How long before you pull trail cam.

[hunter399]

I recently put a cam out ,pulled it 5 days later.
Not one pic of anything.
Bait is just salt block.
New spot ,never put cam there before.

So........
How long is too long,how short is too short?
Should I have left it longer.
Or I am I just looking for results too quick?

[huntnfmly]

5 days is not enough time I leave mine up for months at a time and will be putting out a cellular one in a couple weeks

[hunter399]

I leave most of mine out till fall.
I guess what I'm asking is.
How long from setup to first picture of big game animal?

Like if you go a month without a pic is that a bad spot?

I'm trying to setup productive spots,so I pulled it at 5 days without a big game animal pic.

Too soon to pull?

[Mfowl]

When scouting new spots I will usually do a 2 week soak and determine by how many pics I have in that time whether I want to leave the cam or not. If I am not seeing sign while going to check or getting many pics in that 2 weeks I move the cam. Some spots just don't get much traffic, even if they look good. No point in hunting there if the animals don't use it. Likewise, if I get a lot of traffic I may deploy other cams nearby to try to figure the travel routes or gain as much intel as possible.

[Naches Sportsman]

Unless mine are right near roads, I put them out and check them during/after hunting season and put new batteries in them if the cameras are in wintering grounds/areas of interest for trapping.

It seems to always be a few days before any salt licks get hit unless they’re on heavily used game trails.

[emac]

3 weeks to a month.  Depends on how many cameras I currently have sitting at home compared to any spots I wanna try.   If I have extra cameras laying around and no new spots I wanna try I will leave it up longer.  I have one camera that had no big game on it for over 2 months but I left it up cause I had no new spots to try.   Now it's one of my most productive cameras.

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[pickardjw]

Yeah I leave mine at least 2-4 weeks before checking. 

[hunter399]

Thanks for the replays.
You guys are most likely correct.

Well I'm done,every SD card and camara I own is soaking.
I've had some stuff pop up ,won't be posting alot of pics this year.
So I will check or pull cams in September while bear hunting.
I can't afford the gas and time this year,to check them.
3 month soak ,one and done.

[TripleB]

I didn’t put any out this year, but last year, I’d set them Saturday check them following Saturday. (Back when gas prices were affordable to spend every weekend in the woods) I’d use the screen to check the number of videos, if it only had a couple, I’d watch them and leave it for one more week, if same results, I’d pull it and move it. For cameras that had piles of activity, I’d just swap out cards. Two SD cards per camera so I could easily swap and move on to the next.

[jstone]

Cameras have been up high sense last august.
Going to check June 24th. Fingers crossed it is still where I put it

[huntnfmly]

I leave most of mine out till fall.
I guess what I'm asking is.
How long from setup to first picture of big game animal?

Like if you go a month without a pic is that a bad spot?

I'm trying to setup productive spots,so I pulled it at 5 days without a big game animal pic.

Too soon to pull?

Aww gotcha I misunderstood the question
I have one that gets  the most action right before and during early archery for elk 👍

[cjjcb]

Great question.
Been working a new spot and thinking the same thing.
It looks good so I don’t wanna go in and disturb it. However, I do want to know if the critters are using it… I was planning to leave it until mid to late August before checking… but now I’m thinking I should probably get in there sooner than later and possibly move depending on usage…

[emac]

Great question.
Been working a new spot and thinking the same thing.
It looks good so I don’t wanna go in and disturb it. However, I do want to know if the critters are using it… I was planning to leave it until mid to late August before checking… but now I’m thinking I should probably get in there sooner than later and possibly move depending on usage…

Go check it.  Going in one time isn't going to disturb the animals very much. Just get in and get out. I check most of my cams every 3 weeks to a month and it doesn't change the critters patterns.

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[Skyvalhunter]

has to be over 30 days so when the cougars come by on their monthly route you can catch them on cam. Wont be any deer but you will get some nice cougar pictures.

[huntnnw]

Lotta factors on how long I’ll leave a cam, but a bare minimum would be a month or 2 with salt. Right now lotta deer are still transitioning into summer patterns , some places it takes a while for animals to find salt .

[huntnnw]

Perfect example is where I have a cam now on salt. I can watch almost a square mile of CRP. There is 10-12 bucks that feed right up the ridge where the cam is anywhere from feet to 200 yards from it and only 2 in a month have hit it. Now if you didnt have the luxury of glassing a spot and knowing what's there you would think your spot was crappy. In late July if I dump feed all those bucks will show. Another example I was targeting a big buck and I had him on 1 cam, so I started fanning cams out from that 1 cam to try and figure out his core area and that big buck never hit any of the other cams and they were 200 yards away. What was eye opening is after 2 months and a mere couple hundred yards I had completely different bucks on some cams and some would never hit the others. Then you can toss some of it all out the window with some bucks as they will move in September or October.

