DO TRAIL DO CAMS CHANGE THE HUNTING CHALLENGE?

[JIMLAWRENCE]

I DONT GIVE MY OPION TO OFTEN, BUT I AM NOW I READ THE ARTICLE IN SUMMER ISSUE O DEER AND DEER HUNTING, ABOUT TRAIL CAM AND HUNTING CHALLENGE.
HERE IS MY OPION. REGARDLESS OF WHAT MEN MAY DEVISE TO SELL AND MAKE A PROFIT. THE KEEN SENCES OF GODS CREATION IS NO MATCH FOR ANY THING THAT MAN CAN COME UP WITH. I BELIEVE DEER HAVE A SIXTH SENSE. AND MY 40 YEARS TRYING TO CHASE THEM, I TRULLY BELIEVE THIS. AND ONLY WOODSWISE HUNTERS ARE VERY SUCSESSFUL HUNTERS. YOU BUY THE BEST OF EVERYTHING. YOU PRACTICE,AND IF YOU DONT KNOW YOUR QUARY AND WHAT YOUR UP AGAINST, THE WHITE TAIL DEER IS ALL BUT ILLUSIVE. SO ALL THE INFO AND THE TOOLS WE HUNTERS HAVE CANNOT MATCH THE CUNNING, NERVOUS WHITE TAIL. I SAID THAT TO SAY THIS
THEY HAVE THE ADVANTAGE, NOT US. THE CHALLENGE WILL ALWAYS BE THERE AND WHEN IT IS'NT I WILL STOP HUNTING. IF YOU WANT A REAL CHALLENGE TRY LIMITING YOUR HUNT TO A 135 OR BETTER WHITETAIL
JIM

[pvrnc]

trail cames are a fun tool for the off season. i started using them 3 years ago my success has increased but not because of them. i still hunt the same places i would normally, but now i can confirm age better, i have more patience, because i am older and no longer worry ablout 135 class deer. my son shot an eight point deer this year, which was less than 120 class, but body was large and age was about 6. so this was a good trophy in the public woods no game camera. however in another area i got a 135 class 4 year old because i knew he was there and let many others go. bottom line hunt the way you like it. limit yourself to what you feel is a trophy not what other class you at.

[metrx]

I will play devil's advocate and say I somewhat disagree with Jim.  How does one measure "their" challenge?  It's an individual thing in the deer woods.  Is it the guy who gets a deer every year or a guy who scores on a "class buck" or a class buck year in and year out? Since the inception of P&Y and B&C record keeping more and more deer have "made the books" in recent years than years ago.  Why?  Many reasons...including but not limited to better guns, flatter shooting, faster bows, carbon arrows, better optics, treestands, digitally produced camo, food plots, management, guide services, computers, topo maps, cover scents, attractant scents, etc, etc...and oh yeah, trail cameras.  Throwing luck out of the equation...because there are first timers who shoot "big bucks", knowing little to nothing.  But generally speaking, I think as technology advances, people, as a whole, become more successful in the deer woods.  Don't get me wrong, this is not to take away from woodsmanship, knowing your quarry, the time required to put in...etc, which is a major, if not THE most important contributing factor.  All the woodsmanship in the world may find you in the quote unquote "right place at the right time"...but how many more "big bucks" have been taken by those woodsman that shoot a 300 Magnum with a 9x scope as opposed to a flint lock muzzleloader with a .50 cal. roundball with open sights?  More woodsman are successful with a 300 IBO compound than those with a "stickbow".  You cant shoot a big buck unless there is a big buck where you hunt...and where I hunt, in my home state of NY, there arent too many...but thats another story.  For starters, if you catch "a big one" on camera...at least you know he's there and you are in the right place.  So I would say, trail cameras can help.     

[fasteddie]

The pic needs to be resized ..........

I couldn't read the Originator's type .




I have put out trail cams and found that once the hunting starts , the pics didn't mean a thing other than those deer were in the area at one time or another . We have to remove any bait ( salt , apples , etc ) at least 30 days before season opens and that changes the game .

[Randy3003]

I do not hunt over bait nor do I use trail cams...         That was till I just bought my first trail cam sat it out and after trying what was to be my primary and secondary spots with no hog pics I moved it to an area where there was sign but scattered so I sat it where it could flash away.  Imagine that pics of what will be the two largest hogs I have ever harvested!!!!   Flash away I say.  Oh by the way I haven't trophy hunted in 10 years but one of these two are going on the wall.  I might not have hunted this spot if not for trail cam.

[fasteddie]

I had a daytime pic of two nice bucks that had come past the Trail Cam . Only got them one time and never saw them during the hunting season .

[GTOHunter]

I feel that trail camera's help us Hunters to better understand when and where Deer travel in the area's we hunt and they shows us the many different Deers in the area's we didn't even realize were even there.Can it change the way we hunt...I say "Yes",it can by showing us the area's where Deer travel and then we can decide if it is going to be a good choice to hunt there,I also believe like Jim mentioned that Deer do in fact have a 6th sense of what is going on around them and they do seem to know when they are in danger...thats what makes "Hunting" so wonderful and challenging,we are always trying to find new ways to better understand Whitetails and trying to out-smart them.Some times we just get Lucky and a nice Big Buck will have his guard down and be following right behind a Doe in Estrous and we happen to be in the right place at the right time and shoot a Deer of a life time....another thing to consider is the more time spent in the woods the better your chances of getting a Deer improve,your not going to get a Deer sitting at home on the couch! [&:] [8|] [;)]

[GTOHunter]

Ooooops....sorry I had to edit (repost). [8|]

[fasteddie]

Delete my post .............

[Bowtechian]

I think cameras get way too much credit for someone having success. Pictures of wildlife on your land most likely will not guarantee you'll have meat in the freezer. They might up your odds a little, but you still have to hunt smart or you will be getting mostly night time pictures from then on. I got some bear pictures where I hunt in Virginia a couple weeks ago, but that doesn't mean I can start filling out my bear tag yet.

This is my first year using a camera, & it's mainly just to see what's on the property. If I put cameras on every trail going through the property then I would feel like I'm kind of cheating. Just putting a camera near a supplimental feeder that has to be empty 30 days prior to any season isn't going to give an unfair advantage while hunting. It might just make you hold out a little longer for certain deer.