How to effectively use trail cameras?

[huntinsonovagun]

I'd like to hear how you guys use your trail cameras to inventory you hunting areas. My buddies all run feeders or mineral sites with cameras on them. My hunting style just won't allow that to happen.

I own a trail camera, but don't use it because I feel they are too invasive and would actually hinder my chances at a kill. We all see guys posting pictures of book-class bucks, but a small percentage of guys actually kill one that big. So I'm curious as to what you guys who run cameras do in order to get a realistic inventory, yet remain unobtrusive? I think this would be an interesting topic to get input from Adrae on, as I know from the Beast videos he's a huge fan of cameras. I'm not sure on Dan's whole take on cams....

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[U.P. MAN]

I think in certain areas a high percentage of big mature bucks that get killed, the hunter has pics of it. In other areas a very low percentage like you said. I have no groundbreaking or interesting techniques. Where and how you place them depends on how the deer in your area put up with them.

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[phade]

I don't really like to set my cams up with major intrusions (ie interior of woods). I believe the best "balance" or risk vs. reward on game cam use is to use the edges for info.

Inventory-wise, with no capability to draw (no baiting or minerals allowed here), it can be tough. I have found an apple tree that started dropping and the cam there has really let me inventory the bucks. I actually have more daytime movement of mature bucks at that single spot that I have ever found elsewhere. When I do check the cams, though, it takes 6 days before the next mature buck shows back up again...before that only does and young ones visit. The place has plenty of protection, so all of the ingredients are there.

I do like to get cams out of eye level...I'm using HME tripod screw in mounts...getting them about 6-7 feet high. Most new cams have multiple detection zones so you don't lose lateral detection much. These sets seem to avoid the bucks actually seeing the cam for some reason...they're simply not looking at it like they would before when set at the standard level.

[Stanley]

I think the use of trail cameras can be broken down into two main categories. Toys and tools. If you are a camera junkie and cameras are your main hobby, nothing wrong with that (toy). If you are mainly a mature buck hunter, and want to use cameras to scout, that would be (tool).
I think too many hunters think the cameras are an absolute for locating & killing bucks. It still boils down to hunter skill coupled with camera usage. The cameras capabilities are only as good as the hunter using them. One of the best trail camera users I personally know is a Beast member, but doesn’t get on here much (mn5503). I wish he would chime in and share some tips. Anyway when using a trail camera it really helps to have good knowledge & understanding of the area you are hunting. If you know where the bucks are feeding and where they are bedding you can inventory the area without disrupting the bucks. I like to set my cameras up at least 300 yards from bedding areas, (most of my cameras are set up farther away than this, closer to 500 yards). The farther away from bedding areas and still get useful information is the key. I like to set my cameras and let them run uninterrupted for 6-8 weeks. I think this is where most trail camera operators fail, they lack patience, set them and forget them.
Another thing to keep in mind the information you get today doesn’t need to used this year. It can be used to help you understand buck movement for the years to come. So if you do set a camera up close to or in a bedding area, let the camera run and do its job and then pull it when the season is over.
I believe the trail camera technology is headed for cameras that automatically send pictures to cell phone and/or email via MMS through a GSM Network providers. This should make it much easier to get intel with stealth.
I’m not going to get into the basics of camera set up, trails, sun and stuff like that to keep the boredom and length of the post down. We are in the electronic age. I personally feel if you are not using trail cameras you are limiting your learning capabilities.

[dan]

Great reply Stan..

I think this would be an interesting topic to get input from Adrae on, as I know from the Beast videos he's a huge fan of cameras. I'm not sure on Dan's whole take on cams....

I use cameras, but not a lot, cause I hunt mostly public land. I use them on my private spots in or near food sources I have little intention of hunting... I do like the idea of putting the cam at a hunting location the day I hunt there, when I get my scent in there anyway, and not checking it till next time I hunt there...
As far as Andrae goes, he has a travel rought thru his propertys where he has gotten the deer to accept his 4 wheeler where deer move mostly at night. Along that access rought he has food plots with cameras set up on them.

[Stanley]

Great reply Stan..

I think this would be an interesting topic to get input from Adrae on, as I know from the Beast videos he's a huge fan of cameras. I'm not sure on Dan's whole take on cams....

