Before trail cams

[Russ4iam]

Just use regular sewing thread and hold one end up with a clothes pin. It will pull free easily.

 

[GLenn]

Trail cams save a lot of deer I believe. I run them year round to take inventory of what's there. Once I know there is a big 8 or 10 pointer or something weird then I will let a lot of stuff walk while waiting on what I would really like to see/take. Many times I don't see the deer I really want and let a lesser deer walk. More often then not the big one is never seen.


We none er saw this one!!
!

You never know what is going on out there!!

 

[crazyboutduck]

I guess trail cameras have their place. After nearly 50 some odd years in the woods, I still have yet to buy or use one. I like to use the skills I learned as youngster such as scouting, reading sign and tracking. I hold no ill will for this technology, and I respect those that choose to use them. I am of the philosophy that any critter I kill and put on the table is a trophy. I have killed some good shooter bucks in my lifetime and have them mounted like so many others have done. With any “luck” I’ll be able to kill me another nice buck. But I am equally as thrilled to take a doe as I am anything else. As long as they are properly cared for once they’re down, it all makes for awesome table fare.
Good luck to everyone this season and stay safe.
Eric

 

[Waxxy]

I am too old school for that stuff. I travel light and am proud of what I get because,......I worked for it.

 

[Bushfire]

Without showing my age too much, does anyone remember or ever used that special thread that was strung across a game trail?
If an animal passed by it would break the string. It was really low tech stuff and you couldn't get much more info, other than something had passed.

That would definitely not work here, for every deer there would be 100 kangaroos and 20 emus that would take out the line!

 

[CatamountRob]

The guys that are using cams to target a specific deer are working their butts off to do it. I put a few cameras out as entertainment but that doesn’t get a deer patterned. You still have to be able to read sign and understand deer behavior to be successful.
I’m not talking about the guy with a camera watching over a feeder or food plot…

 

[rhbc13]

I've never used any kind of bait over my camera , just put it on a trail to see what's passing though. I really like just checking to see all the critters you get a picture of that you normally don't see . Once got a pic of an all white fox, pretty cool ! Never seen it in person though.

 

[hoyt9115]

IMO hunting shows have changed the hunters way of thinking drastically. Me living in Iowa people always think by watching TV that a monster is behind every tree. In the late 70's Iowa had very few deer and normally you drew a buck only tag. The hunting shows have changed the sport so much IMO. That soon your going to have to be rich in order to go hunting. There isn't a safe public hunting area now that non-residents aren't hunting because of the internet. Land prices for timber ground are about the same as tillable ground now and non residents are buying everything up. A working class man can't compete with big money outside hunters. I used to have 3000+ private acres to hunt. But then a out of state outfitter came in and gave landowners $15 to $50 per acres to lease the ground. You can't blame the landowners who are getting free money that they would of never recieved before. But money is changing this sport in a bad way and I've seen it in other mid western states also. It all started with the hunting shows doing this and that making everyone forget about their roots of hunting and what was taught to them growing up. Now its all about this product or that product. Oh and 1 other thing about the camera's and baiting/food plots. None of that is normal deer behavior for them to be so close and grouped up together. So now we get these diseases like CWD spreading rapidly due to deer bunched up in the area. TV shows have turned the sport more into deer farming, than deer hunting. Its just not a good thing thing for the future of the sport or our youth trying to start hunting in my opinion. But it doesn't look as if is going to change anytime soon either. So GOOD LUCK to everyone out there trying to put some meat on the table and remember those horns will never taste good on Mash Potatoes.

 

[TiggerLueb]

I used use trail cams until I looked out my kitchen window on a Tuesday morning at a buck. I got my binoculars out to see that he had 4 points on the right side and his left side was broken off. The following Friday morning on my way to work I slowed up my truck for a deer to cross the road. I was 4 miles due north of my home to watch the same buck cross the road.

A side note, years later we had a HOT doe bring in three huge bucks that were not on any of my neighbors cameras.

 

[SuperKirby]

IMO hunting shows have changed the hunters way of thinking drastically. Me living in Iowa people always think by watching TV that a monster is behind every tree. In the late 70's Iowa had very few deer and normally you drew a buck only tag. The hunting shows have changed the sport so much IMO. That soon your going to have to be rich in order to go hunting. There isn't a safe public hunting area now that non-residents aren't hunting because of the internet. Land prices for timber ground are about the same as tillable ground now and non residents are buying everything up. A working class man can't compete with big money outside hunters. I used to have 3000+ private acres to hunt. But then a out of state outfitter came in and gave landowners $15 to $50 per acres to lease the ground. You can't blame the landowners who are getting free money that they would of never recieved before. But money is changing this sport in a bad way and I've seen it in other mid western states also. It all started with the hunting shows doing this and that making everyone forget about their roots of hunting and what was taught to them growing up. Now its all about this product or that product. Oh and 1 other thing about the camera's and baiting/food plots. None of that is normal deer behavior for them to be so close and grouped up together. So now we get these diseases like CWD spreading rapidly due to deer bunched up in the area. TV shows have turned the sport more into deer farming, than deer hunting. Its just not a good thing thing for the future of the sport or our youth trying to start hunting in my opinion. But it doesn't look as if is going to change anytime soon either. So GOOD LUCK to everyone out there trying to put some meat on the table and remember those horns will never taste good on Mash Potatoes.

