trail cams - can they be negative?

Discuss the science of figuring out our prey through good detective work.
User avatar
JRM6868
The Terminator
Posts: 1400
Joined: Fri Feb 04, 2011 3:44 am
Location: S.E. Ohio
Status: Offline

Re: trail cams - can they be negative?

Unread postby JRM6868 » Wed Dec 21, 2011 2:41 pm

As said already cams when used correctly are a valuable tool. I used to run upto 12 cams on 3 different farms. Great for inventory when not used near your stands and put up scent free as possible. One farm I hunt doesn't even have a buck show up on it until the third week of October. Then there are multiple bucks on the place. The other farm has them all year round and the third has bucks about every 5-6 days. I think they are a great tool to let you know what's out there. I've only killed one buck I've had a pic of which is my avatar pic. The other ones I've killed I've never had a pic of. Which goes to show you that just because you don't get pics doesn't mean there isn't any bucks. Alot has to do with timing as in our hunts.
Bucks also have their own personality and some will tolerate getting their pic taken multiple times and it seems like they pose for the cam and others it's one and done. Never had any luck with mature buck pics over corn piles. I prefer the travel trails, scrapes and food sources.

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image


User avatar
gjs4
500 Club
Posts: 1917
Joined: Tue Mar 16, 2010 1:11 pm
Location: Western NY
Status: Offline

Re: trail cams - can they be negative?

Unread postby gjs4 » Wed Dec 21, 2011 4:12 pm

Think most deer/bucks do not care about them but the frequent checking disease that comes with them fosters human instrusion and scent and we all know thats bad news.....

No matter how good my observation stands they give a nocturnal movement log with minimal intrusion

...just like guns or alcohol....all in moderation and mature use; right?
Green and growing... Or red and rotting
User avatar
Stanley
Honorary Moderator
Posts: 18734
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2011 4:18 am
Facebook: None
Location: Iowa
Status: Offline

Re: trail cams - can they be negative?

Unread postby Stanley » Wed Dec 21, 2011 5:24 pm

Trail cameras are a great tool if used properly. You can learn and understand buck movement 24/7/365. If you feel they are hurting your hunting you are not using them to benefit your hunting. I too have had bucks on camera that I have arrowed, and have arrowed some that were not on camera (2 this year in fact). Cameras are stealth scouting at it's best. Think about it; you don't have to be there, you don't have stink the place up, and you don't have to push deer out with boot leather. You can also tell if a buck was fighting as he lost an eye. ;)

Image
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
User avatar
moosehound
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2011 11:44 am
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: trail cams - can they be negative?

Unread postby moosehound » Wed Dec 21, 2011 6:24 pm

Agreed they are a great tool if used properly. See alot of guys put them at the base of the tree their hunting out of? :think: Anyone try using a plot watcher type camera setting? I haven't used them but was told they are nice because u can put them quite a ways back and still see whats going on without getting in to close.
I hunt whitetails all year long.
User avatar
JRM6868
The Terminator
Posts: 1400
Joined: Fri Feb 04, 2011 3:44 am
Location: S.E. Ohio
Status: Offline

Re: trail cams - can they be negative?

Unread postby JRM6868 » Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:27 pm

moosehound wrote: Anyone try using a plot watcher type camera setting? I haven't used them but was told they are nice because u can put them quite a ways back and still see whats going on without getting in to close.


Bought the primos version of the plot watcher this year. Not a bad camera for what it is. Paid $79 for it and works pretty good.

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image
tim
500 Club
Posts: 2731
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2010 8:43 am
Status: Offline

Re: trail cams - can they be negative?

Unread postby tim » Thu Dec 22, 2011 3:57 am

i love using my cameras, but like anything else i learned the hard way , i now use them for inventory around food sources. i do have a farm that i rarely hunt(until next year :lol: ) that i purposely throw cams on scrapes /trails etc. this farm has some dandys running around i knew i wouldnt be out there this year but wanted to know what was out there, noone else hunts this part of the farm so i knew i wasnt wrecking anything. when im tagged out i still run em till they shed on my place hoping to see what made it. as far as not knowing whats in your presents , i agree with dan, i wanna know if that present is worth opening in the first place :lol: if it aint im shopping for new presents
wmihunter
Posts: 1316
Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2010 1:23 pm
Status: Offline

Re: trail cams - can they be negative?

Unread postby wmihunter » Fri Dec 23, 2011 3:21 am

to all...are there trail cams that only take pics in the day. i wouldn't want the red glow to spook a big buck at night. on the other hand...what percentage of big bucks are spooked by the red flash? if you set the camera in the rain or just before a rain do u think the red glow alone is enough to make the average pressured mature buck spooky and thus run your hunting area.

i am interested in purchasing a $100 wildgame innovations ir camera...
dan
Site Owner
Posts: 41588
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2010 6:11 am
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HuntingBeast/?ref=bookmarks
Location: S.E. Wisconsin
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: trail cams - can they be negative?

