Would you check someone else’s trail cam?

[fishngamereaper]

I predict camera's get prohibited during hunting season in the next two years.
And outside of season will require name and contact info during use.

Kind of odd topic but seems where this thread is going.

[Feathernfurr]

I would argue cell cameras in the hands of inexperienced hunters don’t kill big bucks, but experienced/hard hunters with cell cameras absolutely do. I personally know of 3 p&y bucks killed this year because cell cameras give the hunters info to make game time decisions that they wouldn’t have made otherwise.

Sure, you’re not seeing a bunch of booners killed because of cell cameras, but 4.5-5.5yo that are good bucks that 95% of the public aren’t passing up are. You pull enough of those off the landscape and eventually you don’t have booners anymore.

That last line though can still be achieved by running cameras in the offseason for inventory then being pulled during active season.


As I said, some situations it’s not as impactful. Big migratory here’s of elk and mule deer are definitely less impacted. Whitetails will cover a lot of ground during the rut, but generally have a smaller home range and have core areas during certain times of year. I think in regions where elk and mule deer don’t migrate they’re just as susceptible as WT. I’ve seen the increase in harvest due to cell cameras within my own group of friends/family. Arizona, Kansas, and Utah have all banned cameras during the hunting season. Those two things tell me that I’m not the only one seeing similar impacts.

[TimberMuleys]

Why does going in blind mean that you have to shoot the first critter you see? I hunt lots of areas with tight cover and nocturnal bucks ( till rut) that doesn't mean I am blasting every small buck or bull on the mountain.

I heard it summed up well on a podcast somewhere, a camera doesn't do much to help you find or kill a mature buck or bull, you still need to place it where those kind of animals live, and then hunt them correctly ( the discussion was not cell cam specific ) the real benefit lies in the fact that you don't have to waste time till the opportunity knocks to know what the critter is. Spending a whole season for an opportunity at a mature critter may take all season, if that buck is 155 or 190 there is no way to know and for some folks that can be defeating.   

  I don't mess with cameras. But tend to like bones outlook, I am pretty good about spotting them before they see me, but when they do I tend to be frustrated and cranky. Kind of spoils my good time.

  I do think if some of these guys could get on the same page, It might help long term. I mean in one drainage I found 4 cams this season, located owners of 2 (different ) at a trail head I never showed up on their cams, and they knew of at least one other camera owner. They were all chasing the bull I killed and had pics. Seems like they could have compared notes and saved a boat load of camera work and time. In some areas the camera density just gets really high and guys are all hunting the same critter IMO. Maybe not tho....

I didn’t say going in blind meant you have to shoot the first thing you see, but I think it leads to it in some cases. I used to not do any cameras, and just knocked down the first good 4 point I saw. Now that I know what lives in an area, I will pass every deer I see unless it’s my target buck. I know lots of people who don’t shoot anything all year because they are targeting a specific deer or elk, therefore, allowing more animals to get one year closer to maturity.


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[Rainier10]

I’ll be an anomaly in this one. I don’t really care if you check my cameras. If you’re in an area I’m hunting, you probably have cameras up and are seeing all the same things I see. Checking my camera is 1000x better than sabotaging it or stealing it.

I have checked one other persons camera in my life, about a decade ago, over a giant pile of corn in a state where you’re not allowed to bait. With that being said I hunt an extremely high pressure area for whitetails these days, and there’s about 10-15 guys that hunt it very hard. We’re all friends now, but I know for a fact that a good amount of those guys have checked other people’s cards.

This thread may give that idea that people don’t check other people’s cards, but I don’t think that’s the reality.

Personally I have no interest in checking someone else’s card these days. I wouldn’t hesitate to though, circumstantially. If I’m hunting private and no one else is supposed to be there, I’m checking it. If I’ve shot an animal and I were to cross a camera while I’m trying to recover the animal, I absolutely would check it.

I'm trying to grasp the reality of because your trying to recover an animal. It suddenly gives you more of a right to check someone's camera. Fire off a shot or two,yup I can check it now.... 😂

I also agree a tiny bit that reality is different than most response on this topic. Kinda the reason I own 200.00+ dollars in cable locks.
Have spent countless hours and weld wire putting lock boxes together.

