The Ethics of Game Cameras

I must be bored today to start this, but it's a gloomy day outside and I don't have an indoor project going, so I will ask about something I've been thinking about.

Back when I was really interested in deer hunting, I did a lot of scouting in the weeks between the first week of the season and the rut. I would obviously look for scrapes and rubs, but also just looked for a big track. Some of the most enjoyable hunts I've ever had involved finding sign from a big buck, figuring out the best place to hunt him, and then setting up on him and actually killing him. Usually, I had no idea what his rack was like until I killed him, and it really didn't make a whole lot of difference. The challenge was to find a deer to hunt and then killing him; whether he turned out to be a 6 point or a 10 point had nothing to do with the enjoyment of the hunt. And most of the time the deer won and I never even saw him.

I have friends now who belong to big clubs and they don't hunt this way. They run a line of cameras until they find a deer that has the type of antlers that they want and then hunt that deer. I have one friend that has killed several really nice bucks by hunting this way.

I will probably make some folks mad just by bringing up the subject, but I really don't wanna criticize anyone at all. It's legal to hunt this way and I would do it too if I really wanted to kill a deer. Still, I can't help but feel like this method of hunting is taking something away from the sport. If this is the way people grow up hunting, they will likely never develop the ability to read sign. It also seems somewhat unfair to the deer to use technology to this level to hunt him. I'm not saying it should be illegal, just wondering if I'm the only person on here who has ever thought about this? I've never seen it mentioned anywhere.

I also think hunting with cameras causes hunters to put too much emphasis on antlers. If you hunt the old way, it becomes more about the hunt and the size of his antlers doesn't make as much difference to the hunter. When all the emphasis is on finding the perfect rack, and you feel bad about shooting a mature buck that has less than perfect antlers, I think that is bad for the sport. I think it could lead to some giving up deer hunting because they can't kill a buck like they see on television.

There is no putting this toothpaste back into the tube, but I think game cameras have done more bad than good for deer hunting. Am I the only believes this?

I have thought about it too, and I see what you mean. But for me, the game cameras are half the fun.

I still scout, find sign, and hunt the old way.
But my patience has grown thin with age. I like to see what they look like, too. I just don't share the pictures with anyone.
Show one person the pictures and by tomorrow you'll have 20 cousins, nephews and uncle Harry's preacher asking to hunt.

not to mention it has probably saved a bunch of "oops" kills.

if you have 50+ pics of a deer and have determined that he is young and you aren't going to shoot him this year, it prevents having to make a quick decision on the fly.

(for places that try to let bucks reach maturity)

I can see how folks get hooked on it. We run LOTS of cameras and we obviously look at antlers but I'm much more interested in the age of a deer.

We use them to monitor herd/age structure and look for health indicators. Cameras are a great tool but they have definitely changed how the masses hunt.

For me, it's just the opposite. It keeps me hunting longer. If I know there's a mature shooter or two on the place, that'll keep me warm and comfortable a little longer on that 20 degree morning.

When I first started hunting as a teenager, I had legitimate doubts as to whether a deer existed on our place.

now you know there aren't?

To me as someone who doesnt have a itchy trigger finger I enjoy running cameras almost as much as I do hunting.
Between me and my hunting buddy we will run 12-20 cameras.
We do not run in and out checking cams all the time. I think that hurts or skunks up a lot of places. On some stands I may can see my camera from where im sitting hunting but I will not step foot out there to swap cards until the right time. Usually right before or during a big rain to wash scent away.
Some cams may stay out from opening of gun season, until season is over. One I had last yr in a remote area I did not go collect until mid marchish. It had 9800 pictures and the best buck on cam from the property got his picture taken on March 2nd. Never would have known he wa even around without that.
It helps to evaluate what kind, and how many deer are using each spot. Its amazing when you run multiple cams on a piece of property how you learn that some nice looking spots are just that. Nice looking spots but with little or no deer activity.
Some places Ive learned its usually all doe and rarely ever see a buck. Others are almost all bucks and no does. You learn which bucks roam all the property, and which ones you only get on one spot. I learn some fields get almost zero daylight activity while others its a mix.
Ive seen areas torn slap up in rubs and scrapes thinking it was a monster buck using it, but when cam finally ckd it end up to be just a fired up little 125# 4 pt.

Use them as learning tools and they are productive IMO.

I agree Preacher. I said it in another thread the other day. The trend seems to be more about growing and harvesting than hunting. Which is fine if that's what you like to do, but I grew up hunting deer in their native environment. No food plots, supplemental feed, etc. There was a little farmland of course. I miss finding a deer that's not being influenced by external factors so severely and hunting him.

