Taking the hunt out of hunting spinoff

The other thread got me thinking about how much the use of trail cameras has affected my hunting experience over the last few years. Sure, I've been able to find, pattern, and kill some good bucks using them, but I feel like they also take a lot away from it. For instance.... Before I ever used cameras; every time I sat in a stand, no matter where it was, I had visions of a giant buck walking out at any second and was pretty much on the edge of my seat for the whole hunt. Now that I am running 14 cams on three different properties, I've gotten to the point to where if I don't have pictures of a good buck on a certain place I won't even want to hunt there. I think this is why I've been enjoying public land so much the last two years, I just feel like its a big mystery as to what might walk out. I might have to think about slacking off on my cameras during deer season.....but they'll definitely all be out for turkey season

On the flip side i'd about given up on my land of seeing any really nice bucks until I started putting cameras out. But, there they were @ 2 - 3 AM...out in wide open fields. It gave me renewed confidence to get back out there and hunt em harder!!!

This is what it has done for me.

There was a time before trail cameras where I wasn't 100% sure our property in Alabama was home to any deer.

I think trail cameras take a lot of fun out of it myself.

I’ve just about quit using them for deer myself. I saw my oldest son thinking kinda like you said - he would ask - is this place we are going to hunt close enough to see one of the bucks we had on camera somewhere else. I told him to quit worrying and enjoy it either way.

Probably has ruined it. But I enjoy the cameras.

Yeah i like surprises lol. Will say this though cams have definitely caused a spike in conflicts, can't count the times I've heard "that's my deer!" Or the sumbitchin neighbors killed "my deer" Or hey i had a pic of that deer, and my clubs 5 miles away, so your azz must've been piddlin in my sanctuary 😆😆😆😆

Yep, cams and corn sux.

You really need to change your handle Man

I enjoy the cameras.

I don't use them because I'm lazy and don't want something else to keep track of.

I run 4 cameras on 5000 acres and don’t check them or move them very much. They just give us an idea of how many mature bucks we have on the property.

I do enjoy looking at the pics when a camera has been out for 3 weeks and I pull the card.

I kind of like using cameras, myself. It's like opening up a Christmas present and keeps motivated.

Makes me sit longer knowing what’s in the area. Most of the big deer we kill never even have a picture of.

I would have never known there were any decent bucks to step foot on my small property without cameras. Gave me incentive to even try to hunt em.....I love getting pics and seeing what's out there

I have at least as much fun seeing deer on my cameras as I do seeing them in person.

Same here.....like somebody else said. it's like Christmas morning every time I check my cards. Lot of fun!

This happens a lot but how many people, like Coosa said in the original post, don’t hunt a place because they don’t have any good deer on cam? I hear it all the time.

Last two bucks I killed were on places with lots of cameras but they did not have any pics of either deer, so you never know.

If you only use 1 camera per 150-200 acres it gives you the idea that the big one you have on camera could be any where in that 200 acres

I’ve got 12 on 317 acres. Feel like I have pretty good assessment of what is going on

I haven't used trail cameras in 15 years.

Love running my cameras. Cellular cameras I’ve bought the last couple years have been really nice. I work out of town until nov 1 and getting pics all of bow season gets me excited to come home and do some hunting

If you are running those 12 cams in season , the deer are what has a good assessment of what's going on.

what the dog said.....

Damn. Lol.

Lol ya

And probably complains to everyone that he 'ain't seein no deers"

I know folks that put cameras out all season dump a bag of corn in front of it and check it every week! Then they wonder why they never see the big bucks in the daylight when they are hunting those same areas after the corn is gone and all of the pictures are at night. Sometimes the light bulb stays dim!! Not to mention all of those piles of corn, eh supplemental feed, may have a little something to do with deer not getting to the foodplots during legal shooting hours that they sit on every morning and every evening. But they have pictures to oo and ah over!

I know people who do this and kill big deer.

They don’t hunt hard. They just pick the right days to go.

Same here. Its taken most of the fun out for me. We have bucks on cam at my private land and no monsters. Makes me not want to go. Its ruining me. Im gonna slack off and keep it old school.

Absolutely. I just checked mine this morning to find a goodun has come by while I was work the other day.

Some on spin feeders, some video on scrapes, some time lapse on plots.

I’m pretty good about checking them at good times. Noon mid week, walking. Not too often

It’s as low contact as it can be. But I know what you’re saying, and agree

I know a guy too he just checks em every once in a while if a giant don't ever show up he won't hunt even if all year but he's got a lot of studs on his wall he didn't even sit last year cuz nothing was big enough for him he's a trophy hunter only