In your opinion...
 

Are trail cams taking the suspense out hunting?? I know they are helpful and many big bucks have been killed b/c of them, and I DON"T HAVE AN ISSUE WITH THEM....,but today in conversation with my hunting buddy, we both agreed that it may take some of the suspense and surprise out of hunting deer. Neither of us own one and never have simply b/c we can afford any..We are a more old school than new school on certain things. I just wonder if it takes away that feeling of seeing those big rubs and wondering what could have made them... Again, Im not taking issue with them, I would use them if I could afford em...

RE: In your opinion...
 

me not owning a camera makes me want one. even though you see them on camera dosent mean you will see them hunting. you look at some of the times on those trail cam pics on the forum and they are at like 1 or 2 oclock in the morning i mean i think they are worth buying just to see whats out there and get you pumped for them hunt but that is just my opinion but i respect you are an old school hunter that likes that kinda of thrill of the hunt man i like that alot and personally i dont think i can afford them either[align=left] [/align]

RE: In your opinion...
 

Huntinman Im old school to an extent. I don't buy fancy camo, I don't have every hot new item, I do have a new bow and a new stand. Im not against cams at all, I just wanted to hear from the guys that use them..

RE: In your opinion...
 

Absolutley not, for me anyway, I love my camera... chances are I'll never see the bucks I have on cam... but i love the susupense of going to check my cam, ALMOST as much as hunting.

RE: In your opinion...
 

We don't use trail camsbut use cameraswhen wescout. Samething pretty much. Granted they aren't very good cameras but better then nothing for viewing them back at home on the TV or computer. I guess I like knowing whats out there. Scouting is part of the hunt to me.We still have alot of surprise bucks when hunting.

I would love to pick up aGL2Canoncamera just for scouting but too many things going on now. Hopefully next year.

Tim

RE: In your opinion...
 

I love viewing pics off my trailcam prior to heading into the woods. It gets me motivated to put in those long hours of practice. Plus it keeps me motivated on those loooonnnggg saturday afternoons when all you want to do is take a nap.

RE: In your opinion...
 

My opinion, No

Reason: because i have never seen a buck in person that i have trail cam pictures of (possibly a6 point a couple years ago and maybe a nice 8, but not 100% sure)

RE: In your opinion...
 

This will be my first year using one. I'm hoping it will give me more motivation to let the small ones walk. If I know a good buck is out there somewhere, and has at least stepped hoof on the land I hunt, I don't think I'll have a problem being a little more selective.

So my answer would be no. In fact, I feel like it will enhance my hunts. And it's a fun process to boot. I'm scheduled to switch out memory cards for the first time next week, and I'm chomping at the bit to see what I've got. The wait is killing me!

RE: In your opinion...
 

Hang in their brother! :D

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They are not really for me...we have just never used them here in California, besides they would not last long here, someone would want it and help themselves...

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I like the camera, provides lots of info.

RE: In your opinion...
 

Yeh, I have thought about saving up for one but after all the dues paid for hunting I just don't have it.

RE: In your opinion...
 

VA....

To ME it's an "inventory" thing. I use one camera to just see what's out there......pre-season. Once the season rolls around....I pull my camera.

What this has done in the past.....is let me know "if" a buck I'm interested in "IS" in the area. Up until now.....it didn't make much difference....as it was the only lands I had access to. Now.....I'm not putting up cameras on the other properties....and it wont make me hutn those areas any differently (naturally). The only thing I may do.....is hunt them (new lands) more......if the areas I've had access to don't show signs of bucks I'm targeting.

I'm looking forward to not knowing on some of these spots.

RE: In your opinion...
 

Personally, I love putting a few (I only have two) cameras out after the season just to see what made it through the season. It's more curiousity then anything else. Don't have any out right now but probably will in Sept.

RE: In your opinion...
 

OK Landon, I wont show you the one that I caught on tape where you will be hunting next year!

