Does anyone scout anymore?

[Bowguy 1]

Seems cameras are all the rage. I believe it can hurt you if done unproperly as it seems most do. Long range locating w binos is safer and cameras only tell you what's in their sight.

Limits your odds imo

[Jeremy K]

I would love to, I just don't have the time to drive 2 hours to watch the deer move , I just look for heavy trails and set cameras nearby and trails leading to the heavier traffic area. So that's a no for me.

Edited June 30, 2016 by Jeremy K

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Seems cameras are all the rage. I believe it can hurt you if done unproperly as it seems most do. Long range locating w binos is safer and cameras only tell you what's in their sight.

Limits your odds imo

Bingo!!!  No cam's here. A mature buck will catch you every time. I am talking the real mature bucks that do not give second chances. There has to be a pile of scent left around them.

Now if a guy could put one up say on the edge/corner of  Bean/Alfalfa field and get long range, wide angle shots and leave it alone for 3 months that may give a good pic of whats in the area. With the way most bucks disperse during the rut many bucks killed are ones that never showed up on the cam's.

[phade]

Every buck I've killed in the past 5-6 seasons I have on camera - including a 6.5 year old according to deerage's tooth results.

 

Just because I use cameras doesn't mean I don't scout. Many of the places cams are run are places where glassing isn't possible. I average between one and two days of scouting for every one day of hunting in a given year. This year has been the lowest for me by far.

Edited June 30, 2016 by phade

[LET EM GROW]

I try to check fields occasionally, but i mainly rely on cameras and my knowledge of the land and what it has to offer. I know where all the good trails and the food sources are on my land.. I try not to go into the woods too much or venture off the main path for the reason of just keeping pressure off of any deer for that matter. I do run cameras, but they tend to stay on the "edges" or easier to access spots, or on a route to and from a stand when fall closes in... very rarely will i put a cam near a bedding area or deep into the timber.. unless i do not plan on checking it for a long time. The neighbors around me tend to be in the woods way too much, so i try to leave my property calm as can be.. 

 

I have a 6.5 and a 7.5yr old buck that do not seem to like cameras much at all.. they both are always very cautious when in front of them (which is not very often) and never stick around for long. i know they are there bc you can catch them out in front of the cam a bit when a different deer triggers it. They know its there... but every deer acts differently.

 

I had a big pretty 10 pt from 2011 and 2012 that loved getting his picture taken, ive got hundreds and hundreds of him. He was more pattern able than any deer I have seen in my life.. to my misfortune i missed and only scuffed belly hair and the neighbor wounded and lost him the following fall.. 

[Uncle Nicky]

I don't really see the need to, I hunt the same parcels every year, I know where to put stands, the deer are always in the same areas. I don't put out cameras either, I'm not targeting any specific deer, I'll shoot the first legal one that walks by.

[jjb4900]

I don't really see the need to, I hunt the same parcels every year, I know where to put stands, the deer are always in the same areas. I don't put out cameras either, I'm not targeting any specific deer, I'll shoot the first legal one that walks by.

exactly what I do....aside from a quick check a weekend or two before the season, I don't do anything else.

[stoneam2006]

I don't really see the need to, I hunt the same parcels every year, I know where to put stands, the deer are always in the same areas. I don't put out cameras either, I'm not targeting any specific deer, I'll shoot the first legal one that walks by.

Yep that's it for me too even stateland been hunting same pieces my whole life

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[Renegade Hunter]

I will walk a new piece of property in the summer time to figure out main runs, bedding areas and food sources. Once I have hunted it a while and know the property I don't feel the need to go in and scout year after year. Other than that I stay out and scout it as I hunt. Looking for rubs, scrapes, etc. I do use a camera occasionally.

[Chris B]

 I believe it can hurt you if done unproperly as it seems most do.

 

I hunt almost all the same stands year after year, and I do have a couple cameras out. 1 overlooking a food plot, and the other overlooks the corner of a field where the deer funnel into. But I will also say that I scout a lot. Even when I am not officially scouting, I am still scouting. I'll use those scouting trips to see if I need to throw a stand in a new hotspot, mostly. I also use my hunting trips as real-time scouting. I have moved my stands 60-100 yards after hunting a couple times and witnessing them doing things a little different, with success.

 

Now just out of curiosity, what do you consider to be improper use? Or better yet, if you were to teach someone the "right way" to use trail cams, what would you tell them? This is out of pure curiosity.

[Uptown Redneck]

Now forced to hunt public land I have walked/scouted the area a few weeks before the season began, found what looked to be a good spot for when the deer get pressured by other hunters. Sat there a few times but being the season was as warm as it was decided to do more fishing then sitting in the woods hoping for a deer to walk by. In full disclosure I much prefer fishing then sitting in the woods. 

[moog5050]

It would seem to me that scouting is more critical when hunting large parcels or state land (or new to you land).  If you hunt the same small parcels year after year, extensive scouting might not help much and may hurt by constant intrusions on the deer.  Scout while prepping stands/while hunting on the small parcels and leave a few MMS cams for inventory.  Seems to work ok.

