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Are game cams changing the game for the worse?

Dally1up

MegaPoke is insane
Gold Member
Jun 29, 2001
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Been hunting for several decades now and I can say that game cams have completely changed the way I hunt. When I was a kid, I went to the field religiously like a kid on Christmas morning in anticipation of the unknown. I went totally not knowing what I would encounter. It was that feeling that a trophy could be responsible for rustling in the leaves behind me.

Fast forward to 2017 and now, the only time I get even close to that feeling is shortly before I throw the SD Card in the computer.

My (like others) hunting views have changed over the years as deer numbers have increased and I seek out only a buck that I claim to be a trophy in my books (along with the occasional gratuitous doe). However, I can tell you that my hunting intensity is only as big as the pictures on that card. In years like 2016, 2017 which were on the heels of several years of drought and decline in fawns and 3.5 year old + bucks the pics have left me with a ho hum attitude.

To say it simple, I just don't have the desire to go out when my $100 electronic employee tells me that there is nothing that I would personally shoot in the area. 135" gross 2.5 yo 10 points are so 1990 and now reserved for kids I can introduce to the sport. Increase that to 150" 3.5's and my interest is peaked.

Heard a game warden say that bowhunter, blackpowder and deer numbers are declining once again this year and I asked if Game Cams could be to blame. He replied "I know I don't go out when I don't have anything showing up on the lens".

Is it time to leave these at home in the drawer?
 
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Hey Dally! You make a very interesting point, and I generally agree. So much of the enjoyment of the hunt is the speculation/possibilities that exist, at least in my imagination. My normal areas to hunt this year had very average deer on the camerasduring the last 4 weeks, but when I set up a camera in a little used, very dense location I've never hunted, in the last two weeks, 4 bucks I would shoot were on there including one that might go 175 or better.
It does make it more exciting (expectation) to know they are out there.....and I can't wait to hunt that area. Will I hunt the other areas with the same expectation? Possibly not, though I have to remember the rut is crazy - that you never know what will show up- I've often seen bucks during the rut that never were on any of my cameras Also I try to remember I had a number of really nice bucks on there last year that I haven't seen this year, and if a couple of those survived last years hunting season, he would be a looker. Who knows. ;) I love watching wildlife, and half of my camera pics are of coyotes, bobcats, crows, raccoons, and ......cows. I still enjoy looking at them.

FYI, I've never seen so many coyotes on camera before at all of my camera locations.... Before I ever saw a deer, walking to my evening stand weekend before last, I saw a coyote coming through, so stopped, drew and missed about an inch high when he came out of the woods across in front of me.
 
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Just had to share this. I've been prepping for days for my next hunt. Couldn't sleep last night so got up about 4... it was a near full moon and even with light cloud cover you could see outside pretty well from the dark interior of the house. I stand there in the dark letting my eyes adjust and watching cattle outside in the pasture and see movement right by the house/a few yards off the porch. I immediately thought it was a coyote snooping around but after watching a minute, realized it was a buck deer sniffing the ground and possibly eating my acorns (or following does who were). He wasn't very large but o so close. Made my morning so far.
 
There is no doubt that the cameras take a lot of excitement out of the hunt. Also think the Instagram/facebook posts showing monsters make the normal "large" bucks we will get on our place seem like runts.
 
I’m going for the second time in my life. No trail cams and probably no monster bucks but I’m pretty excited. Live vicariously through me.
 
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I’m going to hijack this thread. I’m all set up. My food plot is about 60 acres of wheat. Fresh tracks all over the pond bank. Using my grandpas 1938 Mauser that has been sportified (is that the right word?) and shoots a 30-06. Sighted in this afternoon. Updates later...

Edit: nuthin tonight. Check back tomorrow.
 
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Sun just went down. I felt the temp drop immediately. Clocks ticking let’s go mr deer.
 
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HSH, Sounds like an evening spot, so don't give up. Just don't lay down any scent or hunt in a place where they might catch your scent where they're most likely to come from....sounds elementary, but after 45 years of bowhunting and being very scent conscious, I still will get busted now and then, even when I've cleaned and descented everything possible. I do want to experiment with one of those O2 machines... anyone use one?
 
That’s the stuff I don’t know. How do you de scent? The first time I went was so damn easy. I didn’t do anything special. I just walked to the pond and here they came. How early before sundown do I need to be in position?

I did hear a pig last night which was cool. I’m thinking about putting some light corn down consistently until the Christmas Doe season.
 
That’s the stuff I don’t know. How do you de scent? The first time I went was so damn easy. I didn’t do anything special. I just walked to the pond and here they came. How early before sundown do I need to be in position?

I did hear a pig last night which was cool. I’m thinking about putting some light corn down consistently until the Christmas Doe season.

Well, fundamentally, I shower and really get clean with one of the commercial non-scented body soaps that is supposed to kill human order. I will have washed all my cloths, boots, hats, socks, etc. in one of those cloth wash scent killer products. twice a season I'll also wash my backpack/fannypack, and everything in it. I wipe down my gear, or spray it daily with scent killer when I'm hunting. Oh I also make sure that I put my wallet in a ziplock bag, along with anything else I've not washed thoroughly. My stands also get washed at the beginning of season or anytime they get used much, no dogs allowed on them, etc. and sprayed during the season when they are up in a tree.

My 2 Cents here, but arrival time is a personal preference, but also a very practical issue that can vary depending on lots of things. Really the factor most important is when do they come by/seek out the water/feed? Remember there is not point going if you're late...you may do more damage than good.
i.e. On my place here in north Texas, it's wide open, tall grass pasture, so they come right up out of the creeks at dark or just a few minutes before if I'm lucky. But where I hunt in heavily timbered SE OK, I need to get on stand sometimes by 2:30 or 3pm (with daylight savings time), and still see and/or spook deer off the area. I'd encourage you to get set up and quiet at least 45 - 60 minutes before you expect deer to show up. In the AM, I like to be there on stand, settled in and quiet about 30-45 minutes before the sky starts to lighten in the east. I mean it's dark! This way I try my best not to walk in on deer, cause they won't let you do that more than once or twice.
 
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Good stuff. I did none of that. I was going out after 4 which was a mistake. I’ll take that advice in a couple weeks.

I don’t have a blind or a deer stand. There is a spring pond below ground level my kids and I play at periodically. I just hide below the bank.

There are always tracks so I know they come after we have been there. A couple times in the last six weeks or so we have cooked supper over the fire. I hate to abandon it as a destination for us but I’m wondering just how much damage we are doing. Again tracks are there but if they are coming at midnight instead of five thirty that obviously does me no good.

I also can take a much longer trail that loops me in from the back side instead of walking straight from the house.

I am very cautious how I position myself. There are race horses across the road that I would have to go bankrupt if I accidentally shot one. I pretty much only feel safe shooting down hill from west to east due to houses, horses and geography.

I think I’m going to visit my cousins spot over Christmas as well since he is just mowing them down.
 
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You might ask Santa for a new ground blind! Set it up in the right area for a safe shot, brush it in to make it look more natural, if there isn't already a kind of brushed in place you can put it behind, secure it (Don't want it flying away in our OK winds) and leave it and eventually they get used to it being there.... Also you need to throw a little corn out- broadcast it so they have to look for it, but don't pour it in a pile, where you can get a safe shot. This along with the water might get them used to coming in before dark or possibly in the mornings.
 
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