Trail cam tips for newbies

[Moose-head]

For those of us new to trail cams what things did you learn ‘the hard way’ before honing in on how to run the camera?  There is a great tutorial about how to set them up that is sticky in the trail cam topic, I am thinking more along the line of boneheaded mistakes.  I took a lot of pictures of branches blowing in a windstorm, then of grass blowing before figuring out how to minimize some of that.  I started with only one card and had to pull the camera each time rather than switching out the card.  I also found that the unit uses more juice than I anticipated and the cheap dollar store D-cell batteries were a waste of time.  It is disappointing to say the least to have a weeks worth of a trail cam sitting with a dead battery in the field.  Any other tips that might help out newbies like myself?

[hntrspud]

Lock it up if its on public land. Secure it somehow. Make sure that you remember the actual height of animals and dont put it up to high. I personally try to get the most view that I can with the area that I am in. I am also interested in any other tips.

[vandeman17]

My suggestions are to buy more then one because once you get one out then you will be hooked and want more. Also, don't go check them too often. When I first started running them it was so hard to not go check them every weekend. If you like the spot then let them do their work. 

[stickflngr]

                                                               


Another good tip is to be aware of where the sun rises and sets so you can set your cam so early morning or late afternoon pics aint washed out from the glare.....

[wilywin]

One thing i learned the hard way....bring some clippers and trim away any and all limbs branches, ect around the cam.   I had alot of empty pics my first go around before i figured this out!  When the wind blows stuff moves around more than you think! 

[NOCK NOCK]

                                                               


Another good tip is to be aware of where the sun rises and sets so you can set your cam so early morning or late afternoon pics aint washed out from the glare.....

Also, when you change out batteries, remember to reset the date/clock.

[KFhunter]

and don't put them 90 degrees to the trail,  I aim them down the trail a little so it gives the trigger time to work.

Also it's good to have a curosity item in the trial to give the animal pause,  could be a scent or obstruction

[Moose-head]

Also, when you change out batteries, remember to reset the date/clock.

Dang I wish I would have known that one about 4 days ago when I set my trail cam up

[Moose-head]

Sure enough the date was all messed up.  How many pictures of nothing vs. something is a reasonable ratio?  I seem to sort through quite a few blanks (10 out of 100 or so??) before getting animals and am wondering if that is just the deal or if I need more tweaking of my sets.

[jackelope]

Sure enough the date was all messed up.  How many pictures of nothing vs. something is a reasonable ratio?  I seem to sort through quite a few blanks (10 out of 100 or so??) before getting animals and am wondering if that is just the deal or if I need more tweaking of my sets.

Either the trigger time is real  slow on your camera or the animals are not stopping. although 10 blanks out of 100 pics doesn't seem too bad.
I have mine on high sensitivity, 1 picture per trigger on a 30 second delay. Do you have some kind of bait or attractant down to make them stop?

[stickflngr]

My main cam spot is bad for blank pics. I think the wind comes up between about 11;30am and 1;45pm and I get nothing but blank pics. Im not sure there is any way to avoid this and 10 out of a 100 aint bad....

[Moose-head]

I meant ten pictures and 90 blanks per 100 sorry I wrote that wrong.  I haven't used bait, I am just setting it up in places that I think look good and seeing if there are any critters in the neighborhood.

[Moose-head]

I have found some deer.  Not quite as nice as most of the pictures people on here post, but I am happy to get them.  (even though the date stamp is from 2009 the pictures are from last week I hadn't read NOCK NOCK'S post before I put the camera out)

[jackelope]

I think your camera is too far away from the target. 30-40 feet max, 3' off the ground.

This bull is about 20' from the camera.

[bmccalister]

I would recommend checking your camera on a schedule of every two or three weeks on the same day and the same time. This allows the animals to get accustom to you. Also, use latex gloves to minimize your scent on the camera and use other scent elimination techniques like rubber boots, etc. Once you find the area and animals you want to move your camera to antother area to scout while you hunt your primary spot - just in-case your primary spot gets cold during the season.