Trailcam Users ... Question of the Day

Founder · Mar 19, 2015

Question of the Day .... Do you use trail cameras for scouting for deer? Do you set them on trails? Water sources? Mineral plots?
How many cameras do you own?

I myself own one camera and used it once on the Pausaugunt, but it didn't help me any. Most places I hunt I haven't much use for a trail camera.

Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com
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Zeke · Mar 19, 2015

I enjoy looking at the pics which are posted on MM but I've never used or owned a trail camera in my long life.
My sons-in-law use them and I tell them what I think about them.
My thought is, it takes the romance out of hunting when you spy on the critters you'll be hunting. I prefer the old-fashioned way of scouting.
I'm not totally against them but they're not for me.
To each his own.
Just my 2 cents,
Zeke

GoatT · Mar 19, 2015

I have a couple and use them every year. Get thousands of pictures every year. Mostly hunt on the front and have some great pics of bulls and bucks I use them primarily to see what is moving in and around the area and patterns. I used mineral licks that last two years that have worked awesome. Usually set them up on converging trails and water sources.

sagebrush · Mar 19, 2015

I have 6 and use them every time I have a tag. They have proven to be a valuable scouting tool. When you have a large area and a limited amount of time, cameras can really help you figure out where to concentrate your scouting and hunting.

Last year, I had them out on water sources for my November elk hunt. November is not normally a time of year when water comes into play as much as earlier. One water had 37 different bulls come into it and all the others just one or two. Arrowed my bull one week later in the area of the heaviest concentration.

"You can fly a helicopter to the top of Everest and say you've been there. The problem with that is you were an a$$hole when you started and you're still an a$$hole when you get back.
Its the climb that makes you a different person". - Yvon Chouinard

AZMIGHTYMULIES · Mar 19, 2015

I utilize on average 20 Cameras at any given time . My sole purpose is different from those using them for Hunting purposes and honestly in my area of concentration the use of Trail Cameras is getting out of control . Some Guides I feel take Cameras for Granted when they're using 300 Cameras on each Unit . Even today there are several cameras still sitting from last year and some are in pieces scattered on the ground and people wonder why We continue to have a p#ssing match with the Environmentalists sending in there complaints to all Agencies .
Hence is the reason I presented a Proposal to the AZG&F to limit the use of Cameras . Cameras are great to use , but when there taken for granted , things get messy .

UGAhunter · Mar 19, 2015

I have about 16, but only use them on my bear baits.

tx_packmule · Mar 19, 2015

I keep out quite a few, pull them down at the end of Feb, put them back out in early June.

dillon · Mar 19, 2015

I only have one trail camera and I usually put it on the edge of open areas that are surrounded by very thick timber. I will not put it over a waterhole, those camera's have a tendency of getting stolen.

I mostly use a trail camera as an excuse to get on the mountain to scout.

Dillon
www.dillonhoyt.com

elkassassin · Mar 19, 2015

Even though I sell a few Trail-Cams now & then I've never had to Buy any!

We laugh, we cry, we love
Go hard when the going's tough
Push back, come push and shove
Knock us down, we'll get back up again and again
We are Members of the Huntin Crowd!

Deerlove · Mar 19, 2015

Finders Keepers LOL

YBO · Mar 19, 2015

I have about 160-170. I put them where ever I deem a big buck might be. Usually trails and feeding areas. I probably have 30 still out at this time. I might pick up a couple dozen more before July.

elkassassin · Mar 19, 2015

So YBO?

You're sayin you wouldn't miss just a few Dozen of them?

We laugh, we cry, we love
Go hard when the going's tough
Push back, come push and shove
Knock us down, we'll get back up again and again
We are Members of the Huntin Crowd!

schoolhousegrizz · Mar 19, 2015

I have one. I mainly use it for bear hunting or just to even try to get a picture of some bears when I don't even have a tag.

YBO · Mar 20, 2015

Bess, my biggest problem are bears attempting to take a bite out of the flash. I should put metal cages over them... I need to stop eating donuts before putting out the cameras. Those damn bears can smell maple bar residues on the cameras from a couple miles away!
Help yourself to any camera. Just please give the GPS coordinates to me. Thank God for Cameras and GPS's.

hank4elk · Mar 20, 2015

I got one last year to put on my place near my well and cattle blocks.
I had an old 35mm one given to me,never used it.
Had another given last year that has broken mounts/attachments.

