How do you feel about trail cams?

RC · August 05, 2013, 12:50:00 PM

I enjoy mine. I just like to see what comes by.I did kill a Turkey this year I would not have probably because I had a pic of it on an island I had not planned to hunt. It is easier for a meathunter like me to let a deer go knowing there are some good ones around.RC

Looper · August 05, 2013, 01:18:00 PM

I enjoy mine. I use it more out of curiosity than anything. I mostly stick it up around the house to see what sort of critter my dog is barking at.

Last year, a buddy and I set one up over a hog wallow in a secluded area on public land. In the many years we hunted that area, we never ran into anyone, and only rarely, and only during turkey season, did we cut anyone's track. We figured it would be a good place to put up a camera. We left it up for 6 months straight, from the end of turkey season through October.

When my buddy checked it, there were hundreds, if not thousands of pics on it. He swapped out the memory card, but left the camera in place, thinking it was pretty well hidden.

We definitely picked a good spot. There were pics of bobcats, fox, black bear, whitetails, squirrels, possums, coons, mink, turkey and hogs, lots of hogs. In some of the last pics, though, were some bear hunters and their dogs. We have one picture of one of the bear hunters pointing at the camera. Those pics were taken about a week , maybe 10 days earlier.

When we looked over those pictures and saw the one with the guy pointing at the camera, my buddy decided he'd go back up and take the camera down. Well, sure enough, he gets there, and the camera is gone. I guess one of those fellows went back up there and took it.

At any rate, it was really neat to see all of the critters that came by that one little spot. Did it change the way I hunt? Not in the least. We put it there because we already knew game frequented that area. It did satisfy our curiosity as to how big some of those hogs were, though.

Check out the size of the honker in the background of this picture:

Tall Paul · August 05, 2013, 01:48:00 PM

QuoteOriginally posted by pavan:
What we need is trail microphones, so we can record what the deer are saying about us when we are not there.

Hilarious! And about the truth! I almost hit the floor laughing!

steadman · August 05, 2013, 01:49:00 PM

Just like everything else, they can be abused. But I enjoy mine. This year I have a tag that's taken me 7 years to draw. I've got cameras up at the waterholes I plan on hunting. Through scouting I've found that cattle have ruined one hole, but through my cameras I get to see the quality of the bulls in the area. I was going to sit all day anyway, so i don't see the problem.

The other thing is they are fun. I've been able to watch bucks grow up through a friends cameras over in Kansas. You can see what one year and weather really does for animals.

If it's not for you, so be it, but I don't see it cheating. Last I checked the cameras still can't shoot a bow, although it wouldn't suprise me if someones trying to invent that :rolleyes:

Soonerlongbow · August 05, 2013, 02:00:00 PM

Like any other tool. Use it right and it wont be an issue, but use wrong or rely on it too much and you will be buggered like crazy.

huskyarcher · August 05, 2013, 02:26:00 PM

I love them. Almost as much fun as hunting. Its illogical and anti-freedom that any state would even think about banning them. Beaurocratic bull crap in my opinion. My state doent restrict them, buit I feel for those that do.

DaveT1963 · August 05, 2013, 02:42:00 PM

Another good use is on public land to detemine how much hunting pressure is in an area.

Kituwa · August 05, 2013, 03:08:00 PM

We have several of them and i thunk they are fun.I dont really use them to hunt with though. My dad in law is old and cant get around much anymore, so we built a cpl comfortable shooting houses for him that are set up on green patches so he can still hunt. He can only gun hunt and has to take a 4 wheeler to about 100 yards from his shooting house and walks from there.He goes out about 2 1/2 hours before dark.Last year the camera showed lots of deer comeing into his patch, several real nice bucks, but he was not seeing many. The time stamp on his trail camp showed the deer coming in almost exactly 15 mins after he left his shooting house.Thats about the time it took him to get to his 4 wheeler and crank it up. Those deer were waiting till they heard him crank up and knew it was ok to come out,lol.

TooManyHobbies · August 05, 2013, 03:48:00 PM

I like them, but I don't go overboard. Woodsmanship is still needed to find the place to set them up. As I get older, killing a deer isn't what it once was. I still will shoot any doe that comes by, but have become more selective with bucks. With cameras, it may not help me kill a monster, but it will help me pass up smaller bucks, just knowing that larger ones are around. I'm OK not shooting a buck at all, but when I do, I want to shoot one that is fully mature.

Pat B · August 05, 2013, 04:46:00 PM

I use a trail cam around our property at a salt lick(no hunting there)just to see who's around. Generally it is just ole Flossy and her kids. I did set it up on a coyote kill site a few years go to see who visited. You'd be surprised the critters that benefit from a kill.
I now have it set up on our compost pile. Lucy, our chocolate lab ran a bear off from there the other day.

4 point · August 05, 2013, 08:04:00 PM

I think a lot of people are a little confused about trail cams. They think you can put them out and automatically get a pic of every deer with in 2 miles. I have local deer that I have never got a pic of and one is 7 years old this year. I never put them real close to where I hunt and only check them midday or after dark. In my area it takes just as much scouting to get pics of bucks as it does to hunt them.

Recurve50 LBS · August 05, 2013, 08:15:00 PM

I'd like to have a few but in NJ EVERYTHING left in the woods gets stolen. People here can't leave what's not theirs alone.

awbowman · August 05, 2013, 08:17:00 PM

They are fun, but I'd say no often than 1/2 the time do I have a buck we kill on camera. Don't believe everything the camera tells you!

STICKBENDER98 · August 05, 2013, 08:20:00 PM

I think they're a great "tool" to use along with shoe leather and scouting. Just because you get the picture of a great buck doesn't mean you're going to get the shot at him. It lets you know whats out there when you're not, and help you try to pattern their movements. Plus it's fun to share them with all your huntin buds.

Slickhead · August 05, 2013, 08:28:00 PM

I like them but had bad luck with a stealth cam core
But they are nice

JMG · August 05, 2013, 08:42:00 PM

Cameras are just one tool. But I don't know if I'm using them to pattern deer or are the deer using my cameras to pattern me???

LOL. All kidding aside, I firmly believe that we as hunters can never enter the woods without affecting or interrupting deer patterns, (no matter how much scent control we use),. The more we enter the woods to check cameras or hang stands, the more we change the deer natural patterns.

huskyarcher · August 06, 2013, 12:26:00 PM

I love them. Almost as much fun as hunting. Its illogical and anti-freedom that any state would even think about banning them. Beaurocratic bull crap in my opinion. My state doent restrict them, buit I feel for those that do.

jhg · August 06, 2013, 09:12:00 PM

Don't like them

even if I can see how helpful they can be. I REALLY hate when they are tied into a smartphone..
I'd rather hone my woods craft and wonder than have an eletronic camera tell me what I should know already.

Joshua

BWD · August 06, 2013, 11:27:00 PM

Only black and white pictures are traditional. :rolleyes:

Kevin Dill · August 07, 2013, 06:23:00 AM

Kodak Instamatic....flashcube...tripwire. The 5 day lag time to see pictures is a downer.