How do you feel about trail cams?

[kbetts]

They are wonderful tools but you have to be careful.  Older deer pick up on them right away, whether they care has a lot to do with personality.  The older bucks will generally shy away or start walking behind them.  I usually put mine up for a week then move them.  It's nice to know what's walking.  I do not like to leave them in one spot for long periods as the deer will definitely pattern your comings and goings.


That being said, I get more pleasure from those cameras than sometimes hunting itself.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

I have one and think its a Lot of fun.  I typically place it in places I couldnt hunt, just want cool pictures and practice scouting.  It builds confidence knowing I pick good places.

I would be a fool if I thought I could pattern a  mature buck and get to the stand 5 minutes before him.  The sad part is, even if it did work, I would be cheating myself.

I am out hunting to be in the woods and kill a deer, not just to kill a deer. I like the element of surprise and the unexpected.

to sum it up, I love cameras but dont use them to hunt deer for me.

[wv lungbuster]

More than likely its not the cams, maybe your leaving to much residual scent or the change in there enviroment.  

"I have been putting down shoe leather and checking mast crops, like I used to do, have my blinds and treestands up and ready".

[WhiteBeard121]

My first year using them. I don't use them for the hunt, but I do use them to know what is prowling within 75 yards of our isolated house. Now I know why the dogs are raising a fuss after dark. Lot of bear and deer close enough to shoot from the back door. Nothing against them if it's what you like but I like to be surprised when I'm hunting.

[DEATHMASTER]

They are great for letting you know what is there. A person hunts harder and longer when they know a monster buck is using the land.
Just do not get overly caught up in hunting one and pass on what is a shooter in your eyes waiting for the one.
Makes a persons spirit brighter knowing just maybe.

[K.S.TRAPPER]

No different then the computers or I phone's or tablet's you guys are using right now searching the web it's all in how you use them. I've seen this same thread come up year after year and half the complainers coming on six months later posting picks of trail cams. There a lot of fun and a great way to hunt 24/7 if that's what you want to do, there's a lot more to it then just throwing a camera up on a tree or at a waterhole and feeders.

Using cams are like hunting and if you have deer that are patterning you or shying away from cams or going noctournal you are probably making the same mistakes while hunting, learn from that. We continually find huge bucks on very small peices of land like 10acres or less and get in and out checking cams once a week and not spooking them by taking the same precautions we do while hunting. We've tried many different types of cams from flashing to infa red and the deer don't seem to mind, they always find them and no there there.

Anyway, we like to use them and they have shown us a lot of animals we never ever would have seen other wise. We love the challenge of finding the really big bucks and certain animals and will use them at certain times. Good luck if you try them there a lot of fun!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

If your not getting daytime picks move your cam!

Tracy

[whitedogs]

Not for me I like to do my own scouting,and I do not have a Iphone or tablets!

[kbetts]

Definitely the cams they pick up on.  People can say what they want about it not bothering them, but where I live.......the big ones don't like it.

[VictoryHunter]

Don't see much need for them other than to take stock. I enjoy the excitement of not knowing!

[Easykeeper]

I think they are a blast.  The way I use them doesn't affect my hunting but I get to see what's around...there's more nice bucks than I ever thought!  I'd never see them without the camera, to say nothing of all the cute and funny pictures of fawns running and playing, bears, coons, and whatever else comes to check the mineral block.

[bobman]

the difference IMO is I don't use my computer or Iphone to gain an advantage over the animals I hunt

the whole reason I use a longbow or recurve is to reject any modern gadgets and pit my woodsmanship and cunning against the animal

now before anyone gets angry I really don't care if anyone else hunts with a laser guided submachine gun, I am simply stating how I feel about my personal actions

[ron w]

I like seeing the photos that are captured, really like the ones from out west, elk, lions, Muleys. But as far as where I hunt there is no real reason to use one. Plus I like to be surprised and use my skills as a hunter and a woodsman to seek my goals.

[Izzy]

Ive been using one behind my house with the kids but havent had a desire to hunt one yet. I do enjoy being flabergasted by an unknown deer while Im hunting. I think theyre awesome for the guys that like them but a terrible tool for the guys that dont like them.  