I personally wouldn't put one up on others land or on public land.
I figured they'd be gone by the next day. Just the way things are these days.

From what I hear from others,that is the case.

xitnet · Mar 20, 2015

AZMIGHTYMULIES said "Hence is the reason I presented a Proposal to the AZG&F to limit the use of Cameras . Cameras are great to use , but when there taken for granted , things get messy."

I'm curious where you think that limit on camera's should be? Did you propose a limit of 20 camera's per hunter, outfitter or animal lover since that's what you use? I don't have nor use them myself. Would you be good with a limit of 3 cameras per hunter?

heffe · Mar 20, 2015

LAST EDITED ON Mar-20-15 AT 08:40AM (MST)[p]AZMIGHTYMULEIS - Im Hoping that the AZGFD ignores your request, as they should.

AZMIGHTYMULIES · Mar 20, 2015

xitnet : I did not present a specific # on Cameras . If 3 is decided so be it . Like I said, I utilize Cameras for a whole different purpose than just Hunting . My sole purpose has been for Research . In fact , I received Permits to do a 1 year survey , utilizing 14 Cameras at 7 different locations . I'll have my Associates Degree in a Month but progressing towards my Bachelors in Wildlife Biology. I'd hate to see the Cameras completely Banned all together because many people use them for Fun .

xitnet · Mar 21, 2015

AZMIGHTYMULIES,
Appreciate the answer. Been thinking about getting a couple to put on a new property I've leased this year. Didn't realize some outfitters were using up to 300 cameras on public land. Sounds like we can't crap in the woods now without someone watching out technique. I'll sure be careful if my wife and I decide to get frisky on a hike in the mountains.

Good luck on becoming a wildlife biologist.

sagebrush · Mar 21, 2015

The only way to enforce any limitation of cameras on public land is all or nothing. How can you know if it is camera #1 or camera #300 and to whom it belongs without a government issued tamper proof serial number? What number of enforcement personnel? A permit for a camera would costs hundreds of dollars to fund such a program, hence the all or nothing limitation.

"You can fly a helicopter to the top of Everest and say you've been there.
The problem with that is you were an a$$hole when you started and you're
still an a$$hole when you get back.
Its the climb that makes you a different person". - Yvon Chouinard

elkassassin · Mar 21, 2015

Well!

If I stumble upon Camera # 300 I'll just assume it's YBO's!

We laugh, we cry, we love
Go hard when the going's tough
Push back, come push and shove
Knock us down, we'll get back up again and again
We are Members of the Huntin Crowd!

cosmic_cowboy · Mar 22, 2015

I have 3 cameras and have them up most of the summer and fall.
They are mostly for fun... have a pic of EVERY critter that lives in my neck of the woods.I have never been lucky enough to kill a buck or bull that I have a pic of.
What I really love them for is Winter Range Pics... get to see the big boys that made it trough the hunts.And what kind of sheds I can expect to find!! I have found sheds from deer that I have a pic of.
CC

ridgetops · Mar 22, 2015

I love using trail cams. I have pictures of bucks we have killed and of bucks other hunters have killed and I was able to share with them.

AZMIGHTYMULIES · Mar 22, 2015

sagebrush: I would have to disagree with you 100% . Laws/Regulation, should and would be the Enforcement itself . Do you think Outfitters or Guide Services would want to jeopardize there Licenses by breaking the Law ? I highly doubt that . By regulating the limit of Cameras Hurt the Outfitters/Guides Business ? I highly doubt it . Many of the Outfitters have been around for many years, well prior to the Camera "Hay-Days", and they did just as well as they currently do .
When I presented my Proposal to the Article Team , ironically there response was that many other similar Proposals have been Requested . A Registry Stamp would be a very easy method to implement and would cost very little .
Due to my involvement with different Agency Personnel , I was forewarned about this a long time ago . I most recently , in the Arizona Forum initiated a thread regarding this issue and wanted everyone's opinion .
But due to some certain complaints by Environmentalist Groups , I went out of my way to try to clean things up by staking a 6' Steel T-Post on a few sites with 5 different 3/8" I-Bolts , so 4-5 different cameras can use it , rather than everyone putting up different Fence stakes in the ground . This helps in cleaning up the clutter .
Some people like Cameras, other people don't . I don't want to see them Banning Cameras all together , so a compromise and solutions are needed. Hence, is why I Presented my Proposal !

