With all of the hoopla over trail cameras the past decade or so I'm curious as to how many people feel that trail camera data has directly helped them kill a deer. Meaning you were either able to locate a deer's position or movements based on trail camera data and then go kill him. Personally speaking, trail camera data doesn't tell me a whole lot other than where a particular deer is at a particular time. Considering most photos are taken after dark that data doesn't do much in the way of helping me really isolate anything in particular that could help kill that deer during hunting hours. By and large I use trail cams to keep tabs on the deer I'm hunting and try to form some very general opinions on where those deer are at during times when I may be able to kill them - either daytime photos or those taken shortly before daybreak or shortly after dark. In those cases I can try to figure out where the deer is likely coming from or headed to, although it's really just an assumption more than anything. You still have to use some traditional scouting to verify those assumptions either during the season or once it's over. Truth be told at times I think we put too much stock in what trail cameras are telling us and base our hunts on a very small fragment of information instead of looking at the bigger picture. Thoughts? Opinions? Experiences?
Yes, but it wasn't a bow kill so I'll spare the details. If anyone wants to read more search and find the story of the crab claw buck my camp killed in 2012. I've also been close to killing deer based on trail cam info but truthfully those deer I didn't put the time in to really get the rest of the pieces of the puzzle. Cams are great IMHO for narring down a huge chunk of land and understanding that let's say a specific deer is frequenting one side of the farm, but unless you know where he's bedding on a consistent basis the info is useless other than giving you false confidence to sit on stand longer. I've also wasted a lot of time chasing deer that didn't frequent areas I was hunting during daylight because of trail cam pics. Unless you have the other pieces of the puzzle they are just a talking point to share with others IMHO.
Yes, in two ways. One, it keeps me focused on the particular deer. In the case of Blade (though my brother shot him) I had only seen him twice on the hoof in 4 years. He ran under 4 stands I had set for him in his last minutes of life. I wouldn't have even been within a mile of that ridge hunting him if it weren't for what I got of him on trail cams.
If the trail cameras are just out for inventory then I would agree that they won't help you much. That's generally how I've always used them in years past, just to know what has been out there and to see if there is any kind of pattern. Cameras over minerals all summer long won't help much in the way of developing a pattern though as all things change once the fall gets here. Last year was the first time I've had enough extra cameras that I've been putting them on decent trails and soon I found that they sure can be used to help. Just need to learn how it all applies though when I actually get down to hunt and make necessary changes in stand set-ups. Last year I was not quick enough to recognize what I was seeing and didn't get a stand located like I had thought. However, what I learned certainly will be applied to at least one new stand location this summer.
I use them in summer to inventory and in the Fall I move cameras to some boundary scrapes and travel corridors. When mature bucks start to hit the scrapes during daylight hours, (normally around Oct. 26) I start to hunt. Cameras have definitely helped me pattern certain deer and kill them. No question. When life became too busy for me to do a lot of scouting, I learned to let the cameras do the work for me. Cheating? Maybe to some, but I sleep well, and eat well.
Have Trail Cameras Directly Helped You Kill A Target Buck? --- Yes- You got to know he is there before you can zero in on him. Trail cams allow you to monitor 24/7 and can tell you what is there to hunt. After you found him then you got to know where he frequents with out getting busted. Trail cams again show you this. Last year trail cams lead to the downfall of 4 different hit list bucks on our properties.
They have been helpful in a few ways: 1. Inventory 2. Paths Example: I had a big buck on cam last year, consistently. So I knew he was coming through the top of the hill. Never once saw him take the lower path. I thought he was crossing the pasture and going to the other woods. However, after weeks, I never once got a pic of him in the other woods. I knew my best shot was on top of the hill because he was consistently there. Now, if only he was there during daylight...
For me personally? No. It's more a matter of what I use my camera's for (inventory mostly) and the way our property holds deer. I've only shot one buck I have on camera since I've started running cameras. Our property doesn't hold mature bucks consistently aside from when they're seeking and during late season feeding. When they're on their summer patterns, and our corn crop is doing well, I can get summer photos of a few mature deer, but most of the pictures I get are on mineral stations on our neighbors property. I'm allowed to run cameras, but not hunt. It's a sanctuary, but seeing bucks on camera there during the summer lets me know they will find their way on to ours. So in that sense, I suppose my situation is a bit different from most and as such that's why I have such limited success.
