changing my mind on trai cams...

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dreaming bucks
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changing my mind on trai cams...

Unread postby dreaming bucks » Fri Sep 24, 2010 2:03 am

I absolutely love putting trail cams out in my woods to see what is there, but the more and more I've learned from this site, I'm thinking next year, maybe not putting any in the woods at all... I mean, I wonder how much I'm educating these deer... I recently pulled all my cams (3) out of the woods and just put them out on the field edge... I use to keep all my cams right in the middle of the woods, basically right where I hunt, I guess I felt I wanted to see what was walking through were I hunted, but now feel that maybe I was doing alot more harm, than good ? I don't know, thoughts ??????


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Re: changing my mind on trai cams...

Unread postby solocam88 » Fri Sep 24, 2010 3:20 am

Trail cameras can be your best friend or your own worst enemy. A lot of big bucks are saved by people educating them with checking their cameras and putting them in a bucks safe zone. People get more caught up in getting a picture of a big buck than they are in killing it. They can be a great tool, but a lot of hunters abuse their purpose.
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Re: changing my mind on trai cams...

Unread postby PLB » Fri Sep 24, 2010 3:39 am

solocam88 wrote:Trail cameras can be your best friend or your own worst enemy. A lot of big bucks are saved by people educating them with checking their cameras and putting them in a bucks safe zone. People get more caught up in getting a picture of a big buck than they are in killing it. They can be a great tool, but a lot of hunters abuse their purpose.

exactly! It can be more of an addiction for a hunter to continually picture a certain deer and find his sheds than actually hunting him! I would never put trail cameras near my stands or close to a bedding area! I may use them near a food source in the summer to see what's in the area, that's it for me. Besides, through spring scouting I generally have a pretty good idea about an area and then leave it alone until conditions warrant moving in for the kill! Sheer and utter suprise is what kills mature deer. Checking trail cameras where you hunt during season will not ;) My .02 anyway....
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Re: changing my mind on trai cams...

Unread postby Casper » Fri Sep 24, 2010 4:56 am

The idea is to keep them on food or where you can check them where you will get minimal scent out there. Deer expect to have human scent on field edges. Cameras are just a really good tool to see what is out there. From spring scouting, you should have an idea where he is bedding and it gives you an educated guess on how to kill him.
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Re: changing my mind on trai cams...

Unread postby dreaming bucks » Fri Sep 24, 2010 5:40 am

Casper wrote:The idea is to keep them on food or where you can check them where you will get minimal scent out there. Deer expect to have human scent on field edges. Cameras are just a really good tool to see what is out there. From spring scouting, you should have an idea where he is bedding and it gives you an educated guess on how to kill him.


Yep, I'm understanding this now.... I am already looking forward to next spring, getting to scout for beds and such...
Would you guys ever try to put a camera over a bed in the spring time maybe for a week, just to see what kind of buck exactly is using that bed, or would you just stick to checking track size and glassing for him to come out at night ? And by putting a camera over the bed, I mean mounting it way up high, so he doesnt see it... I realize you would be putting your scent in the area a couple times, once to put the camera out there and another time to get the camera, but if this was done in the spring time like April or May, the buck would have all summer to calm down from you putting your scent there.... I don't know, just seems like it would work to me, but maybe I'm wrong ???
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Re: changing my mind on trai cams...

Unread postby Wrinkleneck » Fri Sep 24, 2010 5:55 am

Alot of the stuff mentioned above is spot on. I have not put a camera in an area I plan on hunting since learning from this site the damage I could do!! I am addicted to my trail camera's, I have just learned how to better use them to my advantage, rather than ruining my hunting area. Keeping them on a food source is the best way to review what is running around in the area herd. I couldn't go without my camera's, they have become a big part of my hunting tools.
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Re: changing my mind on trai cams...

Unread postby mcmidc » Fri Sep 24, 2010 6:03 am

dreaming bucks wrote:
Casper wrote:The idea is to keep them on food or where you can check them where you will get minimal scent out there. Deer expect to have human scent on field edges. Cameras are just a really good tool to see what is out there. From spring scouting, you should have an idea where he is bedding and it gives you an educated guess on how to kill him.


Yep, I'm understanding this now.... I am already looking forward to next spring, getting to scout for beds and such...
Would you guys ever try to put a camera over a bed in the spring time maybe for a week, just to see what kind of buck exactly is using that bed, or would you just stick to checking track size and glassing for him to come out at night ? And by putting a camera over the bed, I mean mounting it way up high, so he doesnt see it... I realize you would be putting your scent in the area a couple times, once to put the camera out there and another time to get the camera, but if this was done in the spring time like April or May, the buck would have all summer to calm down from you putting your scent there.... I don't know, just seems like it would work to me, but maybe I'm wrong ???



It would probably work, but I'm not sure I think it is worth multiple visits because in april/may that buck isn't going to have a rack yet. You'd only be able to see body size, and you can get a decent idea of that from tracks. When the rack is fully developed I'd never set a camera on the bed, too close to hunting season. I guess I don't see the reward of setting a camera on the bed in the spring. When I'm scouting and find a good bedding area, I do everything right then. Find trees, snip what may need to be snipped, figure out my enter/exit strategies,ect. Then I don't go back until the first time I hunt it.
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Re: changing my mind on trai cams...

