Are Trail Cameras Ruining The Hunting Experience??

http://bigdeerblog.com/?p=4290

best answer is, "it depends"

I don't name bucks on the farms I hunt on (LOl), it is fun to get the pics and you never know what will show up on cam (ie bobcat or coyotes) so I enjoy using them.

Some hunters misuse or over use them and fill the area with human scent which just educates the deer

I agree ... it depends.

I actually went three seasons (2013-2015) never running a single trail cam. Honestly it was a refreshing change. I had found that in the past I either had a gagger on camera that then became my object of obsession to the point that work and family time suffered. Or I had nothing good on camera and would go into a depression to the point of not even wanting to go hunting.

I found it pretty fun to go hunt with zero expectations, the mystery of not knowing, and the element of surprise.

I went back to trail cams this year just to change it up a bit. It is nice seeing the "inventory", I will admit. Even more satisfying is that I plunged deeper into the food plot world this year. I am really enjoying trail cam photos and video of the deer and turkeys utilizing the results of my hard work. Whether it is a doe or a buck or a group of turkeys, it is just fun watching them utilizing the plots. I think it will add to my knowledge base on how I build plots or modify habitat in the future.

I never got into the whole naming the deer on camera thing. Too each his own on that one.

By the sounds of it, the little girl in the post had a good "hunt". I doubt she would say it ruined it. In fact, the knowledge of how predictable the deer's movement was probably turned the tides on fair chase and, inwardly, she recognized this. That is a great step forward in becoming an ethical hunter. And wildlife watching is a fine pursuit and accomplishes most of the same goals for children as hunting does. And she did say she would kill some of her less favorite deer given the chance.

I do get a little nervous about how they impact the public's perception of hunters. Running surveillance on the woods seems a tough sell in the fair-chase arena. I watch Midwest Whitetails and they are heavy into using cams for patterning specific deer. This week's episode was focused on cam and bait pile placement to find a buck's core area and daytime movement. The obvious goal is to increase the chances to kill the deer. I'm not real sure about my feelings on that but I can guess a non-hunter's stance.

I always use the wife test to anticipate how non-hunters would react to things we do. My wife is an ardent supporter of my hunting but does not hunt. I think I would have a hard time defending the way cams are used on that show in particular.

I absolutely love using trail cams. I run 5 or 6 year round. I like knowing what's out there. I have not killed a lot of good bucks because I know a great buck is around. I love the challenge of holding out for a particular buck. I shot my buck last year on November 24th. I was going to shoot only that buck or a better one if it happened to come in.

We run trail cams on mineral licks during the summer months primarily as an "inventory" tool.
Gives us a good feel for fawn recruitment...and yes, we'll take the occasional bruiser photo if one makes an appearance.

The fun starts soon, when we transition the trail cams to scrapes on field edges. Never ceases to amaze the number of "non-inventory" bucks that show up during the pre-rut.

Running summer trail cams, working food plots, and preparing stand sites....just part of the off season experience in the deer woods.

We run several cams. I can honestly say it has never helped me kill a deer. Quite the opposite - it probably has saved more deer.

I like knowing what is out there in numbers, ratios, fawn recruitment, predators, and trespassers. We also glass - A LOT but could never scout like a cam does. It gives us a great overall picture of our local deer herd. In recent years we have not shot does due to information received.

We usually put a name with a buck. Some might call that cheesy or whatever. Honestly, I don't really care what anyone thinks. It is fun to run cams with Luke and when a buck we have is there it just creates a recognition. We don't spend any time making them all have names but some will.

In my experience the cams are used for more as a data tool than a killing tool. If you don't like them that's cool. It has not diminished our hunting joy or experiences.

Yeah running cameras is part of what keeps us interested in deer all year long. I've never killed or patterned a buck by means of trail cams....it doesn't seem to work that way, not where I hunt. Does and fawns, yes I can sometimes pattern them, but not mature bucks outside of mid-summer and late winter. If mature bucks were highly pattern-able in Oct/Nov, they would, by definition, not be mature bucks....but rather, they'd be dead bucks.

As far as naming deer, that's just a method of convenience. When discussing bucks that we've been watching on the farm year-after-year, it's easier to use a specific name, rather than to have to say "you know that one ten pointer with the short brow points, the dropped tip on his left main beam, the double throat patch, and the small notch in the edge of his right ear". It's easier and quicker to just say "Bob" instead

I like cams to see whats around including varmints. I've only killed one buck that was on cam.

As to naming deer...i don't but to each his own. If I had a youngin' checking cams with me and they wanted to name bucks I'd sure be all for it and join right in.

Anyone that has run cams for a while knows that the big one only shows up after dark and is gone before sunup......unless its rut. h.h.

I like the show and really like Bill. He is one of the best and hunts awesome farms he owns.

Where he hunts is paradise. SE Iowa and hundreds of managed acres surrounded by thousands of acres of large highly managed farms with high deer density.

Nothing like where I hunt in the "real world"

He might be able to pattern them with cams, but I sure can't on the places I hunt...

some ethical dilemmas certainly do arise when it comes to "I only hunt this thicket when I get photos of him heading in it this morning" Multiple cams remotely monitored can certainly give a significant advantage to where a certain deer is

Cellular cams will only come down in price and ease of use and these dilemmas will become more common...

Using cameras have helped me kill specific bucks;) They don't ruin my experience.......they enhance mine........but hey.........I can understand others opinions;)

Using cameras have helped me kill specific bucks;) They don't ruin my experience.......they enhance mine........but hey.........I can understand others opinions;)

Not to derail the thread, but this reminds me of a dinner we had at the firehouse one evening. (ie....naming deer)

One of our firefighters (Jim) raised beef, and brought some steaks in for dinner one evening. Here's how ths conversation went...

Bob: "Man...this steak is awesome"!

Jim: "No....it's Dynamite".

Bob: "Huh"?

Jim: "Her name was Dynamite"

True story....


Carry on......

It is hard for me to comprehend someone thinking that it ruins hunting. I think it keeps hunters engaged in what is happening on their land or on their hunting land.

I love the pictures and I think it not only allows people to strategize their hunt, but also helps them age and target specific deer, which overall helps the population.

Trail Cameras also help landowners and hunters to recognize predators on their land. I'm all for them.