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Not running any cams

NWOHhunter

Junior Member
879
58
NW Ohio
Hello, all you great people!!!

Last spring, I decided not to run cams and stay out of the two small 11-13 acre wood lots I hunt. In the years past, the previous years, I found myself going into the woods weekly or every three weeks during the summer to check the cams and to put some bait out. I would get tons of photos, but I never equated my cameras to me being successful. Deer were passing through my woods and didn't seem to be established. I wanted the deer to feel safe and comfortable in my woods. Part of me also felt like something was missing. I felt like I was sitting and waiting for a buck to come through, almost like a livestock auction. I wasn't growing as a hunter, but I was good at attracting deer to a small area. This feeling led to changes in my approach and philosophy toward hunting deer.

I am not putting this above other people's approaches; it was a personal decision/challenge. It was not an easy thing to do. Staying out of the woods made me feel like I was missing out on something! It did help get rid of the stressor of spending money on corn and batteries and fighting with the wife to find time to change the cards. I listened to podcasts, read articles on how to become a better hunter, and started to read deer signs, not just see signs. I spent a lot of time in those two woods in the spring and began to see patterns and possibilities that I had not observed before. For me, it was about a challenge and personal growth, then an opportunity to compete with other hunters. I would say that I had more opportunities to draw on a buck, had two shooter bucks within range, one made the right path choice, the other did not, and with some luck, I was able to seal the deal.

I plan not to run cameras again and use what I learned to hit the woods this year.

Just curious as to others' ideas, thoughts, or suggestions for not running cameras or running cameras and not trying to make it a whether this is the way to hunt.

I am looking to learn from others on here and grow. It comes down to personal preferences and what you are comfortable with, but we can always learn.
Thanks for your thoughts !!!
 

Sgt Fury

Sgt. Spellchecker
I run cameras to take inventory of what kinda bucks I have in my area. It makes it easier to pass a particular buck if you know there is a huge one roaming your woods. You can also keep tabs on the Turkey population, coyotes and even trespassers. I use cellular cams so I don’t need to check them often. When used with solar panels, you only need to change the batteries once a year. I’ll still run regular trail cams with sd cards…some I let soak from late winter until fall…others I’ll check weekly during the season as I bait/hunt the stand. You’ll also know if a buck new to your area is roaming around during the rut….you’ll only have a short window of opportunity before he’s gone again. An added bonus is that sometimes you’ll get a real great pic, one suitable for framing, or at least a great conversation piece. I stay out of the woods all summer so I’m not bumping the local bucks.
 

Wildlife

Denny
Supporting Member
5,248
191
Ross County, Ohio
Prior to 2015, I never used TCs, old school scouting was my thing and killed all my biggest bucks back then. When I moved to where I am today, I purchased some of the cheapest TCs on the market so I could get an idea of what type of deer lived in the area that fall of 2015 when I was real busy with work. The following year, I purchased a higher dollar, quality TC and it got stolen within a week of hanging it. That really pissed me off to no end, so the following year I ran no TCs here at home and spent a lot time in the nearby woods trying to figure out the deer herd habits. I felt that I was back to hunting the way I used too when I did that and learned quite a bit about our local herd.

Then I created a feed station area on our property, which made me pull out the TCs once again, however I added security lock boxes with them. I've enjoyed my time tying to establish a better deer herd nearest to my home the past few years and it seems to be working for the most part.

Trail cameras have been a nice tool for me now and I do enjoy trying to grow our local deer herd. I only have TCs at two locations in my county, one at a hunting setup and the others at the feed station, and I have access to over 1,200 plus acres of hunting land around me. Occasionally, I may move one or two of my TCs throughout the hunting season if I am trying to track down a specific deer, but that's far and few in-between.

The other farm I've been hunting the past few years is a property that I hunted often back in 07, 08, 09, 10, 11 & 12 and never used a trail camera. I harvested plenty of deer off that property back then, both antlered & antlerless. I also encountered some real trophies as well and made valid attempts in hunting them down old school style. I was close on sealing the deal on the biggest buck of my hunting career a couple of times back then and truly believe that bait and/or TCs would not have helped me any in getting onto that deer.

So, the moral of all of this is, times are changing along with the sport, technology and so on. I just bought my first Tactacam cell cam and I will be installing it at the other farm today. Because that location is two counties over and quite the drive for me, I'm pretty confident that I'll appreciate the instant TC notification captures of what's going on there. I look forward to that to be very honest.

