Trail cam use on public land is a totally different deal than trail cam use on private land. I don't do the public land thing.

The guy I hunted elk with had 4 cell cams in the National Forest I thought that was crazy but he had no issue with it said he knew the risk. SMH

I’m not putting my Spartans on public land, lol. Walmart cameras maybe. I don’t hunt public land too much anymore. I might go back to it one day, but have enough deer that need taken I don’t have time.

I just flat out enjoy getting pics from cell cams, they capture some really cool things you wouldn't see otherwise

It's hard to scout most of my backwoods duck hunting places without screwing up the birds and flushing them out. The camera helps out immensely in that regard

I like to know whats going on at my patch so I tend to check on things with trail cams. Not just for the deer but also bird and the predator situation. When I see coyotes on my trail cams, i get after them again. Stuff like that and just enjoying the sights they provide me with

Trail cams are good for all things, not just deer.

For me, it all started with the old TrailTimers. Remember those? Then it was on to the Deer Cam if I remember the name correctly. I still have one out in the garage. Those were 35mm film cameras you had to yank the film from and run to the drugstore to get developed. I wasted a lot of money on film for what few good pictures they captured.

Then it was on to homebrews. Guys hacked digital cameras and made a cottage industry out of it. It was a vast improvement but our only option was white flash. Still better than 35mm film.

Then came an explosion of options that continue to get better every year. I'm nervously running three cellular cameras right now. Bear have a knack for sniffing them out and ripping them off the tree. Gets expensive. So far they've only flipped two of them upside down.

Posco, there’s some companies still offering the white flash. I’ve tested the “flash” from the stand without realizing it. I had deer all around my stand late one evening and didn’t feel like sitting until they left, but didn’t want them watching me climb down either. I would flick my headlamp on and off at them thinking they’d sorta move off without really spooking too bad. Those fools paid it absolutely no attention what so ever. I finally would turn it on for a few seconds then turn it off, still paid no attention to it. That leads to me, unless that deer was within a few feet of the flash, it didn’t spook them. Lightning and falling stars happen regularly at night.

Back to trail cam uses, I stuck one on a Gopher Tortoise den and learned a lot after a weeks worth of pics.

I’m hoping to one day find a turkey or quail nest to put one over. That would be very interesting to document.

I used to set them up but have found hunting more enjoyable without them: You never know what is out there, Not waiting for one certain buck to show up, No wondering if that buck has been killed by someone else, Not disappointed if the buck you have seen on camera is shot by someone else. Just go out, hunt, and shoot what you feel like.

I go in straks with camera useage

I know several guys around here who will not hunt, at all, unless they have a picture of a deer of a certain size.
Crazy.
They really think they get a picture of every buck out there I reckon.

I’m NOT a deer guy, so no dog in the race for me.

Hard time believing you don’t hunt deer when you posted the grandson with one figured you hunted them also. Would have lost a lot of money on that bet

My buddy runs cameras down in MO I’ve hunted there several times in recent years very few good sized deer on camera but I go anyway because it’s about time with friends more then getting a big deer. If I don’t get my buck it’s no big deal I’m past that stage of hunting now my doe is in the freezer the buck is optional.

I have 20 cameras out, because I like the pictures I get. After 20 years of running cameras I've yet to kill a buck I have a picture of. I run them year round just for fun.

I have a fifteen second video of a dog chasing a deer. The warden told me that was the first time he had video evidence like that to back up a complaint. The owner got his dogs under control after that.

I like trail cams but am not hard core at putting them out. But without them I wouldnt have known this guy was around and came in the woods an hour before I walked the same trail. On the down side it will be hard now to shoot a smaller one.

They can be used for more than deer. My son is moving back to the plantation and this is the beginning of his driveway…


They can be great security cameras as well.

They let their dogs run all your property here in Virginia. They think all deer Belong to them
Nothing you can do about it either.

What ya doing in the woods pre-dawn in March......listening for spring gobblers?

Checking the camera's is like christmas every time,you never know what will be on them.Last year I finally got a picture of a nice drop tine buck during hunting season.I have not seen him on camera yet this year,I make a mock scrape every year in the same spot.Oct 30th to Nov 2nd I usally get 2 to 3 really good buck working the scrape.The drop tine was Nov 15th last year just walking by the scrape in the middle of the night.