Nowadays checking my cameras are a form of hunting to me and I really enjoy it. It's exciting to me, especially if I put a camera over a scrape. I don't hunt based on them though. I had pics of a huge 8 that I didn't hunt one time. Didn't fit into my schedule and hunting with the kids.

Yeah we shouldn't use technology against em. We should all hunt in a loin cloth with a sling shot. Seriously, I hunted the same way when I was younger.(over 50 crowd) Now I use cameras and actually enjoy it as much as hunting. I do know I let a lot more bucks reach maturity now than I did then especially knowing there are bigger bucks to hunt. Back then I would kill the first rack buck to walk by, and the second, and the third until I limited out. Now I average a buck every 2-3 years and sometimes hunt the same buck several years. I don't understand why you think its an ethical issue but to each his own. As long as your hunting legally and not encroaching on my rights, have at it.

Like with anything else, people will abuse the use of game cameras and utilize them in poor ways. However, people do that with anything that is designed to improve things (i.e. think about how people use cars today). Here are the benefits to game cameras that I have personally witnessed.

* It gets me more acquainted with the deer herd I'm hunting. Not only do I understand more about the bucks I'm hunting, but I also keep up with the does. This helps me do a better job of knowing how to manage the herd and predators (kill more/less does, start going after coyotes more, etc.). It also helps me keep up with the timing of the rut.
* It keeps me from shooting borderline bucks. I primarily "woods hunt", so when I have chances at big deer it usually happens in 5-10 second increments. With few moments to actually judge a deer, it helps if you've seen that deer prior to the encounter. When I hunt in an area, I usually will review pics from that area to remember what I'll shoot and what I'll pass - and it's greatly helped me.
* It helps me sit longer. The older I get, the more impatient I get on stand. Knowing a good deer is in an area keeps me in a stand longer - sat until 10:30 in a stand Saturday morning, something I'd NEVER have done in earlier years.
* It provides a means of bonding with other hunters. Some of my favorite interactions w/ folks I hunt with are conversations about trail cam pics. I sometimes get excited about a pic they share with me... and vice-versa. We also keep up with one another and tend to share more information with each other (which helps all of us be more successful and have enjoying hunts).
* It helps me understand if a leased property is worth keeping. With the amount of $$$ a person has to pay to lease property today, the LAST thing we want is to be pouring $$$ in a piece of property that doesn't have deer/turkey on it - or has a habituation problem like neighborhood dogs roaming the place. It also helps with detecting trespassers as well.
* It allows me to track the growth of bucks. I hunted an 8-point this year that ended up being broken up a week ago. I have pics of that particular buck for three years now - and the growth between years has been enjoyable to watch. This idea also helps me with the preceding point (is the place worth the $$$).
* It gets me involved in hunting year-round. In the past, when deer season was over, I'd abandon that place until turkey season... and then do the same until fall planting. Now, I am on the properties I hunt more often and I learn more - it's that simple.

I think a lot of the people who are against game cameras are guys who get to hunt a lot - retired people, those who have a lot of off time, etc. A lot of the things I mentioned up top here CAN be done IF you stay in the woods a lot. The issue for me is that I can't get into the woods that often because of work, family, etc. Again, I'm sure people use them in ways that are negative, but what innovation isn't going to see the same thing?

I use my cameras to see how many gobblers are on the place. Who cares about deer.

Pretty much...

I use a lot of cameras and just enjoy seeing what is around. But you made one point I totally agree with: Woodsmanship and the ability to read sign is largely a thing of the past.

I wish somebody would come shoot all these dang gobbles on my place. They eatin up all my corn.

agreed. And he is right its all about the antlers, that is the only reason i will kill a buck. If i want meat i will kill a doe. But with a buck you get two for one.lol.As long as its in the rules i could care less how anyone kills an animal.

Thought worthy. Hadn't ever considered that, but I don't feel any ethical quams about it. I've often thought that a 500 yard rifle is the same way, I think that's a lot more of an unfair advantage than a camera. I don't personally care for crossbows for similar reasons. I don't know, the deer still have the advantage...I can know he's there, be able to shoot him at 500 yards, yet never see the rascal all season long!!!

But I'm also strictly a sport, trophy hunter (I don't care anything about eating the meat, and only shoot mounter bucks). My point is even with the cameras, long range firearms, etc, I still often get none, or one or two shot opportunities an entire season. They got all the advantage!

