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Trail Camera's Spooking Deer

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Somewhere along the line, he has had to associate a camera with danger. Yet he was posing for them in February of this year. Makes me wonder what cams my neighbors are running and how they go about it.
 

xbowguy

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
29,632
234
Licking Co. Ohio
Thank You Chuck! This video is helping a lot. I had already been thinking about hanging camera's higher (like 8' up) on a hinged board to see if there was a difference. I bet there will be a noticeable difference.
 

Mao

Member
1,695
109
Coshocton, OH
This thread has really got me thinking. I have 8 cams that I run. I have 4 out right now. I have 4 sitting in my garage. There are 4 "unmolested" spots that I have not set foot in yet this year and was thinking of putting those 4 cams up in those areas. After reading this I am wondering if I would just be better off to leave them in the garage and just go hunt those areas when the wind is right and the conditions are good. These are spots I take my climber and try to slip in and slip out. What do you guys think?
 

cotty16

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
This thread has really got me thinking. I have 8 cams that I run. I have 4 out right now. I have 4 sitting in my garage. There are 4 "unmolested" spots that I have not set foot in yet this year and was thinking of putting those 4 cams up in those areas. After reading this I am wondering if I would just be better off to leave them in the garage and just go hunt those areas when the wind is right and the conditions are good. These are spots I take my climber and try to slip in and slip out. What do you guys think?

I posted on another thread about how much I love the surprise attack if you know of a proven spot. My issue is, I am always looking for that new spot to give me an extra edge and I think it costs me in the end. I am not sure why I don't stick with some of my proven spots and use the surprise attack method.

I'd say go for it and if a few sits in there do not produce then maybe put the cams out as you hunt elsewhere for awhile. Or, take a cam with you on a day you intend to hunt and hang it after you finish hunting so that you can check it only when you are hunting that spot.
 

Mao

Member
1,695
109
Coshocton, OH
I posted on another thread about how much I love the surprise attack if you know of a proven spot. My issue is, I am always looking for that new spot to give me an extra edge and I think it costs me in the end. I am not sure why I don't stick with some of my proven spots and use the surprise attack method.

I'd say go for it and if a few sits in there do not produce then maybe put the cams out as you hunt elsewhere for awhile. Or, take a cam with you on a day you intend to hunt and hang it after you finish hunting so that you can check it only when you are hunting that spot.

Mike, I read that thread where you were successful on your surprise attack. That is another reason that got me thinking I should just stay out and only go to hunt it. If I am going to put a camera there, I think your right that just taking it with me and hanging it then and checking it when I hunt would probably be the best idea. Thanks for the input.
 

cotty16

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
Mike, I read that thread where you were successful on your surprise attack. That is another reason that got me thinking I should just stay out and only go to hunt it. If I am going to put a camera there, I think your right that just taking it with me and hanging it then and checking it when I hunt would probably be the best idea. Thanks for the input.

That one time was not the only time. Two years later I had a hunch about a spot for a morning hunt, but I had never really been in there other than shed hunting. I decided to give it a shot with the climber during the rut. I had a chocolate horned 8 come in and hang out behind some monkey vines making a scrape. I got impatient waiting for a good shot and unleashed one at 35 yards and it sailed right over his back. He stayed there making his scrape for about 5 more minutes, but I never did get another shot off. As he wandered off I had another 8 come in just below me. He was a great buck and a bit bigger than the first. I shot him and he mule kicked and took off. Right after he ran off I had another 8 and a 10 come in and stand exactly where the one I shot was standing. They sized each other up and went opposite directions and all I could do was stand there in my climber in disbelief and what was going on.

Oh, and the bitch of it all? My expandable never opened and I never found the deer I hit. It was a pass through, but I think low brisket hit and when I found the arrow at the imapct spot it was covered in that fatty slime with a closed broadhead. Bummer...

So, I should have been 2-2 on the surprise attacks. Of course, alot of luck plays into that as well.

I was a bit rattled that morning to say the least! Oh, and that 10 that came in? He was an absolute giant! I was just sick after that whole chain of events, but man was it exciting. Best rut morning I've ever had.
 
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Mao

Member
1,695
109
Coshocton, OH
That one time was not the only time. Two years later I had a hunch about a spot for a morning hunt, but I had never really been in there other than shed hunting. I decided to give it a shot with the climber during the rut. I had a chocolate horned 8 come in and hang out behind some monkey vines making a scrape. I got impatient waiting for a good shot and unleashed one at 35 yards and it sailed right over his back. He stayed there making his scrape for about 5 more minutes, but I never did get another shot off. As he wandered off I had another 8 come in just below me. He was a great buck and a bit bigger than the first. I shot him and he mule kicked and took off. Right after he ran off I had another 8 and a 10 come in and stand exactly where the one I shot was standing. They sized each other up and went opposite directions and all I could do was stand there in my climber in disbelief and what was going on.

Oh, and the bitch of it all? My expandable never opened and I never found the deer I hit. It was a pass through, but I think low brisket hit and when I found the arrow at the imapct spot it was covered in that fatty slime with a closed broadhead. Bummer...

So, I should have been 2-2 on the surprise attacks. Of course, alot of luck plays into that as well.

I was a bit rattled that morning to say the least! Oh, and that 10 that came in? He was an absolute giant! I was just sick after that whole chain of events, but man was it exciting. Best rut morning I've ever had.

Wow! That is a heart breaking story man. Exciting, but rough.
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
247
I have a somewhat unusual view on trail cams. After having fooled with BECs for a number of years, I decided to go "old school". Why? Because I don't want to know every deer around. Last year, I didn't have ANY cameras out, just relied on scouting to nail down a good buck. I even made a post on here that I had one figured out "old school". I never did tell the rest of that story, but I felt certain he was a good one, and I felt certain I knew where he was spending a good bit of time. I snuck in there, shot him in his bed, but I over-estimated the yardage and shot him high. The first camera I put up last year was to get confirmation he was doing OK, and he was. Point being, for me that was a lot of fun, not knowing for sure what he looked like etc. Mrex and I had this very conversation just the other day. He wants to know there is a deer on a property he wants to kill. His standards are much higher than mine. He wants 150+, and I'll shoot a 130 any day. I've never hung a camera in an area and not got a pic of a 130 or better, so I'm pretty confident I can get one big enough for me about anywhere - I just don't really want to KNOW what's in the neighborhood. To me, it's like peeking in a Christmas present.

To each their own, but I don't think cameras spook deer bad enough to make them leave an area. If they did, they would just be running off from your neighbor's camera, and the next one, and the next...
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
247
This is what I like about trailcams...I know he was fine.
 

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