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2022 hyped up thread.

Nutterbuster said:
I don't run cameras because I don't target individual bucks and can't justify the cost of cell cams. I hunt properties all over the state, and I'd need 6-8 cameras (I'd guess) just to cover my local spots to my satisfaction. Only have so much mental bandwidth and for me running cameras comes at the cost of not focusing as much as I should on what's developing in the dynamic deer world. Plans are great, but most of my deer and almost all of my bucks happen kinda spur of the moment. See him or his sign, immediately hunt it, kill him. No use for a camera in that scenario
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I get what you’re saying! I also usually hunt all over the place, also usually not targeting certain bucks. I guess I’m just wondering if any else else thinks it kinda takes away from hunting. Waiting for a certain deer or whatever it may be. Or even I love the surprise of a buck coming in.

I guess I’m just wondering if anyone thinks of like how it used to be kind of thing. Before cameras and what not. Just hunt to have fun.
 
Bowtie747 said:
I get what you’re saying! I also usually hunt all over the place, also usually not targeting certain bucks. I guess I’m just wondering if any else else thinks it kinda takes away from hunting. Waiting for a certain deer or whatever it may be. Or even I love the surprise of a buck coming in.

I guess I’m just wondering if anyone thinks of like how it used to be kind of thing. Before cameras and what not. Just hunt to have fun.
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This is pretty much what I am trying to get back to more and more. Just scout and hunt and scout some more. Use woodsmanship and try to get back to basics. To me it is a lot more fun that way.
 
NMSbowhunter said:
This is pretty much what I am trying to get back to more and more. Just scout and hunt and scout some more. Use woodsmanship and try to get back to basics. To me it is a lot more fun that way.
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Exactly! I’ve found in life I’m happier when I tend to stay away from the “norm”. If everyone else does it I usually don’t. I know this doesn’t always work but even when it comes to trail cameras it seems like it messes with most people. Not helps. Maybe it’s just me though
 
Bowtie747 said:
Second person I’ve noticed doesn’t run cameras. I’m really leaning towards not myself this year. Any reasoning on why you don’t use them? Thanks?
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I dont run cameras for the main reason of I hunt wind directions to get on the best deer activity. If I knew that there was a “target buck” in a certain location no matter how much i try I know I’ll go againsy my better judgement and hunt it with a hope and a prayer. I do actually run some cameras but not in areas I hunt. I run them for the wife and kiddo to see all the deer around the house. The way I see it is I spend hours and hike miles from January to May doing my post season scouting and tree prep. I already have an Idea of what ls gonna be around so I don’t need photo evidence. The one year I did run cameras I hunted one stand practically all season because of 3 bucks I saw on it. I saw one of them once and rushed a trash shot hitting the knuckle of the shoulder and watching the arrow bounce off. So they’re all personal reasons but they all make sense in my scattery brain lol
 
Bowtie747 said:
I get what you’re saying! I also usually hunt all over the place, also usually not targeting certain bucks. I guess I’m just wondering if any else else thinks it kinda takes away from hunting. Waiting for a certain deer or whatever it may be. Or even I love the surprise of a buck coming in.

I guess I’m just wondering if anyone thinks of like how it used to be kind of thing. Before cameras and what not. Just hunt to have fun.
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It depends on what type of hunt and/or deer makes you happy. If you want to take on the challenge of killing a specific deer or type of deer. For me this year, I want to target 4.5 y/o or older and 140" or better on public. In order to have an opportunity for that type of deer you have to be hunting where that type of deer lives. That is where pre-season cams can be beneficial, esp hunting a place where you cant chum one up and monitor his pattern at that location. The 2 areas I mentioned earlier are good examples of using cams to help find the type of deer I want to hunt. It is a 2.5 hour drive to get there and one area is a 2-2.5 mile hike in. The other are is a roughly 7 mile boat ride and then a 1-1.5 miles in. It is not possible for me to routinely scout that stuff between now and season. If I am lucky I will get 2 days before I leave for my CO trip. If I pick the right spots to hang a cam in each area by the time I get back from CO I can check cards and know whether or not there are any deer of the caliber that I want to focus on or not and season opens the weekend we get back. At that point, I can either get serious about picking the right spots to hang or I can move on to other areas and continue the search for the type of buck I want to hunt. I also thoroughly enjoy just scouting until I find smoking hot sign on some type of feed and hunting there. Those hunts are when I am going to shoot does mostly but will gladly take a crack at a good buck if they show. One type of hunt isnt more right than the other, they are just different. I get the question of how much technology should be allowed though and generally agree with the thought process of drawing some hard lines somewhere. If it was decided that cams would not be allowed on any public ground, I am perfectly ok with that. I would not ever support a ban on them on private though and I dont own any ground.
 
