How Many Times Do You Check Your Trail Cameras?

[Bucksnbows]

I stopped using cameras after several occurrences led me to conclude that cameras scare deer. It could just be the type of camera that I used, I know a bunch of you get repeated pictures of mature bucks.

Today's cams are silent and the flash is long gone. I don't think any deer know they are on Candid Camera these days.

 

 

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[Gobblengrunt]

Too many trips into the woods IMO.

Also if they pattern you don't you think the mature deer will avoid the area, at least during the time you are always there?

Anyway I hope it works for you

It definitely works for me, I kill quite a few mature bucks many which are P&Y. It is how I get in and out of the woods which is most important and cam pics will show if I'm doing correctly not spooking my target buck.

[JHbowhunter]

Too many trips into the woods IMO.

Also if they pattern you don't you think the mature deer will avoid the area, at least during the time you are always there?

Anyway I hope it works for you

 

The man gets big mature NJ buck(s) every year with the stickbow and with a solid small 2 blade BH of all things, imagine that!. Gobblengrunt is one of several NJ hunters I would listen to for sure.  Everyone's setup is different so there is no set rule on what's right or wrong. Right now I have bucks pounding my minerals everyday.  I was gonna pull the card yesterday, but didn't get around to it. It's been a few weeks, no big deal I will check Friday. Two other cams are still in the cabinet, all I check this time of year is one mineral lick close to home.   The other cams will go up a few weeks before bow opener, in different locations.  They will get checked about once a week and probably more as the rut approaches.

Edited May 24, 2017 by JHbowhunter

[dlist777]

I check mine every 2 days. I always check them at the time of day and path I would take as if I was hunting. I let the deer pattern me and get used to my presence. When a mature buck is on its feet in daylight following a cam check, you know he is comfortable moving about and is ready to be hunted. If a particular buck is only showing his presence on days you are not there, you're either in the wrong spot or bumping him from his comfort zone.

Do you do this only during hunting season?  Or are you also doing this during the off-season?

 

So, I guess what you are saying is you use your cams as proof that you are actually getting to and from your hunting spot undetected.  That's the main reason you are using the cams (not necessarily to confirm the spot has deer, but to also confirm you can get in and out).  So, once you locate a spot that you think has a buck and figure out where you are going to set up, you put a cam and then check it often using your actual approach.  Then, you have proof it's all good if you get shots of the buck after your visit to the cam?  Is that the gist of it?

 

Very interesting.....and unorthodox.  

[Lunatic]

The man gets big mature NJ buck(s) every year with the stickbow and with a solid small 2 blade BH of all things, imagine that!. Gobblengrunt is one of several NJ hunters I would listen to for sure.  Everyone's setup is different so there is no set rule on what's right or wrong. Right now I have bucks pounding my minerals everyday.  I was gonna pull the card yesterday, but didn't get around to it. It's been a few weeks, no big deal I will check Friday. Two other cams are still in the cabinet, all I check this time of year is one mineral lick close to home.   The other cams will go up a few weeks before bow opener, in different locations.  They will get checked about once a week and probably more as the rut approaches.

 

 

If it works hot him then he should keep doing it and I am sure, from what you telling me he kills nice bucks.

 

My experience, for what is worth, is when I stopped the trips to cameras I almost instantly saw more mature deer in the area while hunting. Remember you will never know what you pushed out because you will never see it. IMO

Edited May 24, 2017 by Lunatic

[Gobblengrunt]

Do you do this only during hunting season?  Or are you also doing this during the off-season?

 

So, I guess what you are saying is you use your cams as proof that you are actually getting to and from your hunting spot undetected.  That's the main reason you are using the cams (not necessarily to confirm the spot has deer, but to also confirm you can get in and out).  So, once you locate a spot that you think has a buck and figure out where you are going to set up, you put a cam and then check it often using your actual approach.  Then, you have proof it's all good if you get shots of the buck after your visit to the cam?  Is that the gist of it?

 

Very interesting.....and unorthodox.

 

This is basically why I use cameras particularly with early and late season bucks which are very easy to pattern (not all killable). I also use this method to determine what exact day I will hunt a particular animal. 99% of the time, when I actually sit in a stand to hunt a particular buck, I will kill him on the first sit (or screw it up!). If I have a buck well patterned and do not kill him within three sits, the spot is usually spoiled and the scouting process starts all over. I NEVER sit a stand unless I truly believe I will kill my target buck that day. In the rut, I hunt certain terrain features and only interested in consistent doe activity, everything else will fall into place. I average about 7 scouting days per 1 actual hunting day. Trail cam pics and shed hunting from years past determine what buck I basically will focus on for a particular season. I usually have a history with each buck I shoot and trail cam pics and detailed notes for years past (excluding rut bucks). I use trail cams to actually scout and not just for viewing. Trail cam pics show ME what bucks are actually killable and just in the area

[dlist777]

Thanks man.  Good info.  I'm still pretty new to this game (last year was my 4th)...and last year I got my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd bucks (PA/NJ/MD).  It's funny because when I hear guys that have a good track record of killing big bucks, they always have their own ways to do it  But one thing I have heard consistently is:

 

I NEVER sit a stand unless I truly believe I will kill my target buck that day. 