[highcountry_hunter]

As stated above, 30 day minimum. But usually longer than that. I also use loose salt opposed to blocks. I swear big bucks know those blocks aren’t natural.


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[nwwanderer]

The blocks take time, something a mature critter is very aware.  Loose is hit and run, should use it for all supplementation and it is easy to add the other little things they need

[huntnnw]

Never used blocks as they are easier to see by thieves stealing cams and they are a pain in the ass to pack . Bag is far easier , less visibility and gets into the ground easier

[highcountry_hunter]

Never used blocks as they are easier to see by thieves stealing cams and they are a pain in the ass to pack . Bag is far easier , less visibility and gets into the ground easier

And it’s way easier to divvy up a bag between 3 different sets than it is a block


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[hunter399]

Just checked a cam today ,month and half ,7500 photos,every photo has a deer or elk in it.
Seems like the blocks work ok to me.
I cut blocks into quarter,some of my spots I have used loose salt before.
Elk or moose will eat it in a week.,unless your dumping a 50lb sack.
I have one spot that only gets alot of deer traffic,they eat one 50lb block a year.

I do agree with you all on a month or two for first setups.
This spot just had alot of human activity,not one animal in 5 days.
I ended up moving it. Hopefully a better location. Will know in a month or two.
But will say the spot I moved it too ,there was two deer watching me setup.
So I feel alot better about the new spot vs the first spot.

[mcrawfordaf]

My first time running cams on the east side I picked up deer straight away. I checked it 2x weeks after setting with corn/salt stone. Other cams I put out I left for longer and eventually got game on them within the month.

From the limited experience I have with running cams, I've found the "natural" rock stones found at feed stores are more productive than your "salt lick" composite type bricks. I was running a salt stone and corn last year that did much better than the "deer feed" labeled items and salt products I also had out.

The cams I had out last season that had good animals on them I left out over winter and will go check here shortly for the upcoming season. I've been reading "Blood in the Tracks" and one of the biggest take aways I got from that book is to start your scouting for next season the day after you shoot your deer of the current season. So as soon as I got done hanging my deer last year I went right back to where I shot him and reset all my cams cards and batteries for a long fall/winter soak.

[hunter399]

Perfect example is where I have a cam now on salt. I can watch almost a square mile of CRP. There is 10-12 bucks that feed right up the ridge where the cam is anywhere from feet to 200 yards from it and only 2 in a month have hit it. Now if you didnt have the luxury of glassing a spot and knowing what's there you would think your spot was crappy. In late July if I dump feed all those bucks will show. Another example I was targeting a big buck and I had him on 1 cam, so I started fanning cams out from that 1 cam to try and figure out his core area and that big buck never hit any of the other cams and they were 200 yards away. What was eye opening is after 2 months and a mere couple hundred yards I had completely different bucks on some cams and some would never hit the others. Then you can toss some of it all out the window with some bucks as they will move in September or October.

Yup ,the cam I went to today is exactly what you said.
Nice animals all year ,except September,October,November, they will not come back till December.

[blackymaster20]

Sometimes it has taken a month or two before i got a big buck or bull on my cameras. This time of the year can be spotty for activity. Usually around the beginning of july i get alot more activity.

[huntnnw]

I don’t divy up salt, it’s 50lbs at a time at every cam. One cam I’m almost 150lbs in this year … moose and elk eat a lot

[jstone]

Is salt only a temp thing? While they are growing antlers?

[huntnnw]

I switch to feed mid July if I want pics. Antler growth and milk production plus all the browse they eat until it drys out is full of water washing out the sodium in their system. why you get lotta pics early  and it tapers as summer progresses as heat drys out vegetation.

we notice our goats consume more minerals in the spring as their field lush green and full of water.

[hunter399]

I don’t divy up salt, it’s 50lbs at a time at every cam. One cam I’m almost 150lbs in this year … moose and elk eat a lot

Yup ,that's what I mean.
It's alot.

[Scruffy]

I have noticed if you put blocks out and there are cattle in the area they will find your salt blocks and camp out.

[Angus]

I set 6 cams on 6/18, a couple days later I was OnX scouting and found a spot I wanted to put a cam. Yesterday I decided to go pull 1 of my 6 that I didn't really like its positioning to begin with and relocate it to a new spot. Before taking the cam down I checked the SD card and found a buck, a bear and a few does have passed by in just the first week. That cameras isn't going anywhere. I'll check it again a few days before the 8/1 bear opener.