Unread postby dan » Tue Apr 09, 2019 4:26 am

bump
User avatar
freezeAR
500 Club
Posts: 549
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2015 11:07 pm
Location: Arkansas
Status: Offline

Re: trail cams - can they be negative?

Unread postby freezeAR » Tue Apr 09, 2019 6:34 am

Good bump Dan.

I have struggled with this question for years. I have never ran cams but I kept hearing people in pod casts and on here that kill great deer fairly regularly and cams was a common theme. I have found a couple of spots that I could get to without stepping foot on dry ground.
User avatar
Matt Gill
500 Club
Posts: 585
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2019 4:28 pm
Status: Offline

Re: trail cams - can they be negative?

Unread postby Matt Gill » Tue Apr 09, 2019 8:26 am

I have two but rarely use them aside from here on my 7 acres where my house is. I’ve had several stolen over the years ( 5 I think ) and just got tired of that. I def agree that they become a ridiculous obsession for some. I know a few guys who check cams more than they hunt and don’t start hunting until they’ve located a shooter on cam. It’s nice to know if there’s a 150 there so you don’t smoke a 120 but cameras only cover a small area and don’t see everything. I’ve killed some of my better deer just going in blind. For me my moral and confidence is higher if I’m just scouting my way in and setting up on good buck sign
User avatar
DaveT1963
500 Club
Posts: 5196
Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:27 am
Location: South
Status: Offline

Re: trail cams - can they be negative?

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Tue Apr 09, 2019 9:44 am

Anything done in access can produce negative results. No different than scouting too much.
Cameras are great tools for scouting numerous properties and for scouting properties during season. Unless you can be everwhere at once, cameras fill a void. Learn to use them right.

I also do not buy the hype that a mature buck encountering human scent once or twice a year vacates the area. So a person only got one pic, perhaps the camera is set up in the wrong location.... you might be set up outside his core area. Lots of assuming being made. Maybe coon hunters are working the area, other people scouting, trappers, duck hunters, mushroom seekers, shed hunters, etc..... think you get my point.

Mature bucks are really hard to push out of their core areas.... you have to really put a lot of pressure on them to do that.... and running into human scent is almost a weekly, if not daily, process for most public land whitetails today. Checking a camera once every other month is not going to push 99% of mature bucks from their core area.

Be smart, think about how and where you place them and use them as a tool..... you don't need a photo album full of pics. 1 or 2 is all it usually takes.
User avatar
Grizzlyadam
500 Club
Posts: 1488
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:33 am
Location: CT
Status: Offline

Re: trail cams - can they be negative?

Unread postby Grizzlyadam » Tue Apr 09, 2019 10:04 am

When I run cams on a new property I typically find there are bigger bucks there than I expected. I can't remember a time when I didn't.
User avatar
cspot
500 Club
Posts: 1307
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2018 1:13 pm
Location: Western PA
Status: Offline

Re: trail cams - can they be negative?

Unread postby cspot » Tue Apr 09, 2019 12:54 pm

My issue with trail cameras is it is hard for me to fight the temptation to check them often. Therefore I mostly just run them in high human traffic areas for inventory purposes. They probably have helped me a little as they sometimes tell be direction that a buck is coming from.
User avatar
VaBowKill5
Posts: 271
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:40 am
Location: Virginia
Status: Offline

Re: trail cams - can they be negative?

Unread postby VaBowKill5 » Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:03 pm

I run a lot of cameras on both private and public lands. I have 2 strategies to cameras during hunting season. The first is putting cameras on food sources where I expect deer to frequent at night where I can check them for an inventory without them feeling pressured.
My other strategy is the cameras I will put up in areas I really expect big bucks will be moving in the daylight whether it be bedding areas, funnels etc. However I usually never check these cameras until after the season unless I slip in there to hunt. Then I will check it that day. Sometimes you don’t see when that spot was hot until months after the fact but I always jot that down in my journal for years to come. Some of my best spots have come from camera intel years before.
User avatar
cspot
500 Club
Posts: 1307
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2018 1:13 pm
Location: Western PA
Status: Offline

Re: trail cams - can they be negative?

Unread postby cspot » Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:04 pm

ccfutball1 wrote:I run a lot of cameras on both private and public lands. I have 2 strategies to cameras during hunting season. The first is putting cameras on food sources where I expect deer to frequent at night where I can check them for an inventory without them feeling pressured.
My other strategy is the cameras I will put up in areas I really expect big bucks will be moving in the daylight whether it be bedding areas, funnels etc. However I usually never check these cameras until after the season unless I slip in there to hunt. Then I will check it that day. Sometimes you don’t see when that spot was hot until months after the fact but I always jot that down in my journal for years to come. Some of my best spots have come from camera intel years before.


I admire people that can let a camera soak that long. I simply don't have the will power. :D


  • Advertisement

Return to “Scouting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 35 guests