This is my 3rd year using them and I'm up to 3 cameras. I have a feeling I'll be getting a couple more in the near future.

Yep, I have been using them for about 5 years. I use them mainly just to see what is in my woods.

This is the first year i will be using one. i don't really have the time to scout with class and being 2 hours away.

Have two right now, would like to add a couple more at some point.

Lot of fun checking to see what you have for pics!!

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.

I concur.

Heck Jeff. I'm a pretty smart sob.. but I know I was using them in such a way that it impeaded my hunting.

So I stopped using them. Cause I suck.

This is my first time using them. I've had it out for two weeks, and I've got about 25 or 30 pictures. But they are all of the same three deer! A doe and her two fawns.

Zero bucks. Based on this, I'm not likely to waste much time hunting at my dad's house this year LOL.

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!

Yup. I enjoy running trail cameras as much as hunting itself. Never know whats going to show up on them. I currently have 8 cameras, and have had 3 stolen, so I've owned a grand total of 11, and sometimes borrow my buddies cameras after the season to see what made it through the season. He has 3 cameras.