How long do you let your cams soak?

[Evoac05]

So I recently picked up 4 trail cams and plan on putting them out this weekend. These are my first trail cams and was curious to see how long others let their cams soak for. I also plan on putting out some bait, but not sure what I should put out this time of year? So, my questions are how long do you let your cams soak and what bait do you set out this time of year? I am looking to attract deer and bear, really anything is fine with me. I am also setting these up on the wetside if that helps. Thanks

Trail cam security I have pretty much covered. Bear box lag bolted to the tree with a python cable lock around the tree and a heavy duty lock for the box should do the trick.

[headshot5]

Depends on where you set them up.  Some jungle/thick hole somewhere way back in the hills I would probably go a month (try to get away from people).  If it is somewhere close to public acces with generally a lot of people in the area I hesitate to go longer than a week if that.

At first, my recommendation would be to set them up somewhere close  by and let them soak for about a week (backyard etc.).  Then you can see if you have any ones that have problems.  Like shutting down, eating batteries, not taking good pictures and so on.  This will save you some heart ache of setting them up with a lot of bait and then having them fail you in the field.

As far as bait, find secluded areas with good trails.  Apples work great in the fall.  Salt licks work good now til august. 

Just know if you have them out at some point one will get stolen.  That is just how it goes.       

[vandeman17]

There are lots of threads about camera bait on here. I generally put out sheep salt with selenium as my base bait. Then, depending on where I am at and what time of year, I might add apple, oats or some other things. As far as soak time, I would let them go at least a few weeks. If you have 4 cameras, an idea might be to stagger them. Put one out each weekend and then by the time you get your 4th out, your first one is about ready to go check. The hardest part for me and trail cameras is waiting to go check them so if you could have one to check each weekend that would be pretty legit.

[turkeyfeather]

I set mine out as soon as turkey season is over and put out a mineral mix. I will usually only go check them every 2-3 week's this time of year. As we get closer to early archery season (2-3 weeks out) I will then throw out some corn and sweet cob mix. And then I check the cameras weekly. Be careful with bears if you use bait. If your getting bears in where you have bait for deer you cannot hunt the bears there.

[bobcat]

I think two weeks is a good minimum interval to go by. Although I often check mine once a week. But that often depends on which species I'm targeting and if I'm using bait or not. One thing is if you're not sure how many pictures you're going to get and if you're not too sure of battery life in your cameras, then you'll want to check them often enough so that you don't miss a week or two, due to dead batteries.

You could also have an issue with the camera taking hundreds of pictures of nothing, usually due to the wind and/or high temperatures. So you could end up with dead batteries unexpectedly, in a very short time.

When you first start using trail cameras I would recommend checking each camera weekly to start. Then as you get more familiar with battery life and such, then extend that time to up to 4 weeks or more.

I've got a camera out now that's just set up on an elk trail, which I believe only gets occasional use. I haven't checked that camera in about 6 weeks.

I've got another camera out that I've been baiting with cob, and I try to check it, and replenish the bait, every two weeks. The problem with going more often than that is that you're leaving human scent in your area more often than is necessary.

[turkeyfeather]

The key is to know how well your cameras operate and how long your bait may last. Deer will still come in after bait is gone, but not as often. That's why I like mineral's. The longer you can wait to check the better. Scent does play some factor but depending on where you hunt its not as crucial as others. I have had deer walk in within hours of me checking cams and setting new bait.

[Ccortez]

This time of year I let them soak longer then normal 4-6weeks roughly.  Closer to season ill check every week to every two weeks.

[Evoac05]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I am excited to see what my cams will capture, tomorrow I'll be setting them out. I am using Primos 35 and 46 cams. Anyone have an idea of average battery life? I know there are many factors that will come into play (number of pics, day or night, etc.), but just curious what to expect.

[B.G.hunter]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I am excited to see what my cams will capture, tomorrow I'll be setting them out. I am using Primos 35 and 46 cams. Anyone have an idea of average battery life? I know there are many factors that will come into play (number of pics, day or night, etc.), but just curious what to expect.

I run a primos 35 and got 2 months out of the batteries over the winter.  So you may get longer in warmer temperatures.  I have never let the cam set that long before but the batteries still had good charge after a 4-6 week soak.  This year I might try to see how long the batteries will last in warmer weather before changing them.

[Pigfuz]

There are two ways to look at this idea of letting cams "soak".  I used to think that I should leave it sit for three to four weeks if I wanted to get any pics but then I took a different standpoint.  I started checking my cameras every 4-8 days with the hope that the animals in our area would just get used to me coming.  I also take out a few aples or some grain when I go out to keep them consistently coming to the cameras.  Well at first they did not come to the cameras until literally the night before I went to check hem again but now two months later they usually show up on the camera within 4-5 hours of me being there.  I think this is a great way to get the game used to you in there habitat and it will help things for sure during hunting season.  Good luck and have fun taking pics 

[Evoac05]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I am excited to see what my cams will capture, tomorrow I'll be setting them out. I am using Primos 35 and 46 cams. Anyone have an idea of average battery life? I know there are many factors that will come into play (number of pics, day or night, etc.), but just curious what to expect.

I run a primos 35 and got 2 months out of the batteries over the winter.  So you may get longer in warmer temperatures.  I have never let the cam set that long before but the batteries still had good charge after a 4-6 week soak.  This year I might try to see how long the batteries will last in warmer weather before changing them.

Good to know. I think I'll set them out for 3-4 weeks (unless I get too impatient) and check them before I leave on vacation. I think I'll bring new cards and batteries just in case I get a fair amount of pics. If so, I'll let them soak some more.

That's a good idea Pigfuzz, you just gave me an idea. I think I'm going to set up all four cams and when I come to check them, see how many pics I get for each one. Then I'll frequent one or two of the more active cams more often and see if it will affect the amount of pics I get. I like the idea of getting the animals familiar with your scent and not having it be associated with fear. I'll just have to bring lots of bait to get them to not fear human scent.

[Skyvalhunter]

I will tell you when the snow melts enough for me to get to them in July.