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Trail cams

redsquirrel

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Feb 19, 2014
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Do you guys run trail cams? I have just slowly replaced all of my primos truthcam 35s with bushnell trophy cams. The truthcams would last 1 or 2 years before they would die and I would send them back to customer service and have them replaced but that got old. I use them more for fun than anything else. I am moving away from using them in current hunting areas and trying to use them more to scout new areas where I haven't been.
 
I use them if I'm on the fence about a spot to be sure of daytime movement..I drive over an hour away to hunt a private spot so I like to gather as much info and picks as possible
 
DePalma said:
I use them if I'm on the fence about a spot to be sure of daytime movement..I drive over an hour away to hunt a private spot so I like to gather as much info and picks as possible

The cell cameras are perfect for long distance spots like that. Too bad they're so darn expensive!
 
When do you guys typically set up cams for the upcoming season?..I usually set them up around June and see what I have around the property
 
I have started leaving them out all year, and checking them less frequently. I am mostly using them to look into new areas rather than areas I am currently hunting. I will start checking them more around the 4th of july when the antlers are really starting to show.
 
This is going to sound a little crazy but....... I decided to get into the trail cam thing about 3 years ago. I ended up buying 6 of them and had them out all over the place. Then I realized I was going into my hunting areas to frequently checking them and got concerned with alerting the deer I was after. As hunting season approached, another concern popped up, I wasn't seeing bucks I considered as shooters in all my spots and it gave me an enthusiasm problem. Then, hunting season gets here and I'm seeing the bucks I want to kill in the woods, but still not on the cams. Once hunting started, I don't want to be wasting time moving cameras to different spots for reasons of scenting the area and of course, playing with cams when I should be hunting. Anyways, it became frustrating to me, coupled with the fact that I was seeing and shooting quality deer that were never on the cams. I'm also figuring the rut was bringing in bucks that were cruising out of their home territories and with that, I pulled them all, sold all but two of them, and use the two I have left for home security now. LOL....

So for me, they just don't jibe with my ways I guess. I know they are a great tool for most, just not for me.....
 
I have started using my cams purely for fun and year round. I put them up in new areas I am exploring or deep areas that I want to check out. I don't put them up in my current hunting spots at all and I pull all my cameras out of the woods before gun season so nobody stumbles upon them. I can't help the bears though. For the second time I just had a bear destroy a cam. The bear boxs are too expensive for me to put on all my cams so I just take my chances.
 
Sniper4hire said:
This is going to sound a little crazy but....... I decided to get into the trail cam thing about 3 years ago. I ended up buying 6 of them and had them out all over the place. Then I realized I was going into my hunting areas to frequently checking them and got concerned with alerting the deer I was after. As hunting season approached, another concern popped up, I wasn't seeing bucks I considered as shooters in all my spots and it gave me an enthusiasm problem. Then, hunting season gets here and I'm seeing the bucks I want to kill in the woods, but still not on the cams. Once hunting started, I don't want to be wasting time moving cameras to different spots for reasons of scenting the area and of course, playing with cams when I should be hunting. Anyways, it became frustrating to me, coupled with the fact that I was seeing and shooting quality deer that were never on the cams. I'm also figuring the rut was bringing in bucks that were cruising out of their home territories and with that, I pulled them all, sold all but two of them, and use the two I have left for home security now. LOL....

So for me, they just don't jibe with my ways I guess. I know they are a great tool for most, just not for me.....

It all depends on the area and the deer I have spots in Princeton, Montgomery, and Flemington that the cameras don't seem to bother the deer at all but down home in the pines they don't tolerate the cameras and the intrusions at all. You are right if you're going into an area a couple times a week to check your trail camera you increase the amount of scent that the deer are exposed to unless it is an area that the deer expect human activity and accept it. I try and check the cameras once every two weeks and only when I go into hunt or bait the site. Also most of the time the real shooter bucks don't show up on the camera until the rut rolls around anyway but there are exceptions to the rule as well. What we used the cameras for mostly was to monitor the deer movement and times that the deer were coming through the area.

I can understand your point about when you're not getting pictures and thinking the area has gone cold or there aren't any decent bucks because nothing is on the camera. I have had the cameras save me by telling me the deer weren't using a certain area in the morning or afternoon but I have never used them to target a specific deer like you see on some of the hunting shows. I basically use it to let me know whats in the area and if there are does in the area eventually the bucks will show up as well. I normally use sign like rubs and scrapes to tell me wether the bucks are around because I know how camera shy they can be and if I get some pictures of the bucks that is icing on the cake, for me, but others tell me they get buck pictures all the time. To me trail cameras are part tool and part entertainment but as so many people have learned getting pictures of a good buck doesn't equate into putting an arrow in one. :D At least you'll save money on batteries and won't be tipping off the deer to your presence!

Roger
 
A trail camera over bait is a great way to inventory your area. Any deer in the area will check out a bait pile at some point. If it's in the middle of the night when he feels safe, at least you know he's in the area. Here in NY we can't bait at all, even in the off season, so the cameras are less productive. I still use them just for the fun of it. It's a good easy way for me to get the kiddos in the woods. They like to help me put them out and they get excited to pop the SD card in the computer. After the season and before the deer lose their antlers I'll check the camera every week or two. From Feb-June, I won't check them but maybe once a month.June-August I'll check them about every two-three weeks. After Sept. 1, they don't get checked again until I hunt that area. Plus I like to see how many people I catch on camera. Lot's of people = not a good spot to be setting up.
 