Easy, I have a responsibility to do everything in my power to recover an animal. I big game hunt exclusively archery. Weird things happen, animals duck shots, broadheads don’t deploy, vegetation deflects arrows, a million other possibilities. I’ve blood trailed a couple hundred archery kills between my own and my core family/friend group. I’ve seen just as many that don’t make sense as I have that make sense. Case in point, this year I shot a WT that I was 100% certain was high and back. I backed out and gave the buck 12 hours with the thought that I had most likely hit liver, if anything lethal, despite good blood for the first 40 yards of the trail. In that time span, despite cold temps, we lost 3-4 inches of snow. The blood trail was almost completely gone, even the 40 yards that I had previously seen. Luckily we managed to follow some discolored snow and tracks to recover the buck in 110 yards with a double lung shot. However, had we not found him in that time span, and completely lost blood, we would have resorted to gridding/body searching. At which point, if I was to cross a camera that I thought potentially captured a photo of the deer I shot and given me any insight to the lethality of the shot, I would check that card.

But wouldn't it be responsibility to setup your own camera.
If you make a bad shot , isn't that on you.

He is saying if he is trailing a wounded deer and comes across a camera he will check it to see if the wounded deer is on camera. I actually had a hunter do this on my private property. Shot a deer on my place, checked the camera, deleted the photos and never found the deer. I had the whole thing on film from another camera he never saw.

[Feathernfurr]

I’ll be an anomaly in this one. I don’t really care if you check my cameras. If you’re in an area I’m hunting, you probably have cameras up and are seeing all the same things I see. Checking my camera is 1000x better than sabotaging it or stealing it.

I have checked one other persons camera in my life, about a decade ago, over a giant pile of corn in a state where you’re not allowed to bait. With that being said I hunt an extremely high pressure area for whitetails these days, and there’s about 10-15 guys that hunt it very hard. We’re all friends now, but I know for a fact that a good amount of those guys have checked other people’s cards.

This thread may give that idea that people don’t check other people’s cards, but I don’t think that’s the reality.

Personally I have no interest in checking someone else’s card these days. I wouldn’t hesitate to though, circumstantially. If I’m hunting private and no one else is supposed to be there, I’m checking it. If I’ve shot an animal and I were to cross a camera while I’m trying to recover the animal, I absolutely would check it.

I'm trying to grasp the reality of because your trying to recover an animal. It suddenly gives you more of a right to check someone's camera. Fire off a shot or two,yup I can check it now.... 😂

I also agree a tiny bit that reality is different than most response on this topic. Kinda the reason I own 200.00+ dollars in cable locks.
Have spent countless hours and weld wire putting lock boxes together.

Easy, I have a responsibility to do everything in my power to recover an animal. I big game hunt exclusively archery. Weird things happen, animals duck shots, broadheads don’t deploy, vegetation deflects arrows, a million other possibilities. I’ve blood trailed a couple hundred archery kills between my own and my core family/friend group. I’ve seen just as many that don’t make sense as I have that make sense. Case in point, this year I shot a WT that I was 100% certain was high and back. I backed out and gave the buck 12 hours with the thought that I had most likely hit liver, if anything lethal, despite good blood for the first 40 yards of the trail. In that time span, despite cold temps, we lost 3-4 inches of snow. The blood trail was almost completely gone, even the 40 yards that I had previously seen. Luckily we managed to follow some discolored snow and tracks to recover the buck in 110 yards with a double lung shot. However, had we not found him in that time span, and completely lost blood, we would have resorted to gridding/body searching. At which point, if I was to cross a camera that I thought potentially captured a photo of the deer I shot and given me any insight to the lethality of the shot, I would check that card.

But wouldn't it be responsibility to setup your own camera.
If you make a bad shot , isn't that on you.

He is saying if he is trailing a wounded deer and comes across a camera he will check it to see if the wounded deer is on camera. I actually had a hunter do this on my private property. Shot a deer on my place, checked the camera, deleted the photos and never found the deer. I had the whole thing on film from another camera he never saw.

