How have trail cameras, especially cell cameras effected your hunting strategy? I have a request. Sit back for a second and think about how you USE to hunt and how you hunt NOW. The big question is, have our cameras made us lazy? Have they made us passive hunters? One thing is for certain, they are great tools for keeping an inventory of our deer herds. I have heard seasoned hunters say, “I don’t have any bucks on camera yet so I’m not going.” To me, that’s crazy! When have we become so dependent on technology that it effects our drive to be in the woods? This is coming from a personal perspective, this season we were getting pictures of a mature buck on camera only during first shooting light. I knew if he was showing regularly this had to be his core area for the time being. Keep in mind, we had corn scattered in front of the camera. Let’s be real, a lot of us use bait. I decided to hunt the afternoon to see if he changed up his pattern (and if I have to honest, I’m not a morning person). About thirty minutes before sundown, he steps out of the tall grass with vine wrapped antlers. He was walking in the opposite direction of my camera and corn. Long story short, I harvested my hit list buck that that afternoon. However, I wasn’t optimistic going into that hunt. Why? Because my camera told me otherwise. I had my mind made up he only visited this stand location at a specific time with information gathered by this wonderful technology we all love so much. And, I do love it.
Another story. Let me tell you about my friend and FDO staffer, Noel Evans. He just arrowed a Texas bruiser, 150 2/8” to be exact. This is what Noel had to say. “I pulled the SD card from my Reveal by Tactacam Friday and I finally had time to go through them. With a cell cam sometimes, you can miss a pic or two. September 10th through October 21st and 3,988 photos, not a single one of this guy! I was hoping to find ONE. I’ll just start calling him the “bonus buck!”” Noel and I discussed this trail cam theory and he had some great points. The upside, most of us are busy family-oriented people. The great thing is our cameras give us a glimpse of what stages our deer are in, in real time. Are they in bachelor groups? Are they chasing? For us, this can be a great time saver as it helps us determine our hunting strategy. The downside, when you aren’t getting the activity you are hoping for in a specific location it can detour you to hunt some place else. Noel actually hunted a different property because deer movement was slow. Yet, when he returned to his original area, he harvested his most recent buck. So back to this, how have trail cameras effected your hunting strategy? Have you missed your “bonus buck”? Let’s set up our cameras, because let’s be honest, how could we ever live without them now? But on the flip side, its time we take back our deer woods. Don’t allow your camera to determine your hunting success. Hunting is not only a skill but there is an element of luck. Being lazy won’t get you that bonus buck that’s been in your dreams. Go get him.
Blog Author
Ashley Nicholas is an avid outdoorswoman and a licensed medical aesthetician. Her passions include her faith, family, photography and the outdoors. Born and raised in the midlands of South Carolina, in 2015 Ashley moved west and started a family in Oklahoma with her husband, FDO staffer Adam Nicholas. Recently, Ashley and her family returned to the family farm in the Carolinas for a more self-sustaining lifestyle. Fun fact: Ashley recently started a bowhunting community to show admiration and appreciation to local bowhunters with hope to strike more bowhunting interest in her home state of South Carolina.
