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I don't know why I've got my self caught up in this but I guess i have. I understand how all this equipment works and yes i use the alpha and it is a advantage in recovering and training dogs hell they don't even need to bark anymore it's a hole new game but if I remember right the question was are opinions on trail cams that send you info.My alpha still isn't out there keeping watch for me I still have to beat the brush to find a track i cant tell if a animal move last night or came in to a kill with out going there! Just like my first statement people are lazy! If it is money you want to save in fuel then don't run hounds.I hunt every opportunity i get and i cover a lot of ground with a pretty hefty fuel bill but with that bill comes a lot of time with my dog roading walk hunting working on loading and handling, trash breaking just bonding with them. So in my mind if i had cameras up all those training opportunities would be missed cause I would check my cameras see a cat moved 4 hours ago and run right to that spot to dump dogs. To me it nice not knowing and letting my dogs tell me what's going on some tracks are hot some cold but we find out together! I don't hold it against anyone that does it it's just not for me or my family! I also don't think guides should be able to use them and cover all our public lands with cameras for clients to harvest animals I don't know how many times i have taken a animal and seen a guide on the way out and they act like you stold it from them when the hunting is there for all of us!

Gritty dogs wrote: I don't hold it against anyone that does it it's just not for me or my family!

Preach on, if you don't like them don't use them. If others do, use them..

I know guys that have cameras on every single bear bait that they have. Go out in the morning and sit and look at a view finder for an hour to decide where to turn loose on the freshest, biggest track (or what you think is). It's not for me, but it is for them, so more power to them. Do what feels right for you and don't worry about others.

Sorry had to look up what a view finder was and like I thought it's so computer photo thing. Well that sure sounds like hunting though out some food and watch the cameras for the big ones!! That's right up there with shooting bucks in the rut takes a hell of a hunter to do that. Well no more sermons I'm going hunting!

For those that don’t like the benefits of technology... Do you hunt your dogs without tracking collars?

Let that sink in.

I use a trail cameras on my baits, but mainly just to make sure wolves havent been there running bears off it. Dont see how its a bad thing, plus most baits around here get hit between 8pm and about midnight, so its still a 5 or 6 hr old track anyways

Seems like if you have the money to buy the best gear you don't have time to hunt. And if you have the time to hunt you don't have the money to buy the gadgets. Gas and dog food will dog food will catch more memories than gadgets. I use a an alpha because I value my dogs. I don't use a wireless trail cam because I value the mystery(and the dogs ate all my extra cash).
The greats ran like hell to stay within hearing of the dogs and had success. How will our stories sound in 40 years? Where is the battle between beast and man?
When my first pups were young I would have done anything to see a big bear or lion in a tree. Now the hounds teach each other and I don't have to try so hard and its about the people and dogs I'm with and not so much the critter running for its life.
If the gadgets increase your knowledge and experience then by all means use them. If it takes 2 more days of work to get them, use the the time hunting. You and the dogs will be better for it

JustinKeller wrote:Seems like if you have the money to buy the best gear you don't have time to hunt. And if you have the time to hunt you don't have the money to buy the gadgets. Gas and dog food will dog food will catch more memories than gadgets. I use a an alpha because I value my dogs. I don't use a wireless trail cam because I value the mystery(and the dogs ate all my extra cash).
The greats ran like hell to stay within hearing of the dogs and had success. How will our stories sound in 40 years? Where is the battle between beast and man?
When my first pups were young I would have done anything to see a big bear or lion in a tree. Now the hounds teach each other and I don't have to try so hard and its about the people and dogs I'm with and not so much the critter running for its life.
If the gadgets increase your knowledge and experience then by all means use them. If it takes 2 more days of work to get them, use the the time hunting. You and the dogs will be better for it

Yes well put .. ! In just about everything when your younger if you have the time you don't have the money and if you are making the money you don't have the time... I'm at an age now and have arranged my life that I don't need as much money... and I value my time more then just about any luxury that I would have to give up my time working to make the money for... I enjoy the process and really value the time spent doing it in a more traditional way...“My greatest skill has been to want but little”

I was going to stay out of this one because it usually turns into a pissing match, but I just have to give my two cents. I use trail cams and the reason is I’m 31 with a wife, two kids under the age of ten, and a full time job. I am very busy and don’t get my hounds out as much as I like to, but it kills me to think of selling out! So when I do get the dogs out I want the best chance at getting them on game. trail cams sometimes help me do this, and help me make the most of my time. Most of the time I still end up running Roads,rigging, riding horse, and walking countless miles free casting the dogs to find a track because the game cams produced nothing! Game cams can be a nice technology for extra help, but in my experience they are far from taking the work out of running hounds. Trail cams are no different than tracking collars they serve a purpose in helping us out. if the great Houndsmen of the past would have had access to the technology we posses you can damn sure bet they would have used it, Because most of them were hunting as a job to put food on the table. That all being said I lean more towards only using trail cams in training season, but if it’s legal where you live to use them during kill season have at it.
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