 

Phade and I have been hunting the same small parcels together for 3 seasons now and I am just fine with this year's decision to cut back on entering the properties until its time and monitor with cams.

 

Just realized that the OP may be comparing cams to glassing.  Obviously glassing does not have the same concerns with intruding on the land, but is not practical for many parcels.

Edited June 30, 2016 by moog5050

[Bowguy 1]

I hunt almost all the same stands year after year, and I do have a couple cameras out. 1 overlooking a food plot, and the other overlooks the corner of a field where the deer funnel into. But I will also say that I scout a lot. Even when I am not officially scouting, I am still scouting. I'll use those scouting trips to see if I need to throw a stand in a new hotspot, mostly. I also use my hunting trips as real-time scouting. I have moved my stands 60-100 yards after hunting a couple times and witnessing them doing things a little different, with success.

Now just out of curiosity, what do you consider to be improper use? Or better yet, if you were to teach someone the "right way" to use trail cams, what would you tell them? This is out of pure curiosity.

I'm by no means bashing camera guys. If I was to recommend Id be against but that's just me. Id much rather scout a bunch of areas from afar n guys using same stands to me Id say are "stunting" themselves.

If someone was committed to camera use Id say put it in an area you could get in/out of undetected. That could be a feeding area or whatever but you need to check them outside of deer movement or imminent deer movement. After work or early Say mornings like guys by me do is too near deer travel n I feel they may see or smell you. All about stealth. Throw a calf rope on a dogs neck n watch what happens next time you pick up rope. Animals learn, easide to hunt when they don't know you're after them

[Jeremy K]

I get my pictures texted straight to my phone ,no more in and out of the hunting area. Thanks phade!

[dbHunterNY]

i use cameras and scout the way you mentioned at distance with binos.  last season i got every buck known to be killed on the property and neighboring properties on camera.  there were 5 of them i know of.  3 of them i passed up.  buck i took with a bow i took two days/sits of scouting and having him do the same thing at about 400 yards out.  went in mid day on my sit after that with a summit climber.  arrowed him at what was probably 23 yards.  it's usually not that easy but i scouted and went in with a plan knowing timing and wind were right.  not just to not get busted but that also matched when he showed up and apparently felt safe.  i'll take all the help i can get.  cell cams i think are the ultimate tool.  I'm just probably too cheap when it comes to cams to get and use one.  i do admit though i could use and almost always accept all the help i can get.

[NFA-ADK]

NO but I will at one point, I think.

 

I only have 137 cams set up now, I have 50 more to go.  If you hike Moose River I will have you on film!  Not really but is this the way people will scout in the future as cams become cheaper?  No hunting needed just go to cam # 47 a half hour before dark to kill a 12 pt buck we named DORKY because he is so easy to kill?  (Now that we have him on film!)

 

Seems like cheating to me but they are fun!   One day I I will play with them but for now I will keep on hunting and scouting at the same time.  Seems like more fun NOT knowing what is out in the woods.   JMO 

 

Not trying to bash cam users I just wonder if they will get out of control when they are the size of a flashlight at 10$ a piece and transmit everything over the internet.

[growalot]

I have around 40 combination of stands, blinds, shooting houses.on just 73 acres and I couldn't use them all if I tried i n  one season. Try I do though and they are set up in zones around the place and each zone has a couple of groupings to play wind and entry direction. The buck I got out of the swamp was a stand I hadn't used in 3 yrs, but I had been in the area clearing brush and clearing trails several times within days of shooting him.

You just can't make blanket statements on deer reactions because they act differently according to the areas and activities they are use to, that includes your mature buck as well. Believe it or not they all have different "personalities" as well.

[growalot]

 

No hunting needed just go to cam # 47 a half hour before dark to kill a 12 pt buck we named DORKY because he is so easy to kill?  (Now that we have him on film!)

 

Now you've seen mine and many others cam pics before and during hunting season and know that statement is inaccurate. I think just once I have shot a buck I have seen on camera,last years gun buck actually and he was shot a half mile from where I got the picture.

[NFA-ADK]

Again not trying to bash and I know deer have different reactions to what is going on in there woods.  Just saying is this how future hunters will scout.  Look at Deer and deer hunting Drury outdoors, they basically know the location and path that every deer takes and have it logged. 

 

Not really hunting when you can track them from bed to feed to where they look for doe is my point.  How many cams is too much. 

 

If I did put out 200 cams and was able to take a monster buck from the area does that mean I earned it or did the cams do the work for me?  Just wondering how much is to much?  Do you think I would hunt the same way if I knew a deer crossed an area most days at spot B?  Kind of makes the decision of where to hunt much less of and instinct and knowledge vs what the cams show me where I should be.

 

Sorry Bowguy1 did not mean to hijack your thread, I will leave it at that.  

