Hunting Washington Forum

Community => Trail Cameras => Topic started by: ThomMedic on May 04, 2018, 03:47:15 PM

Title: Whar am I doing wrong
Post by: ThomMedic on May 04, 2018, 03:47:15 PM: I placed my camera about 6 feet+ up in a tree in front of some bait that should have attracted deer, raccoons, or yotes. The bait is most always cleaned up in the morning. The problem is - very nice color shots of a buck and people in color. Almost nothing after dark, the chip is entirely blank for anything nocturnal. The camera works great in daylight, but never catches the things in the dark that are eating the bait though it is less than 30 feet away.

I am using a Browning Command Ops, BTC-4 series.

Any suggestions? Thanks.
Title: Re: Whar am I doing wrong
Post by: h20hunter on May 04, 2018, 04:08:01 PM: Get a Bushnell, problem solved.
Title: Re: Whar am I doing wrong
Post by: h20hunter on May 04, 2018, 04:08:48 PM: Seriously though.... maybe to high and at night the angle is wrong or the sensor isn't picking up the movement?
Title: Re: Whar am I doing wrong
Post by: jackelope on May 04, 2018, 04:12:06 PM: 30' seems far to me. Can you move the bait closer?
Are all your settings set appropriately for night mode?
Title: Re: Whar am I doing wrong
Post by: teanawayslayer on May 04, 2018, 04:25:56 PM: Could be mice or small critters the cam doesn’t detect. I threw out a whole bag of corn one time and not one pic of any animal. No tracks and all the corn was cleaned up.
Title: Re: Whar am I doing wrong
Post by: Buckmark on May 04, 2018, 04:58:56 PM: Misspelling the word "What" :chuckle:

6ft is a little high for my tastes, i set mine around 5ft and about 10yds from bait, but i have had my bait cleaned up and no critter pics or pics with nothing there (ghosts)
Title: Re: Whar am I doing wrong
Post by: KFhunter on May 04, 2018, 05:05:25 PM: If you have people in color, is it possible they deleted a monster nocturnal buck?

j/k :chuckle: probably too far away for the infrared sensor to pick up night time objects.
https://www.trailcampro.com/products/2016-browning-command-ops?variant=17398568965
2017 Browning Command Ops Review
This entry level Browning trail camera struggles with night video and picture quality. It detects quickly, but only out to 50 ft. On a positive note, with lithium batteries, the Command Ops would get over 8 months of battery life. - TCP Staff

Night pictures are grainy and lack flash range. If the animal is close to the camera, the pictures turn out rather well.
Daytime video quality is pretty good overall. Night videos are very grainy and have limited flash range. If the animal isn't within 15-20 ft., the video will be very dark.
Title: Re: Whar am I doing wrong
Post by: Wolfdog2314 on May 04, 2018, 05:15:45 PM: I love my browning cameras.

Sounds like move the bait closer, and the camera lower. I run all my cameras about waist height.
Title: Re: Whar am I doing wrong
Post by: ThomMedic on May 05, 2018, 10:28:34 AM: Thank you all and for the extra humor :hello:
Title: Re: Whar am I doing wrong
Post by: h20hunter on May 05, 2018, 10:33:20 AM: That's what we are here for. Move it lower and closer and by all means lets see some critters.
Title: Re: Whar am I doing wrong
Post by: yakimanoob on May 08, 2018, 08:16:33 AM: Quote from: Buckmark on May 04, 2018, 04:58:56 PM
Misspelling the word "What"
This was everyone's first reaction, right? :chuckle:
Title: Re: Whar am I doing wrong
Post by: yakimanoob on May 08, 2018, 08:22:24 AM: Quote from: h20hunter on May 04, 2018, 04:08:01 PM
Get a Bushnell, problem solved.

All in good fun, but..... yeah seriously. I have a Bushnell Essential E2 and two Browning (one Night Ops and one Spec Ops) cameras. The Bushnell is FAR superior to both when it comes to trigger speed and distance in low light or night time.

First time I talked to Browning about my camera not triggering (the first unit I got was clearly defective) they gave me a lecture on putting it too far off the ground, "it's meant to be no more than 3' high," "you must be doing it wrong," etc. Thankfully the retailer exchanged it, but there was no hope for customer service from Browning.

So, to your actual question, it sounds like your bait is too far away -- 30' is pretty far -- plus for whatever reason, the trigger mechanism on the Browning cameras seems to work better with it low to the ground rather than pointing down at the target.
Title: Re: Whar am I doing wrong
Post by: fishnfur on May 17, 2018, 08:33:11 PM: I have had three Brownings, currently only one. Sounds to me like the IR lights aren't activating at night. My previous one was getting only faint captures or total snow I've had no problems from tech support getting them to replace defective cameras. I've done it twice. I loved my first Browning. The last two - not so much.

I've had three Bushnells too. The last two are not anywhere near the quality of the first.

I recently purchased a Chinese made trail cam on Amazon (there are many) that has all the bells and whistles, including a video screen to review captures in the field. I paid $70 or so, and it's working way better than my other two. It had 4.5 stars from 1200 reviews, and it is living up to it's reputation. I don't really need the video screed because I always pull cards to take them home and really study the captures. I guess it is a worthwhile feature for deciding if the cam needs to be moved to a different spot. No more Bushnell or Browning cams for me.