Do cameras help or hurt your hunting?

Cameras are illegal for the take of wildlife where I live so neither. Never used them, never will.

I started using a couple last year only for entertainment so no effect on my hunting. You have to realize that they only capture a tiny piece of real-estate. They have led to a couple interesting poacher pics

Love them

Oh here we go. LOL. When I started that thread I got run off.

I do use cameras year round, but can't say they have any affect on how I hunt one way or another. Have helped ID a couple of trespassers though.

I would say that on public land they are an overall negative. Especially for those who choose NOT to use them.

They diminish my experiences in the woods. I despise them. They irritate, they invade, they cost me hunting areas, animals, edibles, etc. Been tolerant so far, but growing increasingly weary of always being the one to give in. Did I mention how much I HATE em? Can they swim?

I enjoy being in the woods. With a couple of trail cameras I get to see what goes on when

I am not there, not just what I hunt. It has shone me big bucks are not predictable where

I hunt.

Same as above, caught trespassers twice. And a fox, many deer, porcupine, etc...

I think they're fun and a great tool. Don't hunt near any, though.

If you enjoy being in the woods, then go BE in the woods. There is No substitute.

When you put a camera in the woods to take pictures of the woods while you're at home sittin on your ass? That's something different.

I think they are a good tool. A whole different hobby fun to see what is going on.

Lol that is a good one Jeff...typical response as most on here.

I don't have one yet but I would love to see all the critters who are here when I'm not. Humans on my property especially.

I don't use them and never will. I don't begrudge a person putting a camera or two on the back 40, but a lot of folks are putting as many as 10 cameras or more per 40. With that many cameras out, it's pretty easy to pattern every deer on the land -- where, when and how they move. Pretty easy to ambush them then.

On top of that, technology now makes it possible for folks to watch their cameras in real time from their truck or cabin. I met local near me on the road a couple of years ago. He couldn't stop to talk because he had seen a big buck on one of his cameras and he knew where the buck was going and had to hurry to get there before the buck got there.

I enjoy setting them and checking them as it gives me more time in the woods. With how crazy life is and limited time I get to be in the woods it lets me see all I am missing. Captures stuff sometimes you may never see otherwise. Does it help kill more deer...not really but helps me stay motivated and gives me something to look forward to.

I look at them as a tool. I enjoy seeing all the wild life in the pics.

I actually like me too. Fun to see what shows up. But over 90 percent of my pics are after dark.

Babysaph I agree.I think you have stalkers.

LOL. I love this place.

Trail cameras are very important in my business. I take approximately 100,000 images and videos each year. As a trapper, setting cameras seems quite natural. My wife has lost most of her mobility. She can no longer prowl the fields and woods. She enjoys watching the videos. And yes, it is very fun.

"over 90 percent of my pics are after dark. "

Some years back I found a great looking spot, deer funneling into a flat loaded with oak trees. Great sign. Hunted it a bunch and almost never saw anything. A trail camera finally confirmed it was a great spot, IF you were hunting between 10 PM and 2 AM.

Moved on...

Saw more deer when they were Not used.

I love seeing what goes on when I’m not around. I have gotten many interesting pics of deer, bears, coyotes, turkeys, fox, flocks of birds, squirrels , raccoons, even a hawk coming in to catch a rabbit. Not to mention several trespassers.

That is NOT TRUE tradmt!!!! I’m with Fred Bauder 100%

I use them at the house also to see what comes in my yard.

These threads are the best.

Bout all they do for me is show me what was there when I wasn't.

one interesting fact is that they helped me catch trespassers

Cameras are everywhere these days . Everyone got one in their pocket . It would be nice to go into woods and not think about being filmed . I enjoy my time alone . I don’t need at trail camera

Great but I never see many nice bucks at all during the day. Some would say that is cheating but I use em anyway.

Never used them. I won one last year at an archery shoot but I haven't taken it out of the package, yet.

I don’t think the help or hurt. Its more about who,where and when like so many other things in life.

I can honestly say I have enjoyed running trail cams as much as the hunting the last 15 years.

Aim small said it better then I can. I agree with his post 100%.

