Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting trail cam rookie

those are the ones I was think of.

I've been running a bunch in northern MN for a few years, here are my thoughts . . .

-you'll have a difficult time keeping them running this time of year, the cold will eat the batteries in no time.

-I run Moultries and I get 90+ days in the fall with the regular d-cells

-always position them looking up or down a trail, never at a 90 degree angle. Slow shutter speed is to blame for this and if you try and capture the broadside pose you'll get a lot of blank photos as deer rarely pose for the camera.

-I mount mine about 6-8' in the air on a tree mounted on a swivel bracket angled down on the trail. The reason being is that bears will eat the cameras like candy if you keep them 3 ft off the ground. Believe me bears will chew them up!

-Get a big memory card (2gig) and you can let the camera sit for weeks at a time.

-I use a a product like "deer cain" to attract the deer to my spots where cameras are, they don't eat much of it but it keeps them coming around. I don't hunt these spots but it does tell me if I have mature deer in the area.

Good luck, it's very addicting!

I was thinking the same about the batteries. it is a lot of batteries for what it is, digital cameras run off a pair of double A's & these things have an elgrande pack of C or D cells. But still, cold weather will kill the batteries.

I was worried about that, but i'll put it out anyways, I'm just dieing to get some pictures.

a couple of things I learned the hard way...cuz I didnt read the dadgum directions.

as stated, dont point it toward the sun.

Dont point it where a branch or sea of grass gets waving in the wind or you will have 592 pictures of waving grass.

mine doesnt shoot that far, you have to be close to get good shots.

leave some directions on a note so the deer know how to pose as it seems the bucks are ALWAYS just too far away or their head is turned or some such nonsense.

i have never had a problem, but consider if trespassers will see it. if so, you might not own it for as long as you were originally thinkin'.

i threw some old apples in front of it one time....no, not anywhere close to deer season....and got a TON of pictures in the 2 days it lasted.

Keeping it pointed away from the sun is important as others have said. I also try to angle mine just slightly down. This seems to really help in keeping any glare off the picture. This probably wouldn't apply though if you are in a heavily wooded area.

You'll be amazed at what you see.

Do the "bear cages" work?

I'd never take one, but I'm not sure I could resist the temptation to leave some shots of a highly attractive 38 year old desk bound azz on one if I came across it.

I bet you'd be the first guy.

I think they do but they'll still get ripped off the trees by bears. Buy a $30 bracket to mount higher in the tree and you don't need a bear cage and in my opinion you get better shots of the deer as well. Furthermore, up high the deer don't notice the camera noise or IR flash - at least I don't have pics of deer staring at my camera so I think that is the case.

I need coon cages on mine. Last time it was out, a coon would come over after every flash and try to see what what making the noise. The next photo would be point blank of a portion of a coon. Luckily, they didn't figure out the open button.
Mine has a laser aimer. Works well.
Best photos I ever had were by scrapes on main trails.
I have gotten some good wild pig photos. Lights don't seem to faze them with corn is on the ground.

Really want a bobcat photo. Seldom seen in my area.
stumpy

The ones that all men buy for the articles <grin>.

If I were you, Dave, I'd throw some bags of corn or other feed, that way the deer will stop and hopefully get you some nicer pictures. My buddy and I had a helluva time with bears messing with the camera, they ripped a few down just being curious.

Son-in-law had pictures of bear sticking their face right into the camera.

Quite a few Wolves showing up on bear baits this year also.

Yep, we did too. Lots of up close bear pics.

I can't do the bait pile thing or i stand a chance of getting in a heap of trouble. there is a "no feeding" law in effect for my specific area. and they are very serious about it.

part of a disease controll effort. some deer were found with bovine tb in the 07 season, they have put agressive efforts forward to reduce deer population

and it's really working.

that's why I was so excited to see deer in the woods around our deer camp last week, I'm really hoping & cheering for the little timber goats to be able to evade the sharp shooter efforts that are starting again now.

someday things will be back to normal & I will be able to dump a bag of corn for them without breaking the law.

someday soon I hope.

Wow, that sucks!
Does a mineral block like trophy rock fall into that category as well?

I'm not really sure. I'll have to check it out before i dare put anything out.

You can put out a salt lick, I know that, but it may be different in your area Dave because of the TB.

Sorry to hear that, Dave. That definitely does suck. I'd be sure to give your local game officer or whoever a call to see if you can put out anything for them.

Is your land all forested? If it has any fields, or some kind of water source like a pond, put the cam on a trail around it might be a good solution.