Unread postby Jrichard » Mon Aug 01, 2016 7:18 am
I use trail cameras for specific purposes. I feel as though I have (through trail and complete failure) learned how to use them well. I feel as though its one of my stronger suits at the moment while I get with the program. lol. I learned last year that the best thing to do is prep for a hunt (scent free clothes/shower ect). It helps but like everyone knows its not going eliminate everything. I hang my cams on a tree in my yard (goody looking if you ask me) and I spray them down and let them air dry for a day or two. Then I use gloves and throw them in a BIG Ziploc bag and into my backpack. Then I am off to the woods. Now a big part of this situation has not been mentioned. I ONLY put out trail cameras during or before we are in for a good rain. This will help wash away some scent or dull it. Then when I hang them I take a climbing stick with me and I hang them about 12 feet off the ground or higher. Then I wedge a stick behind the camera so it tilts down and points where I want it to point. Deer hear the clicking of the camera. Some cameras claim they don't click. They all click and the deer hear it. Also if you put them out I never put them out for last than 3 weeks before checking them. Its better to go longer but if you cant you cant. Also I use them to clarify what I am thinking. If I see a run and it looks really nice I'll put the camera in that spot to see whats using it and when. Because if its a section of the run that deer are using at 1 AM and I didn't use the camera and saw the sign, I would have set up there and more than likely gotten skunked. But if its a part of the run they are using at 6 PM and the sun goes down at 8, I know there's a good shot that they will be there during daylight hours. So it'll tell me whether its worth hunting there. Also a key note is that I pull my cameras well before the season. This way it gives the area some time to calm down. I was hunting this spot last season, and I couldn't tell why the deer weren't where I was. But I always saw them in the field when I was leaving. It turns out I wasn't hunting the spot at the right time. Only after putting up my trail cameras this spring, I found out the deer were using this run to go BACK to the bedding area in the morning. So I was hunting it backwards. My friend told me there were TONS of deer in this spot, and he was right. 15 or so deer use this saddle to dead back to the bedding, but they use a separate one when they go to the fields. Honestly I trash the nighttime pictures unless its a picture of a monster. lol
So an example as to where I failed. I have a spot that is producing about 200 pictures for me every 3 weeks on public land. Now last year at this time i put out a trail camera. With no scent blocker nothing. No prep at all. I put it about 3 feet off the ground or so. I thought I was in I was like heck yeah IR flash, noise free, black out flash. I am set no deer is going to get spooked. Now for the funny part. Every picture I got from the day I put it out till the first rain, EVERY SINGLE DEER that walked by this god forsaken camera found it. They would be browsing in one pic. Then the next picture they'd have their ears perked looking around. The next picture would be the deer leaning in smelling the camera. Then the next picture would be a completely empty picture or the deer end jumping out of there. And I kept doing this for 2 or 3 weeks and just wondered why. And my one week of 200 or so pics turned into 10 every 3 or 4 weeks if I was lucky. So I knew I had to change something. So I let it cool down for 2 months. And I did it one more time. After pulling the SD card I saw that it had 180 pics on it and I was so excited. BUT THE SAME THING HAPPENED! So I started spending more time at the bait shop in town and I started hearing people talk about how they only put trail cameras out before rain storms and such because it helps dull the scent left behind. Then it clicked in my head. Only the first week or so were of deer that smelled the camera and took off. So when I lined up when the pictures were taken and the last rain we had, it hit home. The deer weren't as alert to the camera, yeah they heard it and looked at it, and tested the wind, but they'd just put their head down and start browsing again. It was crazy. But I feel that the older bucks I get on camera just seem to know once they see it. They just look at it and run if they see it. And that's why I put it up in the tree. Because most deer don't look up. But if its near eye level they will see it.
So I hope you enjoyed my story. Its kind of depressing thinking I spent almost half a year kicking my self in the but. But I learned a lot. And I learned first hand how trail cameras can REALLY hurt you. But personally I love it. And it helps me with my hunting prep practice. IT helps me with my scent control and some times if I am putting a new Camera out i will take my tree stand with me and practice climbing the tree QUIETLY with it. And its easier using a tree stand with a foot board than it is using a climbing stick lol.