Finding cameras

[A-bach]

Today i was scouting a very remote area and i got onto some very good sign, lots of very high rubs leading down a point that goes out into a swamp. As i got closer to point sign was still looking very good and just at the very tip.....boom a camera. My question is would you guys forget about this spot because someone else is into it or give it a shot this fall based on the sign? Thanks in advance

[Buckharasser150]

I am not nearly as experienced as many of the other guys, but if I seen camera in/near good sign, hes probably onto it and that would dwindle my confidence. I'd maybe take a look around and see if there is something the other guy is missing.... If not, I would leave or find other area bucks are going.

[Hawthorne]

Hard to find a terrain feature that doesn’t already have a treestand or camera around here. I’d still look within 100-200 yds might still find something you could kill something. Get in there early

[RatMe]

Man, I’ve been guilty of finding sign and flooding it with cameras only to realize that the bedding is too far away for it to ever work out in daylight (or at least to have high odds) It took multiple years for me to believe what the cameras showed me. Obviously it depends on the proximity of bedding to the sign. Just a thought.

[briar]

Finding a camera in April would not bother me...stop back in august. If its there...maybe a concern...but is still go. What the heck its one hunt. I bet every one here has a huge % of hunts that don't work out for a million reasons...but you learn from it. Id be all over it and see how it goes.

[MitchB]

This has happened to me a few times recently. I even asked a similar question in general about hunter/human sign.

So, big disclaimer of I’m real new at this and have no business giving advice or answering questions. But as of now, here is what I’m going to do. As I look back on my notes and maps, a lot of the human sign (or cameras) I’ve seen has been in the general area of deer bedding I’ve found, but not close enough to the best bedding that it would make sense (to me) to hunt there in the fall. Especially October. So, I make a note of it, but I still pick out a spot in the area that I would hunt. Now human sign and cameras there can mean two different things. The guy could be super tuned it and is just hanging a camera in a low impact area he can check and he knows where the bedding is. That would probably be a worst case scenario.

In the fall, I’d still consider going back there but I’ll make sure I get there early enough to scout the area, and if it doesn’t look promising go to another spot on the property or maybe even a whole different property.

The funny thing too is I’ve seen in a couple areas where the deer bed in a way that gives them eyes on a ladder stand or camera. When I got close to the stand I saw a deer calmly stand up and walk off. So if the access is predictable, it may still be worth hunting keeping that in mind when you make your plan. If there’s good sign there, a deer has figured it out.

[Brokenarrow1980]

I live in south east PA and I'm used to looking up for stands and cameras when I find deer sign. Try to do something other then what normal hunters do like a different access or hunt from the ground and go stealthy. If I got deterred everything I found people sign I would not have very many spots. Just remember that the deer will be a deer and it's somewhere, pressure just determines where

[Boogieman1]

I can deal with a perm stand. But I ain’t gonna lie a well placed camera messes with my head especially if u don’t see their stand. Makes me wonder how much they actually know. I mean if they have a camera in what I consider the money spot then I don’t think it’s just luck. I mean 99% of the cameras I see I would never waste my time putting a camera on. Not saying I’m right but just saying if I see a camera on the very tree I would of placed one on I hang my head and conclude the hunter knew why to put it their. I’ve tried hunting such cases b4 and it never ended well. Mainly due to messing with my head and I lose any confidence. Now if it’s just a camera in the vicinity I’m fine. But when it’s exactly what I would do I assume they got the same plan I do. So I look for greener pasture

[Lockdown]

Just me being blunt… in general I think we fear the worst too often. Just because a camera is hung in a spot where you don’t want to see it, it doesn’t mean that spot is burned. That guy might only check that cam twice a year maybe he hunts it at the wrong time

Ever have a camera show lots of daytime movement? Ever have a camera that got a big buck (or two) in daylight?

Cameras don’t necessarily ruin things.

It all depends on what this dude is doing. If he is in there checking it every ten days, there’s a very strong chance the spot is burned.

Story time.

I met a guy in a public parking lot a couple years ago. He asked where I was heading and I told him elsewhere (I had my daughter with). “Was that your cam on the south end?” His heart sank and he said yes. I told him exactly where I’d been while checking for sign. Told him he still had a fresh sit. He and his buddy went in and killed a 3 yr old that night a couple hundred yards from that cam. We ended up friends.

Just last week that same guy sent me a trail cam pic of myself from October. He’d left a cam out all year at a property 30-40 mins from where I met him. Tyler’s spot not mine. Turns out he had a cam 108 yards (measured on OnX) from where Tyler killed his buck and we walked in front of it on the way in AND out.

We had no idea it was there and neither did the buck. The picture of me was at 12:07 a.m. and I had hip boots slung around my shoulders.

He said he hunted in the area once early and the place was getting pounded. (It’s very remote) There was a guy with a shotgun there on the 23rd. His first pic of Tyler’s buck was Oct 27th. Tyler killed him the 29th. That buck was keeping tabs on anyone who walked through that funnel. I am assuming the buck relocated for rut and was unaware the place was getting hammered.