I've had better luck since I started limiting my trail cam use. I use them in spring and early summer to get an inventory and choose target bucks. In August I replace batteries and put them in different spots (bedding or funnels) and let them hang until the end of the season. I use any intel for next season.
Yes. Inventory in the summer and travel patterns into the fall. Also lets me know if he is still alive or not.
Yes I think so. I put them over mineral sites for "inventory". But, I tend to put a lot of cams over trails or feeding areas to get an idea who uses it and when. No minerals, no corn that I place, just natural spots. It can be frustrating because you get a lot of cam checks with almost no pictures because its an old trail or something, but helps eliminate the spot. Many of these spots look great, and without the cam there I may have spend many unsuccessful hours on stand over that spot, while bucks are using other areas. I do not put a lot of thought into the cams I put over corn piles and minerals, just enjoy the pictures. Its the pictures I get over scrapes or trails that get me excited and moving stands.
So we're getting a lot of "yes" answers but no real specifics on how cameras directly helped you kill that deer. I get the "you can't hunt him if he's not there" aspect of it and in that regard a camera will let you know if a deer is in a particular area. But once you've got a picture of that deer, what specifically have you done with your cameras or how have your cameras helped you zero in and kill the deer? That's what I'm asking. Example in Fletch's case - you use them to tell you when bucks start hitting scrapes during the day. I like this tactic and have done it myself, but do we really NEED a camera to tell us that the last week of October is when this starts to happen? Or do we just rely on the cameras to confirm what we already know?
Yes, two of our targeted bucks last year were killed with the help of trail cameras. Both bucks were killed within 50 yards of the camera.
Example: Three of the four buck taken were due to pics of bucks moving in daylight in known doe travel areas to food. They started chasing and we caught them in the act. Most were shot with in two days of getting them on film. One was shot over a scrape the day after we had him on film....
Move your cameras to area's where you have a chance to catch them moving in daylight (doe travel areas, scrapes and bottlenecks) monitor your cameras every 48 hrs... and when you find him get on him quick.
My best kill to date is due to the fact that i had cams out looking. Ended up setting up on a trail from the direction he was coming from on cam and within a week he was down. Dont depend on my cameras all the time but, they are really good hunting buddies who tell truthful hunting stories.
I cant say that it really has! It does tell me whats in my area and gives me something to go by. They change so much in my area from summer through Fall and some Bucks are straying from other properties on to ours, but if im getting alot of pics of target Bucks in the fall it helps reassure me there staying in that area giving me a little better chances at a crack at him.
It tells me where my target bucks are when I can kill them. Certain scrapes will be more attractive to certain bucks and I learn what travel corridor target bucks are using frequently. I have had scrapes that look amazing that are rarely visited by a mature buck and other small scrapes that were used almost exclusively by a buck that I want to kill. I have also moved as much as a mile or more to hunt a particular buck when I start getting pictures of him in the new location. I seldom ever enter the woods to run cameras. I put them all on mineral sites, boundary scrapes, food sources, and travel routes and check them in the middle of the day so I am not bumping deer frequently.
One camera's location might help or might not help. Adding or moving cameras will help pinpoint through process of elimination. (1) I will wait to go all in once I see targeted bucks moving right before or during daylight hours. (2) Watch for routines during heavy rainfall, crops being in or out, droughts, etc. thru analyzing past data. I am analyzing my 2012 photos this year to help predict deer and crop patterns. (3) If we have the deer on film and I know he is there I will first figure out why he is there and where he is coming from. Last year we were able to do this from the road with binoculars, if this was not the case I would move more cameras in to help.
Yes. Last year. Simple story...my cameras showed me that my buck had been feeding in a few nearby locations every morning/evening. I was busy with work and the only scouting i did was checking my cameras weekly. The evening of the second day, i got 2 opportunities at him and took him with my second chance. Right in front of a camera.