I agree with a lot of what you said. I would take it a step farther and say that not just hunting shows, but like so much in life technology as a whole has changed everything, including hunting. It used to be people built trail cameras using film camera parts. Sure, it was something, but not exactly effective when you could only get 35 pictures on a roll and then had to wait 3-4 days for the pictures to be developed? Now you scout from your phone while you're sitting at work looking at deer pictures and satellite images. Don't get me wrong, I do it too, but I can't say that I think hunting is "better" for it.
The one part I will disagree with you on is deer grouping up. It's deer nature. Does baiting encourage that? Yeah, but so does any other food source or water hole. I grew up in WY and my whole life there were deer running around with CWD. Trust me, there's minimal bating and almost no food plots there, especially 30 years ago. I was in MN where food plots and ag fields are very much a thing and CWD has only been a thing here for about 5 years.

 

[Waters]

I have have a few trail cams up. I really like to see all the animals moving around on the farm. I can't say that I've ever patterned a buck off them. For as much as I enjoy checking cameras and flipping through pictures I can't help but wonder if they make hunting worse?
For the longest time I was thrilled to take anything with antlers. Didn't know any better and was told that so far as anyone knew nobody had taken a buck off the farm. My assumption was that there must not be too many deer here. So when I took a little fork my 3rd or 4th year hunting with a muzzleloader I thought I was king of the world. A few years later I was introduced to trail cams and a buddy out one up on a trail, dumped some corn in front of it and a week later I had three nights in a row of a 6, 8, and 10 hanging out eating. I was thrilled. They disappeared after the corn was gone never to be seen again. I figured they smelled the corn, came from who knows how far away and then left. A few years later I put up a couple of my own and lo and behold, we have bucks! Most are small, but not all. Now I run them I guess because I enjoy the deer.
The real issue is I now know there's a decent 8, a 9 and a 10 out there. I pass on deer now that I would have been thrilled with a few years ago. Where I used to go out every year just hoping to see a deer I now go out more with the expectation I'll watch deer but highly unlikely I'll see a shooter.
Is this better? I don't know. Either way I blame the trail cams.

When I hunt public land I never used trail cams I do on private land because I have more control over how I set up food, travel, pinch, points etc..If need a funnel I can simply just make one. if I put up a stand ,I know when it's time to hunt in morning. I won't find another Hunter asleep in it. with that being said I like to choose .I even named Bucks .I don't really pattern them I just have two or three that are on my list. If another shooter shows up .well, that's the one I'm putting down. When it comes to public land I'm not too picky with what I shoot. All in all I love the woods, even if I come back with nothing. it's better than a day in the office. Don't beat yourself up looking for the biggest buck big dog. won't be that much difference between the two and the freezer.

 

[Matthew323]

Life has changed drastically with the introduction, and subsequent adoption, of GPS satellite technology, Google Earth, the miniaturization of computers, and high resolution digital camera technology for the average consumer, that formerly was only available to military, law enforcement, and the Federal government.

No where is this more apparent than in rural areas. Remote areas of the United States that used to be the province of the dedicated hunter/fisherman/day hiker/backpacker/cross country skier/rock climber/mountain climber/etc, can now be easily accessed by anyone with a computer.

Drone technology is furthermore threatening to close the gap between a dedicated, very fit outdoorsman, and a couch potato with just enough fitness to walk in to areas that used to be considered remote. This type of person can map out all of the hard spots that might be problematic for someone of lesser fitness during a hike in to a camping spot, or hunting location.

What this is doing is to allow people, hunters especially, that never before would have been able to find a prime hunting location, to now figure out a way to hunt for trophy animals without having to spend the hundreds/thousands of hours paying their dues scouting out territory in what used to be considered a rite of passage into the upper echelons of hunting.

Combine this with every possible form of high tech gear, and chemicals designed to trick big game herbivores into thinking that their reality is not really what it seems to be; and you have a perfect recipe for unscrupulous people to take advantage of our nation's wild resources like never before.

Add to everything else a general feeling in the population of the United States that ...

