Trail cameras ruining hunting??

[Dkizer18]

Bowriter brought up second guessing in a different thread, and I totally agree. I do run cameras on one of my places but not the other. While I fully agree that they are a great way of scouting and researching I really enjoy hunting my farm without cameras. It is like a mystery when you have scouted sign to what caliber of deer is in the area. Also I think some hunters get too caught up in what pictures they have that they let deer they would normally be thrilled with walk(I am guilty of this). So in conclusion I think cameras do make us better hunters and I don't think it is ruining the hunt for me, but I could see the argument against them. What are your opinions on this?

 

[megalomaniac]

The introduction of affordable game cameras is probably the single best management tool we have as stewards of our resources. The amount of information gained from camera census is invaluable regarding making management decisions regarding what or how many to kill.

For the most part, they don't make me a better hunter, except for the fact that I'll hunt a bit harder and longer if I know there is a really good buck in the area. They have definetly made me a better deer manager, though.

The folks I allow to hunt on my properties find the pictures invaluable as well... since the limit on my farms is 1 buck (everyone gets one 'buck of choice'), plus everyone can kill an additional 'cull' buck (a buck I have photographed which is 4.5 yrs old and has subpar antlers), those that hunt love seeing what is available that fall and provided realistic expectations from year to year.

 

[deerhunter10]

I do but I don't. I don't run cameras. I have ran cameras before and just don't like them. Love how.bsk and.people like that can gathering very good information from them. I love doing it the old school way and have been way more successful like that. People don't realize how much pressure they put on the deer because they cannot stay out of the place. For some its a great tool for many hurting them a whole lot more then its helping.

 

[Bone Collector]

Can't say they make you a better hunter. Can say I used to think negatively of them, because I didn't have any where to run them, so I wasn't. Now that i have land and run them they are fun and provide info in making management decisions.

I do agree though it takes discipline to not check them all the time and planning to check them without causing too much disturbance.

 

[bowriter]

They haven't ruined hunting but they sure as heck ruined scouting. Or should I say, they ruined learning how to scout. I have never used them, don't like them but don't care what other people do.

I am still waiting for some mountain lion pictures, though. I know the guy who works for the lady at the bank's brother-in-law saw one.

 

[Dkizer18]

I do but I don't. I don't run cameras. I have ran cameras before and just don't like them. Love how.bsk and.people like that can gathering very good information from them. I love doing it the old school way and have been way more successful like that. People don't realize how much pressure they put on the deer because they cannot stay out of the place. For some its a great tool for many hurting them a whole lot more then its helping.

Very good points.

Can't say they make you a better hunter. Can say I used to think negatively of them, because I didn't have any where to run them, so I wasn't. Now that i have land and run them they are fun and provide info in making management decisions.

I do agree though it takes discipline to not check them all the time and planning to check them without causing too much disturbance.

Agree here too, and as far making you a better hunter, I was kinda talking about management, but I think it can tell hunters a lot about how and when deer are moving.

 

[cecil30-30]

i used to run them but didnt run any this year. stayed out of the woods until 2 weeks before season just to get my stands ready. and im having one of my best seasons in a while..killing more and seeing more

 

[BSK]

Everyone's postings above make some exceptionally good points about trail-camera positives and negatives, which I agree with:

Also I think some hunters get too caught up in what pictures they have that they let deer they would normally be thrilled with walk.

The introduction of affordable game cameras is probably the single best management tool we have as stewards of our resources. The amount of information gained from camera census is invaluable regarding making management decisions regarding what or how many to kill.

For the most part, they don't make me a better hunter, except for the fact that I'll hunt a bit harder and longer if I know there is a really good buck in the area.

People don't realize how much pressure they put on the deer because they cannot stay out of the place. For some its a great tool for many hurting them a whole lot more then its helping.

They haven't ruined hunting but they sure as heck ruined scouting. Or should I say, they ruined learning how to scout.

 

[Nealmeally]

I run a bunch of cameras on several farms and have for years. Killed several bucks that I got on camera. I have a farm in north Alabama that I've killed most of my big deer on. I been hunting this place since I started hunting at age 8. I'm 34 now and have managed this place for about the last 10 years. Only shoot 4.5+ year old bucks on it. Bordering property does the same as me. Only me and one other guy hunt these 2 properties, bout 500 acres total of hardwoods, thickets, soybeans, and food plots. We've really put a lot of time in this piece of ground over the years and it's paid off more than once.