To be clear, I wasn’t that guy 😂

Hunter399, I had cameras in that area, he actually ran by one but only got his hinds legs and a blood spurt on the ground in frame. If I think I’ve wounded an animal I’m exhausting all legal means to recover it. I would expect other hunters to do the same, I would much rather them check my camera and find an animal they’re tracking than it potentially go to waste. Of course if I make a bad shot it’s on me, chit happens.  Any hunter who claims to have never made a bad shot is either a liar or hasn’t shot very many animals.

[hunter399]

I’ll be an anomaly in this one. I don’t really care if you check my cameras. If you’re in an area I’m hunting, you probably have cameras up and are seeing all the same things I see. Checking my camera is 1000x better than sabotaging it or stealing it.

I have checked one other persons camera in my life, about a decade ago, over a giant pile of corn in a state where you’re not allowed to bait. With that being said I hunt an extremely high pressure area for whitetails these days, and there’s about 10-15 guys that hunt it very hard. We’re all friends now, but I know for a fact that a good amount of those guys have checked other people’s cards.

This thread may give that idea that people don’t check other people’s cards, but I don’t think that’s the reality.

Personally I have no interest in checking someone else’s card these days. I wouldn’t hesitate to though, circumstantially. If I’m hunting private and no one else is supposed to be there, I’m checking it. If I’ve shot an animal and I were to cross a camera while I’m trying to recover the animal, I absolutely would check it.

I'm trying to grasp the reality of because your trying to recover an animal. It suddenly gives you more of a right to check someone's camera. Fire off a shot or two,yup I can check it now.... 😂

I also agree a tiny bit that reality is different than most response on this topic. Kinda the reason I own 200.00+ dollars in cable locks.
Have spent countless hours and weld wire putting lock boxes together.

Easy, I have a responsibility to do everything in my power to recover an animal. I big game hunt exclusively archery. Weird things happen, animals duck shots, broadheads don’t deploy, vegetation deflects arrows, a million other possibilities. I’ve blood trailed a couple hundred archery kills between my own and my core family/friend group. I’ve seen just as many that don’t make sense as I have that make sense. Case in point, this year I shot a WT that I was 100% certain was high and back. I backed out and gave the buck 12 hours with the thought that I had most likely hit liver, if anything lethal, despite good blood for the first 40 yards of the trail. In that time span, despite cold temps, we lost 3-4 inches of snow. The blood trail was almost completely gone, even the 40 yards that I had previously seen. Luckily we managed to follow some discolored snow and tracks to recover the buck in 110 yards with a double lung shot. However, had we not found him in that time span, and completely lost blood, we would have resorted to gridding/body searching. At which point, if I was to cross a camera that I thought potentially captured a photo of the deer I shot and given me any insight to the lethality of the shot, I would check that card.

But wouldn't it be responsibility to setup your own camera.
If you make a bad shot , isn't that on you.

He is saying if he is trailing a wounded deer and comes across a camera he will check it to see if the wounded deer is on camera. I actually had a hunter do this on my private property. Shot a deer on my place, checked the camera, deleted the photos and never found the deer. I had the whole thing on film from another camera he never saw.

To be clear, I wasn’t that guy 😂

Hunter399, I had cameras in that area, he actually ran by one but only got his hinds legs and a blood spurt on the ground in frame. If I think I’ve wounded an animal I’m exhausting all legal means to recover it. I would expect other hunters to do the same, I would much rather them check my camera and find an animal they’re tracking than it potentially go to waste. Of course if I make a bad shot it’s on me, chit happens.  Any hunter who claims to have never made a bad shot is either a liar or hasn’t shot very many animals.

Very true Sir.
Got a thumbs up from me 👍
Off topic here.
Shot a buck,blood trail ,few far between.
Trailed him to private.Tried to gain permission.
Snow in the morning,melted by afternoon.
Anyway that buck will haunt me for the rest of my life.
I know I did the right thing,but what's right doesn't always seem right.
Don't blame ya , recovery is stressful.
Sometimes God will give ya a freezer full,other times not.

[LDennis24]

I predict camera's get prohibited during hunting season in the next two years.
And outside of season will require name and contact info during use.

Kind of odd topic but seems where this thread is going.

Yeah and when I go out hunting and start finding game cameras after it's deemed illegal I'm packing them out and trashing them. I'm with Bone on this topic.