I'd say, do what works for you and always have fun. I've grown to appreciate some advances in the technology of today, and then again, I also like to hunt the way I used to as a kid when we didn't have all the cool stuff of today.

I wish you nothing but the best of luck this year and hope you harvest a monster!
 
Last edited:

LonewolfNopack

Junior Member
1,503
127
The woods
I dont have an issue with cameras, use them myself, mainly for inventory. I do have to wonder though the number of people who would be significantly challenged to consistently kill deer without a cell camera and corn pile. Not in any way implying that if you use cameras you can't hunt, as that is obviously not true. But it does make me wonder how significantly harvest would change if cameras never came into play. Theres no going back at this point so its nothing but a thought.
 

Spencie

Senior Member
5,051
145
Constitution Ohio
I killed all my best bucks prior to cameras and corn. Nobody was baiting back then so the playing field was level. Old fashion woods knowledge and scouting was all you had. Now if you don’t bait the deer are at the neighbors…. They actually go from feeder to feeder throughout the day in their home range.
As far as cams go….. I really enjoy them and will continue to use them. I like knowing what is in my woods. I usually have no trouble getting opportunities at the better bucks using my property regular. I just never seem to have the right one.
 

NWOHhunter

Junior Member
879
58
NW Ohio
I run wireless cameras and can take inventory and stay out of the woods at the same time. Why not use the available technology?
Now if I had a cell camera, I might have a different opinion. I have thought about buying just one and using it as needed, but right now I am content.
 
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NWOHhunter

Junior Member
879
58
NW Ohio
When I ran cameras, I typically set them up near my stand locations. I realized they aren't always giving me an accurate reading of what is in the woods or when they are there. Sitting in my stands, I saw deer travel behind the camera or out of its range. Had I not been present, I would never have known that those deer were in the area. This experience made me realize I was reading too much into the camera results.
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
I used to run a crap load of cameras 15+ on various properties. Then I realized most of the deer that were there all summer disappeared soon after peeling velvet. I also realized that it was taking the fun out of it. I passed a bunch of 130s, 140s, and even a upper 150 buck waiting for camera ghosts to show up. Once I stopped running cams and bait I found that my enjoyment of hunting went up exponentially. I no longer went to a stand looking for one deer and being discouraged if I didn't see him completely forgetting that I saw 10 others that hunt. Getting in a stand in a completely unknown spot except for woodsmanship was exciting again. Catching the glimpse of a flash of brown in the woods got me going. I found that I was excited to see what I used to call dink bucks and had no problem shooting a upper 120/130 deer that got me going.
 

NWOHhunter

Junior Member
879
58
NW Ohio
I used to run a crap load of cameras 15+ on various properties. Then I realized most of the deer that were there all summer disappeared soon after peeling velvet. I also realized that it was taking the fun out of it. I passed a bunch of 130s, 140s, and even a upper 150 buck waiting for camera ghosts to show up. Once I stopped running cams and bait I found that my enjoyment of hunting went up exponentially. I no longer went to a stand looking for one deer and being discouraged if I didn't see him completely forgetting that I saw 10 others that hunt. Getting in a stand in a completely unknown spot except for woodsmanship was exciting again. Catching the glimpse of a flash of brown in the woods got me going. I found that I was excited to see what I used to call dink bucks and had no problem shooting a upper 120/130 deer that got me going.
That is kinda where I am at.
 
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jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
I fully understand how easily one can become totally reliant on trail cam intel. There’s no question that letting your style of hunting revolve around those cameras will more than likely lead to frustration and stress, and even damaging pressure to a hunting area. That being said, I personally enjoy the heck out of running cameras (mainly cell cameras) and knowing what is in one areas or another. I hunt lots of different properties so the inventory intel sometimes helps me make a decision on where to go hunt on any particular day, especially during late October… If a good buck is showing up 2 or more days in a row in daylight over a mock scrape for example, best believe I’ll be making a move on him. For me it’s not really even so much about getting the edge. It’s more about just being efficient with my limited time available to hunt. And of course, I do like to know what specific bucks are in a general area. It helps me make decisions on shooting or passing.
 

NWOHhunter

Junior Member
879
58
NW Ohio
You are also hunting in the butthole of ohio for whitetail habitat and population. The bucks you are killing with a bow compared to other hunters around the last few years makes me wonder if you were just bored at work today and just wanted to talk to other deer hunters....
Now you are just spreading Fake News!!!!

You are correct in the assessment of our hunting opportunities here in rusty nickel !!