How To Set Up A Game Camera

Trail cameras are hidden optics in the field that help you program a successful hunting season. Properly used, a trail camera volition tell you lot what game moved through the surface area, when they are active and the direction they travel. Here nosotros take gathered the top tactics to help you set and maintain a hunting trail camera that perfectly captures your next shooter whitetail buck.

How To Ready a Trail Camera

Setting up trail cameras for whitetail deer or other game is non difficult. Whether you are hanging one trail camera or ten, both orientation and tiptop take to be just right. As a hunter, nosotros're used to seeing everything at our ain heart level, simply that'southward non where nosotros want our trail camera pictures taken.

"When placing a camera on a tree I prefer a good sturdy tree with the camera being about three-iv' in a higher place the ground. I want the camera to exist centre level with the deer when taking photos. I make sure all debris is cleared to avoid any faux triggers. If a camera has the video option I almost ever prefer it as I get a ameliorate thought of a deer'due south travel patterns."-Heartland Bowhunter's Shawn Luchtel

As Shawn Luchtel suggests, setting upwards a trail photographic camera iii to four feet off the ground works best. However, at this pinnacle there is a risk of making it accessible to would-be thieves. If you're not hanging the trail camera on high-traffic, publicly attainable trails, y'all might be safe locking it to a tree at this height, but the best alternative is to use a climbing stick to hang your trail photographic camera 10 feet off the basis and angle information technology downwards toward the game trail or nutrient plot.

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" Trail camera height depends if I run them on individual or public land. Our private land cameras are all chest high, but our public land cameras we either hide better or elevate a good bit and face them down to keep them out of others' hands and line of sight. Every photographic camera I gear up, I go where I'm expecting to catch animals and look at the camera to brand sure it is aimed well and catches my movement." -Identical Draw'south Nathan Krick

In one case you have your trail camera location and decided on the correct height, you'll want to brand sure you lot're getting the best trail camera pictures possible. This means avoiding lens flare because of interference from the sunday. Never point a trail photographic camera due e or west because the sunrise and dusk will often accident out an paradigm. S-facing tin can also cause bug because it'due south in the sun all day. The all-time tactic is to face up your trail cameras north whenever possible.

Get upwardly close and personal with your trail camera photos. Even with the best trail cameras that shoot high megapixel images, your goal should be to have your targets laissez passer within 10 yards of the photographic camera.

"My favorite location for trail cameras is on natural travel routes–areas where the deer motion through freely and regularly where you lot know their movement is not influenced by annihilation. As well, when the bucks begin to lay downwards scrapes is one of the most exciting times to run cameras." -Heartland Bowhunter's Mike Hunsucker

Trail Photographic camera Settings

Too many mistakes are made when it comes to understanding and using the right trail camera settings. Brand sure you spend a day with whatsoever new trail camera so you lot know all its capabilities earlier leaving information technology in the forest.

Guide for the All-time Trail Camera Settings:

1. Know your capture manner. Are you after photos or videos? Video files are, of course, much bigger and volition use more retention, but sometimes that's what y'all're after.

"I e'er run my cameras on Picture Mode. Only if I have a consistent buck I want video of volition I change the camera to video. Helps relieve storage and bombardment. I also normally set a 30-second picture interval." -Identical Draw's Nathan Krick

1. Set the right time and date. 2d to the paradigm itself, knowing exactly when that big buck walked past is why we put up trail cameras. Factors similar daylight savings and time zones demand to be double-checked in your photographic camera settings.
2. How many photos should I set my photographic camera for, per trigger, and how long should my delay be? If you lot are setting your trail camera over a allurement or mineral lick, turn your photo frequency down to 1 to two photos per capture, so you lot won't get hundreds of pictures of a deer that is hanging out and feeding. Turning your filibuster up to ii to five minutes volition also help conserve memory card space. If you're setting up over a game trail, turn up the frequency to two to three photos and delay downwards to nix and so yous're sure yous won't miss that large buck following a whitetail doe.

"Video mode can exist very benign when setting up a camera on a food plot where deer in the background may be too far away to trigger the camera but when a closer deer triggers the camera, you can scrub the video to identify potential target bucks in the background." -Heartland Bowhunter'southward Mike Hunsucker

