusty

[trashwood]

of course another point of view is that I can give the name of a million good hunters that think using tradition bowhunting gear is unethical because of the wounding rate compared to the recovery rate.  lets hope they are just misinformed too.

rusty

[Kingstaken]

Originally posted by longbow59:
My point is we choose to use the hardest weaponry to kill with {a bow and arrow}. then we use electronic devises to hunt with. I dont see how the 2 go together.

I wonder type of arrows and broadheads you use?
I see no difference between using camera's and using carbon or aluminum arrows and tuning them to hit grapes at 20 yards.
The local Governing Agency puts you at a disadvantage by setting hours to hunt and for good reasons.
I see no harm knowing where the deer are and at what time.
Besides, we all know the deer are not where we are at the time of hunting.

[steadman]

I used one this year for bear. Was a great tool and had a blast using it. Was able to see a lot of different bear I didn't see in person. A question, ask all those guys over on the trail cam pic thread how many have killed the animals they have pics of. The answer might suprise you. At least from the guys out west.

[Widowbender]

Yes I use them...My actual time to hunt is very limited...season has been in here for over a month and I've only hunted two evenings and one morning...The last five shooter bucks I've taken, I had a trail cam pic of them first...as far as marketing goes, I have 4 digital cameras that I use. I made three of the units myself...plus my family loves looking at the pictures...

David

[Hattrick]

I have couple, i use them more for hope than any thing, were i live most deer dont get past 1 half yrs of age. An i have some pics of 130-150 class deer i never would known  roomed our property, if i didn`t have a cuddy back. Talk about hope!! it gives me that an more. My kids cant wait till i pull one of the cards to see whats out there, that alone is good thing, its also some thing we do together an ceaps the kids involved in the out doors  

[Mo. Huntin]

I am suprised most everybody has kept their cool about this, great discussion. I can see both sides both sides to it. what about if it is rifle season and someone gets a pic on their cell phone and they decide to do a deer drive.  please don't flip out I still like you camera guys too.

[Brian Krebs]

the question of having a woods full of cameras and a backpack with toilet paper - well...... it's just plain creepy.....

[Curveman]

I don't get the internet analogy at all. Tradgang is an electronic campfire if you will where we share stories and information. That's worlds apart from using technology to actually track where and when the deer are moving. You might have guessed that I won't use one-it would take something away from the experience for me, but I am not going to rail at anyone who does.

[-Achilles-]

Its cheating

[longbow59]

I started this post, I think we are having a good discussion on trail cams. This is one of the reasons a site like this so good. We will agree to disagree.

I tell you this there alot of nonhunters out there that see all this stuff and say were not hunting. I hear it all the time about food plots how you get the deer to walk into a pasture and blast them. We know there wrong and right. That was one of my intents about starting this post has to make people see when they choose Tradtion al gear it would be step back to a simpler and more challenging way to take game. Should that not apply to the way we hunt?

For the record I shoot goldtips with snuffers.

[John Scifres]

I think trailcam pics are neat and could care less who uses them.

But, I had a guy refer to them as surveillance cameras once. That got a chuckle.

[Steel]

I love trail cams it's pure joy to get pictures of the area wildlife includeing many animals you will never see with your own eyes. They are also a great scouting tool, but after 6 years of using tail cams I have never been able to tell you a certain time a buck is going to be at that camera spot.

[Kip]

My son-in-law puts one out at diff. places. I don't mess with them.Heck my deer are so nocturnal we wouldn't see any dear if it wasn't for the cameras.Kip

[TommyBoy]

What ever happened to "keeping it simple". I do not think electronic surveillance of game is in the spirit of traditional archery. What's next - electronically tagging your quarry so you can follow it wherever it goes on your GPS tracking system?

And I do not think that people using them should be allowed to enter their game in Pope and Young.  It's like allowing the 'roid boys of baseball in the record books -- it's just not a fair comparision.

I'm glad this topic came up. It has been eating at me for a while now. Good post.