I seldomly use a camera as a tool to hunt a deer. But i do keep cameras out most of the year. Interestingly enough, i take mine down when they shed their velvet. I mostly just like watching them grow and inventorying what is in the area. I watch turkeys too. I dont leave them up during deer season because i check them too much. I never had anybody teach me anything about reading sign or anything about deer hunting, for that matter. Daddy hunted coons,squirrels,and rabbits but he didnt care anything about deer hunting. Most of my learning was trial and error, mostly error. I hunted 6yrs before i ever took a shot at a deer.

I love cameras, but I can’t say they’ve increased my success on killing mature bucks one bit. I killed just as many without a camera as I have with them. I like to see inventory, and develop a hit list of shooters. That way I know what to expect and I think it increases the likelihood of shooting the right deer(for those interested in shooting age over antlers). Usually, if I shoot a deer I wouldn’t have otherwise it’s on a place I have no cameras or a deer I have had no pics of. That doesn’t take away from the hunt or the excitement, but for me, I’d rather shoot a mature 105” deer than a 3 year old 125”. If I recognize the deer immediately because of pictures I’ve studied, and if I have to make a split second decision, the pictures increase the odds of making the right choice.

I don’t think they take away from finding sign and learning woodsmanship. I still hunt deer sign, travel routes, food sources just like I always have. Finding good sign is a sure bet I’ll put a camera there. That takes out the guesswork of what the deer looks like. If I find sign, place a camera, and discover it’s more than likely a 115” three year old putting it there then I move on. If I find that’s its a 4+ year old deer I’ll hunt. I don’t like wasting time in the woods on deer I’m not going to kill.

I scout the old way you speak of PCP, to find a place to put a camera. It still takes the same amount of skill to find the sign as it did before cameras. Now you can hang camera and find out what's making the sign with out actually sitting in the woods.

I run cameras to find out not only what animals are using a trail, but more importantly, when. Lots of places I've saved hunting time by not setting up on a well used trail I found because it was always night traffic, never daylight.

Cameras are a useful tool. However, I believe most are used for entertainment value more than anything else. From what I have seen from other users is they pour corn out get pictures of deer in an area then "hunt" (generally winds up more sitting and watching leaves fall) it time after time after time after time just knowing that the big ginormous Methuselah bucky they got a picture of is going to wander back by two months after the corn is gone. I am glad most "hunt " that way. Leaves the rest of the property for me to hunt and actually find and see/kill deer on!
Cameras = don't have to learn much in woodsmanship. For the premature shooter off'ers that doesn't mean everybody that uses cameras don't know anything about woodmanship and hunting.

As far as good or bad for hunting, I'm not sure I can see it going either way. As far as being able to knowingly target a certain deer, this has the potential for being a better 'management' way of hunting, shooting specific age bracket deer, and by patterning a specific deer it makes it easier to do so.

That said, I didn't run a single camera last season. I ran one this season, that was on the food plot and that was simply to come up with answer of whether or not it was worth sitting nearby, as we knew it was used, but daylight or not.

Next season I'll probably run the same set up. I like trying to scout 'em. Notice I used the word try. PCP, you want to come teach me how to read sign, I'll cook up some poppers and backstrap!

I enjoy running cameras. I think it also helps me stay in the stand more when you know there are mature bucks in the area. It is just another tool, the same way climbing stands, ladder stands, binoculars, guns, and compound bows are. People use the best tools they have at there disposal to accomplish whatever task they are doing. I once dug and covered 100' of fill line for a ceptic tank with a pick and shovel if I would have had a backhoe I would have used it but at the time the shovel was better than my hands which was the only two options I had. The reason Indians used bows is because it was better than a spear. The only reason they didn't use rifles, tree stands, and game cameras is because they didn't have them.

All you have to do is invite and I'll be there. Along with a BUNCH of others on here.

Hey hey now, he was replying to me.

Shoot me a phone number and we can be bestest of buddies.

This. I went ON many scouting trips this fall on public land and I always carried 3 things in my backpack. A pistol, water, and a game camera. When I found what I was looking for I would put a camera out and come back in a week or two to see what was coming through.

According to the camera, that I just pulled a few minutes ago, I need to harvest some dogs.

I don't care for cameras.