1. What is camera sensitivity and how should I set it? The PIR sensor in a trail camera is responsible for telling the camera when to have a picture, and information technology is based on motion detection and the temperature deviation via infrared heat. When information technology's hot exterior, there is less of a departure between the ambient temperature and the body temperature of an animal, so yous need to set the sensitivity college. In colder temperatures, you can turn the sensitivity to depression, because there is a greater difference in temperature between the beast and the ambient environment. If you are getting a lot of "air current pictures," where the camera'due south move sensor is picking up on grass bravado in front of the camera, or leaves blowing beyond a food plot, turn the sensitivity down. When setting upwardly on a field edge or area where the deer might exist further abroad, plow the sensitivity upward so you're able to capture a deer on the border of the detection zone.
2. Reformat your SD card for your trail photographic camera. Have you e'er pulled a card from your favorite trail photographic camera and popped information technology into a digital camera or trail photographic camera viewer because you lot couldn't wait to see what walked through? Digital cameras and trail cameras read and write data differently. Earlier you leave your trail camera to do its chore, format the SD bill of fare.
3. Always use the best batteries for trail cameras. An estimated 95% of all trail cameras use AA batteries, and one trail camera manufacturer has estimated that hunters burn down through 50 million AA batteries every yr. With those numbers, it's tempting to cutting costs and use cheap, or rechargeable, batteries. Don't requite in. A not-working camera in the field is worthless. Lithium batteries have been proven to last longer in colder climates than alkaline ones. Alkaline batteries contain water-based electrodes, and as temperatures approach freezing, chemical reactions inside an alkaline battery start slowing downward, affecting its performance. Lithium batteries, on the other manus, have been shown to work in temperatures as low as -40F, and they last up to 3 times every bit long every bit their alkaline metal counterparts. In terms of efficacy, one set of lithium batteries can collect 20,000+ images equally opposed to 7,000 images from a set of alkalines.

Checking on Your Trail Camera

It'south hard to wait, simply if y'all desire to go the most out of your trail cameras you need to have patience and a plan before checking on them. In fact, over-checking cameras is i of the most mutual mistakes hunters make when using this engineering.

"Determining how often and when to bank check trail cameras tin depend on a number of different variables, but typically the most important variable is the location of the camera. Trail cameras that are placed in more intrusive spots such as in the timber on a scrape, or small subconscious food plots surrounded past bedding should be checked less oft." -Heartland Bowhunter's Mike Hunsucker

How and When to Check Trail Cameras:

• If yous know information technology's going to pelting, then get. Watching atmospheric condition forecasts and waiting for a good rainstorm is a groovy tactic because the rain will launder abroad your odor after you lot've gone in to collect your SD cards.
• If you can't await for it to rain, go in the heat of the day. Well-nigh deer are active at dawn and dusk. Information technology might be convenient to bank check on a camera before or later work, that's high chance for scaring abroad animals for good. Make it and go out while it's hot.

" When checking my trail cameras I always tend to check them in the eye of the day when deer action is at a minimum. I almost e'er admission them simply similar I would a tree stand up making certain I have the wind to my advantage. If the wind is blowing towards where I believe the deer are bedded I simply won't check that trail camera that twenty-four hour period." -Heartland Bowhunter'due south Shawn Luchtel

• Encompass your scent. Have every precaution with your man odor equally you would checking on your trail cameras equally you would when you lot're going to hunt.
• Think weeks not days. If you tin can wait at least 2 weeks betwixt camera checks, the amend.

"There are a few cameras we do not check during the season and leave running the whole time, July through December, if information technology stays alive. I put cellular cameras in hard to access locations or bedding areas where I could potentially bump deer, and the non-cellular cameras I put in easy to access places or by my tree stands so I tin can only grab the menu when I go in to chase. January through July I'll bank check cameras whenever, just as presently as August hits, I am thinking almost air current management, scent command, and precipitation if I take to go check cameras." -Identical Describe'southward Nathan Krick

Using onX With Trail Cameras

With these height tactics, your trail cameras will requite you lot the advantage you lot're looking for in the field, just pair them with the onX Hunt App and these key features and you'll be chasing whitetails but like the pros.

Waypoints

Colored waypoints have been a game-changer for onX Hunt users. One onX squad member uses different waypoint colors to marking a.yard. and p.one thousand. tree stands. Similarly, marking trail photographic camera positions with unique colors could correspond cameras on bedding areas, nutrient plots, natural trails, or scrapes.

Photo waypoints can be synced between bodily trail camera pictures and photographic camera locations. This helps you continue rail of which animals were sighted on each trail photographic camera.

Waypoint sharing keeps you lot connected to your hunting partners. Tin't get to your camera to pull an SD menu earlier it rains? Share your trail photographic camera waypoint with your companions and have one of them take hold of information technology.

Tracking

Stay off the game trails and create your own track to each photographic camera and save them with the Tracking feature in the onX Hunt App.

Wind & Atmospheric condition

Know when to check on your cameras past monitoring the atmospheric condition and current of air direction while yous're in the field checking on your trail cameras. The Current of air & Weather feature reports the conditions at the closest NOAA weather station to your electric current location.

Now yous have the tools and tactics to identify trail cameras in the best spots for capturing whitetails wherever they roam.

Source: https://www.onxmaps.com/hunt/blog/top-tactics-for-setting-up-a-trail-camera

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