I was using "trail cameras" way before they were cool.

Id find a likely spot then id sit and wait and when a nice buck came along id take his picture with my camera...I had quite a collection of pictures, still have many of them.

I probably spend as much time or more in the woods as I did back then.

I still search out those likely looking spots and I'm still getting pictures of buck, but the camera is different now.

While I agree trail cams can be a lazy man's way of scouting.

For some people though they just ad to a very very active outdoor experience.

As far as cheating?. If the way I scout and hunt then I suppose I've been cheating since the early 80's...because trail came haven't changed a thing.

I own a couple, sometimes I put one out, often times I dont. In all the times I put trail cams out I have never, ever, had another person on one....maybe because they are to far off the beaten path.

Now who's lazy?

Like any other technology, it can be used or ABused.

Putting out a few to see what comes through is not the same as having 40 cellular cams on a property and monitoring a 'target' buck so you can head him off at stand # 56.

It’s frustrating when I get to a promising spot on public hunting ground and I find one there taking pictures of me. Feels like someone is saving the spot for them and ruining it for me.

I see both sides, like Tom mentioned, who would like finding a trail can in your spot or having your pic taken?

Probably if we are all just honest, and have an open mind, we could see both sides.

If you put a bunch out, and the pics all go to your cell, and you never actually get out and scout much...your cheating yourself out of actually learning.

If you sit on the couch and grumble about trail cams and rarely ever get out there either...well?

There is a spot where deer come down off a steep mt onto a bench, it's only about a 50' long trail, but deer seem to filter through it just because of the rocks and lay of the land, it's good every year. I never bothered to put a camera there because I already confirmed it as a good stand location. Last year I found a trail cam there, I thought guess I'm not the only one that knows. Ran into a guy later in the season, and asked if he had a cam there?...when he said yes, I stated, yes that's a good spot year after year...he looked surprised, that id know about it....But what I didn't tell him is that I had found a better spot about a 1\2 mile farther...

But I did, through good ole fashioned scouting and being out there. I didn't need a camera to know that.

I also didn't need a trail cam for this one

To each his own. I was as "high and mighty" as anyone for most of my 65 years, but I have run one or two year round for the past couple years and I can tell you two things. I enjoy getting to see things you rarely see on stand...bear, bobcat, coyote, fox. It also has disproved many "expert" opinions on here about what, when and where wild stuff is happening. I'm blessed to be semi-retired and have more me-time than ever in the woods, but I can no longer sit in a tree all day as I once did. The info I get from a trail cam helps me focus my time more productively, especially when it's not dawn and dusk. YMMV, but I'll keep mine, thank you!

It’s a personal choice. I run 9 Tacticam cell cameras for my western lease. Great for watching for treapasseeu just as much as game.

Don't use em and never will

I picked up a couple of cheap ones a few years ago. I've only used them on my own property. It's fun to see what comes around at night. Once the leaves fall nothing comes around during the day and it shows you that too.

I don't like the idea of having my picture taken on public land.

As far as cheating? I live in farm country with LOTS of deer and no access. The guys killing all the deer do NOT have to hunt very hard. It's not like they use up a lot of boot leather scouting large tracts of land.

I have one, and only one cheap trail camera.

It's the kind you have to pull the chip on to view the pictures. I go to the camera, and swap the chip out with an empty one about once a week, and bring the loaded one back to the house to view the pictures on my computer.

I have it on my big gravity feeder, that I can see from the kitchen window, and back porch. All it's good for is to let me know what's coming around when I'm not looking.

The only thing I shoot at that feeder is pigs, and I'm not to particular about how I get it done, but I want to know what time they are coming around so I can get it done.

I have zero problem with anyone using cameras on private properties, but I'm kinda torn on their use on public hunting properties. To me, when on public land, it's kind of an invasion of privacy. All in all though, if it's legal to use them where you hunt, then more power to you if that's what you want to do.

Word to the wise about the new fangled cameras, that text you pictures to your phone: Don't tamper with them. You'll get caught. My son has had some up on a property he hunts for about two months, and he has already caught two poachers, one of which was trying to steal a camera. LOL

Rick

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