Trail cameras on public land

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jwangle13
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Trail cameras on public land

Unread postby jwangle13 » Tue May 21, 2019 11:58 pm

Hey everyone. I was watching some hunting beast videos yesterday and I came across the one where Dan talks about trail camera placement. Basically what he said was putting trail cameras in bedding areas is a bad idea because you leave behind scent. He then explains that you should instead put them in feeding areas around the bedding, such as an open field. This all makes perfect sense but let's apply this to public land. I would say scent control is even more important in this situation but I would say public land has the highest possibility of getting your camera snatched. Also, if you dont have some kind of attractant there may not be a chance of you getting that photo of a shooter buck even if he is there.

So what do you all think? Again I am only wanting to know about public land.


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Matt Gill
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Re: Trail cameras on public land

Unread postby Matt Gill » Wed May 22, 2019 12:33 am

The only cams I will run on public will be ones that accept cable locks and pad locks. I’ve never had one stolen off of public. I had about 3 stolen from private properties in the last 5 years and my buddy has had more than that. I only own 3 cams anymore and don’t mess with them much. But my advice to you on simply gathering inventory of bucks on public land would be to try and find a few good scrapes that are not directly in bedding areas and lock your cams up and hang them above head height looking down. Or just try to locate a few good exit trails you suspect the bucks to use and hang them there. On public my cam approach is not to get a lot of deer pictures but to simply get a few pics of a buck of the caliber I’d like to kill. Good luck
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Re: Trail cameras on public land

Unread postby Trout » Wed May 22, 2019 12:56 am

I put my cameras close to food sources on the runways leading to them, or on funnel runways. Never had a problem getting pics of deer. I always cable lock my cameras, though, and write on them, "please do not steal, I worked hard for this." Never had a camera stolen, knock on wood. Last year I didn't run any cameras, just hunted sign and terrain features and saw more bucks in one season while on stand than I've seen the last 5 combined. I think a lot of that has to do with using Dan's tactics and what I learned from reading this board, but it also had a lot to do with not getting emotionally attached to certain spots because I had a nice buck show up on camera somewhere.
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Re: Trail cameras on public land

Unread postby headgear » Wed May 22, 2019 1:23 am

You can put cams in bedding areas or other areas close to bedding if you let them soak all season or for an extended amount of time, the intel gained might not help this year but can be beneficial for next season.
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Re: Trail cameras on public land

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Wed May 22, 2019 1:30 am

I put my cams on buck trails at least 300 yards from known bedding. I'm sure their is bucks that do avoid cams but usually you will get at least 1 pic of a good one.

The good news about cams is they teach you how bucks travel through a property. If your selecting good locations your going to get pics.

Cameras can be put in trees and hidden quite well.

I would be very careful where I put cams if I was around fields they are human magnets.

I've had cams stolen which is why I buy the 30-50 doller ones.
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may21581
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Re: Trail cameras on public land

Unread postby may21581 » Wed May 22, 2019 2:25 am

I agree with everything you said. I find trailcams hurt you more than they help you on public. You can be creative when you hang them but most likely you will tip them off to your presence because we check them too often trying to kill something that season with current intel. Again preseason scouting is the trick and finding that sign from mature bucks. Most your average guys eat tag soup on public when hunting mature bucks because they apply what they know about younger deer to the older ones. The pictures are nice to brag about and show off but what is our #1 goal? We here it time and time again about bucks going nocturnal or changing their patterns, well they just changed their habits because of something we did! Trailcams are good to build history with an animal and gather long term Intel that could possible tell us when and where he goes at certain times of the year. I feel where hunters screw up with cameras is they view them as a silver bullet quick Intel quick kill type tool. Most your b&c bucks were never shot the first time they seen them. They were shot by gathering several years of Intel and learning the animals habits. Cameras are a slow process, they are a tool and we must use them the right way. When we become careless with them and get sloppy it only makes for the beginning of a long season of cat and mouse and tag soup! So with that said ask yourself what you are willing to do in order to be successful without that silver bullet Intel this year? Will you watch some fields from a good distance and get eyes on your bucks? Will you walk the perimeters looking for tracks? Will you spring scout till your legs are cramped and boots wore out? Will you show up to your stands at odd ball times to break the average hunter routines? These are the things that will get you closer, are you willing to sit back and gather Intel and put your other skills to work? Because this is what it takes to kill the beasts on public!
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Re: Trail cameras on public land

