Trail cameras, do they help?
 

I have been running trail cameras for about 12 years now. I have seen deer spooked by either type, infrared or flash. I know there is no way to tell really an be absolutely sure. But do you think that they benefit in patterning a particular buck or make it more complicated.

I am not trying to find a right or wrong answer. Just looking to see if most feel that putting cameras in the woods is a plus or minus?

I'd say plus. Just because you'll have a better Idea what deer are out there on your property. So my vote goes to Plus.


Ryan.

Are you speaking of inventory purposes, am thinking more of pattering a buck?

I feel that the cameras are good for inventory use.

I've never gotten a buck on my trail camera, So I guess I'm speaking more of invetory purposes. hahaha sorry.

Ryan.

I like them to see what kind of bucks you got in your area and they help me with watching my food plots while im at school and playing football. I like puting them over scrapes to see how the rut is progressing...

I think they are a plus, you cant sit the stand 24-7 and the trail cam dont fall asleep. Ive seen game that I didnt even know I had on my properties.

I really don't think they are a Lot of help when it comes to patterning a buck, but I do think mine played a part in being in the right spot to arrow my 140 eight point this year.

I Love using them and it does give you an idea what is out there, but it is amazing what I see and don't see while hunting compared to what I have pics of on the cams.

Dan

they help with patterns! They timestamp the pictures so you know when the deer are there. I found on new spot this past summer, loaded with sign. Set up a stand and hunted never saw a deer. couldn't figure it out. Hung a camera there for a week, got consistent pictures. ALL FIRST THING IN THE MORNING, all in the light (no night pictures). I'd been hunting it in the afternoon!

AR,
I think the answer is two-fold. Yes they do help with seeing what is out there. As far as patterning a certain animal, I think that depends on the time of year. What I am learning is that just because I am getting pics of a buck or groups of bucks at certain spots over and over again in July and August, is no indication that I'm going to see that animal on a regular basis come hunting season. The last two years are perfect examples of that. This past summer, I got probably 25 pics of the biggest eight pointer I've ever seen beginning in the month of May and continuing through August. I had him consistantly on three different cameras and thought I pretty much had him fiqured out. Then after August I only had one picture of him, in late Oct. I may have saw him once during the season but I'm really not even sure about that. The same thing happened in the summer of 08 when I was getting pictures of a huge 9pt and a big 8pt that always seem to be together. Never saw either deer during the season. I think my mistake has been that I placed too much emphasis on hunting the places that I got pics of these deer on a regular basis during the summer. On the other hand, in '07 I had three pics of a 14pt in the month of July and ended up killing him in November out of the same tree I had the camera mounted on. But I'm learning that is probably the exception and not the rule. So to answer your question, yes I think they do make a difference in being able to tell what's out there but as far as using them to pattern a certain deer, I think I am learning that it all depends on the time of year you are getting those regular visits. You're probably more confused than I am now.

Blessings......Pastorjim

They definitely help 'inventory'. by the time bow season starts i pretty much know every buck that steps foot on my property (i said 'pretty much'). That is a huge advantage. I've had years where there's just a bunch of forks and spikes and maybe a six point. I hunt elsewhere if that happens.

also helps pattern bucks. last year i had quite a few pictures of a nice 9 point that was going past one of my stands several nights a week, just after legal shooting. i put out tons of tinks one night (scent was blowing right where he'd been coming from) and did some rattling and grunting. guess who showed up (about half hour before the end of legal shooting)? I shot him at 5 yards. I wouldn't have hunted that stand that night w/o trail cameras.

I've also been using cameras for about 12 years. i spend more money on new cameras every year then i do on archery. very fun!

I would say that it helps from a discipline or motivation standpoint. I am more apt to spend the time (all day) in an are if I know there is a mature buck in it.

I agree with pastorjim08 on patterning large buck. I have had the same experience the last two years with trail cameras. This year I arrowed a 140 class buck 1.2 miles away from where I last seen him on a trail camera. My experience in Northeast Pa has been the bigger they are, the harder they are to pattern. I believe thats why they get big. The trail cameras today are great tools. I have had several cameras out since beginning of Jan. This helps me determine whats left over for this upcoming season and what areas i should focus on. They are a heck of a lot of fun. Kevin has a great point, I have also spent many more hours in my tree because I knew there was a large mature buck in the area. It is also a great tool in that it allows you to identify the shooter bucks in the areas you hunt. It has allowed me to passed on decent bucks because I know there are larger ones in the area. I had 4 buck this year on my shooter list. I passed on a 9 pointer the morning I shot my buck. I do believe trail cameras can also hurt. What I mean by this is I believe you can leave to much scent in an area by checking trail cameras to often. Large bucks are alerted to this and tend to leave an area if you enter that area to much. Im a firm believer in not contaminating your good stands.

