Does anyone use a trailcam while hunting?

[eriks.]

Ok, when I've finally asked enough questions to irritate you all, just let me know. I do appreciate all the willingness so far to give insight from your experience.

It occurred to me the other day that I could pack my trail camera in and set it up on a wallow or waterhole in the wilderness area I am planning on hunting this September. I don't have the luxury of preseason scouting and have never been in the area I'm looking at other than GE. I have a general knowledge of how it lays out but the gap in my firsthand experience on site is tremendous.

Here are my questions... 1.Does anyone do this to help themselves get a grip on what is happening in the area since you obviously can't be in more than one spot at a time? 2. Is it worth the extra weight to pack in?

I don't really know how far I'll have to pack in but know that I'll be limited by what I feel I can reasonably handle with heavy loads on the off-chance I should be blessed with killing something, so I'm not sure about if the extra weight is worth it.

I backpacked camped for a few days last year in CO and didn't take time to acclimate. Oh boy, it kicked my butt the first couple of days! I bet all of you high altitude westerners feel like superman or woman when you come to the Midwest.

[Lefty]

I dont pack in, I do keep a trail com out during the season and about 2 weeks before.
The main reason I want to see what times the water is getting hit by elk and what else is going on.

[stringunner]

We do not "pack in" either. At least not in most cases. We put out 6-8 cameras each year, about 3-4 weeks before the opener and leave them out through the end of the season. We generally head back up to camp 2 days prior to the season. We spend the two days checking the cams for activity. If we feel good about the spots we leave the cams. If we don't, we move them. The cameras have changed the way we hunt our area. We hunt heavily pressured areas and the elk move around a lot. The cameras have helped us monitor movements as well as the different sizes of groups of elk. Either way, the elk are where you find them, but yes we love utilizing the trail cameras.

[Swede]

Our party will be putting out 6-8 trail cams in early August. Some of the cams will stay out for a while into the season. Some get pulled early, based on our assessment of the risk of being stolen. We have some pretty good cameras and some cheapies. The need for a quick trigger speed, and the risk of theft are factors we consider when determining where the different cameras go. Actually picture quality is not much of a priority.

[welka]

I have taken them a couple of times, but not any more. Extra weight and it seems like everytime I set one up, action happened somewhere else and I had to go back and get that damn camera because there was more activity in other areas. I think the brand of camera was "murphy". If I had a hot wallow that I would be walking by often, I might hang a camera. Good luck.

[planebow]

In Montana you can use them up until the season starts then you have to pull them. You are not allowed to use them in any season that you have a tag for.

[eriks.]

Interesting stuff guys. Thanks. Just didn't know if the weight would be worth it.

[CrazyElkHunter]

We arrive in camp 3 or 4 days early and set up tree stands and cameras that stay out til we leave when the season is over.

[eriks.]

That is one filthy bull there Bill!

Bears! That's another thing this MO boy doesn't have to deal with.

Camped in RMNP last summer. Found bear scat all around camp. Woke up in the middle of the night under my tarp to the sound of a giant, man-eating bear walking past! Adrenalin pumping about 2 gallons a second. Flip on my headlamp only to discover the wind was blowing the tarp slip back and forth in the tree where I had hung it.

Needless to say, sleep came hard that first night and I felt very decidedly like a pig-in-a-blanket in my mummy bag!

ADVENTURE! Gotta love it!!

[CrazyElkHunter]

In black bear country, just keep a clean camp and use common sense with where you store your food and hang meat. We have had bears pass through camp several times over the years, but no danger or damage because we gave them no reason to stick around. On many occasions we have had neighboring camps get thrashed when they ignored our warning about how they left ice chest, food boxes, bags of apples, thawing steaks just laying around camp. One camp was 50 yards from us and was hit 4 days in a row. 2 of those were mid day. Once the bear finds a easy meal, they are hard to get rid of. Now grizzlies are a different story. I do not hunt in grizzly country and do not care to.

[eriks.]

Yeah Bill, they were very strict about camp life in RMNP. Had to have bear proof container for everything that had a scent and it had to be stored 200 ft. outside of camp. We didn't see any bears but man there was a ton of sign especially on the ridge just above camp. Did have a herd of elk cows there to greet us when we arrived!

We have bears here in MO but not any around where I live. Cougars come through from time to time.

[Indian Summer]

I have never used cameras for elk hunting.

Hey Greg... I was in the passenger seat of a buddies truck today and I looked over at a license plate in a driveway and it said WELKA4. Couldn't help but think of you. lol