Game Cameras on public land.

[killingtime 41]

Wanting some input on having game cameras on public land. Majority of people say they are against leaving stands on public land. Then why should a cell camera be left in the woods the whole year. Sitting on every game trail you come to. Meanwhile you are out walking and gathering intel. While they guy with a cel came is gathering data 24/7. You can't sit there and relax knowing some unknown individual is sitting there watching you from home. You can't even access the sd card on a cell cam. To see what he's seeing. Meanwhile a stand left out anyone can sit in cause it's public land. I'm looking for an honest opinion not a one sided opinion cause you have cameras out on public. I don't go to public land to have some stranger getting constant photos of me and kid. Area warden said take them if you find them. I'm not gonna do that though.

 

[HoytDawg]

I don't mind them. Tells me where not to hunt.

 

[Jim Fred]

Doesn't bother me, somebody on here probably has pictures of me waving into the camera.

 

[Hduke86]

A cell cam only tells you a deer came by a small area at a certain time so they don't bother me on public cause I'm looking at the bigger "picture". Hunting pressure, access, bedding, escape route so if I see a camera up I usually won't be right on it but if my scouting leads me to the area then I'm not shy about hunting any sign going towards the direction of it.

 

[killingtime 41]

A cell cam only tells you a deer came by a small area at a certain time so they don't bother me on public cause I'm looking at the bigger "picture". Hunting pressure, access, bedding, escape route so if I see a camera up I usually won't be right on it but if my scouting leads me to the area then I'm not shy about hunting any sign going towards the direction of it.

Would it matter if it was small acreage like if it was a few hundred acres. Obviously big acreage wouldn't be a problem. Cause endless places to go. Just a question of course.

 

[killingtime 41]

But see

Would it matter if it was small acreage like if it was a few hundred acres. Obviously big acreage wouldn't be a problem. Cause endless places to go. Just a question of course.

and of course it's a cell camera so now they know all the deer. When they come through and when to be there. You don't cause the cell cam is already there. And you can't see the pics. I guess I'm not bothered as long as it's big acreage. That way I can go find another place all to myself. Same with stands if I see one. I just keep going on to another spot most of the time.

 

[Hduke86]

Would it matter if it was small acreage like if it was a few hundred acres. Obviously big acreage wouldn't be a problem. Cause endless places to go. Just a question of course.

In that instance I would get a satellite view of it like OnX and I would see what the surrounding land looked like and make an educated plan on "seeing" the lay of land I couldn't hunt. If it's a few hundred acres and is public then chances of deer bedding routinely on it are slim. I say that to say it still wouldn't make me not hunt it but I'd scout the property line and see where they cross the line and adjust accordingly. Who knows, that camera may not actually be working or even getting deer in it but if it was working then it would get me going back and forth in front of it lol.

 

[Hduke86]

But see

and of course it's a cell camera so now they know all the deer. When they come through and when to be there. You don't cause the cell cam is already there. And you can't see the pics. I guess I'm not bothered as long as it's big acreage. That way I can go find another place all to myself. Same with stands if I see one. I just keep going on to another spot most of the time.

I definitely get the thing of a place being "hunted" when I see other hunters stuff and it somewhat will discourage me but on small property I'll try to figure out where they come from before they get to the camera and hunt that area.

 

[Buzzard Breath]

I wish they were not allowed on all WMA's. IMO, anything left unattended should be considered trash. However, if they are permitted and you don't want to be photographed, just lean a stick over the lens and leave it there.

 

[webfeet7]

A trail camera doesn't necessarily tell the whole story. And even a cell camera doesn't really mean he knows about every deer in the woods or even knows how to hunt them. Getting a picture of a deer is one thing but actually killing it is something else entirely. I run cameras year round and half the deer I'm hunting still get killed by people who probably don't even own cameras

 

[MUP]

I suppose the only thing that would bother me about a cell cam would be if I had set up early close by already, and someone gets a quick pic from that cam of a good buck, and comes in on me while I've already hoofed my way in early, in the traditional hunting sense, to put my time in the stand to actually hunt, and interferes with my hunt. It could happen I guess.