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Wed May 22, 2019 2:26 am

I hear this all the time and sorry I just do not think its accurate. Yes if you go in there every day/week a mature buck will leave that specific area, but he isn't going far. I think people have grossly misrepresented how much pressure it takes to get a buck to move out. Now I do believe they can go nocturnal more and more, but even that hasn't been proven much and most deer have limited daylight movement in their core areas.

I have zero fear in using a game camera near bedding. I cannot even count how many times I get a pic of a buck the same day as I set the camera up. I dont get right over a bed but I definitely work the entrance and exit.

But be SMART. wise entry/exit, rubber boots/gloves, avoiding contact with brush will go a long way in reducing your scent left behind.

I also only use black flash (unless it's a mineral site then I don't mind using red flash). and most importantly I check them only once or twice before I pull them or move them.

I also believe deer get accustomed to human scent during non hunting times. I have seen them feeding too often right on the bank of a creek or lake where people fish daily. I have farmed a lot, worked for farmers, and I can tell you mature bucks get acclimated to humans.

The only exception I consistently find is the true wilderness areas where deer seldom encounter humans.... and most if us do not hunt these areas.

What I do see happen a lot is that during the Fall human presence increases 1000x over other times of the year so mature bucks restrict daylight movement and will move to their fall preferred beds. So cameras set up for early spring and summer inventory are not in these locations. Fall cameras I leave out and only check them when I am hunting the area or post season.

Deer encounter the scent of predators, to include humans, almost daily..... whether you go set cameras or not. Be smart and think about where and how to set them without detection.... it can be done.

Besides, it's a lot of fun as well.
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Re: Trail cameras on public land

Unread postby jwangle13 » Wed May 22, 2019 4:51 am

I would say what I plan on doing to putting up a couple trail camera very close to bedding areas. I hunted this area once last year and didnt see anything but then again it was a bit rushed. There were however lots of very worn trails and some rub lines. We are over 3 months away from season so I am thinking about getting into that bedding for scouting anyways so I may as well put a camera out. I will leave it alone for a month or 2 and then go back and get it an if it looks promising I wont go back until season starts. At the very least it would give that area a month or 2 to calm back down. What do you all think?
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Re: Trail cameras on public land

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Wed May 22, 2019 6:20 am

I have a few things to mention.

The beast has a lot of older threads with GREAT content including trail cam strategy and placement. Look back on those for insight.

I personally don't suggest putting a camera in bedding right now for a month of late summer intel. The food sources and wind direction are different enough from fall that the data is not valid or trustworthy. You could have found PRIMARY bedding, that is year round, but those spots usually are so textbook that they don't need camera data.
My best camera info has been from setting long term. One was placed right before season and pulled right before gun season so early rut was included. Most of what I saw was too old for that season but set my standard for the area next season. All of the info was collected from hunting season because that is the only truly important time. To an extent.
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These daylight pictures are considered great intel. Time of year is correct and they are undisturbed. I can go there with confidence at the same time next year.
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DaveT1963
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Re: Trail cameras on public land

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Wed May 22, 2019 7:52 am

actually, right now through August is the best time to take inventory of bucks IMO. Just use sound strategy. I have 30+ cameras up right now, most are not where I will hunt but all of them focused on new spots where I'm not sure what caliber buck is in the area.
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Re: Trail cameras on public land

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Wed May 22, 2019 8:19 am

I see.
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Re: Trail cameras on public land

Unread postby may21581 » Wed May 22, 2019 1:49 pm

DaveT1963 wrote:actually, right now through August is the best time to take inventory of bucks IMO. Just use sound strategy. I have 30+ cameras up right now, most are not where I will hunt but all of them focused on new spots where I'm not sure what caliber buck is in the area.


