At the Ranch – Whitetail: Benefits of Cellular Trail Cameras

In this video, I’m sitting here next to a cellular trail camera that I’m just getting set-up on a new property that I actually just got permission on. I want to talk about the benefits of cellular trail cameras. Cell cams have become very popular over the course of the last five years especially. Once you get your cell cam set-up, every time it takes a picture, it’s going to send it right to your phone. That’s really the crux of the trail cameras – you will usually need to get phone plans for them and then they can send photos straight to your phone.

In talking about some benefits of cellular trail cameras, the first thing that I want to touch on is that it gives you the ability to get real time data. You’re able to get pictures coming straight to your phone as the photos are taken, so you know exactly what’s happening on a certain property in the moment. This can become particularly important during the hunting season. A lot of times you are kind of guessing which stands to go hunt and you might check a trail camera on the way to the stand because you might want to be hunting the hottest stand. But, if you’ve got a handful of cell cams out there, you know exactly what’s been going on in the woods, you know exactly where the deer have been most recently, and it gives you that most recent information to base off where you should hunt.

Another reason that I love cellular trail cameras, is that it gives me the ability to not have to constantly go back onto a property. For example, this property that I’m on right now, I just got permission on it and I don’t want to bug it up a bunch. It’s a very small, couple acre property. There’s a major crossing in the area and we’re going to get this trail camera up to see what’s on it. This way I can kind of determine over the next few weeks what I want to do here. I don’t have to come in and check this camera, meaning I don’t need to be walking in here a bunch. So especially in the summer, cell cams allow you to stay out, but still gather a good amount of data in real time.

Then another benefit of cellular trail cameras, is they do help with theft. I know a lot of people that have had trail cameras stolen in the past and I’ve had trail cameras stolen myself. A lot of cell cams have antennas on them, so I believe a lot of people will see that and know it’s a cell cam and therefore they won’t steal it. The one I am currently setting up does not have an antenna on it. If someone doesn’t know that, they’re going to steal it and their pictures will be getting taken and sent right to your phone which can help you identify – and hopefully catch – whoever’s stealing your gear.

Personally, I absolutely love cell cams. They somewhat walk a fine line on what’s fair and what’s not. I’ve heard of people getting pictures of a big buck and then running in immediately trying to hunt them. That is not how I use my cell cams and it’s not how I’d recommend using them either. I would just recommend using them for the most recent information and helping you to stay out of properties.

One last thing I do want to touch on, especially if you hunt out of state, is how great cell cams are for scoping out properties from afar. I hunt out in North Dakota and Nebraska and I can run down there, put up some cell cams and monitor what’s going on on those properties from wherever I am, in real time – and that makes things so awesome.