[Bowguy 1]

Again not trying to bash and I know deer have different reactions to what is going on in there woods. Just saying is this how future hunters will scout. Look at Deer and deer hunting Drury outdoors, they basically know the location and path that every deer takes and have it logged.

Not really hunting when you can track them from bed to feed to where they look for doe is my point. How many cams is too much.

If I did put out 200 cams and was able to take a monster buck from the area does that mean I earned it or did the cams do the work for me? Just wondering how much is to much? Do you think I would hunt the same way if I knew a deer crossed an area most days at spot B? Kind of makes the decision of where to hunt much less of and instinct and knowledge vs what the cams show me where I should be.

Sorry Bowguy1 did not mean to hijack your thread, I will leave it at that.

No worries bud. I feel the same. In NJ where I live baiting is even legal. It's despicable. Putting out feed, your camera telling them what time you need to be there n than resting a crossbow on a rail at a bait pile is no different than shooting a dog at a water bowl. No sport in knowing it all or doing nothing to get something. Not saying all camera guys bait but how is it Gander Mt is in NY where bait is illegal yet they're always almost out of stock?

Not passing judgement just feel it's detrimental to the sport and actually learning it.

When I was a kid my hunter Ed instuctor told me it took an average of 4 years to kill the first deer w bow and averaged 100 hours between deer for a good bowhunter. I stayed in the woods as long as possible trying to reach the 100 hours. I wonder how many guys or gals would do that today?

Ask people to read a compass, read a map, God forbid sharpen a knife, butcher a deer or carry a stand. It's a different world n to me it is enough.

Again no disrespect to anyone this is just how I feel.

I tell folks who use only technology to "hunt" they're hurting themselves. What happens when one goes out of state w a week to get it done? Where do they look? What do they look for?

[growalot]

You guys do know that deer pick up patterns and sometimes in a given area they will have more than one pattern...especially buck going into the season...For instance I had a crazy large buck come by me one evening didn't shoot it within a few days he was shot a few miles away on a camp ground...I also find that the deer here will take 3-4 days to do their rotation around the hill...between me neighbors the UPS guy and mail ladies, I know that most will have a 2-3 mile roaming area on either side of me and they are usually elliptical in nature. Yes believe it or not there are quite a few people here that enjoy letting me know what they are seeing so I can give them an idea of what I see happening. Doe patterns aren't always quite as large but some times when we have a particular doe(flop eared,crazy roman nose, most of tail gone...we find the area they travel gets fairly large as the fawns grow.

So cameras are nice and I do have many...hey free for me...but they are not some magical flute that will put a specific deer in front of you at a specific time...any more than a food plot will. At most it will let you know whats roaming the area and at worse bum you out that only your camera ever saw them.

I hunt the wind over anything else I could use to help me. JMO and  many years of observations.

 

PS...so many ASSUMPTIONS in that  above post Bowguy

Edited June 30, 2016 by growalot

[Jeremy K]

My stands get put up based on where i see the deer and signs when im out hunting , i put up cameras to see what is around when im not there. I'll put my cell cam out where my stand is and then i have 2 more about 100-200 yards from my stand. We already know where the deer travel ,i just like to see whats around when we're not there. 

Edited June 30, 2016 by Jeremy K

[phade]

Again not trying to bash and I know deer have different reactions to what is going on in there woods.  Just saying is this how future hunters will scout.  Look at Deer and deer hunting Drury outdoors, they basically know the location and path that every deer takes and have it logged. 

 

Not really hunting when you can track them from bed to feed to where they look for doe is my point.  How many cams is too much. 

 

If I did put out 200 cams and was able to take a monster buck from the area does that mean I earned it or did the cams do the work for me?  Just wondering how much is to much?  Do you think I would hunt the same way if I knew a deer crossed an area most days at spot B?  Kind of makes the decision of where to hunt much less of and instinct and knowledge vs what the cams show me where I should be.

 

Sorry Bowguy1 did not mean to hijack your thread, I will leave it at that.  

 

I set cams where I believe the sign suggests I set them. I rarely if ever set a cam where the sign suggests I don't - and when I do, it's because I want to rule out that I believe it is not where I need to be.

 

That statement just doesn't ring true to me. People who set cams willy nilly generally get willy nilly on camera. People who set cams in the right spot because they can read the signs/scouting info, do get the bucks they're after on cam and sometimes, on the wall.

 

Drury brother want people to think their experts because that impacts what they do for a living.

[DirtTime]

If I owned my own land and it was large enough to hunt on I would use trail cams. But, I would still walk the property to see what was going on live. I have always scouted when possible. I enjoy the time spent finding scrapes, rubs and locating bedding areas.

[Bowguy 1]

Growalot there are zero assumptions in my posts. Everything I said is based on facts n my interpretations. I speak very straight n when written w no voice inflections it can be difficult to know what I mean. You're not the first person.

I respect what you are saying though, you always have good comments n speak your mind as well. It's what we're here for