Trail Cameras....ethical or not?

[LV2HUNT]

I remember someone saying that Montana has or was putting into effect a law that prevents their use while a hunting season was going on. I think that law has some merit.

[jhg]

I don't care what anyone else thinks or what the arguments are for using them. I never will. I will always respect hunters that do not use them.

I do know one thing, devices such as this will, in the end, hurt hunting and its image.

Read Greg Munthers interview in the Oct issue of Trad Bowhunter mag. While I do not fall into lock step with all his opinions, he makes some very provoking arguments against more tech devices and what they mean for trad hunting opportunities.

Joshua

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Shawn,

I understand what you're saying, but those shows are about one thing: selling products. I would bet a paycheck that when they kill a particular animal of which they have photos, it's more random than intentional. The point of those segments it to make people think the camera (sponsor) was responsible for the kill, which is no more realistic than "Forget the wind; just hunt," or that Billy Bob's Budweiser Bass Lure will practically make ten-pounders jump in the boat.

It's not hunting; it's marketing.

I have a small 7-point rack from a deer I shot one November on my wall along with two trail camera photos of that deer (both preseason). I didn't even know I had the photos until after I killed the deer and decided to see if he was one of the ones from the cameras. Those pictures had nothing to do with why I hunted that stand on that day, and played no part in me shooting that buck. But if I was a prosti...er...shill for a trail camera company, I could tell the story a different way.

[Zbone]

From what I read about the WR smokepole Albia IA  buck, they positioned over a dozen trailcams for that buck and knew his whereabouts 24x7 and then killed him the very first day of season.

So where do ya draw the line on cheating – one or two trailcams ethical, but not three?…. Food for thought…

[ChrisM]

My boss thinks they are unethical.  Of cource he also calls hic cross gun a bow.  It drives him nuts when he is talking about how great it is and when he says arrow I correct him and say bolt.

[Night Wing]

I think they're ethical. They show what animals you have near you. They don't shoot animals.

In other words, the big 12 point buck where I live that survived the wildfires, my neighbor's trail cam has him on film "during the night". The trail cam doesn't have any photos of the buck during the daylight hours.

[Pat B]

A couple of years ago a hunter on our neighbors proprty shot a doe but never recovered it. We found it a few days later on a power line that runs through out property. After watching the doe disappear over about a weeks time my wife and I bought one to see what was actually coming in to feed on the does carcus. Two winters ago we found another dead doe on our property that looked like a coyote kill. We placed the camera on that kill site to see what animals came to the carcus. You would be amazed at the different animals that did show up...coyotes at night mostly, all sorts of song birds, crows, hawks, coons, squirrels, a deer or two the neighbors dog and our dog.
  I also use my trail cams(I just bought the second one)to find who is using what trail and when most of the activity occurs. Our resident does and yearlings use most of the trails most of the time, all day and all night. Most of the buck pics have been at night except for the occasional one at dawn or after sunset but they are rare on our property.
  Actually we get our best(most interesting) pics after the hunting season is over and the woods settle back down.

[Uncle Buck]

I dont neccessarily think they are unethical but I wont use one to hunt, Ibelieve it would rob me of some of the satisfaction I get from taking an animal by finding the trails and determoning if they are active or unsed. Never claimed to be Daniel Boone. but for me thats the challenge of the hunt. That being said, Having been " employment challenged" since the housing crash is making me take a hard look at putting meat in the freezer

[Rick Perry]

I really wish they would pass a law requiring they be removed from the field before seasons open . They are a neat tool and using them to "inventory" your deer population is one thing . Putting out 20 cameras to determine what stand is hot is another thing entirely . THAT is a HUGE advantage . IMHO it borders on an unfair advantage.

[LeeBishop]

Just because you put out a camera in the woods to scout for you doesn't mean you're going to kill the animal.

I have seen all sort of animals that my camera has taken photos of that I've not seen in the daytime or have run across on the days I've hunted.

It's not cheating an it's perfectly ethical. Its no more unethical than planting a food plot for deer to browse, use cover/attractant scents, corn, minerals, stands, camo, or anything else.  

Fred Bear used a pack mule to attract grizzlies. Nugent said they'd pack it to the hunt area and then Bear would shoot the mule.

[Bjorn]

Everyone should draw lines for themselves and not worry too much about another's lines..................and let's don't confuse  the relationship between ethics and the law. Ethics are ethics, laws are laws-ethics are personal, laws are social.
There is no law that says that you can's shoot a wet sow..................but would you?
You won't use a game cam but you drive to the 'spot' how silly is that? Compass is OK and GPS is not trad?  Ha Ha life is fun!        

[Izzy]

I hate them, seems I cant take a walk anymore without having to skirt one and walk behind it. Im not doing anything wrong out there its just that the woods used to be the one place you could go for peace and seclusion, not anymore.Im scared to pee out there anymore. I hate them, wish they didnt exist. Ethical? Not for me although I love to see my friends pics. I just dont get them. To me, the mystery of not knowing what exactly out there "IS" the hunt.

        They can be like placing an internet order at Cabelas if you let them. If a fella cams two properties that he has access to hunt and one only produces spikes and doe sighting while one produces 1/2 dozen Booner bucks which one will he hunt?