IntheVelvet · Mar 22, 2015

I have 3 cameras and I use them to watch an area I hunt that is migrational. So when I check them before the hunt I know if the deer are moving through the area. If I see them I hunt there and if not I go to the back up spot. Plus its fun to see what walks past your camera, I've got pictures of 3 Sasquatches so far!!

earlyriser · Mar 22, 2015

I have about 5 and use them for scouting even if I don't have a tag for a particular unit. I set them mainly on water sources when I find them. In NM, water is gold. Also, lack of time and huge units are why I use them.

halfassed · Mar 24, 2015

I have used apples. Here are some fun photos. Big bucks never ate them only little ones. No bears or lions in the area, did bring in some coyotes they did not eat any apples.

Oh it also attracted some Magpies they just sh!t on my camera.

Cameras are fun but has not got me that 200" yet.

elkassassin · Mar 24, 2015

Looks like a Whole lotta CHUMMIN to me!

We laugh, we cry, we love
Go hard when the going's tough
Push back, come push and shove
Knock us down, we'll get back up again and again
We are Members of the Huntin Crowd!

tx_packmule · Mar 25, 2015

Sometimes they get shot from both angles....

hossblur · Apr 3, 2015

I would bet the bigger outfitters like Mossback have well over a thousand cameras out at one time. I have heard that just one of Doyles guides cops to having about 300 out, so all combined his staff I would bet is in excess of 1000.

AZ, I think your stamp idea is great. The powers that be will never let DWR limit the cams, remember its their livelihood your talking about, but perhaps a $5 stamp for each cam is great. The recreational guys wouldn't get hit, the guys who use public land as their own walmart, they can pitch in a little rather than just being takers.

I personally don't own one, kinda seems like cheating to me, but I also don't own drones, or ballistic computers either. My PERSONAL opinion is that if your scouting, you should be physically present. If your shooting it should be your skill doing the aiming. I believe that by using this much technology you take the human element out, and hunting becomes video game playing.

By making a "tax" on them, the outfitters and guides will be paying to support the land they now use for free to run their buisnesses, no different than the oil drillers and mineral miners. As it stands now, they get special treatment. A cam tax is a good idea I think.

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun"

Castnshoot · Apr 4, 2015

Using them over a water hole or just on a trail is one thing.

Using them over bait for Mule Deer is another.

Sweet baits are the worst. Deer really get hooked on them.

Baits like apples attract Mice, Rats, Rabbits, Squirrls, Birds, Deer and all kinds of animals.

That in turn attracks Coyotes, Bobcats, Bears and Lions.

Mule deer get hooked real quick on sweet baits. Does come right into the bait, throwing caution to the wind.

They drag there fawns right in with them.

They offten come into the bait on a trot, unlike a cautious approch to water.

Just think of how a kid thinks about a drink of water as opposed to how he thinks about a peice of candy. Same thing with a deer.

With thousands of baiting sites out there preditors have learned
that those sites are easy pickings.

Just look at all the trail cam photos you see with some sort of preditor lurking in the shadows behind the bait.

A lot more people are starting to relize that baiting in the west
is not helping the game we love hunt.

Donger · Apr 4, 2015

I have a few. I have to replace them quite often. You'd think having them at victorias secret and nordstrom they'd be safe from thieves.

mntman · Apr 9, 2015

I had one, it wore out. Want to buy another one. I only put it in one unit I hunt. Not on water, nor really a trail. They come out into a corner of a meadow and sometimes I get them on camera sometimes not.
I don't get a lot of information from pics since I already know what they do there, I guess it is just fun to see the pictures. I am in the unit a lot throughout the year so have a good idea of what is going on anyway without camera.

I see the benefits of them, and wish I had the time/money to put out more but I don't.

Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"