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Trail Camera Warning

BSK said:
I think what many on here don't know is that photo censuses are ALL. I. DO. from August 1st until mid-January. That's 7 days a week, and often 16 hours per day. Every day.

My only breaks are when I go hunting myself (I take about 3 weeks to hunt), coming over to TNdeer for a mental break, and maybe a once a day half hour nap to keep my mind from going to mush. And yes, I get scorching headaches from staring at a computer screen for that much time.

So far, I've completed the analysis of 297,000 pictures this year, with more coming in all the time.
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What tips do you offer on camera locations and placement?
 
UTGrad said:
Heck, I've considered just not running cameras one season and just going out and enjoying the woods.
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Without question, trail-camera can take the thrill out of seeing a big buck coming. You've seen that big buck 30 times on camera. Without the pictures, he produces far more of a "Wow!" factor.

I would never push a hunter to use cams for hunting. In my opinion, they are more of a management tool - to find out what's really out there and to inventory a local deer population. That doesn't mean they won't teach you valuable things that make you a more successful hunter, but as so many have pointed out in this thread, relying on them for hunting is a mistake.

It's kind of like Spurhunter's thread on "Hunting is Actually Fun!" If using trail-cameras is getting in the way of your hunting enjoyment, then by all means forgo them. But if you are trying to manage a local deer population, not using them would be denying yourself the best data available.
 
BSK said:
I think what many on here don't know is that photo censuses are ALL. I. DO. from August 1st until mid-January. That's 7 days a week, and often 16 hours per day. Every day.

My only breaks are when I go hunting myself (I take about 3 weeks to hunt), coming over to TNdeer for a mental break, and maybe a once a day half hour nap to keep my mind from going to mush. And yes, I get scorching headaches from staring at a computer screen for that much time.

So far, I've completed the analysis of 297,000 pictures this year, with more coming in all the time.
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I do it for fun on a few properties I hunt, and it can get overwhelming keeping everything straight. Sometimes if even feels like a chore. Not often but sometimes. As much as I love it I don't think I could enjoy doing it for a living. You're a special kind of freak in that regard 😂
 
Ski said:
You're a special kind of freak in that regard 😂
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My wife would agree with you. At least the "freak" part.

Funny, but I recently met my nephew's new wife. She specializes in teaching children with autism, ADD, and ADHD how to cope with life surrounded by people who think very differently. She saw me working on all my data and asked what I did with it. I told her I need to turn information into numbers so I can see the patterns. Apparently, the need for pattern recognition is major indicator of autism. And I always thought I was just ADD...
 
Not being a professional at it. Been running cameras for years. We don't hardly see bucks we don't have pictures of. When we do it seems to be around the 2nd rut more then the primary rut. Just our observations.
 
BSK said:
My wife would agree with you. At least the "freak" part.

Funny, but I recently met my nephew's new wife. She specializes in teaching children with autism, ADD, and ADHD how to cope with life surrounded by people who think very differently. She saw me working on all my data and asked what I did with it. I told her I need to turn information into numbers so I can see the patterns. Apparently, the need for pattern recognition is major indicator of autism. And I always thought I was just ADD...
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Ha! Well then you're more autistic than me. I'm most definitely on the spectrum but you're in the pot of gold 😂 😂 😂
 
Ski said:
I'm not BSK but I do have an opinion, albeit a long one 😁

Deer are deer regardless of property lines. Their nature is static. And on public ground a buck doesn't get old and big by being a stranger. He got old because he knows the area, knows where to be and when. The only way to acquire that kind of familiarity is by spending a lifetime in that area. That means yes, you can run a camera program on public land and get the same kind of data as you would on private.

That said, I've never heard of anyone attempting it because fear of theft. Could you imagine hanging a dozen cams on a public tract and leaving them in place for several consecutive years? Pretty risky. However if you did I 100% believe you'd see the exact type of cumulative data you'd get from private ground.