[Feathernfurr]

I know the feeling Hunter399, the ones we lose sometimes stay with us more than the ones we get.

Ldennis24, whether is right or wrong, those laws will get followed pretty quick because hunters will definitely self regulate one another lol.

[blackveltbowhunter]

Why does going in blind mean that you have to shoot the first critter you see? I hunt lots of areas with tight cover and nocturnal bucks ( till rut) that doesn't mean I am blasting every small buck or bull on the mountain.

I heard it summed up well on a podcast somewhere, a camera doesn't do much to help you find or kill a mature buck or bull, you still need to place it where those kind of animals live, and then hunt them correctly ( the discussion was not cell cam specific ) the real benefit lies in the fact that you don't have to waste time till the opportunity knocks to know what the critter is. Spending a whole season for an opportunity at a mature critter may take all season, if that buck is 155 or 190 there is no way to know and for some folks that can be defeating.   

  I don't mess with cameras. But tend to like bones outlook, I am pretty good about spotting them before they see me, but when they do I tend to be frustrated and cranky. Kind of spoils my good time.

  I do think if some of these guys could get on the same page, It might help long term. I mean in one drainage I found 4 cams this season, located owners of 2 (different ) at a trail head I never showed up on their cams, and they knew of at least one other camera owner. They were all chasing the bull I killed and had pics. Seems like they could have compared notes and saved a boat load of camera work and time. In some areas the camera density just gets really high and guys are all hunting the same critter IMO. Maybe not tho....

I didn’t say going in blind meant you have to shoot the first thing you see, but I think it leads to it in some cases. I used to not do any cameras, and just knocked down the first good 4 point I saw. Now that I know what lives in an area, I will pass every deer I see unless it’s my target buck. I know lots of people who don’t shoot anything all year because they are targeting a specific deer or elk, therefore, allowing more animals to get one year closer to maturity.


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Gotcha. I guess my point was that anyone who wants to kill a bigger buck, with or without a trail cam, has the option to keep hunting till they find one.

[boneaddict]

There were a lot of big bucks that were never seen by man until cams came into play. Mostly whitetails.

[wadu1]

No never not my property, I have waived. One did intrigue me to get a closer look at it, it had a homemade anti-theft/bear box around it. Made from 1/4" steel and welded fixed to the tree with 1/2 lag bolts and 1/2 chain even the hinge pins were welded. Gave that camera a thumbs up 

[TimberMuleys]

There were a lot of big bucks that were never seen by man until cams came into play. Mostly whitetails.

But what is the problem with man knowing about these amazing cagey bucks? I personally don’t see the problem with it, through cameras we can learn a ton about how they tick and how they act. I mean, even the biologists use cameras for some studies. I just don’t think the cameras are the problem. I think if we want to get to the problem of not enough bucks, it’s not the 10 a year that are dying to guys with cell cams, it’s the thousands that are dying to winter, predators, vehicles, and habitat loss. I would be more for having a “cell cam permit” that ACTUALLY WENT to helping deer, than to just ban trail cams because “too many big buck are dying”


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[hunter399]

No never not my property, I have waived. One did intrigue me to get a closer look at it, it had a homemade anti-theft/bear box around it. Made from 1/4" steel and welded fixed to the tree with 1/2 lag bolts and 1/2 chain even the hinge pins were welded. Gave that camera a thumbs up 

Kinda the way I'm going for a spot or two.
Your gonna need a big sledge hammer to get into it.

[hunter399]

There were a lot of big bucks that were never seen by man until cams came into play. Mostly whitetails.

Ya ,you actually had to have tracking skills back then.
The knowledge to know,yup that's a big one.

[NOCK NOCK]

I predict camera's get prohibited during hunting season in the next two years.
And outside of season will require name and contact info during use.

Kind of odd topic but seems where this thread is going.

Yeah and when I go out hunting and start finding game cameras after it's deemed illegal I'm packing them out and trashing them. I'm with Bone on this topic.

So you'll be certain that those cams were for hunting purposes?  I know several folks who do not hunt but still love trail cams.  Also have heard of several school classes that use them in their outdoor ed class.
Just another form of photography.