 

[Fearless]

Just carry a roll of duct tape, what they cant see wont bother your hunt.

 

[mike243]

WMA'S have rules about leaving them out and have seen saplings cut down in a 150' circle around them, also nobody in them so they are leaving them out all season and they could care less if you get to hunt, they staked the area out lol, camera's should never be allowed except on private property, if the twra cant or wont enforce the rules they set due to game wardens turning a blind eye they need fired imo. the good ol boy yugo needs to stop.

 

[Laserman1]

They sell good on FB and CL.

 

[Billboy]

I might have mooned a few public land cameras back in the day... Like others said, at least you know someone else may be planning to hunt the area, but hunter pressure, rut, food, etc can drastically change a buck's travel patterns so a pic is just a pic. Just proves that he was there, not that he will be back.

 

[30-06 type of guy]

But see

and of course it's a cell camera so now they know all the deer. When they come through and when to be there. You don't cause the cell cam is already there. And you can't see the pics. I guess I'm not bothered as long as it's big acreage. That way I can go find another place all to myself. Same with stands if I see one. I just keep going on to another spot most of the time.

Big or small, stand or no stand. If I'm the first one there I'm climbing or sitting wherever I want to. I hunted a spot bow opener no cams. Went back the next weekend climbed the tree and when it got light bam someone had put a cell cam 15 yards from the tree I climb. FF to November he finds me on FB and sends me the pic of me in the tree as the deer fed by.

 

[13pt]

I have a strong opinion on this topic, but just my opinion. If they are allowed on that particular public land, then they are a legal means of scouting and should be left alone...period. If you tamper with those cameras; i.e, pull the chips, put something over the lenses, or worse yet steal it, then you are no better than any poacher or baiter out there...IMO. Now that being said, I only have two cell cameras, both of which I use to monitor for trespassers on our own property; however, I own 18 other non-cell cameras I use throughout the season in various locations...one public property is included. Fortunately, I've never had anyone monkey with the three I use on that public property, but I do hunt about 2.5 miles off the main road so that helps. But, I'll echo what some had said on here. Having a trail camera out doesn't necessarily increase one's odds. For one, I've found many hunters don't know how to scout out the best places to hang a camera, and two, there are a lot of inferior cameras out there that miss A LOT of action, so there's that. I consider myself one of the best for scouting using cameras, and even I can tell you in most cases, at best you'll just going to get an inventory of what's in the area when hunting public property. That's good enough for me since I'm trophy hunting. The last two years are a perfect example of why trail cameras are ONLY a method of scouting. On this public land in the 2021 season, I had 3 shooters on my hit list from camera scouting. There was one day I had planned to hunt and something came up and one of the shooters graced my camera at 9 am 40 yds from my stand, other than that I never encountered one of those three shooters and ended up killing a 5.5yr old 9pt that I had NEVER seen on camera!...though he did walk in front of my camera and kick out my mock scrape seconds before I shot him. This year I only had two shooters on camera and one was a 140" 10pt! He got shot by a guy .80 miles from where I was getting pictures of him, and it was this guy's first time hunting that public land. I talked to him for a while, great guy and I'm happy for him, but he literally just blindly went into the woods that morning and climbed a random tree in the dark and killed that buck at 8:30 am just as he was about to get down and move to another spot!...and almost a mile from where I was hunting the same buck. So, two years in a row and I've yet to encounter one of the shooter bucks I got on camera...and I'm pretty dang good at camera scouting. What it mainly does for me is let me know what high-end bucks may be in my area, so if a 120" buck walks by I have the knowledge to know if I let him walk there's a chance of something bigger. That's about the extent of my benefit of using cameras on public property. If they're legal to use, just leave them alone and know you have just as much chance as the guy who put out that camera!...IMO.

