# Lessons Learned on deploying Trail Cams



## HarryO45 (Jun 18, 2016)

I am hoping to learn from some of you guys who have been using Game Cameras for a long time.

What are some general tips (or detailed) that you you use?

My tip.

I typically use video.  When I set up, i make sure the first video is me setting up and the last video is me again retrieving the camera.  While video is running, I talk and point to terrain features (not in the field of view of lens).  Things (a rub / trails) that I think are important to record later onto my hunting map.  I am scouting a new lease so I will be moving my cameras (8) a lot till September.  Then I will focus on the areas that I like best.  I find this helps me get familiar with the ground.


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## DAWGFISH66 (Jun 18, 2016)

Even though all my cameras are no glows,  I carry a small 6' aluminum ladder with me and place them 8' to 10' up trees.  It makes them harder to spot and steal...also it's a cool angle for your pictures.  I also do the three picture bursts...


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## HarryO45 (Jun 20, 2016)

DAWGFISH66 said:


> Even though all my cameras are no glows,  I carry a small 4' aluminum ladder with me and place them 8' to 10' up trees.  It makes them harder to spot and steal...also it's a cool angle for your pictures.  I also do the three picture bursts...



I saw some study done by a University, on the internet, that showed deer (especially bucks) are less likely to have a negative reaction to cameras that are deployed above five feet from the ground.  I too put my cameras high.  Usually put a stick or something at the top of the camera to adjust to a downward angle.  I might try your 8' to 10' idea.

I do know that when i used to put cameras low i would often see the deer react to my cameras.

now i use video exclusively and i know how they react.  high - there is little to no reaction.  I use a No Glow camera too.


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## HarryO45 (Jul 1, 2016)

I Pad Mini and Apple card reader are good tools in the field to view your videos.  It takes about one minute to download about 70 each, HD, 10 Second Videos from a Browning Camera.  My IPAD that has the smallest memory and cannot store more than about 300 of the same videos.  I do not store but very special videos on the IPAD.  When i get home i will review my videos and store the ones i want to keep on my desktop.


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## Twinkie .308 (Jul 1, 2016)

#1 Rule of trail cam pics: You do not talk about trail cam pics. #2 Rule of trail cam pics: You do not talk about trail cam pics ...


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## Milkman (Jul 1, 2016)

If you can predict where a tornado will come through you can avoid things like this.

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=874375


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## Davexx1 (Jul 1, 2016)

I too occasionally place cameras 10' +- high and angled down.  That gets the camera up above the eye level of deer and humans.  I am wondering if having the camera angled down results in a much smaller field of view and smaller trigger area.  I have noticed the photos are not as brightly illuminated when the camera is mounted high angled downward so that may be causing the IR sensor and LEDs some loss of sensitivity and/or effectiveness.


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## MFOSTER (Jul 2, 2016)

If you pour corn on ground look for snakes laying around it,trying to ambush a rat when you go back to check.


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## shdw633 (Jul 2, 2016)

I guess the best things I can add to this are to be sure to place your cameras on scrapes when they start.  It's the best way to see what is hanging around your area before the rut starts.  I know this seems like an obvious tip but I see a lot of hunters that keep their cameras in one place, in front of a corn pile, all year long and they really miss great information by not placing them on the scrapes when they start appearing.  

Also, try to put something in the picture that gives reference to the size of deer you are looking at, whether it's a feeder or large rock or a large branch leaned up against a tree in your picture.  This will help you better judge the deer you are looking at.

Finally, be sure to place a trail camera behind your permanent stands (no corn piles or attractants), just place them on a trail that I am sure you will find back there and check them periodically throughout the season.  Many times deer change their travel patterns due to the stand being where it is during the season and when you start seeing this happen you can sneak back there with a climber or ground blind and "get lucky" as they say.


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## HarryO45 (Jul 26, 2016)

Not so much a lesson learned about deploying a Trail Camera, but something a newby to cameras may want to consider when buying more than one cam:  Buy the same manufacturer / model.  

1 - If you are not a technical wizard you just learn one operating procedure.  

2 - same disks, same batteries, in my case i can load batteries in an extra battery pack and interchange with any camera afield.  No fumbling afield - changing batteries are as fast as changing the SD Card

3 - one warranty procedure.

