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The problem with trail-cameras

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BSK

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You find out which stand you should have been hunting instead of the stand you actually hunted!

I cannot count the number of times this year I got trail-camera videos of good bucks near stands, moving at prime hunting times, the day before or the day after I hunted them. Frustrating!
 
I solved that problem. I only have one cam and one permanent blind. I have the camera on one of the trails I see deer use while hunting.
 
BSK said:
You find out which stand you should have been hunting instead of the stand you actually hunted!

I cannot count the number of times this year I got trail-camera videos of good bucks near stands, moving at prime hunting times, the day before or the day after I hunted them. Frustrating!
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LOL story of my life!!
 
deerhunter10 said:
Interesting.. do you not check them? If you check them how in the world do you keep yourself from using the information?
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I check them if I happen to be in close enough proximity but I don't make a special trek to do so until I've tagged out or season ends.

My camera work all ends when prerut heats up. That's when I start hunting hard. If I don't have a solid plan with contingencies already in mind by that point then there's nothing cams are going to do but drive me crazy chasing where the bucks have been, not where they're going to be. October into December is my hunt time. The other 9 months are camera time.
 
JMO—if you see the bucks when you're NOT in the stand
That may be an indication that your approach or wind or something is buggering them up when you are in the stand.

That said-I don't use them
I just hunt 😂
 
Yes I like to see the big bucks but what i really want to see is what direction they are going,which tell me where they came from. And the time of day or night. Are they going to bedding, food or water? The hunt accordingly.
 
Kevin Snook said:
JMO—if you see the bucks when you're NOT in the stand
That may be an indication that your approach or wind or something is buggering them up when you are in the stand.

That said-I don't use them
I just hunt 😂
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Probably a lot to that. I don't use cell cams, so don't get data realtime. But when I go swap cards, and review the data, here's the target buck in broad daylight at Stand #4 while I'm in Stand #6. The next hunt, I'm in Stand #8, and he's at Stand #6!

First video, my daughter and I are hunting one food plot away! Second video, we hunted that condo the morning before! Can't win for losing...
 

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Last mz opener I was trying to decide which stand to hunt. As I was sitting at the one I picked, I got a picture from my cell camera at the other spot of a nice 8 point that was walking thru at that moment....
 
Ski said:
I check them if I happen to be in close enough proximity but I don't make a special trek to do so until I've tagged out or season ends.

My camera work all ends when prerut heats up. That's when I start hunting hard. If I don't have a solid plan with contingencies already in mind by that point then there's nothing cams are going to do but drive me crazy chasing where the bucks have been, not where they're going to be. October into December is my hunt time. The other 9 months are camera time.
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I agree with that I don't intrude to check cameras. But like this year a deer I wanted to kill move about a mile away. Without cameras I wouldn't have known that and kill him I would have been hunting a mile away from where he actually was. I know you kill big deer it fascinates me how other people do it is why I ask. The camera didn't kill that particular deer for me but got me in the area I needed to be in. Once I'm in the area it's up to me thats is the way I run and use cameras mainly Just I guess a conformation bias.
 
deerhunter10 said:
I agree with that I don't intrude to check cameras. But like this year a deer I wanted to kill move about a mile away. Without cameras I wouldn't have known that and kill him I would have been hunting a mile away from where he actually was. I know you kill big deer it fascinates me how other people do it is why I ask. The camera didn't kill that particular deer for me but got me in the area I needed to be in. Once I'm in the area it's up to me thats is the way I run and use cameras mainly Just I guess a conformation bias.
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Yeah that happens to me too. Sometimes I'm hunting a ghost and not knowing it. Actually that's the case most of the time.

Mostly what i get from trail cams is what bucks are alive, when they're historically in the area, and when does are popping hot. Everything I rely on is historical except for an inventory of which bucks are/were alive when it's time to hunt. If a buck I'm after is alive and shows up when the girls are ready, I know pretty much within a few days. If he hasn't showed up by then, I have to move on to another plan or other buck.
 
JCDEERMAN said:
Happens ALL the time! And what's worse, is having a cell cam sending you a pic while you're on a work call
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Or sitting in the school parking lot to pick your kid up.

Cams are just another tool we have to help know what is around and to help plan the best where to hunt a specific deer or where to best put your place for the vast opportunities.
 

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