I'm sure this thread has been hashed before but... I'm fasinated by all the animals I've never seen on the property, like bobcats, fishers, coyotes and bears. Also just how rare it is to see the same mature animals more than once or twice. Last year was the first year I successfully used a camera and found out how nochturnal 2.5 + bucks get after they shed their velvet. What have you guys learned?
Some years how few deer there are using a particular field.
I've learned for sure what I always suspected, there's more big bucks around than I or any of the neighbors ever see, much less shoot.
I also enjoy the pics of the young fawns playing and chasing around, cute little buggers... :)
How far bucks travel on a regular basis in late October and November. I hunt a one mile section and have cameras set at all sides and get pics of the same bucks a mile apart some days.
that everything in the woods eats corn :laughing:
Customer service at Cuddeback leaves a lot to be desired. Primos is great.
That they all quit working after a short amount of time. And never use them next to your stand.
Evidently a lot more deer see me than me them.
I once learned that somebody wanted my trail cam more than I did. :mad:
Nothing, two yrs ago someone found mine, so maybe hide them better. 5 stollen at once on wma public land.
That a young bald eagle that hasn't fully phased into his colors is still a really big bird! :thumbsup:
That batteries never last as long as advertised.
How much elk and deer fight in everyday interactions (no over bait)
at how many people visit my hunting area, wonder why game are spooky.
That for all the money I spent on cameras and batteries over the last 5 years I could have purchased 2 new custom bows with all the bells and whistles, and those bows would still be working 5 years from now, unlike the cameras:)
What I learned from cameras is that they are everywhere and must be addictive, because some people have 5 or 6 out there and it that still is not enough. Those that have the most cameras also do the most riding around the edges of the fields messing up my hunting when they are not hunting, those that have the most cameras think that everyone is trespassing on their turf, because they claimed it with a camera. There is a point where something goes from being a fun tool to being overboard and invasive. Also, my friends that use cameras have learned that the more people that are going out everyday to check on their cameras, the more the deer get pushed to where there are no cameras. Since they are not hunting and they do not think that when they bust deer it matters, they just drive by whatever means they have right to the camera and don't weigh the consequences of the daily disruption. I tried to tell them that when their four wheeler goes bombing through the woods that the deer and everything else is busting out the other side. I suppose since they did not see it, it did not happen.
I've really learned how nocturnal deer become after the first guns start going off.
There defiantly needs to be a limit. I may check mine 3 times a year. My wife asks me if I get creeped out by the fact there's cameras all over the woods now a days. I only hunt my dads property and we only put out a couple cameras and so it's not a concern for me. But I think the biggest reason they get stolen is cause the trespasser doesn't want to get caught. Would never put them on public land.
That the biggest buck I had ever seen on a particular farm was showing himself at 3PM instead of sunset. I snuck in at 2:30 and killed him at 3:00 after just settling into my stand.
I learned that there are more bucks/deer in my small hunting area than I originally thought there were, even if most pictures ARE taken at night. This observation just makes me go hunting more often and gives me tons more confidence that I'll see something while on stand. At least it did last season.
I learned most of the deer show up when I'm not in my stand!
I thought seeing pics of the big boys would help me stop shooting the 1 and half olds. But it hasn't, generally I'm just happy if a deer will walk under my stand and give me a clean 15 yard shot.
I like pulling and checking my cards almost as much as hunting. I rarely hunt and area without putting a few cameras out first. I mostly hunt small urban areas where the bucks roam a lot. If the buck I am looking for is not frequenting an area I hunt somewhere else. The last four years I have killed bucks I first had pictures of.