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Viper I didn't say I wouldn't look at em!!!:D:D

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for me using a trail camera is a type of hunting in itself... i have to drive close to an hour to get my camera and the same back to the house to check the card... that is very very suspenseful.. gets the ole heart pounding like im sittin in the stand... provides a little motivation... ive only ever killed one deer that i have had a picture of but that was before i started hunting on a lease about halfway through last season

RE: In your opinion...
 

GMMAT usedan excellentword, "inventory". I've never thought of it that way, but that's exactly what I do. I just wanna see how the herd looks each year after winter season. I like seeing newborn fawns and bucks growing new racks, just to get an idea of what I'm hunting this year. I have no use for my camera during the season. I feel that I can do much better scouting myself while I'm in the woods than that camera can dostrapped on a tree for a week. Plus you have to go in and spread your scent everywhere when you check it, which may run the deer off completely from that area, depending on hunting pressure. I don't think cams take away suspense, maybe the surprise factor because you will know ALMOST every deer you have, but the suspense can never be taken away for me. Like someone else said, you may get pics of bucks on your camera and never see them in the woods, BUT you may NOT get pictures of a buck that you may KILL on your property this year. My big buck from last season was never on my camera. I was watching a 24 inch wide 8 point on my camera for two years, saw him one time at night on the road coming out. He was killed on the club next to us. There's always gonna be suspense and excitement for me, no matter what kinda pics I have.

RE: In your opinion...
 

I have several cameras! Two Cuddeback Excite's and a Bushnell TrailSentry. Truthfully, I really enjoy the suspense of "what might be" lurking on the farm that I hunt. I, like many others, don't see a lot of the bucks while hunting, that I get on my camera! But I think that it helps to keep me in the woods during the season and in the stand an extra hour, just knowing that there are a couple of quality deer in the vicinity.

RE: In your opinion...
 

They don't take anything away from the hunt itself for me!!!! They are more for entertainment and to see what is out there. If I see a buck that I have pictures of or get to take a buck that I have pictures of, the excitement level is just as high as it was 3 years ago when I wasn't using them. As Jeff said, they are a good tool for inventory and I will add enttertainment to that !!!

RE: In your opinion...
 

It sounds like not many deer are actually killed that are on camera. Is this true?

RE: In your opinion...
 

From my experience, yes

Nor me, or anybody in my family, or my friends have ever killed a buck we got on film, and we all have cameras.

RE: In your opinion...
 

I've never killed a buck that I have pictures of. Most pics are smaller bucks and I let them walk when I see em in the woods. The only deer I have killed that I know I have pictures of is a doe two years ago that had a tumor or something on her jaw. Had plenty of pics of her then killed her and saw the tumor up close, it was her for sure. I got pics of another doe with a split left ear, she's an old mama. I gotta hurry and get my camera back out on that property. I've had mine behind my parents' house under an apple tree. Got some spikes on it, nothing big, so I need to move back to the other place and see what kinda deer I'm gonna have down there this year.

RE: In your opinion...
 

I only have limited days when I can hunt, cameras have given me an edge when I normally don't have the time to scout. I will always use them. I look forward to checking my cam's....keeps the interest level of hunting way up and gives me something to do in the off season.

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Out of 15 bucks on cam last season, I personally seen 10 of them. I took two bucks off my cams last season. I think the property owner next to us took an addition 4.

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Both bucks on my wall.....I have numerous photos of. I have one photo of both of them in the same picture.......and the deer were taken in separate seasons.

The game cam thread I posted the other day.....the guy in there said they had never taken a matur ebuck off their property that they DIDN'T have trail cam photos of.

It seems "results may vary";)

RE: In your opinion...
 

Nope not to me anyway. If anything it make sm more determined and selective. I pass on a lot of smaller bucks if I have several pictures of a nice one on a regular basis.

RE: In your opinion...
 

I see what you are getting at, but IMO no they do not take away the suspense. They give me an idea of the deer that are frequenting a certain small area of the property I hunt, but I know there are other bucks out there that I do not have pictures of and others that will travel the properties I hunt during the rut that I will never see on a game cam.

So, while I get to see some of the deer and "inventory" them, I know that there are many other deer that I don't get to see on camera that very easily could show up under my stand.