On the over hunted private land that we have access to there are about 30 cameras on 800 acres, not kidding. One kid that I started out with a longbow, has since gone compound, has 5 out there. Another guy and his son, the ones that ride around and harass the other hunters, have 12 they check them daily with a four wheel. Another father son have one by each of their 15 stands, stands that they just found in the public and private woods in the area. The public land around here has so many you cannot even take a pee in the woods without getting your picture taken. One fellow has three around his group of three stands on public land, three that he has not taken out in years, the local game wardens are not enforcing the permanent three stand laws. He told me that he needs them to make sure that no one is hunting in HIS area and he is going make anyone sorry that goes into his area. I am going out this fall to see how often I can get my picture taken.  Private land is one thing, but on public land it is another.  I think automatic cameras are an invasion of privacy whether they are placed by public officials or private individuals. If there were just a few out there it would not be a big deal, around here it is ridiculous.

[xtrema312]

They are fun.  I like using them more to see what is around before the season starts or after.  I just like seeing stuff on them. I have captured some cool stuff with them.  I hunt where I hunt because of sign, food, time of the year, travel routes........  

The only advantage I have gotten for me is figuring out a few areas were totally nocturnal for activity.  I guess that saved me some hunts to figure that out.   I have also confirmed what I learned from on stand in one spot I hunted for a few years, and that was that deer only came through  at night or in the middle of the day in the pre-rut and rut.  I know that happened a lot from experience watching the area all times of the day during the hunting season, but it was interesting to see it was very consistent day to day that time of the year and much of the rest of the year.  I always figure there was a tendency for that behavior the 6 or 8 days I hunted it every year, but I had no idea just how consistent it was.

I must say I have been surprised a few times on what all I have seen on them that I never know was around.  But, as a meat hunter, I shot what the good Lord puts in front of me.  I only get picky if I am setting on my last restricted buck tag and the freezer is about topped off.  By that time all bets are off with the rut in full swing. What you knew was around just a couple weeks or so before may be dead, moved off,  or totally unpredictable.  

I don't like to have them on my hunting spots for deer.  I think they work real well on turkeys, bears, and people.  I do think the deer figure out they are there even if I am real careful about not pressuring the spot and check them rarely. I think it is the IR light that attracts them, and then they smell some scent on them.  I almost wonder if the flash is better than the IR light.  Most of the deer that seem to spot my camera and become aware of it do so at night.  I have been thinking about not using the light and  setting it for daytime hours only.  

I have found if I have a major scrape or other attractant, they will come in a lot and not be spooked so easy if they are distracted. It seems to me they move off trials with them when they wonder through slow and cautious and then pick up on the camera. I have seen deer move off trails with them even if the trial is right on top of an active human area where they would expect to see and smell people.  

I am starting to think more about putting them much higher off the ground out of nose reach and line of sight.  That and also putting them where they are obstructed and harder to walk right up to.

[Orion]

How do I feel about trail cameras?  I like looking at pix that others have gotten on their trail cameras, but when they're used for hunting/scouting, they're a substitution of technology for woodsmanship.  They're not for me.

[kbetts]

Without them, you miss stuff like this.  Still keeps you guessing.

 

What we need is trail microphones, so we can record what the deer are saying about us when we are not there.  Sure trail cams take some interesting pictures of stuff that tantalize our imaginations, but when does the techno spy game start stealing from the adventure? Or is it all about an analysed and programmed sniper event, where all of the decisions are made in advance and where the game movement is so controlled that there is little chance left for the predicted out come?  That is way the out of state outdoor TV show guys do it in Iowa that hunt on guarded land with their annual governor issued tags.  It just seems like a departure from traditional archery to me.

[Bud B.]

This'll be my first year trying one. So far it has not told me anything I didn't already know.

[n.c.swamp buck]

Lots of good post about the subject.one thing they bring to the table is keeping kids interested.Thay are not a crutch or substitute for good woodsmanship.But my kids love retrieving the cards and rushing home to check them.I think it is a good teaching tool.