How far we've come...y'all remember

[peytoncreekhunter]

Remember the trail counter. A gizmo you attached to a tree then tied the string from it across a trail to see the date and time it got tripped. Then it was improved with a sensor to detect multiple trips. Then I remember seeing the first trail camera at a Walmart. Having to load 35mm film, then get it developed. Then along came digital and "home brew" cameras. Then using sd cards and viewing on site. Now the cell cameras that immediately send the picture to you. Did I miss anything?

I'm anxiously awaiting what is next!

 

[UCStandSitter]

Holograms! It's the future!

 

[TheLBLman]

Remember the trail counter. A gizmo you attached to a tree then tied the string from it across a trail to see the date and time it got tripped.

Yep.
First time I used this gizmo was 1985 bowhunting bear around some "shield" lakes in the bush of far north Ontario. More water than land up there.

Brought them back to Tennessee but never felt like they were worth much, as too many other critters besides deer could trip them. More a gimmick than a gizmo.

But some time later with the early trail cams, sure did develop a lot of 35 mm film, too much of which was just weeds blowing in the wind!

 

[TheLBLman]

I'm anxiously awaiting what is next!

I suspect mainly higher quality images, greater nighttime flash ranges, longer battery life, and maybe more programming features such as multiple windows for field scan mode, etc.

This would be on top of faster recovery rates between triggering events, and in a single cam, perhaps even 3 or more lenses (such as wide-angle, normal, & telephoto), all taking pics simultaneously with each triggering event.

Another feature I would like to see is remote cam "fine" positioning, whereby the cam could be adjusted (at least slightly) up, down, left, right. We often only later realize a cam is aimed a little high or too low, so it would be nice to be able to remotely change the aim just a bit.

 

[Pilchard]

I'd like to see a 360 degree camera that could take a picture in any direction.

 

[UCStandSitter]

I'd like to see a 360 degree camera that could take a picture in any direction.

Panorama pics that were only saved for 25 hrs would be nice. You get a pic and like it. Pull HD, then pull panorama. Would be nice

 

[Dodge Man]

I'd like to see a 360 degree camera that could take a picture in any direction.

Wildgame Innovations R12i20-7 360 Degree 12 megapixel Trail Camera, Bark Texture https://a.co/d/ck2kBjg

 

[BSK]

I'd like to see a 360 degree camera that could take a picture in any direction.

I've seen them on "live feed" cams.

 

[BSK]

Did I miss anything?

The first true electronic trail monitoring system was the Trailmaster 1500. It had an infra-red sending unit (sent a beam of infra-red light) and a receiving unit. The two units were set up on either side of a trail. When something broke the beam, an event was recorded. The user could go through all of the triggers and right down the date and time, or even print them to a small hand-held printer. Found out the hard way that the two units really needed to be mounted to T-posts, as when mounted to two trees, their swaying in the wind would break the beam. Was a nightmare getting the sending and receiving unit lined up properly. These came out in the early 1990s, and cost around $600 back then. And for a cool $1,200 you could get a camera that wired to the receiving unit which would trigger the camera. I bought one of these back in '93 I believe. back then, $1,200 was a LOT of money. Used it for years though. My mentor helped develop the Trailmaster system, and he used it to do his PhD research on signpost rubs.

 

[rem270]

Wildgame Innovations R12i20-7 360 Degree 12 megapixel Trail Camera, Bark Texture https://a.co/d/ck2kBjg

I have one of these and it takes excellent pics.

 

[DeerCamp]

Some people don't love progress like this. I think it's awesome. Totally changed how easy it is to get my wife and kids excited to hunt.

The only "old technology" I miss is taking a deer to the corner store to check it in, and hanging out to see what else comes in.

 

[BSK]

The only "old technology" I miss is taking a deer to the corner store to check it in, and hanging out to see what else comes in.

I remember the days when an average 90-class 2 1/2 year-old 8-point would draw a crowd.

 

[TheLBLman]

I remember the days when an average 90-class 2 1/2 year-old 8-point would draw a crowd.

Yep.
Yep, back in the 80's thru most the 90's, almost zero "above" average yearling bucks would even survive to 2 1/2!

As to the majority of 2 1/2-yr-old bucks killed back then, most were the ones which had tiny spikes as yearlings, thus, way below (today's) average for a 2 1/2-yr-old buck. Back then, any buck with much beyond a very visible spike was immediately fired upon.