I think hunting has evolved, it has for me. I don't really hunt just to kill anymore. I put an enormous amount of time and money on the whole process. I start prepping fields for spring planting during early turkey season. Plant corn early, plant peas in may, chufas in june or july. Bush hog, spray during summer, start on fall plots in Aug and so on.
I deer hunt a lot, 5, 6 or more days a week, could kill a deer at least 8 out of 10 times I go. Haven't killed a deer in 2 years, I just like to go and enjoy the fruits of my labor, watching deer.
However, if I see a dandy of a buck, 140ish, he's going on the wall.
That's where the cameras come in handy. If I locate one that I'm sure would go on the wall, I will hunt him until I kill him or the season ends. We have 11 bucks mounted, biggest is 148 that took me 3 years to kill and killed another about 140 about a month later in the same spot. I had tons of pictures and knew what I was after and stayed with it until I got it done.
Since then, I have passed up at least a dozen that were 130+.
Doesn't mean I don't enjoy it just as much as I ever did, just doesn't mean that much to kill one just because I can.
I'm 70 and thankful I can still do what I do, but killing a deer
ain't what it once was for me. I'm probably more of a game manager than I am a deer hunter these days, but if bullwinkle makes a mistake, I'll give him a dirt nap in a heartbeat.
It's all in what you're looking to get out of it.

I see PCP’s point.
For myself, the camera is mainly entertainment value. I have small property here at the house with a stand on it. Just keep the camera near the stand to see what’s coming through.
There’s a bobcat on the place that shows every now and then, some raccoons, a few does and some scrappy doo dink bucks. On the rare occasion I’ll get a turkey picture. I had a fairly decent buck for the neighborhood on camera before season but hadn’t got his picture in awhile.
Two years ago, I got to hunting a small buck I had on camera. It was so much fun. Cat and mouse. He was there when I wasn’t. Went on for a week and then I messed around and killed him. Made me very sad. The thrill of the chase was over. But I can see how it would be to exhilarating to play the same game with a big deer.
I enjoy running camera just about as much as I enjoy hunting.

Thanks for all the replies, and especially for keeping them all civil. I hadn't checked in since I started the thread and really expected somebody to call me a communist by now.

You guys made some good comments and brought up some things I hadn't really thought about. Once again, I certainly don't think they should be illegal and am not criticizing anyone for using them. I've just never seen a discussion about how they have changed the sport, and wondered if anyone else thought that some of those changes aren't really good for the sport.

It seems to me that cameras have helped as far as managing deer, but I still think they have not been completely positive for deer hunting. I don't think that all the emphasis on the perfect set of antlers is really good for the sport, but that's obviously me looking at things from my perspective.

Well, the world changes, and old men have always complained about changes, so I'm just acting the way I'm supposed to act. You guys keep having fun and don't pay attention to me.

I think TV is what hasn’t been good for the sport. For the most part, they glamorized deer with huge antlers that aren’t attainable by a large constituency. Most shows are filmed in the Midwest or TX. Totally unrealistic for the average hunter.

Cameras have certainly opened my eyes to how far deer will travel, and in VERY short time. Had a buck on a camera one morning and 3 hours later on another camera just over 2 linear miles away, and I know he didn’t walk a straight line to get there.

Your results speak volumes about how good your woodsmanship is. Congrats on a great season.

They are a good tool, but like a 4 wheeler there's a time to park them. I just don't get the folks that run a bunch of them in season and run all over their property , stinking it up checking cams when it's time to hunt. I think they could make you hunt "stupid" sometimes.

I was saving the communist accusation for a little later

I'd probably get discouraged earlier in the season if I didn't have some deer porn to keep me invigorated!

We use cameras a lot. We also try and shoot mature deer only. With the cameras we can put a buck on the no kill list because we usually have multiple pictures and can actually study and age them. I'll shoot a 5 year old 6 point over a 3 year old 130" 8 point ALL DAY LONG! Cameras help me do that.

THIS. That's the biggest takeaway I've gleaned from cameras. I said that cameras taught me the reason I don't see a certain deer(s) often or ever is because he ain't there often or ever! Be on camera at my place Monday of this week, then Tuesday and Wednesday he's a few miles away across two highways for no good reason, then gets killed by a totally different person 2 miles away in the other direction.

The camera will help you learn how many big bucks never ever come out of the cave until 10pm and go back into hiding well before first light.

So do you think does travel as far as bucks or do you think they hold more to a certain area?

We ruled out members setting cams on club plots but not in their private areas. We had members that would go around at 2 pm and check cams. If they saw something, they would sign it out. If not I sign it out after they had been in there stinking the area up right before I got there.

