How many trail cams do you need to have any meaure of effectiveness in locating deer? I broke down and bought one on monday. I have always hesitated becuase i am thinking that you'd need at least 5 or 6 for them to be of any use and i don't have the money for that.

Well would depend on how much land you have, public or private, how much you hunt, and what method you use to hunt whether that be bow or gun.

Private land having 5 or more is great because you can locate all patterns throughout the year and know what the deer are doing. Public land that will be really hard to leave out even one camera unless you have it hidden really well or in secluded areas.

As stated it depends on how much land you have to hunt and how well you can secure them.  I use 18 on 2700 acres.  I check them once a week but I also sit in a blind most mornings and evenings from October to February.

So you guys with access to private land leave these things out all year?

That would be entirely up to you. I don't leave mine up 365 days a year. I will normally take them down when I stop hunting for the year and will start back up in early spring.

I leave them out year round because of the exotic animals and we feed protein year round.  You can catch some pretty interesting things on them.  I have seen all sorts of animals and illegals on them.

One cam helps, but the more cams you have the more it helps

If you have just one cam, I suggest putting it over some feed, or salt block, or something, just so you get an idea of what is in the area. To really pattern the deer, you need more cameras.......and how many depends on the size of property you have, and the terrain.

They are a doubled edged sword though. The more cams you have, and the more you check them, the more you are spooking deer and chasing them off. Placing them so you can get to them with little intrusion, and still get info to pattern deer can be tricky. My next cams will all be on some sort of wifi or cellular plan so I don't have to intrude at all.

Depends on amount of land/type of land and what you're trying to achieve.

6 hours after placing my first trail cam the first picture has 2 bucks in it ! Holy cow! Best $90 i ever spent. In a little over 48 hours i have 29 pictures of these same 2 bucks, most of the time together. A 6 and a 4. No doe. I would have been happy with pics of doe. This is just blowing me away.