"I have to get my share, no matter what, before anyone else does"

"I am owed something, even though I have not done anything in my life to deserve it"

"If I don't do it, somebody else will, so what does it matter?"

Combine all of the above with the fact that most state Fish & Game Departments in the United States are being increasingly staffed with people who could care less about hunting & fishing.

 

[Idaholewis]

Life has changed drastically with the introduction, and subsequent adoption, of GPS satellite technology, Google Earth, the miniaturization of computers, and high resolution digital camera technology for the average consumer, that formerly was only available to military, law enforcement, and the Federal government.

No where is this more apparent than in rural areas. Remote areas of the United States that used to be the province of the dedicated hunter/fisherman/day hiker/backpacker/cross country skier/rock climber/mountain climber/etc, can now be easily accessed by anyone with a computer.

Drone technology is furthermore threatening to close the gap between a dedicated, very fit outdoorsman, and a couch potato with just enough fitness to walk in to areas that used to be considered remote. This type of person can map out all of the hard spots that might be problematic for someone of lesser fitness during a hike in to a camping spot, or hunting location.

What this is doing is to allow people, hunters especially, that never before would have been able to find a prime hunting location, to now figure out a way to hunt for trophy animals without having to spend the hundreds/thousands of hours paying their dues scouting out territory in what used to be considered a rite of passage into the upper echelons of hunting.

Combine this with every possible form of high tech gear, and chemicals designed to trick big game herbivores into thinking that their reality is not really what it seems to be; and you have a perfect recipe for unscrupulous people to take advantage of our nation's wild resources like never before.

Add to everything else a general feeling in the population of the United States that ...

"I have to get my share, no matter what, before anyone else does"

"I am owed something, even though I have not done anything in my life to deserve it"

"If I don't do it, somebody else will, so what does it matter?"

Combine all of the above with the fact that most state Fish & Game Departments in the United States are being increasingly staffed with people who could care less about hunting & fishing.

This is Spot on. To much technology, Oh how I wish we could go back in time (Pre OnX, Trail Cams, Google Earth Etc.) The Hunter (more like people) have to many unfair advantages over Game this day and age.

 

[Hatchet Jack]

Before trail cams I killed more deer than I do now. That is by choice. I am older and a little more selective now. Plus my family doesn't eat as much whitetail as we used to. I don't need trail cams to hunt. I like putting them out to capture wildlife in action. The cameras are a hobby within them selves.
Deer, bear, turkey, racoon, opossum, bobcat, coyotes and trespassers are all fun to catch on film.
We have killed lots of bucks that we have previously captured on film. There are also others we killed that we never got any pictures of previously.
Trail cams can be a lot of fun. Anything to get you out and into the woods is usually fun.

 

[eekjellander]

IMO hunting shows have changed the hunters way of thinking drastically. Me living in Iowa people always think by watching TV that a monster is behind every tree. In the late 70's Iowa had very few deer and normally you drew a buck only tag. The hunting shows have changed the sport so much IMO. That soon your going to have to be rich in order to go hunting. There isn't a safe public hunting area now that non-residents aren't hunting because of the internet. Land prices for timber ground are about the same as tillable ground now and non residents are buying everything up. A working class man can't compete with big money outside hunters. I used to have 3000+ private acres to hunt. But then a out of state outfitter came in and gave landowners $15 to $50 per acres to lease the ground. You can't blame the landowners who are getting free money that they would of never recieved before. But money is changing this sport in a bad way and I've seen it in other mid western states also. It all started with the hunting shows doing this and that making everyone forget about their roots of hunting and what was taught to them growing up. Now its all about this product or that product. Oh and 1 other thing about the camera's and baiting/food plots. None of that is normal deer behavior for them to be so close and grouped up together. So now we get these diseases like CWD spreading rapidly due to deer bunched up in the area. TV shows have turned the sport more into deer farming, than deer hunting. Its just not a good thing thing for the future of the sport or our youth trying to start hunting in my opinion. But it doesn't look as if is going to change anytime soon either. So GOOD LUCK to everyone out there trying to put some meat on the table and remember those horns will never taste good on Mash Potatoes.

Deer yarding /starving in bad winters( BUNCHS DEER) and get that social disease with no help from mankind ,and do not for a minute forget that little endeavor called farming also known to gather herds into close proximity ! Perhaps masks would help but baiting /food plots ain"t the problem . Where legal the deer do just fine and our state and my county it is forbidden just means with a bad winter the woods will stink /coyotes get fat cause deer dont thrive on snow cones and sets deer back 4-5 yrs/Ed

 

[Matthew323]

The urbanization of the United States, especially East of the Mississippi river, has left us with a country that now contains far more deer, especially whitetail deer, than ever existed when Europeans first set foot on the North American continent.