It's like the internet. I grew up in the late 70s and 80s when the internet was a volume of 10 year old encyclopedias on the bookshelf. The information was still there, you just went about obtaining it a different way. People who were born and raised post internet, get the info they want WAY faster and arguably easier. Gadgets like game cameras are paralleling this mindset. Old school scouting will still get you the info you want, it's just harder, slower, and at times the info is incomplete.

It's a double edged sword for me. I'm embracing the lazy scouter mentality, and like to use them to have an idea of what might be encountered quick and easy (and to get my young son excited about what we have to hunt), but I feel the years and years of hard-earned woodcraft and hunting/scouting skills slipping away each year. Use it or lose it, right?

But the poor deer that hides in a thicket until midnight still gets his picture taken. Doesn't seem fair.

I'm with Treemydog.... to me some would say that technology has made the world a bigger place for us individually. I would say the opposite and that it has made the world a much smaller place for each of us.

I remember there were roads that went back up in the mountains and you didn't know where they really went, they were not on most maps and you're Grandfather would just say "them boys up Whitehouse Road... you don't go up in there they are making liquor and who knows what all else they are into".

Now that you've got the internet you can zoom into their driveway and see what kind and color of car they drive.

Same with Game Cameras. You use to hunt and didn't know what is there and were more focused on the hunt instead of the prize. I think it was more thrilling to see a big buck before cameras.

I'm not against Cameras though. I'm glad people use them and I think they have increased awareness and willingness to manage deer on a piece of property instead of just shooting.

Average home range on does is 300-600 acres that they’ll use regularly. Bucks average home range is three X that of a doe.

PCP, no you're not the only one; IMO to each their own - but the challenge you list above is exactly why i put away my game cams as a tool for deer hunting; i guess i enjoy the challenge (and surprise) of not knowing more than having all the G2 & pics & all ... as a pre-season surveying tool, tho, i like game cams a lot ...

Preacher, I think everything you said is true. I actually posted in another post yesterday that hunt exactly as your described... I hunt based on what the camera shows and it works for killing big deer. On the other hand, running cameras I think is the only way to effectively run a true management program if that's what you at into. We decide which deer we are gonna take based on trail camera photos. No way to do that once you see a deer in most cases. The flip side is running cameras can be very discouraging. I remember years ago hunting buck sign and dreaming of how big he might be when it probably wasn't that big of a deer.... Cameras take that unknown excitement away.

You may be an exception, but I suspect about 99% of folks who go on about how they pass 130" 3 yr old bucks would drop a 110" like a sack of crap if it gave them half a chance.

For someone that got into deer hunting later in life, I have enjoyed using cameras as a way of learning deer behavior. It's no substitute for time in the stand and just watching deer, but it has allowed me to learn how different weather effects movement, how movement changes throughout the season, and other aspects of deer activity.

I've enjoyed being able to log what I observe through cameras.


Also, they really piss me off because I get to see what deer were by my stand when I wasn't hunting.

I have seen at least 3-4 three year old bucks that would score around 110" along with a few others that wouldn't score quite that much, and didn't even pick up my gun. I think there are quite a few that let them walk.

Congrats! Let me be the first to give you a virtual pat on the back.

I wasn't looking for a pat on the back or an smart ass response. Simply stateing that there are a lot more people than most think that let them them 2-3 year old walk.

There’s plenty of people who let nice deer walk. Josh, in this post can do it. A lot of people I know letting good deer walk aren’t on here posting it.

I don't have any desire to shoot a 110" buck either, but come on, a 130 class is not a shooter anymore? I'm going to have to call bush on that.

You can "call bush" on it but for a lot of folks these days a 130 is not a shooter. They're actually passing on those in hopes of something bigger.

If you want to shoot a 110 or 130 or 90 or whatever, fine. But some folks don't and are doing like hunters in other states where they actually let bucks walk, don't get their panties in a wad if someone shoots something, and end up with 140 and 150 (or bigger, possibly) bucks.

Clem, my point is I don't buy it. I suspect a lot of folks that claim they wouldn't shoot a 130" buck couldn't get one dead fast enough if it actually walked out.

Running cameras gives me and little man an excuse for going to the woods. He likes playing in the woods with the dog, looking at scrapes/rubs and putting out "supplemental feed". He's only 7 and that's what he enjoys so that's what we do, he likes seeing what critters come to the feed. If there is a buck acting right then we may set up and hunt him, if not thats OK too. We stink the area up and the dog usually eats corn and takes a dump on the plot, but deer will be there the same day.