Tyler knew to swing wide to stay out of view of those beds. He also went in this high pressure spot on a Friday to beat the weekend warriors. Another factor was it was dead calm that day and Tyler took his sweet time getting in. Im assuming between the sight advantage and the super calm day the buck was certain the coast was clear.

135” stud buck.

[Swedishbowhunter]

As mentioned already but a good point: if human sign deterred me I would have no where to hunt. Also, keep a viewer with you and check the guys camera. You will learn a lot like how long the camera has been there, how many if any other hunters have been in there, also what is around for mature bucks. I dont have a problem if another hunter checks my cameras as long as he isnt deleting pics or goofing it up.
Story time- Last year in June I was going to hang some cameras on public leading to private ag, there was already a camera on that runway, & I was discouraged to say the least. I didnt have my viewer with me that day so I went about 30 yards down the runway & hung my camera. I also hung a camera about 125 yards further down the line on another runway leading to a soy bean field. I went back in December to get my cameras and I saw the other guys camera was still there. My camera didnt have squat on it for bucks, so I am sure his didnt have much either. But the camera I put out 125 yards away had at least 20 different bucks on it and 4 were definite mature shooters. I felt I should mention this as it pertains to your question, and shows a guy should never hunt solely by cameras as I am sure if this guy ever did check his camera he would think this property sucks. Also, his camera might still be hanging there unchecked to this day!! I found one in the popular public by me one time, I was looking at his pictures on my viewer and determined it had been there for at least 4 years!! It had at least 12 other hunters on it and it had not been stolen!!! It had his name and number on it, I called and told him about his camera, he laughed and thanked me, he said he completely forgot about it.

[A-bach]

Lots of good points when you sit back and think about it.because yeah you never know maybe the guy hardly checks it or only hunts a certain time of year or possibly the camera has been there for years and forgotten about and untouched....my initial thought was why would the sign look so good if the area was burned out but that sign could be getting laid down first week of season and the guy disnt find it till say october or something then set up on it. So yeah i think ill check it back out this fall.

[Eddiegomes83]

As mentioned already but a good point: if human sign deterred me I would have no where to hunt. Also, keep a viewer with you and check the guys camera. You will learn a lot like how long the camera has been there, how many if any other hunters have been in there, also what is around for mature bucks. I dont have a problem if another hunter checks my cameras as long as he isnt deleting pics or goofing it up.
Story time- Last year in June I was going to hang some cameras on public leading to private ag, there was already a camera on that runway, & I was discouraged to say the least. I didnt have my viewer with me that day so I went about 30 yards down the runway & hung my camera. I also hung a camera about 125 yards further down the line on another runway leading to a soy bean field. I went back in December to get my cameras and I saw the other guys camera was still there. My camera didnt have squat on it for bucks, so I am sure his didnt have much either. But the camera I put out 125 yards away had at least 20 different bucks on it and 4 were definite mature shooters. I felt I should mention this as it pertains to your question, and shows a guy should never hunt solely by cameras as I am sure if this guy ever did check his camera he would think this property sucks. Also, his camera might still be hanging there unchecked to this day!! I found one in the popular public by me one time, I was looking at his pictures on my viewer and determined it had been there for at least 4 years!! It had at least 12 other hunters on it and it had not been stolen!!! It had his name and number on it, I called and told him about his camera, he laughed and thanked me, he said he completely forgot about it.

Uh oh...this group ate me alive about this a couple years ago.

I still do it though

[Coalcracker]

Around my parts...I either don't use a camera on public ground or I use it when other hunters are least likely to find it. (mid-summer or late winter)

Reason- In the past, I put up some hang on sets and had other hunters crawling around where I was hunting. I've said this before, if the buck sign, especially big buck sign is in the vicinity of where I'm hunting that's enough give away information already. I don't need to advertise any closer to that sign by leaving a camera in the bush. I no longer pre-set hanging stands either. That was a big no no. Using a climber which scuffs the tree is another clue I'd rather not leave behind but in many cases its my best option. Overall, my way of trying be unnoticed. Park the truck away from where I'm hunting, don't use a flashlight to the best of my ability etc. etc.. If the deer beats me because I didn't have enough intel on his movements than so be it. If another hunter kills him because he figured it out, my hats off to him.

As for finding cameras myself. I generally don't worry about them. There aren't many places untouched by other hunters. In many instances your scouting hunters as much as your hunting the deer. If its really pounded with hunter sign but the buck sign continues to pop up, I go looking for where and how the buck is avoiding/using the area. It may be night time sign but he's coming from somewhere. Find the somewhere.

[Elite]

Maybe it’s a decoy camera to accomplish exactly what this thread is about. Did you check it at all to see if it has batteries? It might not be even running and/or checked at all. The camera is placed to get other hunters to move on from the spot because it’s “burned”.

[A-bach]

I did not check it but yeah i never thought of that as a decoy, definitely a possibility!