I learned how to hunt here and know the place like the back of my hand. I enjoy running cameras a lot. But noticed I just simply go check cameras on this place and never actually scout. Most of the bucks I see I already know and it's almost like the old fashioned feeling of NOT knowing what's there is gone. So this year I decided to pull all my cameras from this farm and do it like the old days when I was learning. I scouted Sunday and found some spots that brought back that fire. Plan on scouting another area tomorrow. I've even pulled some loc ons that's been in the same spots for years. I got my climber out and I'm going back old school on this place. Have 2 tower shooting houses for gun season and they always produce. But I'm not gonna run cameras here for the rest of the season. I wanna be suprised when he steps out... And the extra cameras freed up are really helping on the farms I have in TN. I do agree it makes you kinda lazy as far as scouting.. The older I get the more I miss the old ways before all the technology. Don't get me wrong, I love running cameras but I do miss the feeling of not knowing what's there...I know the big bucks are there, I just wanna find em without cameras and find like I learned how to..

 

[infoman jr.]

If I hadn't run trail cams last year I would've killed my one buck on the third day of the season. Trail cams allowed me to evaluate the property's potential and set my goals higher than they would've been otherwise. I never killed a buck, but I learned a lot more because of that.

 

[Dkizer18]

I learned how to hunt here and know the place like the back of my hand. I enjoy running cameras a lot. But noticed I just simply go check cameras on this place and never actually scout. Most of the bucks I see I already know and it's almost like the old fashioned feeling of NOT knowing what's there is gone. So this year I decided to pull all my cameras from this farm and do it like the old days when I was learning. I scouted Sunday and found some spots that brought back that fire. Plan on scouting another area tomorrow. I've even pulled some loc ons that's been in the same spots for years. I got my climber out and I'm going back old school on this place. Have 2 tower shooting houses for gun season and they always produce. But I'm not gonna run cameras here for the rest of the season. I wanna be suprised when he steps out... And the extra cameras freed up are really helping on the farms I have in TN. I do agree it makes you kinda lazy as far as scouting.. The older I get the more I miss the old ways before all the technology. Don't get me wrong, I love running cameras but I do miss the feeling of not knowing what's there...I know the big bucks are there, I just wanna find em without cameras and find like I learned how to..

That pretty much sums up my feelings to a tee. I like running cameras but at times I feel like the fire, so to speak, is going away when I know a pretty high percentage of the deer using my property.

 

[bowriter]

X2 on the above. For me, for many years, I enjoyed scouting almost as much as hunting. I still love exploring new territory and playing the game. I suspect that is why I enjoyed guiding.

 

[Nealmeally]

X2 on the above. For me, for many years, I enjoyed scouting almost as much as hunting. I still love exploring new territory and playing the game. I suspect that is why I enjoyed guiding.

Sunday I walked into some woods that I haven't walked into in years. Acorns pouring and nice rubs everywhere. I usually hunt close to here somewhat and never walk in these woods. Made me feel like I'd found a new spot. But I used to hunt these woods years ago and running cameras close to there kinda made me not even scout the area. Who knows what I been missing not hunting in there.... I to enjoy scouting, felt the old days come back Sunday simply from just scouting and walking around..

 

[BSK]

I like running cameras but at times I feel like the fire, so to speak, is going away when I know a pretty high percentage of the deer using my property.

And that's what's so great about deer hunting Dkizer18. Everybody does it for a slightly different reason, and gets something different from it. We all have different aspects of the process we like best. Some love the surprise of seeing a buck for the first time. Some like the thrill of trying to get bucks on camera, as to them cameras ARE a form of hunting. We all like something different, and that's not only OK, it's great!

 

[John3]

I don't run any trail cameras until after season and through February. I just don't like the idea of taking a chance on spooking deer before I hunt. I am very lucky to have some large tracts of family land mostly to myself and a few people I get to help with doe control, but I would bet if the average person just scouted with binos from a distance before season, showed up to hunt with as little intrusion as possible, and then scouted after the season more, they would be amazed at how you can pattern deer versus them patterning you. Also, at how much more relaxed the deer are. I deer hunt less than many people because I duck hunt pretty much every chance I get, but my daytime buck sightings are much higher than people on surrounding farms that run cameras, put out trophy rocks, and food plots and on and on, and I think it is simply from leaving them alone.

