Yo ! Seems like everyone is using trail cameras ...the last time I was in a hunting concession I was showed the latest leopard feeding at night and on the screen it showed the time and day ...... The last time I was hunting in South America we were trying to shoot a Russian wild boar .. In that area they are 100% nocturnal and wilder than snakes ... I asked my amigo if they used trail cameras ??? Not a chance, my latin friend informed me .. he went on to say that if the pigs came in at 10:00 p.m. ... one would just lay around waiting until about 9:45 before they got too excited ... and with a photo or two of what was probably going to come in already ... a lot of the expectation was not there ... They would rather just sit up in the tree (me, I waited on the ground for cowardly reasons) and see what would happen next ...

Been thinking a lot on that and like their attitude ...

scruffy,

I like your attitude. In the past I was dead against them but they do have their uses and you can save time and effort on safari by identifying the quality of your nocturnal visitor.

However I would have thought excessive use may take the gloss off your traditional experience.
Expectancy and anticipation is part and parcel of the safari.

I do not own nor use trail cameras, but definitely see valid use for them.
If I were a leopard hunter on a 10 or 12 day safari I would very much like to eliminate bait sites where only females or young male were the only ones hitting the bait.
I do enjoy looking at the pictures my friends have of different critters on their cameras.
A friend of mine caught 2 poachers with the use of his camera. The wildlife agent was able to use it as evidence.
Just another tool some choose to use while some of use don't.

I won't and I'll leave it at that...

Very good tool on cat hunts. Only time I've used them.

quote:

If I were a leopard hunter on a 10 or 12 day safari I would very much like to eliminate bait sites where only females or young male were the only ones hitting the bait.

A Leopard or Lion hunter shouldn't have to rely on a camera in order to define the sex or size of the cat; useful perhaps for other reasons.

I've got no problem with using trail cameras. I use them regularly on deer and hog hunts. I've used them on African cat hunts extensively ... both lion and leopard.

Used one recently whilst hunting croc. This was not the priority specie but it did prove over a few days that we did not have a monster on this bait. This croc was under 12 foot.

We have been using trail cameras for years, and I love them.

quote:

A Leopard or Lion hunter shouldn't have to rely on a camera in order to define the sex or size of the cat; useful perhaps for other reasons.

Agree 100%

A trail camera can be extremely useful.

Imagine you lion is feeding on your bait. You know it is male, but have no idea what he looks like.

You can waste a lot of time sitting in the blind, and when you do see him he turns out a non shooter for one reason or another.

A trail camera can at least give you an idea of what he looks like.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
A trail camera can be extremely useful.

Imagine you lion is feeding on your bait. You know it is male, but have no idea what he looks like.

You can waste a lot of time sitting in the blind, and when you do see him he turns out a non shooter for one reason or another.

A trail camera can at least give you an idea of what he looks like.

Spot on!

Many cat hunters will pay for a 21-30 day hunt but simply cannot spend that amount of time in Africa. The trail camera can save a lot of frustration and wasted time. Ask me how I know. I've hunted Lion and Leopard with and without and definitely prefer with!

I've shot all my cats without using trail cameras and all in daylight. Having said that considering the 6 year rule on lions and the necessity to shoot only male leopards I think they are a great idea although they do take a little of the unknown element out of the hunt.

Mark

I can appreciate the fact that it cuts down on time and maybe frustration .. fair enough ... but still .... I do like the fact that a person can see creatures out and about that one would normally never ever see ... unless maybe in a headlight as it (or they) move off ...

I used them pretty extensively on my lion hunt in the Selous this past season. I was on a 16 day hunt and despite putting cameras on our baits so as to avoid wasting time building blinds and sitting on baits being hit by immature males or females we still didn't take a cat. We never got good photos of a mature male and while we were reasonably certain from tracks that we had a couple in the area we were hunting, we could not get them on the baits during the daytime, or hitting the baits in such a way that we could get a good look at them on camera. We also experienced problems with the cameras (I think we had a total of 12 or so). Some technical (no pictures at night, no pictures at all) others operator error (camera not pointed in the right spot to get the cat's picture, or the bait secured in a way to ensure we would get the picture).

The bottom line is that this nothing more than the age old debate about appropriate use of technology in hunting and where you draw a line. I personally think using game cameras has its place - cat hunting is one of those places. If they're not for you, awesome. Don't use them, and I respect your ability to take quality game without using them as a crutch, just like I respect guys who ethically use primitive weapons rather than rifles, etc.

I have one.

Sitting on a farm in the Mpumalanga highveld.

Photos can be accessed via a website.

I can now sit in Saudi and still see what animals come past the camera 200m from the farm house.

As a bow hunter its a valuable tool.