4 - Because outside of the Cameras all look alike make sure you number the outside of the camera with a sharpy or other marker that corresponds with the digitally stored information (camera number) for ease of tracking employment.


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## rondvc (Jul 27, 2016)

There is a faily simple tree hanging devise you can make that uses a 2 1/2 in by 1/4 in eyebolt, 3/8 in washers, eye hook 2 in, with nuts and a 3/8 in by 1 1/2 bolt. You start with a washer on the bolt, the the eyebolt, then a washer, then the eyehook, a washer, and I put a wing nut on the end for easier adjusting. You need a wingnut on the 1/4 in eyebolt.  The eyehook screws into the tree and the eyebolt goes into the camera. the wingnut on the eyebolt goes on upside down and is used to tighten the camera. Very simple and allows the camera to be put up high and easily adjusted downwards. You can paint them to match the tree so it isn't shiny. Hope this helps


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## rondvc (Jul 27, 2016)

*Pic to my description*

Here is a photo of the camera hanger I listed


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## dwhee87 (Jul 27, 2016)

When I set up a cam on a game trail, I try to position it so that when I come back to check it/swap cards/batteries, I don't have to cross the trail, leaving scent. I'm especially careful of this when the cam is near a stand I plan to hunt that day or soon. Learned that lesson the hard way.

Another good one is that when you climb down from your stand and go to swap a card or batteries at the camera that may only be 20 or 30 yards away, always take your bow/gun....you never know what'll come along while you're kneeling at your camera.  Learned that lesson the hard way, too.


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## NCHillbilly (Jul 27, 2016)

If you're putting it on an actual trail, face it up or down the trail instead of perpendicular to it. 

Fence crossings are great trailcam sets.

People like to steal trailcams.


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## GTHunter007 (Jul 27, 2016)

All trail cameras are different.  Some have wider Sensor areas...some have faster trigger speeds, some have different IR distances they can get night shots from etc.   It is important you understand the ability of your camera before deciding how to set it up and what you want it looking at.   

A camera with a super trigger like the Bushnells and Reconyx and a few others, you can set on anything.  Food source, scrape or perpendicular to a trail.   Slower trigger speeds and you need to put them at angles.  

On my Bushnells last season...I learned the sensor zone was wider than the picture.  Coupled with a super trigger speed, even the 3 shot burst wasn't getting the animal fully in the picture and then the delay was missing the follow up shot.  Quick fix...this camera has adjustable delay settings that are almost dead on.  As long as I wasn't on a food source where they would stay for 5-15 minutes, I set the delay to 2-3 seconds and would have a slideshow of the animal  its entire time in front of the camera.  I fell in LOVE with the cameras once I figured that out.  Over scrapes it was amazing.  Here is an example of what I was getting anytime animals passed by.  



Longer trigger delays on other cameras distance to target becomes an issue.  Too close and you have nothing but the rear end or half body and head already gone.  But each camera has its own ability and sweet spot.  

The other tip is getting the camera up above eye level with a downward angle.  Not only does this get the camera out of direct eye line for the animals, it minimizes the amount of light above the horizon that can wash out the pictures.  Too low with half the background pic being sky...daytime pictures will be over exposed.  Making for a lower quality picture.  

I am not carrying a ladder and putting my cameras 10' above the ground.  I have been running 10-14 cameras on my property per season for years...even our most mature bucks have grown up with cameras on trees around their world.  5'-6' and where I can reach are it.  Don't over think it and over work yourself.  The more presence you put in the woods...the more you leave behind.   Get in, set up, get out.  K.I.S.S   The acronym applies here.  

I run Bushnells, Brownings, Moultrie and Coverts.  All have different capabilities and what they do well...learn their strengths and utilize them each correctly to maximize their benefits.


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## HarryO45 (Jul 28, 2016)

I have been placing two cameras on one tree capturing 180 degrees.  I have found that one of the cameras will often do much better than the other.  This gives me an idea of the route that the deer are using more often.  Then I adjust the cameras again. And again.  Last year I figuared out the exact route that the largest buck used and it gave me the confidence I needed to persevere.