The one exception is that you'd likely have to shift camera locations as the resources and movement patterns change. Public land isn't managed to have static spots like food plots, mock scrapes, water holes, managed bedding areas, etc that dictate movement. On public that stuff is in constant flux so the deer are always adjusting. But the deer aren't leaving. It's the same deer.

I've heard of guys having multiple year hunts for a specific buck on public and have done so myself. That's only possible because the buck lives there, at least periodically.

Think of the clear lottery tank with all the numbered balls. That is a buck's home range and each ball is an individual buck's core. Notice how that core floats all around but is contained within the tank. In my experience that's exactly how it works in the deer woods, regardless if you're on public or private. A buck's core floats around according to his specific needs at the time, whether it be food, does, or safety. They don't recognize property lines or ownership. That's why we see a buck on camera every day for awhile then poof he's gone. Just when we think he must be dead poof he shows back up. It's nothing more than his core bubble floating across our property. And it floats across lots of properties both private and public.
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Challenge accepted. im gonna give it shot on a specific public property that im very familiar with and that I consistently see the most mature deer. I have an aging fleet of about 10 cameras I could dedicate to it and not feel too bad if some get stolen. I like the analogy of the lotto balls hahaha.
 
BSK said:
A club, yes (most of my clients are clubs). Public land, probably not. Far too much pressure driving bucks all over the place.


I think public would be tough, especially knowing the number of cameras needed and the influence of too many hunters (and possibility of getting cams/cards stolen).
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Thanks for sharing all the info you do. Its really inspiring honestly. It makes me want to try something similar on public. I have some old cams that need to be used anyway. Very worst that could happen is they get stole and maybe I get an incomplete census. No biggie. Rewards outweigh the risk I think.
 
philsanchez76 said:
Challenge accepted. im gonna give it shot on a specific public property that im very familiar with and that I consistently see the most mature deer. I have an aging fleet of about 10 cameras I could dedicate to it and not feel too bad if some get stolen. I like the analogy of the lotto balls hahaha.
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If you need help or need some old cams, I'd be happy to offer. I'm pretty curious to see how it pans out!
 
Andy S. said:
Say it louder for those in the back. This cannot be emphasized enough. Like I said, put a cell camera in my closet and you might get me 2x per day, and you will have no idea what is going on the rest of the day in "my house". Same can be said for deer in "their house".
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;), despite whatever the 3 armchair biologist on here would have you believe. Funny how they tell you they have on camera, almost every big deer they kill, but they really ain't "killing" anything that big, despite all the "management" they have done to these properties over the years. I have no doubt the effort they are putting forth has to be producing some truly "big" deer. So why are there no 150in+ deer on your cameras. I don't want to hear "It's the soil" or its "because of what part of the state I am in" horsesh#t either. Surely their not smart enough to be avoiding all the cameras you have out:rolleyes:
 
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Soft Talker said:
;), despite whatever the 3 armchair biologist on here would have you believe. Funny how they tell you they have on camera, almost every big deer they kill, but they really ain't "killing" anything that big, despite all the "management" they have done to these properties over the years.
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You've got to be the most insufferable human on planet earth. I bet you think Tiger Woods is awful at golf and Tom Brady a terrible football player. There are plenty of dudes on this site killing great TN deer every year. Funny how we never see pictures of anything you supposedly catch or kill.
 
Soft Talker said:
;), despite whatever the 3 armchair biologist on here would have you believe. Funny how they tell you they have on camera, almost every big deer they kill, but they really ain't "killing" anything that big, despite all the "management" they have done to these properties over the years.
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Fox Tv Popcorn GIF by The Four
 
bowhunterfanatic said:
You've got to be the most insufferable human on planet earth. I bet you think Tiger Woods is awful at golf and Tom Brady a terrible football player. There are plenty of dudes on this site killing great TN deer every year. Funny how we never see pictures of anything you supposedly catch or kill.
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Don't give a rats azz about sports dude. I ain't smart enough to post pics, and honestly, have no desire to. Mainly a Turkey and Hog hunter, who when not guiding, also enjoys hunting rutting Bucks in the Fall and Winter.
 

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