Ok so you mentioned a few things that I think I was talking about in a previous post. They are very good points and couldn't agree more. You mention running cams right now for an inventory purpose, I agree with you 100 percent on that. This will give you the Intel that some good bucks are in the "area".
The second thing you mentioned was putting them in new spots that you may or may not hunt based on what you see. So by what I gathered your early enough in the season to not rattle them up enough where you push them off and your not to worried about spooking the others because their new properties you are trying to gather data on.
I will say that some of my best properties I had i ran several cameras on only to be disappointed by what I seen. However I knew better than to just rely on the cameras so I threw several observation sits at them only to be blown away by the bucks I got onto. I always wondered how I never had them on camera, well it only takes a few yards to miss a picture or maybe a camera isn't set up in a particular area.
Running 30 cameras is alot. That to me is totally different than running two or three. To saturate a property to that level is getting into a new game, I'm a boots on the ground hard core spring scouting type of hunter. All my big bucks were taken with observation stands first then moving in for the kill. I honestly dont even know what I would do with 30 cameras let alone try to connect the dots on them all, that would be a real chore.
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Re: Trail cameras on public land

Unread postby Droptine Ridge » Wed May 22, 2019 1:56 pm

I run my cameras year round on public ground. I’ve seen them with locks and cables before but to me that is just an eye sore to a mature buck. I like placing mine high to prevent theft. I also place them in feeding areas and runways. I’ve had good success with that, but I’ve had my best success about 100 yards from bedding areas. I am unable to use bait or attractants so I have to go where I know the deer will be.
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Re: Trail cameras on public land

Unread postby 218er » Wed May 22, 2019 1:57 pm

There’s not much of a reason to go into a bedding once you know it’s there. Set the cameras on the travel routes and you’ll still be able to get photos of most deer in the area without spooking them out.
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Re: Trail cameras on public land

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Wed May 22, 2019 9:32 pm

may21581 wrote:
DaveT1963 wrote:actually, right now through August is the best time to take inventory of bucks IMO. Just use sound strategy. I have 30+ cameras up right now, most are not where I will hunt but all of them focused on new spots where I'm not sure what caliber buck is in the area.


Ok so you mentioned a few things that I think I was talking about in a previous post. They are very good points and couldn't agree more. You mention running cams right now for an inventory purpose, I agree with you 100 percent on that. This will give you the Intel that some good bucks are in the "area".
The second thing you mentioned was putting them in new spots that you may or may not hunt based on what you see. So by what I gathered your early enough in the season to not rattle them up enough where you push them off and your not to worried about spooking the others because their new properties you are trying to gather data on.
I will say that some of my best properties I had i ran several cameras on only to be disappointed by what I seen. However I knew better than to just rely on the cameras so I threw several observation sits at them only to be blown away by the bucks I got onto. I always wondered how I never had them on camera, well it only takes a few yards to miss a picture or maybe a camera isn't set up in a particular area.
Running 30 cameras is alot. That to me is totally different than running two or three. To saturate a property to that level is getting into a new game, I'm a boots on the ground hard core spring scouting type of hunter. All my big bucks were taken with observation stands first then moving in for the kill. I honestly dont even know what I would do with 30 cameras let alone try to connect the dots on them all, that would be a real chore.


I hunt 100% public in 3 states. The cameras are spread out over many properties. I seldom have 2 cameras within 1/4 mile of each other. Yes it's a lot if work but I enjoy it. I will only check them 1 or 2 times. half of them will wind up in actual hunting spots come august where they will sit until March as I have no plans hunting there but there might be a nice 3.5 year old I want to keep tabs on.


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