ORIGINAL: dukemichaels
Duke:
I'll answer your question for MY purposes. What I WILL do, this year, is take mine in with me to a certain area IF I'm already going in there to stand, anyways. I won't make a special trip, though. I'll check it when I return to that area......noting the wind each day and recording my sightings (via trail cam).
That's using it for scouting in "my" book.....and doing so in a non-invasive manner.....since I was already going in there, anyways.
It may sit for a month without being checked.....and that's just fine. I've never done this....but I don't see how this hurts me.
I don't deny that the use of a trail cam can be a good tool for scouting a particular area. Never have.
But the statement was made that the author of this post can't think of a better tool than the camera. And I greatly disagree with this statement. It may just be semantics.. but I like to know what the trailcam guys do with this new found knowledge they have.
I believe if used properly a trailcam can help determin where a good deer may be.. even a pattern of sorts. However.. I don't believe most hunters use them correctly.. and in fact end up hurting their chances more than not.
The best tool for scouting is you. Put some miles on those legs and they'll make your camera just part of the equation.
Preseason - i learn about which deer are hanging around on each property. on my 40 acres I have pictures of I think 8 different bucks but only one is a shooter. on my inlaws land i have pictures of 5 bucks and 4 of them are shooters. plus, most of the buck pictures on that property were day time pictures.
by just walking the properties (or any other scouting method i have available to me), it would be IMPOSSIBLE to know that 4 shooter bucks were hanging out at my inlaws and only 1 at my land. how else would I have gathered that information? Using a spotting scope would be great but it's half an hour from my house and it's also in the woods where a scope wouldn't help anyway. it's too early in the season to find much for buck sign and even if i did find a bunch - how would i know it was 4 bucks and not one super active buck?
walking in the woods can be just as damaging to your odds as trail cameras. You can certainly scout an area too hard, just like you can scare deer by checking a camera too often and having a flash go off in there face. Both (walking and trail cameras) can definitely be done in excess.
that said, i couldn't agree more about putting on miles. during the season i usually go for at least one 4-5 mile scouting trip a week. i love it! putting on the miles is about the fastest way to find new spots. but i think trail cameras are the best way of finding out definitive, absolute, details about the wildlife in the area.
anyway, i've rambled on long enough. this might be my longest post ever. good luck all!