I use cameras, but not a lot, cause I hunt mostly public land. I use them on my private spots in or near food sources I have little intention of hunting... I do like the idea of putting the cam at a hunting location the day I hunt there, when I get my scent in there anyway, and not checking it till next time I hunt there...
As far as Andrae goes, he has a travel rought thru his propertys where he has gotten the deer to accept his 4 wheeler where deer move mostly at night. Along that access rought he has food plots with cameras set up on them.

Great example of effective trail camera usage.

[Southern Man]

Trail cameras can be additive.

A couple years after I first started using cameras, I put several cameras scattered around a farm I knew quite well. I set them in travel corridors and left them for the season. If I hunted close to one, I'd check it when I was there, otherwise, I left them alone. I used them as Stanley said to help learn how bucks used this particular farm on a yearly basis. It was interesting to see how movement changed as rut approached, and how deer reacted to it.
Last summer I hung 2 cameras in May over a salt lick and left them until September. I got a ton of pics, a little over 5500 and had lots of bucks throughout the summer.

I had one stolen last year so I started hanging them high in the tree, maybe 10' or so and slightly angled them downward. It made for better pics and I didn't have any deer looking at the cameras. The view of the deer and around it were better from a high position. I'm going to try some cameras on public land this year doing the same thing.

[tim]

i hang my cams on food sources in the summer to se what is out there these cameras stay there throught the season to let me know what is in the area. i have seen no ill effects from keeping them on food sources as relayed to me by pic results. when in the past i placed them in the woods that wrecked it for me. so for the last few years i have been choosing a farm to put my cams on when the rut heats up, i rarely hunt it but get great scrape picss(i will be keying in on this farm this year ) i currently have a cam on this farm on a river crossing as there is usually a hog trail there where they cross, i wont check that camera until i hunt it. food sources for me mostly especially summer, i dont touch the woods until season is open and im hunting and keep the cameras out of it

[G3s]

During the velvet stage of antlers, I run my cameras on feed fields. I do not enter the timber or run cameras in the timber at all. i use the camera to show me the majority of the bucks on the property. I am 100% positive that the cameras will not show you exactly what you have on your ground. I have witnessed more than once a deer walk right around a camera and not step in front of it. Once the deer move off the fields and back into fall patterns I generally run cameras on trails leading to feeding areas and along scrape lines and I only check those cameras when I go there to hunt. Once in awhile it costs me a camera because i forgot where it was by the time i go to hunt that area

[Bigb]

I think one of the keys is not to check them that often. I personally love them and addicted to them as well. In the preseason we try and check them every three weeks or so. I think the less you check them the better. You can't kill a deer in July, August or September (In Illinois) so there is no need to check them all the time. The less scent the better. Once the season hits, we'll check them when we hunt a stand in that area in order to minimize the scent in that area. If we are going in for a hunt longer than 3 days my buddy will pull chips a couple days before we get there so we can set up a plan and see if there are areas getting hit more than other. When I head down for the last scouting/stand hanging/trimming trip over labor day I plan on putting up two more cameras in spots that I'm going to leave out and not check until my mid October hunts. They will be on doe bedding areas so I don't see a need to check them until the pre rut gets going. They will be new stand sights so I don't know what to expect, I'll just wait for a perfect wind and when I hunt that stand for the first time I'll pull the chip and see what I have.

[Bigb]

I guess I should have added that all of our cameras our on food sources. Most years its on pinch points in bean field but with the poor crop this year we have them on food plots. So far its paid off, we have a great pic of 5 bachelor bucks almost every night on one food plot. It will change come season but even if one of those bucks visits the food plot when I'm hunting it I'll be a happy hunter. :)

[Sauk Beast]

My wife and I run about 8 cameras total and we never place them in the heart of the woods. We always place them in area we can drive a 4 wheeler to a tree and don't have to make special efforts to get them and leave extra scent behind. During the summer/ early fall we target bean/alfalfa fields and rut scapes on field edges no where near where we have stands. If I get a buck on cam I want to target I pull the camera and wait for the right day to go after him. Every big buck we have gotten, we've got on camera. It works for us definitely not the best way I am sure but it is effective.
This is one buck I am after and the one in the background I really really really want a better pic of but he looks HUGE!

P.S. Check the moon time 7:50 and look at the time on the pic....I am convinced