Bowtie747 said:
I get what you’re saying! I also usually hunt all over the place, also usually not targeting certain bucks. I guess I’m just wondering if any else else thinks it kinda takes away from hunting. Waiting for a certain deer or whatever it may be. Or even I love the surprise of a buck coming in.

I guess I’m just wondering if anyone thinks of like how it used to be kind of thing. Before cameras and what not. Just hunt to have fun.
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I stopped using cams but was using them early in my hunting journey and didn't really learn much from them besides who is around. I just don't have the time and money to run a ton of cams to cover all the places I want to hunt. There is never enough time to get to all of them anyway. I do enjoy scouting my way in and picking a spot based of fresh sign and/or terrain.
I am not at a point in my journey where I hunt one particular buck either as I don't do a ton of scouting before the season as that is my busy time of year. I do love scouting in April here in the NE because you still see scrapes and rubs from the fall.
 
Elk opens on September 2. I have 34 days off to run around the mountain. Then archery deer opens October 1 for me. I plan on being in Kansas for about a week in the the first 10 days of November. Then back to Colorado for the second split in November. Ready?? No I am not. Had a bad car accident and a little behind. No cameras and no real scouting. I still need to get my sight tape dialed in but still happy to get out this year.
 
Put up three cameras yesterday afternoon.....we have alot of Bush hogging and trimming to do.

Six pointers.....one jumped out of the corn as I started down the lane in the golf cart. He's got to be 20" inside. One cam went up in that area.

Checked out a set inside an edge I hunted twice last year. Had an opportunity there, but didn't take it. Four or five nice piles of crap in one little spot. I'm betting I get a couple pics within a day or two.
 
So ready. Each cool/low humidity day we get from here on out just makes me a little itchier. Been spending a lot more time on here for one. Dusted the bow off a few weeks ago and been shooting once or twice a week just as dandy as ever. Amazing how little practice today's compounds take but I guess it's a muscle memory thing too having done this for 20+ years now.

Still have some work to do but most of my gear is plug-and-play.

Need to build/test some hunting arrows.

Decide if I am going to dabble with SRT and/or 2TC been waffling week to week if I want to change anything or stick to sticks.

Get in shape and do some pre-season scouting in Sept. I have not been working out enough or eating well and intend to do a pretty strong course correct....after vacation in a couple weeks.

Only 1 cell camera out right now, not a single shooter buck on it, but it is in kind of a weird spot right off a major interstate. I think there was a really big buck bedding there last year due to the sign but he is either dead or doesn't use that area in summer. It's not the type of area that is going to get much incidental pass-through traffic until the rut so I'm going to leave it and see what shows in the fall.

I have another area that I'm 90% sure a good P&Y class adult buck survived but I don't want to really go in there at all until I can kill him so I'll live without pictures. I don't have pinned down any beds but I know where he patrols during the rut. I closed in on him all last year and felt I needed another week to kill him before the season ran out of time.

May get a couple more cameras out in September when they start to give better intel. Summer cams don't really mean much to me because the patterns and most bedding will shift big time before season opens.
 
LtMoe66 said:
I’m ready but the deer I’m after is hanging on private but he does come over to public on occasion. Truth is I really don’t target any buck but always wishful thinking!:grinning:View attachment 68168
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Set a couple mock scrapes and pee in them.. if it’s in his territorial range, he will come investigate! That bonehead will look great up on your wall!
 
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