Elk Game Camera Strategy?

[Sinkinglizard]

Had a pretty good hunt this year in a few different archery OTC areas. A few of these areas were new to me, and some other I had hunted in during previous seasons.

Re-visiting some of these places got me thinking about game cameras and if they would be beneficial. I have never used game cameras, but read a few different forums on here asking related questions.

My questions are around strategy of using these cameras. How are you guys using these?

If you put the cameras out in the summer on a game trail or wallow, I am guessing I shouldn't put much weight into my findings unless it is within a week or two of season opener (talking archery here)?

How common is it for you guys to get pictures of a bull and actually find him during September and kill him in the same area?

Do you keep these out during the season?

 

[Ross]

All contingent on the area….I leave some out all yr and move others..some on wallows others in travel corridors…they have showed me how far they may and may not travel…case in point the bull with cows was a photo from the last week of September…I shot him in rifle two weeks later about 600 yds as a crow flies the photo…this other bull I had 3 yrs of pics on 3 different cameras about 3 miles apart and he was shot 3 weeks after my last photo about 7 miles from it…in heavily forested areas they are a great tool to see what is or is not around

 

[Sinkinglizard]

Nice looking bulls!

Are you moving these cameras from year to year? Or do you find the elk tend to stay close to the same areas using the same game trails and meadows year after year?

 

[One-shot]

In more and more jurisdictions trail cam use has become illegal. Apparently, savvy guides would have a few set up, often near water, and in real time, monitor activity then be able to take clients right to where elk are. An unfair advantage and not in keeping with fair chase ethics.

 

[Ross]

Been in these canyons since 1980 other than wolf pressure they have used the same places year in year out with a few wallows I have never caught a person finding them been using cams coming on 18 yrs…the lone bull is the same bull over 3 yrs

 

[kingfisher]

I live in the Northern Rockies. One year my brothers planned on a visit. I wanted to scout and ensure a good hunt. I purchased 12 game cameras. I could only manage 8 reasonably. My observation, from May-July the elk were in all of the areas very thick. Come mid August, most of them were gone. The camera that still had elk by the start of the season was in a creek bottom that was steep and nasty and shaded from the sun. A big part of this was food availability. The area was too steep to hunt with a bow, but it did teach me something.

Cameras were most helpful for finding what wallows were being used. I learned that it's not often the large wallows that get frequent use, but the small wallows up a bit higher where the wind swirls constantly. If you can get your self a shooting lane from a distance away up on a hillside above one of these where the wind doesn't shift, you may have a good chance. Before you put a camera up on a wallow, sit there for an hour and see how many times the wind swirls. If it swirls every 5-10 minutes, it likely will get used a lot when your not there.

Additionally, what I learned from this activity by hunting this spot two years in a row, is that the weather (food availability) can make a spot great one year and bad the next. Additionally, hunters move around from year to year, and can swamp a spot where there wasn't anyone in years past. So after hunting elk for a number of years, and thinking I would have it all figured out by now, what I have learned is that the elk are simply where you find them. Persistent hard work is the creed of the public land archery elk hunter. I both wish it was easier and am glad it isn't.

 

[nphunter]

I've never had them really be useful other than to give me false hope and stick to a crappy spot longer than I should have due to there being some giant bulls in the area. I love my cams but I mainly use them to see what kind of antler growth were having and just because I enjoy pictures. Most areas where I find big bulls with my cameras all summer are void of elk in Sept. I do have a few hit-and-miss pictures but nothing to make me commit to an area.

I've been running a dozen cams every year for over 10 years and do it more for fun and exercise than anything else.

 

[mtnbiker208]

they are like christmas to a kid, you never know what you will get. they can be very fun and addictive.