 

[BSK]

...my daytime buck sightings are much higher than people on surrounding farms that run cameras, put out trophy rocks, and food plots and on and on, and I think it is simply from leaving them alone.

I'll bet it is far more about these two factors:

I am very lucky to have some large tracts of family land mostly to myself...

I deer hunt less than many people because I duck hunt pretty much every chance I get

 

[Vermin93]

Cellular game cameras are game changers. When affordable 4G LTE cameras become available several years down the road, it will change deer hunting even more.

 

[Bottom Hunter]

Trail cameras are great tools for the manager/biologist. However, they are just inconsistent enough to damage a hunter's mindset. I'll explain.

Not all deer using an area can be caught on a trail cam. Some are not. And when the rut begins, things change. Deer that you may have gotten on a trail cam may be miles away when you go hunt. So, you get all excited to go get this nice buck you've seen on your cam yet he's nowhere to be found.

Also, let's say that you don't get much on your cams all pre-season and thus have little hope of success and THAT causes you to put very little time in the stand. So, when that buck from two properties over comes through checking for does, you are sitting at home wondering why you have no deer on trail cam pics.

Sure, they may work well during bow season when deer are feeding and more predictable, but I really like hunting during the pre-rut and rut when the woods are WILD and unpredictable...

I have 11 deer mounted and a couple of more racks that I might should have mounted but didn't. Not one of those deer were caught on a trail camera, to my knowledge and I did not know they existed until a few seconds before I took the shot. I had no perceived notions about what was using the property. I had no reason to believe that a nice deer would come by other than the fact that I had done the proper work and placed myself in a good area according to the lay of the land and visible signs. I wasn't chasing a deer I had named or using technology to place myself in the best possible location. I used an aerial photo, some foot work and experience to try to succeed and it seemed to work pretty well.

I'm not putting down camera usage, not at all. Actually, I have four of them. I will admit to using them before but the last one I used was used to find out what was eating my cat food on the front porch....I used them afield one year and enjoyed looking at the pics, but I will admit that when I did NOT catch a nice buck on one of them I was a bit less enthused about the season. I will also say that while using them I went into these areas much more than I would have before the season. I normally check my stands each year and stay out until the wind is right.

To go a bit deeper into this......let's talk about some whys....

Why did you put a trail camera where you did? Odds are that you found that place, it looked good, so you decided to place a trail cam there before or maybe even after you hung your stand. Would have hunted that spot regardless of what you saw on your camera, just based on visible sign ?

Let's say that you have four stands set up and a camera near each one. Your intent is to see which one of those stands is getting the most action. While doing so, you get a big buck repeatedly near one particular stand. You do not get him on any of the other cameras. Obviously, when the season starts you concentrate on where you got the deer on camera. You go back there time and time again, but never see the deer. What then? Do you continue to go to that stand day after day, boogering it up even more with every hunt? Does this repeated action tip off the local herd to your presence and push them off your property completely or turn the big buck nocturnal....? All the while ignoring other very good stand set-ups. You put the other three stands up, right? You saw their potential, right? You planned to hunt them all equally, right? You figured that if you spread your hunting time between the four stands,then that would help keep the intrusion factor down as much as possible. You'd keep the deer off guard, somewhat. What happened to that very good strategy? You let the pics dictate your actions and you threw out your pre-season plan. A bad move,imo.

I think of trail cameras as FUN things.....I like them, but have none out this season.

I think of trail cameras much like a Christmas morning when you open all your presents but don't get that one present you wanted the most and were so certain you were getting....I think both Christmas morning and deer hunting are both best served with a tad bit more surprise and a tad bit less of an expected outcome.

 

[BSK]

Not all deer using an area can be caught on a trail cam.

That depends on how you use them, and what you are trying to accomplish. A user's odds of catching a buck that drifts through a property once or twice during the rut are very low, but a user's chance of encountering that buck while hunting are even lower.

But PROPERLY USED, the vast, vast majority of bucks that regularly use a property at any time cameras are being run can be captured on camera.

 

[Winchester]

Cameras to me are like lots of other tools I use for hunting. I use them but rarely do they dictate where or how I will hunt a piece of ground. The problem isn't the camera, its those who let them influence them too much one way or another regarding hunting. Cameras are just another tool of many and hunters have to be smart enough to use them accordingly imo! For the manager they are the greatest tool to ever come along!