I don't use mine to pattern deer or a particular buck, but rather to confirm deer presence at all. Since I hunt a lot of small properties it helps time when deer are moving through both in season and off. I leave mine up for 7-8 months out of the year, except hard winter months as that seems to eat batteries.

In season I will only check them every two weeks, and usually in or out from a hunt so I'm not making an extra intrusion. Off season once a month or sometimes longer.

I try to hang them on transition routes and not near core areas like bedding or rub lines.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have about ten cameras. I mainly use them over mineral sites to inventory. When I start hunting, I may hang one 1o foot up the tree I am hunting to keep watch of the area while I am not there. I seldom hunt the same area more than once every two weeks. However, if during the pre rut I hunt an area and pull the card and see a lot fo increased daytime buck photos - I often will sit that stand three days in a row hunting all day. My experience is that sooner or later that buck is going to show himself again during daylight. Of course I hunt in really thick/nasty stuff and do my home work so I am usually set up downwind of a doe beddign area or on the fringe of the bucks preferred beddign area. If I can get two daytime pic of a buck I want then I feel pretty confident I can at least see that buck. If I find a really good rut area I will use one of the newer cell phone cameras. When it starts sending me daytime pics of the buck I am after I go right then and there and hunt hard for three days straight. I never check my cameras during hunting season unless I am hunting that stand. and I always set mine 10-12 foot up a tree so it doesn't bother the deer too much.
 
Good stuff Dave.


DaveT1963 said:
I have about ten cameras. I mainly use them over mineral sites to inventory.
I think I am back up to 8 cameras. I just purchased 3 more in the holiday sales. I had 2 destroyed by bears last year so that sucked. I am also purchasing bear boxes for all of my cams to try to avoid that happening again. I plan on putting out mineral sites this year also. I did my first one last year and it was working great until mr bear ripped the cam down!
 
I leave my cameras up all year too. I rarely check them except during off season unless I'm hunting the site where the camera is located. Once daylight is there, I check the pics from the card with the picture viewer while in the tree. I'm often surprised by the daytime deer activity, not to mention the people trespassing on my property. To me, the cams ate are fun way to pass time while in a tree. They also give me clues about which deer and how many deer are coming through the immediate area in a given day at which times of day.
I'm rather disappointed in some ways this year. . Since August first, I have eleven hundred daytime pics of does and fawns, and only one small four point buck. That could be really good come the rut, but for now, I've been hunting outside my own property since I arrowed a very young (too young, I'm ashamed to say) when season first opened in September. I'm ok with taking a doe, even a few of them each year. But it's been too long since I've got a big buck
 
Stykbow1 said:
Sniper4hire said:
This is going to sound a little crazy but....... I decided to get into the trail cam thing about 3 years ago. I ended up buying 6 of them and had them out all over the place. Then I realized I was going into my hunting areas to frequently checking them and got concerned with alerting the deer I was after. As hunting season approached, another concern popped up, I wasn't seeing bucks I considered as shooters in all my spots and it gave me an enthusiasm problem. Then, hunting season gets here and I'm seeing the bucks I want to kill in the woods, but still not on the cams. Once hunting started, I don't want to be wasting time moving cameras to different spots for reasons of scenting the area and of course, playing with cams when I should be hunting. Anyways, it became frustrating to me, coupled with the fact that I was seeing and shooting quality deer that were never on the cams. I'm also figuring the rut was bringing in bucks that were cruising out of their home territories and with that, I pulled them all, sold all but two of them, and use the two I have left for home security now. LOL....

So for me, they just don't jibe with my ways I guess. I know they are a great tool for most, just not for me.....

It all depends on the area and the deer I have spots in Princeton, Montgomery, and Flemington that the cameras don't seem to bother the deer at all but down home in the pines they don't tolerate the cameras and the intrusions at all. You are right if you're going into an area a couple times a week to check your trail camera you increase the amount of scent that the deer are exposed to unless it is an area that the deer expect human activity and accept it. I try and check the cameras once every two weeks and only when I go into hunt or bait the site. Also most of the time the real shooter bucks don't show up on the camera until the rut rolls around anyway but there are exceptions to the rule as well. What we used the cameras for mostly was to monitor the deer movement and times that the deer were coming through the area.

I can understand your point about when you're not getting pictures and thinking the area has gone cold or there aren't any decent bucks because nothing is on the camera. I have had the cameras save me by telling me the deer weren't using a certain area in the morning or afternoon but I have never used them to target a specific deer like you see on some of the hunting shows. I basically use it to let me know whats in the area and if there are does in the area eventually the bucks will show up as well. I normally use sign like rubs and scrapes to tell me wether the bucks are around because I know how camera shy they can be and if I get some pictures of the bucks that is icing on the cake, for me, but others tell me they get buck pictures all the time. To me trail cameras are part tool and part entertainment but as so many people have learned getting pictures of a good buck doesn't equate into putting an arrow in one. :D At least you'll save money on batteries and won't be tipping off the deer to your presence!

Roger
I have figured out if you put the camera up in the tree above head level and angle it down very few notice it... including the others in your hunting area that pass thru not thinking to look up for cameras
 
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