This urbanization, and the landscaping plants that are planted around suburban homes, provides a whitetail deer with far more nutritious, and calorie dense, food to eat then they can possibly find to eat in an untouched woodland setting.

Coupled with the tremendous adaptability that whitetail deer naturally possess, most urban lands, regardless of how heavily populated by humans they might be, now easily support numbers of deer that exceed what is possible in a normal, old growth forest, woodland setting by a factor of 5x to 50x.

Then add in the fact that modern 21st Century farmers are growing more calorie dense, sugar & oils packed, genetically modified, cereal & soybean crops per acre then ever before in the 10,000 year history of human farming. These crops are so irresistible, and addictive, as food for wild herbivores, that the average weight/size of a whitetail deer is greater than ever before.

Unless their numbers reach such a incredibly high percentage of deer per carrying acre, that the weights and sizes start to decline because of over competition for the available resources.

You see this happening in southern states like Georgia, where the current yearly bag limit is 10 antlerless deer, and 2 antlered deer.

A 12 deer bag limit back in 1972, the year I graduated from high school, was simply unthinkable. Deer were scarce in those days, and any hunter that was successful more than two years in a row was considered to either be extremely lucky, or one hell of a good hunter.

 

[rgell1017]

IMO hunting shows have changed the hunters way of thinking drastically. Me living in Iowa people always think by watching TV that a monster is behind every tree. In the late 70's Iowa had very few deer and normally you drew a buck only tag. The hunting shows have changed the sport so much IMO. That soon your going to have to be rich in order to go hunting. There isn't a safe public hunting area now that non-residents aren't hunting because of the internet. Land prices for timber ground are about the same as tillable ground now and non residents are buying everything up. A working class man can't compete with big money outside hunters. I used to have 3000+ private acres to hunt. But then a out of state outfitter came in and gave landowners $15 to $50 per acres to lease the ground. You can't blame the landowners who are getting free money that they would of never recieved before. But money is changing this sport in a bad way and I've seen it in other mid western states also. It all started with the hunting shows doing this and that making everyone forget about their roots of hunting and what was taught to them growing up. Now its all about this product or that product. Oh and 1 other thing about the camera's and baiting/food plots. None of that is normal deer behavior for them to be so close and grouped up together. So now we get these diseases like CWD spreading rapidly due to deer bunched up in the area. TV shows have turned the sport more into deer farming, than deer hunting. Its just not a good thing thing for the future of the sport or our youth trying to start hunting in my opinion. But it doesn't look as if is going to change anytime soon either. So GOOD LUCK to everyone out there trying to put some meat on the table and remember those horns will never taste good on Mash Potatoes.

It's not just there it appears to be everywhere Tennessee is about as bad and getting worse. I think there's BS so called hunting shows have hurt hunting this new generation think hunting is a competition sport have no regards for the game only so called bragging rights. Just another way Hollywood has screwed up something else

 

[Matthew323]

I agree with almost everything that has been said in this thread about the hunting shows on cable television. Most of these shows just provide reasons for those groups/individuals to point their collective fingers at, and state......

"This is exactly the type of deplorable behavior that everyone knows that all hunters engage in every time that they go out to kill poor defenseless animals just so they can reinforce their weak egos, and prove their manhood!!!"

When these types of hunting shows started showing up on cable television, I had any number of non-hunting, non-firearms inclined relatives, friends, and acquaintances make statements to me in words almost exactly like what I have posted above, and then accuse me of the same behavior.

No amount of reasonable argument could convince them that most hunters that I knew did not act like the idiots/characters/sociopaths portrayed in these shows.

 

[southdakbearfan]

I see pros and cons to the changes over the past 20 Years. Out here on the prairie it was common 20-30 years ago to have guys chasing deer in pickups and trespassing everywhere.

Now, the old boys that use to do that all complain that everyone has a elevated deer blind, cell phone, or trail camera to turn in trespassers and such. I just laugh at them at say yeah, what’s the world coming to when you can’t run an animal to death with a pickup.

Hunting shows I detest for the most part, they should just be called killing shows as it’s canned hunts or just showing the kills propping up some gadget or whizdo by a sponsor, but never showing that it’s a canned hunt or the work involved. I still like Shockey and meat eater a little, but the rest are junk.

 

[snapbang]

Trail cams are just one of many reasons that after 52 years , I have quit whitetail hunting.

fishhawk, dont let the practices of others interfere with your appreciation for the sport. Just do it your way and be happy about it. I encourage your to get out there and go hunting. Even if its not for the hunt there are squirrels, raccoons, bluejays, and my favorite the chickadees to enjoy watching. The fresh air etc. Everyday I go hunting I enjoy an event, sighting, or two.