 

That sounds obvious, but it's really not.  It means you have TONs of info before you do that sit.  Lots of scouting, etc.  In the past, I hunted a stand because I hoped a buck would come by...but did I truly believe it?  Nah.  I'm not sure I'm ready to employ these strategies yet...a 2.5 y/o buck with a decent rack still gets me excited...  But, maybe one day it won't...

 

Thanks again.  GL this season.   

[JHbowhunter]

If it works hot him then he should keep doing it and I am sure, from what you telling me he kills nice bucks.

 

My experience, for what is worth, is when I stopped the trips to cameras I almost instantly saw more mature deer in the area while hunting. Remember you will never know what you pushed out because you will never see it. IMO

 

I tend to agree with the less human intrusion into a hunting area, the better, unless it's done during a time of no deer activity away from bedding areas.  As many of you saw last season, I have a "community scrape" stand located behind a neighbor's big field that I mow, leading to some thick bedding area. I start running a cam there in September, and because the kids rid quads and dirt bikes down that path during the day (occasionally), and based that it's far enough from bedding area, I can check that camera mid-day as often as I want without impacting the deer, especially since I don't even get off the quad to check it.  There is no way I would check that camera during hunting hours unless it's right before or after a hunt. That camera had more deer action and with the mature bucks of the area than any other spot I have.

[Lunatic]

I tend to agree with the less human intrusion into a hunting area, the better, unless it's done during a time of no deer activity away from bedding areas.  As many of you saw last season, I have a "community scrape" stand located behind a neighbor's big field that I mow, leading to some thick bedding area. I start running a cam there in September, and because the kids rid quads and dirt bikes down that path during the day (occasionally), and based that it's far enough from bedding area, I can check that camera mid-day as often as I want without impacting the deer, especially since I don't even get off the quad to check it.  There is no way I would check that camera during hunting hours unless it's right before or after a hunt. That camera had more deer action and with the mature bucks of the area than any other spot I have.

 

I think I posted this here already but check out the reaction of deer to the camera, and this one is tiny:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41QrGoB3gxE

Edited May 24, 2017 by JHbowhunter

[JHbowhunter]

yeah it looks like they picked up some human scent, not fearing the camera itself.

[Buck154]

Yes checking cameras can hurt some areas but not bother others. Some many areas are built up so much deer are getting accustomed to people.  I have a bad habit of checking my cams a lot but then again I have taking 6 bucks in the past 4 years that are either 4.5 or 5.5 year olds, All NJ and no gun kills.  I like to know what and when I have a mature buck in my area.

 

Just before season I have checked some cameras as much as every other day. Need to know which area I will be hunting or not hunting

Edited May 24, 2017 by Buck154

[Lunatic]

yeah it looks like they picked up some human scent, not fearing the camera itself.

 

Maybe but unlikely since I placed the camera there 3 days before this video. I have two other groups behaving the same way.

At the end who knows. We all do what we think its best. I am not trying to convince anyone, definitely not someone who is successful doing what he is doing, to do something else. I go in the woods only to hunt or to set up in the beginning of the season and when I stopped the trips to the camera I most definitely started to see more deer in my area while hunting,

[JHbowhunter]

Maybe but unlikely since I placed the camera there 3 days before this video. I have two other groups behaving the same way.

At the end who knows. We all do what we think its best. I am not trying to convince anyone, definitely not someone who is successful doing what he is doing, to do something else. I go in the woods only to hunt or to set up in the beginning of the season and when I stopped the trips to the camera I most definitely started to see more deer in my area while hunting,

 

 

Then your camera was making noise - no way if it's scent free, that it should spook them like that. I have pictures of a mature buck being horrified at my IR flash several years back, which is why I never put them at eye level, but when I hunt near one of my cams, I see it taking pic after pic of deer in dark and daylight w/out a care in the world.

 

Also - there could have been something else spooking them, like a coyote, bear or another human, and had nothing to do with your camera?

Edited May 24, 2017 by JHbowhunter

[Lunatic]

Then your camera was making noise - no way if it's scent free, that it should spook them like that. I have pictures of a mature buck being horrified at my IR flash several years back, which is why I never put them at eye level, but when I hunt near one of my cams, I see it taking pic after pic of deer in dark and daylight w/out a care in the world.

 

Also - there could have been something else spooking them, like a coyote, bear or another human, and had nothing to do with your camera?

 

Almost all possible but unlikely. Digital plot watcher does not make any noise. This is a private property only I have access to. Someone else in the area or coyote very unlikely because I have similar video on 3 consecutive days with a different group of deer. If its not them seeing it, although I see them looking at it, then in my mind it could only be scent,  but 5 days after I placed it there?  

[BenedictGomez]

As little as possible.  Especially during hunting season, and only in the middle of the day.