Unread postby solocam88 » Fri Sep 24, 2010 6:05 am

Its hard to say if it will bother him every deer and every situation is different, maybe it will and maybe it wont but why even take a chance? The least amount of pressure the better. If you did put a camera up over a bed, he might not even come back to that bed during the duration your camera is up since you brought your scent into it. Then you might think a mature buck isn't using that bed since you didnt get a pic of him. A buck may also use a different bed in the spring than he does in the fall. There really is no cut and dry answer IMO, every situation is different.
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Re: changing my mind on trai cams...

Unread postby dreaming bucks » Fri Sep 24, 2010 6:34 am

ya, all good points guys....

I guess I'm just trying to find any angle I can on locating a big bucks bed, so I know exactly where he is bedded for the upcoming season, but I see what you are saying solocam...
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Re: changing my mind on trai cams...

Unread postby Indianahunter » Fri Sep 24, 2010 6:38 am

I agree with you guys, from reading posts here and other places over the last year I have a very specific use and other then that I will not use them. 1st placement is a food source that I can access and monitor from a distance that is also the closest to a bed located in the spring. We bought the Reconyx camera, though I really wanted to support Dan with the Predators for the specific purpose of the time lapse feature. The camera is placed in an area that deer will pass by but can be accessed without being too close; in conjunction with the time lapse feature during the day I can see where every deer comes in and out of the field over the entire visible horizon several hundred yards away. Then all I have to do is zoom in on the animal to confirm my suspicions of that particular animal being in the area. This could be done if you have the time to drive, glass and spot light, but I simply can't be there all the time to watch the food sources. Right now with all of the agricultural crops removed in my area I know they are hitting the bumper crop of acorns, but that knowledge is based on my pre-season scouting and there is no reason to put a camera in there unless you just want pictures of deer.
Although using trail cameras is fun I believe whole heartedly that they can do more harm then good and it also confirms what Dan has said from the beginning there is no short cut for hard work and early spring scouting, that is when and where you locate your deer. The cameras are just for figuring out the timing to move in for the kill.
The other use we did this year I learned from Dr. Grant Woods at http://www.growingdeer.com I placed a camera in a high traffic triangle between bedding and feeding and water with a mineral block and a corn to take an inventory of the deer on my property in order to have a harvest plan. This is from the last week of July to the middle of August. Now I have a good picture of the number of does, fawns, and bucks I have and can better manage the herd vs. the DNR solution to kill every antlerless deer we see. I bit in to that for a long time, but after some of you commented on the affects it has had in your states over the years, I decided this was a much wiser way to determine a harvest plan.
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Re: changing my mind on trai cams...

Unread postby dan » Fri Sep 24, 2010 9:07 am

Would you guys ever try to put a camera over a bed in the spring time maybe for a week, just to see what kind of buck exactly is using that bed,

1st off, most big buck bedding areas are used by multiple bucks. Just not usually at the same time ;)
Bad idea / damage ain't worth the reward.
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Re: changing my mind on trai cams...

Unread postby dreaming bucks » Sat Sep 25, 2010 1:33 am

dan wrote:
Would you guys ever try to put a camera over a bed in the spring time maybe for a week, just to see what kind of buck exactly is using that bed,

1st off, most big buck bedding areas are used by multiple bucks. Just not usually at the same time ;)
Bad idea / damage ain't worth the reward.


Oh, ok, makes sense I guess, I was just thinking that Andrae mentioned something about getting a quick snapshot of a big buck at his bed and then pulling the camera quick, just to get a look at what kind of animal is using that bed.... I better watch the video again.. I don't remember which video it was in. It was the marsh or hill country video, when he is talking about trail cams for scouting....
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Re: changing my mind on trai cams...

Unread postby mcmidc » Sat Sep 25, 2010 3:29 am

I believe the talk about the trail cams was in Hill Country Bucks. 8-)
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Re: changing my mind on trai cams...

Unread postby dan » Sun Sep 26, 2010 2:49 am

Andrae said that he sometimes does that and approaches from a direction that the deer don't use... He also uses an obstacle like a fallen tree to shoot the pic over. I don't think he actually puts a camera over the bed though, especially during season... I could be wrong... But him and I don't 100 percent agree on everything ;)
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Re: changing my mind on trai cams...

Unread postby Black Squirrel » Tue Sep 28, 2010 3:15 am

Indianahunter wrote: The other use we did this year I learned from Dr. Grant Woods at http://www.growingdeer.com I placed a camera in a high traffic triangle between bedding and feeding and water with a mineral block and a corn to take an inventory of the deer on my property in order to have a harvest plan. This is from the last week of July to the middle of August. Now I have a good picture of the number of does, fawns, and bucks I have and can better manage the herd vs. the DNR solution to kill every antlerless deer we see. I bit in to that for a long time, but after some of you commented on the affects it has had in your states over the years, I decided this was a much wiser way to determine a harvest plan.

I just listen to a podcast interview where Dr. Grant explains this practice. It seems like a very good way to inventory, and even pattern deer. You can determine bed location based on where the buck enters the field, and your previous spring scouting. Good stuff in my opinion.


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