High Elevation Cams

[Kascade_Killer]

Heading out next weekend to scout a spot for modern (I’ll be hunting 19-24th)and I’m thinking about leaving a few cams up through the winter to track migration and maybe check them during the hunt.

Anyone have tips for leaving a camera out that long and through the winter? The cams are tested and work great but I’m worried about snow ruining the cards before I can get to them in the spring. It will be up above 5500ft and I likely won’t make it back in there till June I’m guessing. I can only imagine there will be feet upon feet of snow where they will be come January. I know the cameras battery will die but I really only wanna capture till the end of November to see what comes through.

Anyone have suggestions, camera hanging tips? I have some cell cams too and have debated that since atleast I’ll get the pictures but don’t want to light $200 on fire at a time lol.

[lewy]

It’ll be fine. Fresh battery and a big sd card, tape the door with e tape if it’s a full frontal door. Make sure there’s nothing in front of it to blow around and waste your batteries

[Kascade_Killer]

It’ll be fine. Fresh battery and a big sd card, tape the door with e tape if it’s a full frontal door. Make sure there’s nothing in front of it to blow around and waste your batteries

Electrical tape don’t know why I didn’t think of that. That’s an awesome tip.

[Grouse]

Hang them high.  I take one climbing stick with me and can get my cams 9 to 10 feet up the tree.  A stick or a pinecone wedged behind the top of the cam will angle it down enough to get a nice view of your area.  The added benefit is they are high enough that most people can't easily mess with them.  I leave my cams out year-round and haven't lost one yet since I started elevating them.

[Naches Sportsman]

I put fresh AA Kirkland batts in mine and put them 8-15 feet up depending on snow load for the area. I pack screw in steps to make it easier and bolt cams to the trees. Make sure there’s no branches above the cam to prevent ice buildup.

I use windy.com and zoom into areas I hunt and put cameras in and look at the winds during storms quite a bit to make sure I know what the winds are doing to put cameras  out of the wind.

When I put cameras out along roads in the late fall early winter for animal surveys, I hang them up high along roads and angle them down or put them on the upper cut banks to get them out of the public eye and wolves eyes. Wolves tend to not comeback for a bit if they see the IR.

[pd]

Leaving your cameras out in high elevations over the winter will not be a problem.  The cold weather will not kill the batteries--there is such little draw, it won't matter.

Be very careful that your camera will not be covered in the piling snow (take into consideration drifts as well)!

Also, if you use a tree, consider what will happen if the limbs above the camera get heavy with snow (they will block the camera!).

If you do it right, you will be amazed what happens to your area when the snow starts to melt.  It changes the landscape completely.

[pd]

As they were

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Last one.

[highcountry_hunter]

I’ve left them out at 7,000 feet just for fun. The amount of snow was wild, all the younger sub alpine fir’s were laid over. Lots of pictures of squirrels and rabbits throughout winter. No issues with batteries or sd card


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[BearCreekCookBook]

I leave a couple out up high every winter. Use Energizer Lithium batteries if possible, they last way longer and perform better in the cold temps of winter. Use the biggest SD card that is compatible with the camera and test the camera a few days before it gets deployed. Snow changes the landscape pretty drastically, bending small trees and branches so spend the time to clear everything above and around the cam. It’s fun to see the resulting photos but I have also had cameras spazz out and not have anything on them so don’t get your hopes too high. It’s pretty quiet up high in the winter, little creatures stay but the big critters don’t. Good luck.