Your most effective means of scouting - poll

[DaveT1963]

So many talk about waiting until conditions are right before hunting a spot - I would say this makes you a Jedi Master Dewey

[tim]

topo.. if its terraine I want to hunt then boots if I like what I see then the cams are dispersed.

[Bowhunter4life]

Can't beat boots on the ground!

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[cbigbear]

I'm going with trail cams on this one. A couple reasons trail cams win out hands down for me is the distance to my hunting grounds, 2 1/2 hr trip one way, & then there is cover/terrain. Making an afternoon glassing trip to check the 3 or 4 open agri areas would be a 6-8hr time investment. Return on that investment just isn't as good as having 6 cams taking video for mths at a time. Shinning isn't legal & boots on the ground is great but still doesn't provide confirmation you've located a mature buck with decent bone on his head.

A buddy of mine has used cams to rack up a wall that rivals any I've ever seen. What's even more interesting is in the last 5 yrs he hasn't even ran a single cam yet still kills a gross 160" or better every yr. The knowledge & experience he gain from running cams all those yrs made him a killing machine. Here is an old article from his cam days.
http://www.ms-sportsman.com/details.php?id=426

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Uncle Lou]

I'm going with trail cams on this one. A couple reasons trail cams win out hands down for me is the distance to my hunting grounds, 2 1/2 hr trip one way, & then there is cover/terrain. Making an afternoon glassing trip to check the 3 or 4 open agri areas would be a 6-8hr time investment. Return on that investment just isn't as good as having 6 cams taking video for mths at a time. Shinning isn't legal & boots on the ground is great but still doesn't provide confirmation you've located a mature buck with decent bone on his head.

A buddy of mine has used cams to rack up a wall that rivals any I've ever seen. What's even more interesting is in the last 5 yrs he hasn't even ran a single cam yet still kills a gross 160" or better every yr. The knowledge & experience he gain from running cams all those yrs made him a killing machine. Here is an old article from his cam days.
http://www.ms-sportsman.com/details.php?id=426

[ Post made via iPhone ]

just read that article. That guy is a BEAST. He used/moved the cameras until he got daylight pics, ie: next to bedding.

[Jackson Marsh]

That was a good read chigbear!

[ Post made via Android ]

[Edcyclopedia]

That was a good read chigbear!

[ Post made via Android ]

X2

Hunting with cameras!!!

[mainebowhunter]

Good read cgibear...I believe that is the guy you mentioned when we chatted.

Even though I voted boots on the ground, cameras have really changed a lot of the hunting here in the Northeast. Mainly because you cannot kill what is not there. If I am looking to kill a 3.5yr old and there are none around, I am kind of wasting my time. So the cams really help me to identify areas that hold one or more mature deer.

When I use the cams, they only really mean anything to me when I can get the deer in daylight. Dark pics give so many guys a false sense of hope. Your not in the game with midnight pics of a good buck. I use cams to determine where a buck is bedding or where he is feeding in daylight, which usually is an indicator that I am close to a bedding area. I start running cams at the food sources closest to a known bed. Many bucks will never leave the cover to feed ...and many times the destination food source may only be 50-100yds away. Almost like a "staging" food source.

I will also say, cams have really helped me learn a lot about deer behaviour in general.

[cbigbear]

Yep that's him Maine. No doubt he's a beast. What's not portrayed in this article is the amount of time & effort this guy puts in. A couple of years ago we had a discussion about how he kills slob bucks & in his words "for the amount of hours I spend in the woods my odds of killing are way low". I said well all those heads on the wall tell a different story & he replied "but no way to display the hours it took to kill each".

Just an FYI for the past 10 yrs or so he hunts trad only & from the ground only. His average kill shot distance is 10 yards. He chalks it up to good ground & lots of time, but the dude is humble. He has mad skills!!!

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Bowhunter4life]

I'm going with trail cams on this one. A couple reasons trail cams win out hands down for me is the distance to my hunting grounds, 2 1/2 hr trip one way, & then there is cover/terrain. Making an afternoon glassing trip to check the 3 or 4 open agri areas would be a 6-8hr time investment. Return on that investment just isn't as good as having 6 cams taking video for mths at a time. Shinning isn't legal & boots on the ground is great but still doesn't provide confirmation you've located a mature buck with decent bone on his head.

A buddy of mine has used cams to rack up a wall that rivals any I've ever seen. What's even more interesting is in the last 5 yrs he hasn't even ran a single cam yet still kills a gross 160" or better every yr. The knowledge & experience he gain from running cams all those yrs made him a killing machine. Here is an old article from his cam days.
http://www.ms-sportsman.com/details.php?id=426

[ Post made via iPhone ]

You do make a good point here and trail cameras give you a lot of Intel if used correctly!

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[DaveT1963]

Pretty much what i do, start with mineral licks and work back to find the core areas. Takes some cameras and some time. The nice things is once you find these core areas then you just do inventory at minerals until a buck you want shows up... then you already know where he is likely bedding and set up a couple on entry exit routes to confirm.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Findian]

Pretty much what i do, start with mineral licks and work back to find the core areas. Takes some cameras and some time. The nice things is once you find these core areas then you just do inventory at minerals until a buck you want shows up... then you already know where he is likely bedding and set up a couple on entry exit routes to confirm.

[ Post made via Android ]

That's almost the same thing I've been doing.

[ Post made via iPad ]

[mainebowhunter]

Pretty much what i do, start with mineral licks and work back to find the core areas. Takes some cameras and some time. The nice things is once you find these core areas then you just do inventory at minerals until a buck you want shows up... then you already know where he is likely bedding and set up a couple on entry exit routes to confirm.

[ Post made via Android ]

Thats what I am doing right now. Moving cameras to acorn/apple trees just outside the bedding areas hoping to catch some repetitive movement. The deer right now are so dispersed with browse EVERYWHERE.

[ozzz]

Boots on the ground for basics of the land but it's hard to beat the specific real time info cameras can give you.

[ Post made via Android ]