          I thought about buying one just for the thrill of seeing what critters are doing when Im not out there but for the time being I have opted out. Who knows? I may change my mind and buy one down the road but for now Ill pass.

         This is my opinion only which is worthless to anyone but me. I wont criticize anyone for using them because its still not nearly a guarantee that your gonna kill what you see on your camera and there are other crazy things we do to put the odds in our favor that never draw our negative attention. Again, my opinion only which is worth zero.      :p        

[Groundpounder]

i agree with not using them to time  deer movements. unnecessary hi-tech just like automated scent dispencers and battery operated scent eliminators, heated body suits and  gloves.I disagree with Bjorn , of course you might have to drive to your spot,if you lived in town you could never go hunting if you didnt. I believe that trad hunting should be more trad then just your bow.but i also agree with bjorn and others who say its up to the individual.

[Shawn Leonard]

Jason, sorry but I disagree about the fact that they were lucky to know the buck was coming there. I know it sells products but they went out of their way to show the process, to the point they tell you we have this buck patterned to a tee time. They show you the times this particular buck was showing up and the exact times he was using this trail and field. The guy said I will shoot him between 6 and 6:15 as he is coming in every day at this time. He shoots him at 6:07. They also passed him several times as a 3.5 year old. This is not the only instance, just one of several and on several different shows. Like I said, I never mentioned ethics, just is it fair to the animal. It can be a huge advantage for the hunter. Where I hunt, not so much as our season opens in mid october and it is hard to get deer on a feeding pattern. I really believe where the seasons opens early say Sept.1st to Sept 25th. these cameras really give folks an advantage,It is much easier to pattern deer on an early season feeding pattern!  These guys get an early seaon and can predict their patterns even easier with the use of trail cameras!!  If it was a fluke these guys would not kill monster bucks(140"s or bigger) every year. I agree, when you have sponsors and can get 30 of these 3 and 400 dollar cameras these guys want to sell the product but they also use them to their advantage and that is where it may not be fair to the animal. The guys even comment a lot of times, "well we knew he was gonna be here with the right wind, all we had to do was make the 12 yard shot"!! Just my opinion, but no one can tell me it does not make a difference, take the cameras away and see if they can pattern a buck the same way, meaning the exact times and their movements. Even with all the old tricks like thread across the runs and such I don't think it would be pssible.  Again, no problem with guys using them if it floats there boat but I really believe this will become an issue with P&Y and B&C as the use of electronic devices is not considered fair chase and if guys continue to post on shows and the internet comments like "I would of never killed this buck if it was not for my trailcam!" people will start to take notice.  Respectfully, Shawn

[KentuckyTJ]

I have four cameras. Do they take away from my woodsmanship...I say not. Do you think I walk into the woods with a blindfold on, bump into a tree and hang the camera? Of course not I have to use my woodsmanship to know where to hang it.

From all the folks I know who use cameras I only know of one guy that has as many as 40 of them and he has no less than 10 places to hunt and doesn't use all of them on a single spot. I don't think that ever is the case. It may be on a paid outfitted hunt but that's a whole other issue in itself. 99% of the camera guys I know have 1-5. The only reason he has so many is he gets them for free.

If you think cameras are unethical and have never used one. Well that would be like someone asking you what you thought of a certain bow and you giving your opinion even though you have never shot one. If you think they are unethical I would like to challenge you to go get one and then find a deer you would like to take and go kill him. After you kill him and still think they are unethical you will then have a valid opinion.

[Shawn Leonard]

By the way, I have a couple and do use them to see what is out there.! Shawn

[Strutter]

For those who think they are unethical. Is it ethical for a person to pay the outfitter to scout, hang a stand, and tell you what time a certain deer will come by.  Not much difference, except in cost, or wouldn't seem to be anyway, in the way it has been explained here.

[Looper]

Shawn, those deer those guys are hunting must be wearing watches. Or, more likely, they're coming in to a feeder. I've never seen a free range deer come to the exact spot day after day at the same time without some outside influence. It takes very, very little to make a mature buck change it's habits. Sure you can find any extreme case to point out an abuse of anything, but the average guy isn't going to be buying 20 trail cameras.

The way I see it is that they just confirm what we already know. I mean, if you have any sense at all, you'll place it where you've already determined there is something to watch. Deer especially bucks, leave signs. Rubs, scrapes, footprints, beds, visual sightings, etc. Like TJ said, it's not like some dude just randomly straps one to any old tree, gets a picture of a deer and, a month later, can go back to that same tree and kill that deer. That's silly.

[Nattybumppo]

For me personally... I don't use them. But it's more of an economical thing. I only get to spend so much on hunting and fishing and I ain't going to use that money on something like a dad blame camera.

Now what is unethical IMO is the assumption these things scout for you or etc. I know several people who rely entirely too much on these and bait them etc and yet don't spend hardly anytime in the woods themselves.

[Thumper Dunker]

Theres no whitetails here and our blacktails realy have no one area they stay at. But I think the cameras might be fun. Cheating ? Some might say not napping your owen points and not making your bow from scratch or having the latist camo or that real stylish wool shirt and that 4x4 that got you there is cheating.  Who cares what others do.  And some going to complane i ran all this together.