Trail Cams: A waste of money or an advantage?

     I'll be honest with you, I have never used a trail cam in my life and have never really had any urge to. Until I discovered cougar tracks at my favorite hunting spot, which also happens to be only five miles from my house. Wondering if I could catch this cat on camera I took a drive down to Wal-Mart and picked out a $75 trail cam. As far as my understanding goes 75 bucks is pretty cheap for a trail cam. I affixed the camera to a tree that was overlooking a meadow and came back a week later, only to discovered to my disappointment that I failed to catch the cat on camera. I'm still trying though.

     On the camera I managed to capture a couple pics of deer, coyotes and a couple fat raccoon's. One of the deer photos was of a nice four point buck. I was surprised by this photo as I didn't really expect to catch any pictures of a buck, mainly because I've only taken a spike out of the area who also happens to be the only buck I've seen over there. This photo got me thinking about whether trail cams give you a clear advantage, or are just another hunting toy. I thought long and hard about this and couldn't come up with a reasonable conclusion. So you the reader decide, are trail cams a waste of money, or an advantage? Please share your opinion in the comments section.