How often do you..

[wooly]

Search. I've posted a fair share of my kills here.

Point still stands. Cams and their use can do more damage than good.

 

Ha- that's kinda the reply I was expecting. I was just playing dumb.

Maybe it's just your ego that gets in the way of your credability for me. That's ok... but you have to do better than to back it up with mediocracy and repetition of something you read in a book or see on tv.

 

My concern with your reply was the way you danced around the original topic of... "how often do you check your cams?"

Somehow you spun that into "this is how checking cams affects mature buck behavior", which had nothing to do with the price of beans in Mexico.

So, I'm curious what your answer to the original post is....that's all.

[phade]

There's no blanket answer. Sort of like asking what's your game plan for the next nfl team you coach. The object is the same but the plan depends on the team you're playing against.

I check cams on average much less in most situations. Typically if I am confiedent, my third check of the year is when I walk in to hunt.

[Cabin Fever]

I check my cams 1-2x/week. IF it bothers some deer, then so be it. I'm certainly NOT going into bedding areas and disturbing them either though! 

 

My kids and I are in the woods year round, doing something (looking for sheds, morels, leeks, scouting & hunting turkeys, camping, mowing the yard & fields, maintaining ATV paths, cutting firewood, pre-season scouting, looking for new stand locations, hanging & maintaining stands, trimming shooting lanes, target shooting, walking the ATV paths to check for trespassing, picking berries, hanging/checking cams, out for a walk to feed the skeeters, squirrel hunting, etc...). I own the land, pay my taxes, it is a year round camp/getaway, and this is how I get enjoyment from my property and justify it.  I don't have deep woods to hunt, where the deer probably would freak out over human odor. I'm surrounded by ag fields and an apple orchards, that get plenty of human activity of their own. I really don't think that my activity negatively effects the deer, as they are almost conditioned to the activity (sounds and smells). I'm sure they're aware that I'm there or been there, but I don't believe that's going to send them running for the next county. I'm quite sure guys kill mature bucks on state land, where there is plenty of hiking, biking, camping, screaming kids, etc... too.

 

Plus, when the rut is on, I'll get mature bucks, from God only knows how far away, cruizing my property and they don't give a snot what I did out there over the summer!   

 

If someone chooses to stay out of the woods until opening day of season, knock your socks off! Do what you feel is right and what you want to get out of it.

 

[WNYBuckHunter]

I check mine every 2 or 3 weeks. I keep mine out of bedding areas, etc for the most part. Im not using mine as much to pattern, Im just trying to take a bit of inventory. Typically, i keep mine on food sources, or right near them. Most places I hunt are farms, and human intrusion is pretty normal. I have pics of farm hands walking down a tractor road, and a mature buck going down the same trail a couple of hours later. Once hunting season rolls around, its a different story. Once the pressure is put on them, they turn into different animals.

[Doc]

Deer are super-adaptable and they know the difference between casual human activity, and the sneaky kind of predatory activity. Can regular consistent human activity change deer patterns? I wouldn't doubt it. So if cameras are being used to determine patterns, it could turn out that you are changing the very patterns that you think you are learning. I think that using cameras for checking out deer quantities and qualities in areas that you typically wouldn't hunt directly probably can't do any harm.

 

I find the camera activity to simply be another outdoors hobby. I get as big a kick out of getting a coyote picture as getting a picture of a buck. I try not to let my camera activity interfere with my hunting activities.

[Paula]

I find the camera activity to simply be another outdoors hobby. I get as big a kick out of getting a coyote picture as getting a picture of a buck. I try not to let my camera activity interfere with my hunting activities.

 

I agree, when i started getting pictures it was great. I then started logging them by doe/buck spot and date and time. I learned nothing from having my cameras out except what deer might be there. Other than that i think they are great entertainment that can be obsessive! Love them and want more someday

[BizCT]

I want to check my cams everyday lol, but I hold out and check them every 3 weeks. Now that I have cams in NY and CT, I have them on different 3 week patterns so I get to check cams more often.

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