Easy answer for me, make It more complicated. Too many times the last few years I've hunted spot's where I've gotten pictures and only once have I saw the buck I was after from my pics. For Instance this last year (2009) I had pics of a 150 to 155 Inch 10 point. I set up on him where I got the 1st pics of him, never once saw him there. I set up In a few other places too and did see him once In a spot I had my camera on but that was It. I ended up seeing this buck 5 times last hunting season and 4 of them 5 times were In spots I did not have camera's. I sat In these spots where I didn't have camera's going off of gut feelings for bedding area's and I hit the nail on the head quite often.

This upcoming year (2010) I will not put any stock In the least anymore on where I see bucks with my camera's. This has hurt me In years past I think.

I like the inventory factor...
I never seem to get more than one pic of any good buck, seems I educated him/them!

I will usually spend my camera months from Dec-Feb then get out of the area. Winter is great with snow on the ground to locate the buck beds along with Doe beds and when you connect the dots you will usually have a great rut spot somewhere in-between.

A buck will only tolerate intrusion once or twice then he will pattern YOU!!!

Mostly for inventory.Big boys(4 yr old plus)are hard to keep track of.Just love to see what's out there,especially after season.

Deer and Cameras
 

I myself don't really think a trail camera scares the deer. Most of the deer (bucks) that I have recorded on my trail cam I never saw during hunting season. I just like to see what I can capture, you never know what you're gonna get a picture of and that makes it more interesting.

I think they are an excellent inventory method. I do not really depend on them to pattern a buck. I think that the extra traffic that starts to filter in the woods in September changes the patterns. So, I then start moving my cameras to feeding areas where acorns are falling to watch stand locations that I can not be at while I am somewhere else. I also try to watch those community scrape locations for inventory also.

As for as spooking from cameras this is what I am talking about, this deer turned inside out. But, this deer has never been seen in the daylight either.

I would say they do help. Not so much to pattern a certain deer but to see what potential your particular area has.

They can help and hinder. I bought one and used it for the first time this year. One of the places I hunt is a river bottom and the stand sites are very limited. I have a stand in one of the few trees available that is big enough to support one and on the correct side of the wind. Got pictures of 5 different mature bucks and several smaller ones on the camera and 0 were during daylight hours.

Try setting in a stand for hours with any kind of confidence when you have 3 weeks worth of evidence that you won't see a buck during legal light.

I don't think they help that much for patterning a big buck. Too many variables to be able to kill that buck anyway. IMO having a pic or 2 of him over x amount of days is .02% of a piece of the puzzle needed to setup on him and kill him. Inventory? Potential your land has? Yeah I agree with that. An aid in killing a specific deer caught on cam? I dunno. Not to mention he could be gone and bucks you've never seen before could be roaming around when the rut hits.

Yep I put no stock in them. Been putting them up for about 5/6 years or so and decided last year to not use them. Keep my stinky butt out of the woods as much as possible and be forced to not let my hunting brain be influenced by a few pictures. Go figure, I killed one of my bigger bucks ever.

This may be where I am different than some. I put cams in places that are easily accessible. Easy in, easy out, and leave minimal scent in the process. Also places where deer are going to be after dark more than likely. I also leave them in for 2 to 3 weeks at a time, to minimize traffic/scent.

Main reason I do it, is it's Fun and I think it is nice to get an idea what is roaming around where I hunt. The 140 8 point I killed this past season was never caught on Trail Cam, but the 130 I killed I got a pic of him like 10 days before I arrowed him.

It's interesting every year to see what's showing up on the pics and then compare it to what you are seeing out of your stand.

Dan

That's exactly how I started out using them. Then the little voices in my head starting taking over and I found myself creeping closer and closer to honey holes. It was like a drug lol. So I just abandon them all together on my main land. I do put them up on a couple different pieces that I don't hunt that much. Just because it's cool getting pictures of critters.

Nope

I have gotten pictures of the same buck numerous times. He just won't give me a shot or doesnt come in range

I like to use them at the end of the year to see whats left out there.

That is part of what I am thinking about on trail cameras. Are we educating these deer by putting these strange objects on trees that they look at when they come in the area? I know that the deer see us coming an going into the area an checking the cameras when we do not know they are there, it just seems like common sense. Do you think that they avoid an area or are shy too an area? Because of us putting something in their living room at certain times of the day.

I know they do not understand what we are doing. But do you think that they learn anything from it from a deer common sense point of view or survival point of view?

Never know what might show up....
 

I like them because you never know what might show up.

The different properties that we hunt we use multiple cameras per piece of property we will go as far as having 2 cameras no more than 50yds apart from each other but on different trails to see if we can narrow down which trails the deer are using and at what time they are using these trails. So as far as a patterning tool it has helped us a lot.

Nope, trail cameras dont work : )

I use them and believe they help me with getting an idea of what is running around but not so much of patterning a buck. It gives me the confidence in knowing a certain buck is using the area but over the 10 years or so I've been using cams I rarely get a buck doing the same thing 2-3 times. Here in 5b PA they just randomly move around for the most part. Amazingly enough I get pics of a good many bucks I never see while hunting and vice versa. I've been fortunate to kill some bucks that I've had pics of but they didn't help with which tree to get in - other than the confidence to keep hunting a certain area.