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## Bucky T (Jul 28, 2016)

I've been running cams since 98. 

Here's my #1 tip. 

Flip the switch to "On" before you walk away.


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## HarryO45 (Jul 29, 2016)

Bucky T said:


> I've been running cams since 98.
> 
> Here's my #1 tip.
> 
> Flip the switch to "On" before you walk away.



This is my second year running cameras...and yes that is important.  learned it at least three times.


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## killabig1 (Jul 29, 2016)

Be careful about using SD cards between different camera manufacturers.  Some will work in other cameras and may need to be reformatted. Stick with the same SD cards for each camera or manufacturer.
Check to see if the time and date is correct, use military time.


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## 308 (May 17, 2017)

I enjoyed this thread... especially Bucky T's advice... 

I'm not a university study, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn last night... but back when I ran white flash... I'd get some really good bucks... once... maybe twice... but then no more of them... 

After I went to red glow and then some no glow... I have much different luck... 

I don't need bright color flash pictures or video to see what I've got... 

And I get thousands a week... on average... 

Occasionally I'll get a runner... but often they walk right back... 

I put most of my cameras up high on account of the bears... and many of them have nests of barbed wire below them... 

And even that doesn't discourage a bear who really wants to stick his tongue to it to see if it's edible... 

High cameras do take out the field of view... but I sure do like what I see on my cameras, so  I'm not likely to lower them all... 

Oh yes... bear boxes might keep a human from walking off with the camera, but won't stop a bear from scratching the lenses out of the camera openings... as if it were a bee nest... 

I've had many lens replacement jobs too... 

I have a ladder section in the woods, for when I don't have my Honda with me... but my cameras are generally high enough where I have to stand on the rack of my Honda to reach up to the camera...


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## NantucketShedHunter (May 17, 2017)

_My tip for you is to spend every waking moment of your day trying to figure out how to avoid your cameras from being stolen. It took me two of my cameras being stolen to learn how._


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## hooksnhorns (May 29, 2017)

Always try to point your camera north or south.


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## bullgator (May 29, 2017)

hooksnhorns said:


> Always try to point your camera north or south.



Yes, keep it away from pointing at the rising or setting sun.


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## Gfjsteve16 (May 29, 2017)

Always use lithium ion battieries instead of alkaline. Reason be is alkaline voltage drops as batteries die. This cuts most cams off early.


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## Throwback (May 30, 2017)

Bucky T said:


> I've been running cams since 98.
> 
> Here's my #1 tip.
> 
> Flip the switch to "On" before you walk away.




i came here to post that last sentence too!


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## Big7 (May 30, 2017)

Put a camera on the trail you are watching.

Then put one up high focused on the trail cam.

That way, if someone messes with them, you will
have a pic..

Stopped poachers on Dad's farm.

First hand experience.


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## HarryO45 (May 31, 2017)

I mark the deployment of my cameras on my GPS - I run 12 cameras, so if I do not mark them on my GPS i forget where i put them.  Before i had a GPS i lost two of my cameras for almost two months.  I was lucky to find them again.  

If you do not have a GPS create a log or mark locations on map.  My recommendation.


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## 1gr8bldr (Jun 2, 2017)

My lessons are get in and then out. You don't need 5000 pics of a buck, you just need 1. Continued checking of cams will do harm. I usually check my cams at night. Deer are not spooked by your presence at night. They will let you walk close to them and never run. I check cams on Friday night, after returning from a good meal with fellow hunters


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## 1gr8bldr (Jun 2, 2017)

Running cameras is fun, more so than hunting to me. I have ran as many as 20 checking them once a week. Been there, done that. Not as important to me any longer. Looking in hindsight, I was limiting my chances because had you looked at a gps track of my movements, you would see that the walking involved was disturbing way to much territory. Yes, it's fun, but that desire to capture everything on film is the very thing that can hurt your chances..... unless you had rather get pictures, than see with your own eyes the target you have discovered. Find your target, get out.