I always thought the main reason lots of small spikes survived to 2 1/2 was because relatively few hunters had optical sights back, thus many small spikes were given a pass, the hunter's thinking there were a doe.

I do not miss the deer hunting of an 11-buck limit and "buck only".
It was all about quantity, but no quality.
Of course, I do miss the comradery of the county check-in stations.

Most of today's public land deer hunters have no idea how much better they have it now than did those of the 1980's. The public woods were much more crowded with hunters then, and you had much less chance of just a "nice" buck then vs. now. Even most private properties then sucked as compared to today's public lands.

 

[BSK]

I do not miss the deer hunting of an 11-buck limit and "buck only".
It was all about quantity, but no quality.

In the late 80s to early 90s, there would literally be 250 spike and forkhorn yearling bucks checked in at my check station opening weekend of gun season.

 

[DeerCamp]

I remember the days when an average 90-class 2 1/2 year-old 8-point would draw a crowd.

Late 90's I killed a 120" 8 point (3.5yo). I was 17 or 18 at the time. They even called a wildlife officer over and he took a bunch of measurements and tooth aged it. People were texting friends. I felt like the best hunter that had ever existed.

Actually kind of a funny story. Got to my stand - folding chair had 3 inches of ice in it. Every move made noises. I got mad and threw it down about 7:30 and started walking out. Made it about 15 yards - Heard a noise coming through the brush. I could see antlers. He popped up on to the logging road at maybe (8?) yards.

All I could see in the scope was a brown blur. He went down instantly.

Tried every way I knew how to screw it up!

 

[BSK]

Late 90's I killed a 120" 8 point (3.5yo). I was 17 or 18 at the time. They even called a wildlife officer over and he took a bunch of measurements and tooth aged it. People were texting friends. I felt like the best hunter that had ever existed.

Actually kind of a funny story. Got to my stand - folding chair had 3 inches of ice in it. Every move made noises. I got mad and threw it down about 7:30 and started walking out. Made it about 15 yards - Heard a noise coming through the brush. I could see antlers. He popped up on to the logging road at maybe (8?) yards.

All I could see in the scope was a brown blur. He went down instantly.

Tried every way I knew how to screw it up!

You should have seen the crowd when I brought in a 157 gross 10-point opening morning of gun season in 1994.

 

[TheLBLman]

I killed my first buck in 1971.
Between then and 1984, I typically killed many bucks annually.
But it was 1984 before I killed my first buck known to be over 2 1/2 yrs of age,
and I had even begun passing up bucks with less than 8 points since 1980.
I did kill several yearling & 2 1/2-yr-old 8-pointers before 1984.

But 1984 totally changed what defined a "trophy" buck, for me.
I took a buck, on public land, that was estimated to be 5 1/2 yrs old or older.
This buck was a classic mainframe 8, that net scored 130
but he was a gross 140 class buck.

From there on, I became more a mature buck hunter than even considering "how many points" was on a rack. And later, I came to realize that a specific mature doe is actually a greater hunting challenge than a mature buck. So some of my best "trophies" have actually been old does.

 

[TheLBLman]

You should have seen the crowd when I brought in a 157 gross 10-point opening morning of gun season in 1994.

And I'd bet that buck was only 3 1/2 yrs old!
Great genetics!
You might have killed a buck that would have topped the longstanding 1959 TN's #1 Typical,
if you had just killed him a year later

Can only image what your 1994 buck might have become had he lived two more years!

 

[BSK]

Can only image what your 1994 buck might have become had he lived two more years!

I would say 'big!"

 

[BSK]

But 1984 totally changed what defined a "trophy" buck, for me.
I took a buck, on public land, that was estimated to be 5 1/2 yrs old or older.
This buck was a classic mainframe 8, that net scored 130
but he was a gross 140 class buck.

From there on, I became more a mature buck hunter than even considering "how many points" was on a rack.

I bought one of the first copies of "A Practical Guide to Producing and Harvesting White-tailed Deer" by Dr. James C Kroll in 1992. Changed my world. Started practicing what came to be called Quality Deer Management (QDM) in 1993. Met and began regular communication with Dr. Grant Woods in 1993. That REALLY changed my world!