Anyone carry trail cams to place during a backpack hunt?

[PurpleDriver]

Considering carrying a trail cam or two on my hunt this fall to put up over hot sign while I’m hunting other areas.

Wondering if anyone else does this or just hunt the hot sign and then move on if not immediately productive.

 

[Farmingdale's Finest]

Considering carrying a trail cam or two on my hunt this fall to put up over hot sign while I’m hunting other areas.

Wondering if anyone else does this or just hunt the hot sign and then move on if not immediately productive.

I didn’t last year but will likely this year take two and put them out in my number 2 and 3 spots based upon my escouting.


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[njdoxie]

Nah, don't want to bring in the weight, I try to keep the weight on the llamas as low as possible, plus the spots I might put them, if I kill an elk, I'm not going back to retrieve my camera(s), it's too steep, too difficult. Same reason I would never ever bring a hang-on stand either.

 

[FlyGuy]

I would if I hunted the same unit every year, but no I never do. It crosses my mind from time to time but it would be such a pain in the ass to go back and get it that is probably just leave it.


You can’t cheat the mountain

 

[trophyhill]

I've set trail cams during the summer and packed them out when I'm done hunting

 

[fatlander]

Can’t really see the benefit. If you’re backpacking from OOS you’ve got such limited time anyway. So you’ve got 7-10 days to hunt. You find and hunt a wallow day 1, set the camera then come back 5 days later and find out what exactly? That elk were there when you weren’t. Now you’ve got two days to hunt a spot you’ve stunk up twice that elk already were there when you weren’t.

Seems like too much effort for little, if any, reward. Your eyes, ears and nose will tell you if there’s elk there.


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[el_jefe_pescado]

Cameras are a great pre-season scouting tool (if you have the time to check them). It’s cool to know what an area is holding before the season gets going. But I like to have everything out of the woods before the season starts. That might seem weird but it saves me precious time during the season and also I don’t run the risk of someone stealing my camera.

For your hunt, having good glass and being able to call effectively will pay far bigger dividends than packing in a couple trail cameras.


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[hobbes]

I know he wasn't backpack hunting, but I recall BigDan (from Bowsite) doing this on a couple hunts in maybe Nevada and Arizona to see what was hitting some water holes.

 

[2ski]

Check your regs. It might be illegal to have cameras up during the season.

 

[JordanAdams]

We do take a couple cameras with us. Usually the older less expensive ones just in case someone decides to be a prick and take them but yes we do take cams for highway trails and feeding meadows we suspect a quality animal is using while we go high and try to locate the animal physically. If nothing else its gives us something to look forward to checking with anticipation of seeing the target animal but we are often times met with a unexpected but exciting surprise of learning there's an animal we haven't been able to see personally but now know there's another great animal in the area as well. I enjoy using them.

 

[PurpleDriver]

Thanks for all the feedback. I was definitely thinking the cheap cameras in case of theft and if we end on a tough pack out and I. Really just don’t feel like picking it back up.

great point on the regs. I hadn’t even considered that.

i think my final pack weight will make the decision for me. Seems like some here like it and some don’t. I do love the anticipation of checking my trail cams here at home.

 

[dingleberns]

I already deployed my 5 cameras in my OTC unit. doing 4 more in a week. Plan to track the elk prior to season so I know my play on opening day. I will pack them out after hunting.

 

[spike camp]

Leaving a camera strapped to a tree because the user didn’t feel like making the effort to retrieve it, is the same as leaving your trash.

If you place a camera, plan on picking it back up.

I’ve used cameras big time the last 5 years and even though I’ve gotten thousands of pictures, they haven’t really helped me with anything that I didn’t already know.

 

[PurpleDriver]

Leaving a camera strapped to a tree because the user didn’t feel like making the effort to retrieve it, is the same as leaving your trash.

If you place a camera, plan on picking it back up.

I’ve used cameras big time the last 5 years and even though I’ve gotten thousands of pictures, they haven’t really helped me with anything that I didn’t already know.

fair Point

 

[Huntnnw]

if you plan on hunting a area every year then I would take them. More I can learn the better