I cannot use trail cams at the place I hunt for security reasons. That being said, I really cannot get into them for some mental reason. They kind of strike me like fish finders. Prior to me getting into hunting my father and I were bass fishing fanatics. I remember my dad bought a fish finder when I was about 16. We used that thing less than a few months and just ditched it because we felt robotic. We went back to fishing instinctively and we had much more fun fishing on the fly as compared to just staring at a fish finder and only fishing in spots that "showed" fish. Although sometimes my ego wants to be able to use trail cams to find big bucks, my hunting soul rejects them wholeheartedly. I cannot really explain it. If you did not have trail cams running, how big of an effect would it have on not killing bigger bucks each year? What are your thoughts on trail cams? I am open to be swayed.
I don't use them to find anything. I use them to confirm what I think I find. That would be deer trails, travel routes, mostly. They also help me find out when an area or trail is being visited/used.
For me its just a blast and its as fun as hunting. You are in a way getting the buck without shooting it. Over time I have you can watch bucks grow from your to year. I get pictures of bucks that I never see because of hunting pressure in the area. I use it for scouting but its more about getting pictures for me. You see the new bucks move into your area in the winter and then watch as they decide to stay when they pop up in the summer. So do I think they help me get on a mature buck, somewhat, but I don't think it has a huge influence on it. Just my feeling.
I am thinking about getting one just to see if there are any bucks that I don't see scouting in an area. Never used them and know very little about them.
I like what bruce said...You use it to establish travel routes etc and know they are using that trial. Just like using a fishfinder..you dont use it to find fish but rather places the fish will hold to..points, humps, channels etc...
I am a veteren of trailcams, having used them for over 20 years. If there is one thing I have learned, it is that you cannot "pattern" a deer with them. So if you think that you are somehow cheating, you are not. Just because a deer is in a certain place in July/August does not mean he will be there in the hunting season. Food sources change, deer patterns change, and human activity all causes the deer to transition from the summer patterns to the fall. You can use them to see what's out there but anymore than that would be just plain luck. I started using them for the same reason everybody does; to get pictures of bucks. But as time went on, it morphed into something completely different. It is now it's own hobby, something I can do in the off season. Everytime I go and retrieve the cards, it's just like Christmas, you never know what you are going to get. I still want to get pics of nice bucks but now it is so much more. I also want interesting photos that are of the best quality I can get. Every now and then mother nature smiles on you and you get just the right lighting conditions and the right background at the right time of the year and you end up with a great photo. I challenge you to give it a try and you will soon see that it is not cheating. You will also see how much fun it is and how addicting it can become. If I could sum it up with one word, it would be ADDICTION! Try it and you will see what I mean. Blessings.....Pastorjim
The last two bucks I have shot I have trail camera pictures of. It's pretty rewarding to a history with a buck that you finally put a tag on. That said the trail camera pictures I had of both did not have a direct effect on my taking those deer. It just let me know they were in the area. On the other hand, trail cameras may have helped lead me to not filling a tag this year. I had some fantastic bucks on camera and changed the way I hunted my area trying to target particular deer. As a result I did not have a good season. I think that trail cameras are great and I have a ton of fun with them. At the same time I cannot let them change my proven time-tested tactics.
Running or not running trail cams does not have an effect on me killing bigger bucks each year. Trail cams are fun for me. It's like opening Christmas presents, you never know what your going to get. I am not trying to sway you.
I've got trailcam photos of bucks I've killed. I even have on ewith two of my shoulder mounts, standing together. It used to mean more to me than it does, now. Now, it's just "novel". Honestly, I didn't put a camera out this year at all. I'm afraid my feelings would be hurt, if I knew what was out there I WASN'T killing.
Brett, I was the same way as you a few seasons ago. My biggest fear was putting too much faith on what the camera captured or did not capture. I was concerned if I did not get any buck pictures then I would not hunt the area. This year I had a couple cams out just to get "inventory" pics. I did get really excited when I had several pics of a really tall buck back in July/August. Guess what, just like Pastor Jim said...I never got any more pics of him closer to season and did not see him once during season. In a nutshell, I like using trail cams to capture pics of big bucks. However, I don't necessarily expect to see said bucks during season. They could be anywhere. Its fun just knowing what might walk by and the fact I might recognize him.