I don’t run cameras at all. I own 1 and the last time it was in the woods was 3 years ago when i set it up on a roadkill deer carcass. I think they negatively affect the way people hunt, and spook deer. I work with people who keep cameras out all year and don’t hunt until a good deer walks in front of their camera. I tell them all the time, he could be bedding down behind your camera and walking 20 yards in front of it everyday an hour after daylight and you will never get a picture of him. All those same people go check their cameras every 3 days and spook deer and leave scent. One of those guys spooked 2 shooter bucks that were standing in front of his camera when he walked in to check it and hadn’t hunted a day yet. If he would have been sitting there hunting that morning then he could have just killed one of them. I hunt the old school way and never know what’s coming and don’t know when they’re coming but i still consistently kill or see mature bucks.

I’ve seen quite a few dead and jawbone aged Alabama bucks 5 and 6 years old that never broke 120”

I've killed several old 6-7 year old bucks that won't make 120, much less 130.
to me the trophy is in the age. A 7 year old buck is a trophy no matter the score.

I’d say at least half or more of 5-6 year old bucks, even in great habitat, don’t hit 120”. Some of them never will, but they’re more of a trophy to me than a 3 year old of any score class.

I'll just say about killing 3 year old and 5 year old and whatever year old, refer to Michael Wadels rant, any of them could be a trophy depending on YOU. Who am I to tell you "should have let him walk." If you think he's a trophy, he is, bust'm!!

Cams, I want as many as I can get in the woods. They teach me so much that I cant learn without them. This makes me a better hunter, less trigger happy, more interested and certainly debunks a lot of BS I hear all the time from hunters, stuff I use to believe.

Whatever. I don't buy the fact that the "Alabama Great 8" spindly 2.5-year-old deer that "my neighbor would've shot it so I had to do it" is the only thing that can be grown here. Alabama has ample food, a hearty population and smart hunters who want better.

Obviously, you are incapable of getting my point.

1) I know we can grow big deer in AL. Never disputed that. My folks have about a 150" hanging out in their back yard in city limits.

2) I don't think everyone should plaster every small buck they see. Never said that.

3) A 130" buck is a stud in AL.

So a 6 year old deformed 3-point and a 145" 3 year old walk out at the same time, you're taking the 3-point, correct?

I bet right now Matt would shoot the 6 year old. I also bet there was a time in the past when matt would have smoked the 145” 3 year old

I can tell you with 100% certainty I would shoot the 3 year old. I don’t hunt managed properties though. To each their own.

I would shoot the 3 year old I have never seen a 145" 3 year old and would be willing to bet not many if any on the board have seen a 145" 3 year old in Alabama. Now if we are talking about something that could actually happen a 115" 3 year old which is still a stud for a 3 year old in Alabama I would shoot the 6 year old.

Simmer down Mike. It's just a scenario. Imagine the state is Kansas if it's more realistic for you.

145" 3 yo are not behind every tree but are more common than some of ya'll think.

I’ve let a 135” 3 year old walk in KS. I’ve never seen one here, but we do our very best to protect all 3 year olds, and that’s one reason we run cameras. I’m not going to say a 3 yr old never gets shot, because it does happen, and at the end of the day it’s hunting, and should be enjoyable. I have let several really nice threes walk this year in the 110-120 class, including a couple with my bow. The best three year old I’ve ever let walk was probably right in the 127-130” class and we never saw him again. I’m not going to say I’d never shoot a 140+ 3 year old because I very well might, but I’ve certainly shot lower scoring mature deer with higher scoring younger deer standing in the same field or cutover.

I rarely check cameras mid season. I pull all but a couple early season. Last year I got in a mode of hunting places I “thought” mature deer would be and was not seeing anything but does and young bucks, and not many deer at all. I was headed out one day around 11 or 12 wondering what to do and thought of a camera I had on a road dividing a clear cut from thinned pines. I went back and got the card out and sure enough, had a mature buck cross the road that morning. Hunted the ladder stand 40 yards down the road the next morning and nothing, went back that evening and killed him. It turned out that the one pic was the only pic we had of him- ever. I still don’t like running the cameras mid season. I always think of stinking up the area.

Don't know how many "a lot of folks" adds up to be, but I believe you'd be suprised.
I'm not saying anyone shouldn't be proud of a 110" buck if it makes them happy. Shoot what gets you excited and don't worry about it. But, there are more people than you think that are at a point in their hunting life that blood on the tailgate is not as important as it used to be, and way down the list of reasons they enjoy time in the woods. I know there are people on here that routinely pass on bucks with nice racks because of age, want their children or grandchildren to have a chance at that deer, or just already have bigger deer on the wall.