Trail cams kill bucks!

[iowa whitetail]

Just like everything in the deer hunting world the trail cam controversy is always a subject. Trail cams are a huge part of my season, not only in telling me what's in the area but checking cams is funnest part of my season.
If they are used in the correct way I believe they can be the best tool for getting on the most mature deer your area has to offer. I use them on the outside of the core area of mature deer. I wait for the right time if year, wind, weather then I will go after them. I've learned a ton about these animals from cams. It also keeps me from robbing myself or fellow hunters of killing a buck that isnt mature cause when it happens it happens fast and if you dont have the info you need in that split second decision it can be a disappointment.

The reason I thought of this was my computer crashed and I lost years of pics of deer I've taken that I had pics of and deer that got away also. My point is once you get the trail cam thing down it's a deadly tool.
Some of the deer I have on my phone that I went after.

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The one that got lucky!

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[backstraps]

A nice resume of trailcam deaths

In all seriousness, I have to agree with both statements...trailcams can be controversial and also be a great tool.

I tend to think as long as they are used both ethically, and legally, then to each their own. I too find their usage as a great tool. Trail cams like you mentioned can be great fun as well. Learning "how" to correctly use them can be a learning curve in its self.

I have had the pleasure in using trail cams to assist me in patterning a few bucks throughout the season and throughout the bucks maturing.

I hope to have a cache of bucks like yours one day

[P&YBuck1]

Boy super list of nice bucks you killed using camera intel. I utilize them but not as successful as you have. If you would not mind sharing some of your strategies.:)

[Dewey]

Holy crap.

That’s it.......I’m headed to Iowa next year.

[Denisboyko22]

that's awesome , that's how I killed my buck this year through trail camera, got a picture of him in the area and just started to do the process of elimination in areas by hanging a stand and shot him 2nd sit opening week. I see the sanctuary border sign in one picture. Theres a sanctuary in an area I hunt , have you had luck with big bucks coming out of the sanctuary during daylight hours?

[iowa whitetail]

:lol: that's awesome , that's how I killed my buck this year through trail camera, got a picture of him in the area and just started to do the process of elimination in areas by hanging a stand and shot him 2nd sit opening week. I see the sanctuary border sign in one picture. Theres a sanctuary in an area I hunt , have you had luck with big bucks coming out of the sanctuary during daylight hours?

It's not a gov sanctuary. The guy owns alot of ground and got into selling hunts. This buck was crossing the road after dark into stuff I could hunt. We had a nasty storm so I hunted him and he crossed the road in daylight, lack of traffic from ice storm i assume. A guy that worked for him heard I shot him so he sent me this pic. Way cooler than the ones I had so that's the one I've kept all these years. I'm not sure if they accually treat it like a sanctuary or not.

[iowa whitetail]

Boy super list of nice bucks you killed using camera intel. I utilize them but not as successful as you have. If you would not mind sharing some of your strategies.:)

Well as far as getting pics of deer allot of it is past pics encounters ect. My summer plan is putting cams out on salt next to beans. When they turn brown I always remember where a good scrape is from the last year cause you can bet it's going to be there this year.

Once the velvet comes off I really start to pay attention to what deer have stayed and new ones that have came. I decide what deer I want to go after and I'll wait till I feel good about it. If I have the itch to go I'll go to a diff place and watch some does or I might go to a stand I could possibly see him from but never mess it up.

My favorite time is Halloween. I'll usually wait till then before I go after them unless it's like the last buck and he loves daylight then I'll go in then.

The biggest thing about killing these deer is knowing them, patience, and hunting the wind. I think people get frustrated and start doing dumb things. I'm 100% guilty of this and that's why I've learned to just stay away until the time is right or you will find yourself in the worst tree with horrable wind on a 65 degree day.

[bh bowhunter]

Wow, some nice bucks for sure! I also use cameras, mostly for inventory of the bucks in a givin area. Up in the higher hills, where I do most of my early season hunting, if I don't get a pic of a shooter buck in July-Sept, I don't waste much time there for that year. In the spots that I have scouted and have determined to be good rut areas, I will place a camera in early October and leave it the rest of the season. The buck I killed in 2018 was on my camera using a trail the previous year.

The most frustrating part for me is when I have three years pics of a certain buck and I'm starting to really get know him, and then I no longer get his pic. But that's the most challenging part of hunting and this is what drives my passion of bowhunting!

[moondoondude]

Trail cameras have changed everything. The quality of deer here, particularly, has crashed and is accredited to in my opinion - trail cameras. Well said. They are a lethal tool and have completely changed my hunting tactics and continue to influence my hunting tactics more and more.

[Bowhunting Brian]

Just like everything in the deer hunting world the trail cam controversy is always a subject. Trail cams are a huge part of my season, not only in telling me what's in the area but checking cams is funnest part of my season.
If they are used in the correct way I believe they can be the best tool for getting on the most mature deer your area has to offer. I use them on the outside of the core area of mature deer. I wait for the right time if year, wind, weather then I will go after them. I've learned a ton about these animals from cams. It also keeps me from robbing myself or fellow hunters of killing a buck that isnt mature cause when it happens it happens fast and if you dont have the info you need in that split second decision it can be a disappointment.