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## HarryO45 (Jun 3, 2017)

1gr8bldr said:


> Running cameras is fun, more so than hunting to me. I have ran as many as 20 checking them once a week. Been there, done that. Not as important to me any longer. Looking in hindsight, I was limiting my chances because had you looked at a gps track of my movements, you would see that the walking involved was disturbing way to much territory. Yes, it's fun, but that desire to capture everything on film is the very thing that can hurt your chances..... unless you had rather get pictures, than see with your own eyes the target you have discovered. Find your target, get out.



Yea, I kinda think you are right... there is a balance.  Last year I dropped a camera in a new spot.  No corn just a trail.  Everyday the biggest buck on the lease walked by my camera between 10am and 1pm.  It was three weeks before the season.  I got addicted.  Checked my cameras every five days then I saw him in four other areas...basically he was traveling the several bottoms that connected over a distance of almost two miles.  I was certain I would kill him.  I hunted the ridge upwind from his trail first day of muzzleloader.  Nothing.  I had cameras on him all season and hunted a lot.  Checked my cameras often.  He went nocturnal almost immediate after file season opened.  After the rut he broke his right side side so I would have let him pass.  I got him on camera after the season, so I think he is gonna be game this upcoming year.  I think I am gonna ease up on checking my cameras this year.


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## BowanaLee (Jun 5, 2017)

# 1  Unless its a real safe place, hide your camera. I like to cut out camera sized holes in banks or hide them in root systems or around logs. 
Always camouflaged to surroundings. I seldom use the straps. The screw in bracket isn't to bad though.
# 2  Point slightly up or down trails so you'll get more.
# 3  Video vehicles. You'll get more. Refer to # 2
# 4  I format SD card every time. 
# 5  Be careful not to over hunt your area. I check once a week or less. 
# 6  Carry extra batteries and SD cards.
# 7  Keep notes on how many cams are out and where.
# 8  Refer to # 1


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## HarryO45 (Jun 7, 2017)

BowanaLee said:


> # 1  Unless its a real safe place, hide your camera. I like to cut out camera sized holes in banks or hide them in root systems or around logs.
> Always camouflaged to surroundings. I seldom use the straps. The screw in bracket isn't to bad though.
> # 2  Point slightly up or down trails so you'll get more.
> # 3  Video vehicles. You'll get more. Refer to # 2
> ...



Good rules, what do you mean - rule number 3?


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## HarryO45 (Jun 20, 2017)

I put cameras high.  About six feet up.  I use sticks that I find on the ground to to place between the tree and the top of the camera to adjust the aim.  Depending on terrain it can increase view.  I believe it also protects the lenses in the rain and sun.  A good camera should not be place directly on the trail, they will trigger at greater distances.   I like video to confirm direction of movement of deer,


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## DuckArrow (Jun 21, 2017)

Bucky T said:


> I've been running cams since 98.
> 
> Here's my #1 tip.
> 
> Flip the switch to "On" before you walk away.



This cracked me up....never truer words spoken. Nothing like checking a camera after 2-3 months in the woods and it is still in the off or setup mode. Been there done that.


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## EAGLE EYE 444 (Jun 22, 2017)

Bucky T said:


> I've been running cams since 98.
> 
> Here's my #1 tip.
> 
> Flip the switch to "On" before you walk away.







DuckArrow said:


> This cracked me up....never truer words spoken. Nothing like checking a camera after 2-3 months in the woods and it is still in the off or setup mode. Been there done that.




Yes, this one of the MOST IMPORTANT tips posted here for sure.  The fact is, I have been guilty of not doing that TWICE in the past 6 weeks now.  I check my cameras most every week and I found the culprit to be my cellphone as both of these times, a phone call interrupted my "normal routine" of doing things.  Needless to say, I was highly teed off when I got back last week and realized that I had done this same thing a 2nd time !!!!   

The obvious solution is DO NOT ANSWER MY CELLPHONE WHILE I AM FEEDING THE CRITTERS AND CHECKING MY CAMERAS AND SWAPPING OUT MEMORY CARDS IN THE FUTURE.  I should certainly know better because most every week, I now check over 35 cameras on my property.


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## HarryO45 (Aug 18, 2017)

Take pictures of yourself moving through the cover after you deploy the camera.  Gives you perspective of size of deer that you are photographing...know distance from trees and other landmarks.  

I have seen several deer on video that are much larger than I had initially thought because I had not know how far away the deer were.


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