 

[BSK]

Cameras to me are like lots of other tools I use for hunting. I use them but rarely do they dictate where or how I will hunt a piece of ground. The problem isn't the camera, its those who let them influence them too much one way or another regarding hunting.

Best comment yet. The problem isn't running cameras, it is how you let that information influence your hunting decisions.

 

[Mike Belt]

But that's only if you can afford enough cameras.

Back to the lack of actual scouting because of the use of trail cameras. Do you guys think people get lazy scouting because they have trail cameras out or does it have something to do with the idea that you don't want to booger an area up by scouting since you have cameras in the area....even though you may be doing the same by checking on those cameras?

 

[John3]

...my daytime buck sightings are much higher than people on surrounding farms that run cameras, put out trophy rocks, and food plots and on and on, and I think it is simply from leaving them alone.

I'll bet it is far more about these two factors:

I am very lucky to have some large tracts of family land mostly to myself...

I deer hunt less than many people because I duck hunt pretty much every chance I get

I won't argue that those are major influences, but if I were to go onto the property checking cameras and for whatever other reasons I feel the activity would negatively effect my success. Just my opinion though. My only reason for this is when I used to run cameras before and during season, every time I went in to check them I would bust deer walking in or out. It's the same reason I don't use calls or scents. I don't want a deer to know I have ever been there. I don't want it to come to me, just to be carrying on naturally and for me to be in the right place.

 

[BSK]

John3,

You're absolutely correct, if not done with care, constantly checking cameras can drive deer away from those locations, or influence them to only use those areas during night-time hours.

 

[BSK]

Back to the lack of actual scouting because of the use of trail cameras. Do you guys think people get lazy scouting because they have trail cameras out or does it have something to do with the idea that you don't want to booger an area up by scouting since you have cameras in the area....even though you may be doing the same by checking on those cameras?

My question would be, if a hunter thinks their trail-camera pictures tell them what they need to know to best hunt the area, would they even be knowledgeable/skilled enough to PROPERLY scout the area without trail-cameras? In essence, I don't think it is the fault of the equipment itself, it is the knowledge/skill-base of the hunter.

 

[BSK]

But that's only if you can afford enough cameras.

Again, it all comes down to the combination of how you use the cameras you have and what you are trying to accomplish. Are you attempting to inventory the buck population, or are you using cameras as a scouting tool for hunting? Those are two very different uses.

 

[Winchester]

Back to the lack of actual scouting because of the use of trail cameras. Do you guys think people get lazy scouting because they have trail cameras out or does it have something to do with the idea that you don't want to booger an area up by scouting since you have cameras in the area....even though you may be doing the same by checking on those cameras?

My question would be, if a hunter thinks their trail-camera pictures tell them what they need to know to best hunt the area, would they even be knowledgeable/skilled enough to PROPERLY scout the area without trail-cameras? In essence, I don't think it is the fault of the equipment itself, it is the knowledge/skill-base of the hunter.

Exactly, no fault lies with the equipment, only who and how its used!

 

[Mike Belt]

Agreed. I may not know what I'm doing when I'm scouting but I sure put the time in. Maybe I should concentrate on scouting for deer instead of scouting for places to get deer on camera, lol.

 

[bswarchery]

Cameras to me are like lots of other tools I use for hunting. I use them but rarely do they dictate where or how I will hunt a piece of ground. The problem isn't the camera, its those who let them influence them too much one way or another regarding hunting. Cameras are just another tool of many and hunters have to be smart enough to use them accordingly imo! For the manager they are the greatest tool to ever come along!

I totally agree with this post as well. Last year I used a game camera and had a lot of fun seeing the boys grow up from skinheads to nice 8 pt status from May-November. The problem I started was that with the "new found excitement" I over traveled the area and the bucks decided to go nocturnal because of my intrusion. I decided to not use the camera this year and have refocused on learning more scouting skills and pursuing without overhyped visions from the deer pics. I do like the camera usage, but it is easy to mess up the area if one is not careful with managing their entry/exit processes (scent cover/travel route). Note - the last day of my hunt last December I was ground hunting and I was able to be 25 yrds away from the one 8 pt I so wanted. He was a beauty and we had a nice staredown for a couple of minutes only to see his tail after all was said and done! What a rush, I hope to see him again this year, but from my stand!

 

[Mike Belt]

I have hunted where I got good pics but I don't rely on pics to decide where I may hunt. I just like getting pics of good bucks doing their thing.