The reason I thought of this was my computer crashed and I lost years of pics of deer I've taken that I had pics of and deer that got away also. My point is once you get the trail cam thing down it's a deadly tool.
Some of the deer I have on my phone that I went after. Screenshot_20191222-185455_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20191228-200800_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20191222-185427_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20191222-185419_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20191222-183859_Photos.jpgScreenshot_20191222-185303_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20191222-183805_Photos.jpgScreenshot_20191222-183829_Photos.jpgScreenshot_20191222-183731_Photos.jpgScreenshot_20191222-182725_Photos.jpg
The one that got lucky!Screenshot_20191222-183133_Photos.jpgScreenshot_20191222-183056_Photos.jpgScreenshot_20191222-182738_Photos.jpgScreenshot_20191222-182748_Photos.jpg

So how do you go about choosing stand locations if the cams are on the outskirts of his core area? Do you look for tracks or is it from past scouting? Also, congrats on your success and thanks for sharing.

[mipubbucks24]

Not trying to argue with you because I don’t use trail cams, have never owned one, but a few questions I have.

1. I only have so much time to hunt, how do you check cams if it’s not windy/rainy/inclement weather on those days of hunting/scouting?

2. If you are checking your cams how are you not alerting deer and especially mature deer to your presence?

3. How do you determine if a buck on cam is using what area? Are you relating it back to bedding? Or does it just let you know he frequents the area and then you hunt the historical/sign based stuff for him?

4. How often are you checking your cams?

5. Do you do stuff to keep them from getting stolen? Are you hunting private/public?

The person on this board who I feel has had the best posts on trail cam use is JoeRE I know he does not really post anymore but the way he used his was the most thought out and strategical of any that I have read about. Main bowhunter also had good strategies, he does not post anymore either. Anyways these are just things I keep asking myself when people talk about checking trail cams.

[greenhorndave]

JoeRE has a podcast on his use of cams that's unreal. Probably from July. I can't recall on whose show, but I think it was wired to hunt.

[iowa whitetail]

Just like everything in the deer hunting world the trail cam controversy is always a subject. Trail cams are a huge part of my season, not only in telling me what's in the area but checking cams is funnest part of my season.
If they are used in the correct way I believe they can be the best tool for getting on the most mature deer your area has to offer. I use them on the outside of the core area of mature deer. I wait for the right time if year, wind, weather then I will go after them. I've learned a ton about these animals from cams. It also keeps me from robbing myself or fellow hunters of killing a buck that isnt mature cause when it happens it happens fast and if you dont have the info you need in that split second decision it can be a disappointment.

The reason I thought of this was my computer crashed and I lost years of pics of deer I've taken that I had pics of and deer that got away also. My point is once you get the trail cam thing down it's a deadly tool.
Some of the deer I have on my phone that I went after. Screenshot_20191222-185455_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20191228-200800_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20191222-185427_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20191222-185419_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20191222-183859_Photos.jpgScreenshot_20191222-185303_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20191222-183805_Photos.jpgScreenshot_20191222-183829_Photos.jpgScreenshot_20191222-183731_Photos.jpgScreenshot_20191222-182725_Photos.jpg
The one that got lucky!Screenshot_20191222-183133_Photos.jpgScreenshot_20191222-183056_Photos.jpgScreenshot_20191222-182738_Photos.jpgScreenshot_20191222-182748_Photos.jpg

So how do you go about choosing stand locations if the cams are on the outskirts of his core area? Do you look for tracks or is it from past scouting? Also, congrats on your success and thanks for sharing.

Thanks! I'll put cams out in late summer till the bucks are hard horned. If I dont get anything on cam I just pull them and take them to a deer I want to hunt and figure out what side of the property hes on the most. I hunt the outside I dont really like getting into there core unless it's getting mid nov. Stand location is just knowing to property. If I dont know it I'll hand a few stands and go from there.

[iowa whitetail]

Not trying to argue with you because I don’t use trail cams, have never owned one, but a few questions I have.

1. I only have so much time to hunt, how do you check cams if it’s not windy/rainy/inclement weather on those days of hunting/scouting?

2. If you are checking your cams how are you not alerting deer and especially mature deer to your presence?

3. How do you determine if a buck on cam is using what area? Are you relating it back to bedding? Or does it just let you know he frequents the area and then you hunt the historical/sign based stuff for him?

4. How often are you checking your cams?

5. Do you do stuff to keep them from getting stolen? Are you hunting private/public?

The person on this board who I feel has had the best posts on trail cam use is JoeRE I know he does not really post anymore but the way he used his was the most thought out and strategical of any that I have read about. Main bowhunter also had good strategies, he does not post anymore either. Anyways these are just things I keep asking myself when people talk about checking trail cams.

1&2: this is why I'm on the outside, I check these cams on the nicest day of the year if I want. I'll put them on a good food source. I dont think it bugs deer to have human sent on the outside. People have killed deer because they get a pic of them a few hours after they check cams and they figured that out. I think deer are curious also.
3: once I realize I have a deer I want to hunt I'll pull cams from other places to really narrow him down. Once I know what side of a property he prefers I'll set myself up if I'm not already. I'm not sure how alot of people use cams but I'm not using them to say ok this deer is comeing from hear down this path at 430. I just use them on the outside to see what's around. In fact if I get daytime pics I usually move it cause I'm to close.

4: depending on time of year. Summers I'll check them few times a month if that. Once you get into late oct I'm looking every few days. But in oct I'm on scrapes once they start making them. It will tell just how often he is there also will tell you his personality. Is he a ruff neck deer that wants to fight or is he the shy kind. Makes a diff in calling at a distance!

I hunt mostly private and I've had my share of them stolen. It's just how it is I guess

[Southern slayer]

Holy crap.

That’s it.......I’m headed to Iowa next year.

I’m with you Dewey !