i just use regular cams

Guys they are not going to ban cams
The club (Dollar Hide) that Chuckie frequents and manages (messed up) uses them and post pics for members to know what deer they can shoot or cant shoot

Be careful what you ask for. “ please limit me further sir”….

So are they going to be made illegal or not?

All the people saying "wouldn't matter to me".....damn yall, aren't you tired of hearing the word "ban" over the last 3 years? It should piss you off any time anything is "banned".

It does matter to me. I’ve seen great properties go to absolute crap because of baiting and cell cameras. I’ve seen longtime hunters and their families all but give up and quit because of cell cameras. I’ve had several landowners tell me they were strongly considering selling everything they own and not even hunting in AL due to over-harvest of bucks on adjoining lands. Cell cams plus bait plus a dang long liberal gun season have completely changed herd dynamics in some places to the point that people hunting for years are no longer getting to do that because some hunters are using cams to remove dang near 100% of certain age classes of deer.

Seems like a lot to blame on cell cameras. We already got plenty of rules to keep this^ from happening. We can already only kill 3 bucks every year. How many more rules you want? If you wanna run out and draw up more rules, implement a limit on does. None of this seems like a camera's fault

And that’s what I’m saying. Allowing those three things DOES indeed allow over-harvest in a lot of areas. You think a 40 acre landowner with 3 kids and each allowed to kill 3 bucks doesn’t have a negative impact over the landscape of multiple families are doing it? Baiting and cameras leveled the playing field for folks with smaller acreages. I’m not against those folks killing deer. I’m against how it’s being done. All you gotta do now is pile up bait and do other things in life until your cell cam sends you pics. The 3 buck limit was intended to reduce buck harvest which helps even skewed sex ratios and hopefully increases age structure. The cell cam/baiting combo reversed that in a big way.

I guess you’d be ok if ppl started using thermal drones to locate bedded bucks and then slip in to kill them? That’s no different than using real time camera images to aid in the hunt.

In our area, I could argue limiting doe harvest is senseless because we have tons of them, and not enough people willing to pull the trigger. We need more liberal doe limits in places.

I’m with you on doing something to save 2-3yr old bucks. Any idiot can kill a couple basket racks a year off his 50acres, with corn/cell cam.

But, I’m concerned that removing game cameras would also have less people holding out for that big buck, that they no longer have picture evidence of, and shooting a 100” 8pt when he came by.

Seems to me, doing away with bait would save a lot more young bucks. Although, I’d happily sign on to do away with bait and cell cams.

Cameras don't have to be used over bait to learn what is in the woods. I use cameras all the time on trails and green fields without any bait. I enjoy seeing the bucks grow and seeing the fawns drop and grow. It also allows me to be a better hunter in what I harvest, again without having to use bait.

We have learned alot about deer behavior with cameras as a tool. That's what it is, a tool. There are many, many benefits of cameras. You are ignoring that a little bit and kind of casting them in a bad light. The things you reeled off are not cell camera related. The scenario with the 40 acre landowner who let's his 3 kids shoot 9 deer can(and does) happen with or without the use of a cell camera. Not any different than all 4 of them sitting in a shooting house and killing 9 deer on a greenfield

Point being- your camera ban doesn't really eliminate killing too many deer.

Hunting should be fun. And sitting at work having a picture of a deer sent to you on a trail you found last weekend leading to a bedding area is a pretty good feeling.


However, you are missing the point altogether. The more we "Ban", the more it becomes easier to "ban".... snowball effect...I really don't think most people want to be ruled to death.

I think we are misunderstanding eachother. I’m not against cameras. I’m against using real time data transfer to aid in hunting. I’ve used cameras, will continue to use cameras, and they are a huge help when managing deer. Cellular cameras are the issue. And they are increasing harvest for otherwise unsuccessful hunters. That can’t be debated. It’s truth. I work with a lot of hunters, and they’re all seeing the same thing. I’m not denying they’re helpful tools. They’re too helpful. Like it or not the free for all hunting strategy has already been attempted and led to several species extinctions and nearly every game species requiring reintroductions into previously occupied lands. I’m not saying cameras are going to eliminate white-tailed deer, but I am saying regulations are a necessary evil when it comes to taking wildlife. Without them we’d all be picking up other hobbies.

Amen Nighwatchman

OK, well I think we can find common ground on the real time data. I wouldn't really feel right about sitting at the camp watching a ball game, getting a picture texted to me of a buck at my corn pile, jumping on my ranger at halftime and going out there to shoot it.

However, I fall into the category of "working class hunter" Not a ton of time away from work and family to go out and check cameras. I have used them to narrow down where NOT to hunt. If I have 2 or 3 cell cameras in an area and don't get pictures of a good one in there, I can spend my time hunting elsewhere and make better use of the time I do have away from work and family. Having eyes in the woods that hand a hunter information without having to trek in several miles on public land to gather said data is very valuable. Is it something that makes a hunter more successful? I guess, but my gosh, shooting mature bucks on public land is already pretty darn tough.

I can't really say it has made me more or less successful, but there's an ethics line that exists between using them as a tool and using them as another hunter. We don't have to ban them altogether.

I agree with Matt……I’ll put it in simple terms. We’re going backwards because of how easy we’ve made it. If we don’t do something to correct course then we’re going to end up leveling off at a whole new place as far as population levels are concerned. Pick your poison about where you want to make those cuts or ride it out until things suck bad enough that you’re ready to do so.

I would agree that its ruined the excitement some. I think it's effect on the deer population is being grossly overstated. And that is with all due respect to professionals like Matt.

Cell cams are a useful tool and are abused as well. I know of several situations where bucks or goblet were went after because the hunter got an alert and pics of said animal in a spot. As deer hunter I don’t have to sit there and let my scent wonder around the area. I can go in when the animal shows up and sneak in using everything to my advantage.

I use cell cameras on my duck hole. Lets me know when ducks are using it. Doesn’t always pay ifff but saves me tons of money in fuel plus time checking the hole in person. I don’t take off when I get an alert because I’m not into jump shooting ducks. I like em feet a hanging and wings cupped. I do know guys that’ll go jump shootem though.

It’s kinda like hunting Alaska where you can’t hunt the day you fly in. I’m sure that abused too to some extent.

Give it a little more time……I dont think we've come full circle yet…..Baiting has only been fully legal for what 3 years now?……I think that’s right(??)…….We’re just now getting to where folks are going to be talking more about how there are so many late born fawns and how they need to shoot more does next year to fix the problem.

Same here, where I hunt in MS I don't use cameras at all, I still enjoy the excitement of being surprised when a decent buck shows up and I get a chance to take it during the season....

Probably so. Bottom line for me, trigger control solves all.

That guy on 40 acres has probably been killing small deer for years. Probably over illegal bait.

The big land owners are probably upset. They’ve lost their advantage and they hate it.