 

[Ski]

They don't bother me. They're not taking anything from me. They're not hurting me. I don't assume any privacy while I'm on PUBLIC ground, so it doesn't bother me to walk in front of a camera. It's not like I'm dragging a dead prostitute to a shallow grave. That's what roadside ditches are for. All I'm doing is hunting and unless that camera blocks my shot, it's not in my way.

Cameras don't pattern deer. It doesn't work like that. If somebody hung a cell cam thinking they can know when to hunt a deer, they're going to be sorely disappointed. Chances are pretty good those cams hanging in the wide open for you to see are not looking for deer. They're monitoring hunting pressure. Knowing the number, frequency, and types of hunters using the place is handy when deciding whether to invest time hunting a spot or to check it off the list and move on.

I don't run cell cams and I rarely run a cam on public ground. When I do it's not a cell cam, and I learn everything I need to know within a week or two and remove the camera. I've never hung & left a stand on public. Just because I don't personally do that stuff doesn't mean I have a righteous position to be upset that somebody else does. I don't. I'm one of the many, many, many owners of that ground and they have as much right to use it the way they want as I do. If the high school marching band wanted to parade through a thicket at 7am November 2nd, nobody could stop them. It's public owned land. If you're going to let stuff bother you on public land then you're going to be a miserable hunter and should probably do what it takes to get your own land. Sure if you notice something illegal then report it, but then be done with it and press on. Don't let it irritate you. It's not worth the heightened blood pressure.

 

[killingtime 41]

Big or small, stand or no stand. If I'm the first one there I'm climbing or sitting wherever I want to. I hunted a spot bow opener no cams. Went back the next weekend climbed the tree and when it got light bam someone had put a cell cam 15 yards from the tree I climb. FF to November he finds me on FB and sends me the pic of me in the tree as the deer fed by.

That's a Screw you move from that fella it sounds like.

 

[killingtime 41]

They don't bother me. They're not taking anything from me. They're not hurting me. I don't assume any privacy while I'm on PUBLIC ground, so it doesn't bother me to walk in front of a camera. It's not like I'm dragging a dead prostitute to a shallow grave. That's what roadside ditches are for. All I'm doing is hunting and unless that camera blocks my shot, it's not in my way.

Cameras don't pattern deer. It doesn't work like that. If somebody hung a cell cam thinking they can know when to hunt a deer, they're going to be sorely disappointed. Chances are pretty good those cams hanging in the wide open for you to see are not looking for deer. They're monitoring hunting pressure. Knowing the number, frequency, and types of hunters using the place is handy when deciding whether to invest time hunting a spot or to check it off the list and move on.

I don't run cell cams and I rarely run a cam on public ground. When I do it's not a cell cam, and I learn everything I need to know within a week or two and remove the camera. I've never hung & left a stand on public. Just because I don't personally do that stuff doesn't mean I have a righteous position to be upset that somebody else does. I don't. I'm one of the many, many, many owners of that ground and they have as much right to use it the way they want as I do. If the high school marching band wanted to parade through a thicket at 7am November 2nd, nobody could stop them. It's public owned land. If you're going to let stuff bother you on public land then you're going to be a miserable hunter and should probably do what it takes to get your own land. Sure if you notice something illegal then report it, but then be done with it and press on. Don't let it irritate you. It's not worth the heightened blood pressure.

I've been hunting public land for over 30 years. Cell cams anybody could afford are very recent. It's public land which means take in what you plan on taking out. Unless a quota hunt or you'll be back next morning. But to leave it out all year. Nope sorry sounds to me like if that's what they gonna be doing. They might want to buy some private land. What it really does is let's the person know there's particular bucks using the area. Now they know it. Instead of having to put boots on the ground and time in the woods. Now they can be watching Phub and getting trail cam pics.