Thanks for you input fellas. I never once thought I could pattern a deer with a trail cam. I don't know, it is kind of like my personal dislike of range finders. It just does not suite me for some reason. Maybe if I owned my own property then I might get interested in trail cams. I am not trying to rain on anyone's parade with their use of trail cams. Bry, this is pretty interesting... "On the other hand, trail cameras may have helped lead me to not filling a tag this year. I had some fantastic bucks on camera and changed the way I hunted my area trying to target particular deer. As a result I did not have a good season"
I just recently purchased my first trail cams, about 2 weeks ago. I don't expect a trailcam to help me find big bucks, I can do that on my own by way of scouting and only hunting an area when things are right. I'll admit that so far I am having fun trying to see what a tc will capture in pics.
this is the first year i used trail cams a lot, i went from 1 to 5 and had them out all summer and fall. i found a few bucks with them and some bears yotes ect.. i also ate tag soup this year. but i had a lot of fun with the cameras and would have to say they made this my funnest season yet!!
To be honest, trail cams teach me a lot when it comes to viewing the wild life that is on your land. I got pics of animals that I never knew were there (porcupine, badger and bob cat). I also believe that you can screw up your hunting if you over do it with the cams. It's a learning process.
I love my game cams there a lot of fun and there are a lot of info to be had as to what time of day the deer are using certain trails or areas of your property One of my cams showed me that deer only used the spot during the night time with hundreds of night pics vs a handfull of day pics. one other spot all the activity was 8:30 until noon with no eve or night pics so there is info to be pulled from the pics Also every year one of my family will kill deer that i never got cam pics of so that tells me not to give up on my best stand sites,Ya never no when a floater buck will stop on my farm for a few days with a hot doe. The truly big deer i only have night pics of and no one ever seen him during daylight hunting hours but the cams do tell me when and what time at night and direction he was headed so it is good info to gather for future hunts. most of my cams i can drive right up to in my truck change the sd card and back home i go to see what i have and that is much less of a intrusion to my hunting spots then tromping all over the woods and leaving my scent everywhere. I will post this pic of a buck during are rifle season that my brother was hunting a hundred yards away and did not see this deer, we had a great time at x-mas when i got to show them all the pics and video's from this year and like i said it's just a lot of fun.
Ditto to this! This is the reason I took them up.. and I really just began this season.. but dabbled with it last year some too. Like Grizz I have less and less time to be in the woods.. (I no longer want to drive 125+ miles to hunt a buck I don't want to take).. I want to know if its even worth me going out to sit a certain property anymore. They are becoming my way of 'inventory scouting'.. nothing more.. The neat thing has been.. that over the past 2 years of using these cams I've now taken 2 bucks I have the pics of.. which is always an added treat. They even (for the first time) helped me decide on an animals age before I ever saw him this season.. which allowed me the opportunity to pass on a shot.. on that animal.. which will hopefully pay off as years pass. I wouldn't have been able to do this without those pics.
Thanks Mike. I appreciate your thoughts. I could see how taking a buck "inventory" could really benefit you big buck guys. Chalk one up for another guy who has a decreasing amount of time in the woods. Like I said in my first post, I am open to be swayed to give trail cams a try. This was my first year passing multiple 2.5 year olds bucks so maybe I am on my way skill/mentality wise to finally be able to be selective in the deer woods. There are not that many mature bucks where I hunt, so I guess "just" knowing a mature buck or bucks frequent an area might push me closer to my goal of killing my first 3.5+ year old buck on the place I hunt. THANKS guys.
For me, it started as an inventory tool like many have stated here, and I still use them for this purpose. On the other hand, their use quickly exposed me to the shortcomings of most commercial cams (relatively poor battery life, technical issues, picture quality, etc. That led me to the homebrew end of things, and while I'm only just starting to gather parts for my second build, the build itself has become a hobby. I enjoy running my cams for both getting to see what's on cam regardless of whether I will ever have a chance at taking that animal or not once hunting season rolls around. That, coupled with the satisfaction in seeing a camera you built yourself functioning in the field is also very satisfying. Not once have I ever used a cam to attempt to pattern, nor determine where I'm hanging a stand. As of now, they are placed at mineral sites during the off season, and on the edge of my winter food plot as we speak.
I like using them in & out of the season. I see it as one more way to gather information (and get neat photos to look at). However, it's how you process and interpret the information that gets tricky. Just another tool in the belt. Kind of like 4WD. Helpful when you need it, but don't put all your stock in it. I've pulled just as many SUV drivers out of the ditch as car drivers... it's not the piece of information, it's where you put that piece in the puzzle and what you do with the entire view.
willing to bet if you put up a cam you might get suprised. I had a new property that i was pretty much just banking on being a doe spot. I put out a camera and sure as heck a buncha does. And TON of rob bucks (5 to be exact) I kept getting pics of this buck just moving through the background, I never got a good one of him. I went to pull the cam down the other day and bang there he was. I decided to leave it up a bit more Its just like a trap line to me, Its exciting to check, its cool to see whats out there. i really want this guy, but the odds before dropping his horns, on that little 7 acre lot. slim to none lol
