Trail cams

[Rob Chipman]

The last moose picture we got was from an iPhone looking through binoculars.


The trail cam pics that some members here have shown are outstanding, so I'd like some advice:

What's your favorite trail cam?

Where do you locate them?

How long do they last?

How often do you check them?


I really like the idea of knowing what's around, whether it's something I hunt or not. All help appreciated!

[Ry151]

I am still learning with my cameras and what works best but what I do is find a well used game trail in a nasty area and put my camera there so there is less chance of it being found by a thevies. I put a couple different salt blocks out in front of it so that animals will at least stop to sniff them allowing for a good picture. Depending on the area I take the cameras down for hunting season so that they don't get stolen or when it snows I take them down or leave them for the winter unless there is a snow fall warning and then I go switch sd cards so my tracks are covered. It's worked pretty well so far for me and find it vary addictive to want to go check them to see what pics I've gotten

[MOWITCH SLAYER]

i mostly hunt public land, so the chance of my cameras going missing is a real possibility, so i use camera"s that never cost allot.I have a bushnell, a primos and a remington , all bought on sale for around $120. they all take the pics i need to find the game i want to hunt. The pictures are not the best but if they go missing they have payed for them selves. the remington is the hardest on batteries but it takes better night pics than the premos. I use my camera year around for the last two years and they all are still in the bush working (I hope) good luck in the coming year

[Sitkaspruce]

Unless you place cams where others will usually find them, spend the $$$ and get some "good" cameras. I run Spypoint (my Fav), Bushnell and now a couple Simmons (bought cheaply to see how good they are because Bushnell waranties them for 2 years). I also have a Homebrew that is the best at taking pictures, night or day, but has the worst battery life. Make sure you buy bear cases to go with the cams and python lock them to trees. This will protect them from the 4 legged PITA and most of the "honest" 2 legged types as well.

I place them where trails join with other trails or near water sources and check them usually every two weeks. I use water softner salt (99.8% pure) as an attractant and add to that everytime I check my cams.

There was a post by "The Provider" on here that is excellent and has a ton of good info, do a search for it.

Also check out Chasingame.com, a great site with a lot of finatic cammers on there.

Watch out, it can be addicting.

Cheers

SS

[Rainsford]

To me personally the most important thing about trail cameras is that they have good battery life. It is extremely frustrating to leave a camera out for weeks and come back to a set of dead batteries, there are a fair amount of cameras out there that eat through a full set of batteries in a week or less no matter what settings they are put on. I wont buy a camera unless it has multiple reviews from customers saying that the camera lasts a long time on a single set of batteries, don't rely on the camera manufactures stated expected battery life.
Just my two cents.

[Sitkaspruce]

To me personally the most important thing about trail cameras is that they have good battery life. It is extremely frustrating to leave a camera out for weeks and come back to a set of dead batteries, there are a fair amount of cameras out there that eat through a full set of batteries in a week or less no matter what settings they are put on. I wont buy a camera unless it has multiple reviews from customers saying that the camera lasts a long time on a single set of batteries, don't rely on the camera manufactures stated expected battery life.
Just my two cents.

I agree

My Spypoints are going 3-4 months and taking 5-6000 pictures on a 6 AA cheap Rayovacs. The Bushnell now has 4 hours of video and 2 months on a set of Kirklands, still showing full power. Simmons are up in the air as they have only been out a month.

Cheers

SS

[Rob Chipman]

Thanks, all, for the input. I'm in purchase mode now.

[GoodPartner]

I am still new to it but here are a few things.

I have 3 leupold, 1 simmons and 1 moultrie. I only bought the first leupold new and I have bought the other 4 cameras on ebay. The leupold rcx-2 comes with a card reader which is helpful for checking the camera in the field, I have also found that swapping the sd cards out of the moultrie and simmons cameras into the leupold reader also works. This is a great bonus.The quality of picture seems to correspond to price point with leupold on the top and simmons on the bottom, but none of them are perfect. I'm not sure it is worth it to buy a more expensive one, especially if you are worried someone might take it.

Three things I have done to try and get better pictures all involve placement of the camera.

First - North facing is a general rule for keeping the sun behind the camera, but also consider where your area will have good light, and at what time that will be. If an animal comes through at a regular time (generally of course) you could place the camera to optomize the best light at that time. This is something you have very little control of but it doesn't hurt to think about it if you are hoping to capture a clear picture. Think morning vs. evening, how will trees effect shade etc.

Second - If the camera is generally North facing then putiing it on a North/South trail will maximize the amount of time the animal is in front of the camera compared to an East/West trail. "Lengthwise instead of crosswise". If you put it in a place where trails merge determine which direction the animals travel most frequently. You might trade off light conditions for more frequent travel time. I have recently moved a camera that was North facing to East facing because the buck that I have been getting pics of is traveling East to West and hasn't yet taken the South to North trail. I risk losing picture quality but I am tired of getting pictures of nothing or its ass end after it has crossed quickly.

Third - I put my cameras really low on the trees. eye level height with the animal. Sometimes only a few feet if the trail slopes down in front of it. This increases the chance of getting a neat face shot but it also means a lot of the pictures will be partials of the animal. Kind of a gamble. Another issue with this is potential theft and/or damage by animals. I have had a bear put its muzzle in the camera but no damage yet. I am worried about it though after some of the stories I have heard on here. Still rolling the dice, will probably change my tune after I lose one. Sounds like lots of guys put them high, which makes sense if you are using the camera primarily to scout and/or want to protect it.

One last thought - Get two cameras. If you are concerned that one is not taking pics put the other camera somewhere slightly off to the side behind it so you can put your mind at rest. I have set up a camera on video mode behind the first camera and that was interesting to watch the animals and how they responded to the first camera. It also confirmed that the first camera wasn't always taking pictures as there were some discrepancies between the two.

[Rob Chipman]

Thanks for the pointers, GP. I just got a Moultrie D-333 at Walmart in PoCo - About $125 when all is said and done. I'll set it up this weekend. Grabbed a a few hummingbird pics off the feeder in a few hours this afternoon, and a ton of wasps!

I'm setting it up this weekend where I'm moose hunting in October, so we'll see what else it picks up. Your wolf pics, where they come up and look right in the camera, are outstanding. Anytime I've seen wolves in the woods they've been gone in a flash. Cool to get a good look at them.