I'm a freak when it comes to scent control,so here's the question, how often do you fellas go in and retreive your sd cards and look for updates on photos ? I see Gutone4me is in quite often as is PastorJim. I'm new to using Monster Raxx and want to only go in every 2 months to replenish the Raxx and retrieve my sd cards. I'll put in 3 more stands after the 1st 2 month checkup! Cameras have been in since the 14th of April, Question is, do you find with each visit to the same TC location find that you are getting less and less visitations from the local deer? It's driving me nuts to stay out and see what's happening ,LOL. Guess that's natural for any hunter! Your opinions are my only resource so please help a fellow hunter out Thanks a ton. Rocky
It is hard to stay away after putting the cams out. It's like the anticipation of Christmas morning when you were a kid. I usually check mine every three weeks partly because it's over an hour's drive to where I set them. I have a few rules when it comes to the cams. I never put them in bedding areas or crowd the areas that go to and from there. I don't seem to have any problems with deer not returning where the cameras are located. I have been running some mineral sites for over five years and the deer come to those places in abundance. You have to watch your scent for sure but going to check a cam every two to three weeks is less pressure than hunting the same spot 2-3 times a week. Blessings.......Pastorjim
I have had my 3 cams out sincearound the first of April. I have checked mine every weekend since. That will change once the bugs and heat set in. My problem is, that I am so worried that something will be wrong with a set, (forgot to turn cam on, dead batteries, something wrong with sd card, cam pointed in wrong direction.......) And I dont want to come back in a month or two, to find out that I forgot to turn a cam on. Not to mention its like Christmas everytime you check them. On a side note, all 3 of them are in spots where I can get to them without scaring anything off. 2 of the 3 spots are mineral sites, and the deer seem to keep coming back.
I am running 15 cameras and average 6000 pics a week so I check every week and it takes quite some time to sort them out. On my Monster Raxx sites my 4G cards would be full in 3 weeks as they are getting hammered right now. We are in there turkey hunting quite a bit now so I don't worry about the deer and I think deer are more tolerable in the summer but as the velvet comes off them it's time to get more cautious. I still check once a week but only mid-day and since my mineral sites and food plots are where most of my cameras are I can get away with not bumping any deer. My deer know my scent and probably know me by name maybe that's a new way to go about it.
Gutone4me, Bigdaddy & PastorJim Bigdaddy seems to me you & I think a like, LOL, just putting out 3 of my new TC's was alright but come to think about it! I think I might of not clicked to okay the sd card in the one TC. I'll find that out in a few weeks I guess. That's the kind of answers I was looking for,Thanks a ton guys. PastorJim I thought you were close as I thought you were in an out quite a bit by seeing all your post on your TC pic's. I too am using the minerals as an attractant,so hopefully I won't bump them either as Gutone4me said. I too go in during the lunch hour,mostly I go in during the rain to try and hide my scent as I do always for most of my visit's.Thanks. Still got a 5 weeks to see what's lurking out there! Rocky
we check ours every other week! Anticipation kills tab and I we will be checking ours this tuesday and putting mor BB2 out!
First i would say test your cams to see with the setting's you pic how long the cam will run without running out of batterys, lithium will last longer then alkaline batts but dont trust the battery meter on your cam with lithium's so what ever the cam reads it will have less then half of that or more.Nothing worse than going out to a dead cam I set my cams up like stands,down wind of the trail or scrape and i spray every thing down i touch and with most cams red brake-light flash i put the cams 9-13 feet up pointed down at the subject because most mature deer will simply start moving around your cam sets after seeing the flash. Duration of the flash is a big thing most dont fully understsnd running a cam in burst mode or video the longer the ir flash will run and battery life will go down fast as so will deer pics as they see the red blob and shy away from the site. I have no set rule when checking cams if it is raining i will go out of my way to get to them,and even try to set them up that way 3-4 weeks is fine for a mineral site. After a season of a few of my cams being blackflash there is no going back to a redflash cam for me pic numbers stay high and the mature bucks stick around longer. I run 14 cams and the blackflash cams are head and shoulders more pics and seem to have no effect on the deer other then the scent i leave behind and thats just a shame on me thing. Here is a tip take a hand sprayer and fill the bottle with canola oil and a bottle of vanilla extract and spray it where you would like the deer to stop it works well and the deer stick around for lots of pics and i have never had a deer spook from it. Here is a video runner from a red stoplight ir flash cam http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYx76zjA8MY and here is a small one that never came back.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSGH_XPrGKc&feature=endscreen
Ultramax Thanks for the tip on the vanilla extract & canola oil spay. I'll give it a try after I go in and check my cams next week. Guess I won't make the 2 month rule, 4 weeks is good I guess, LOL. Rocky
Anywhere from 2 days to a month, depending on weather conditions, time of year and location. There are a few spots I'll put cameras that are on my trails into my stands. They get checked every time I walk in throughout the season.
Depends on the location. 4 of them I'll check once a week, or every time I get to the cabin, the other couple usually about once a month.
I think a lot of it depends on the time of year. Right now the bucks are just starting to sprout their racks, and there's not much to look at. Plus, hunting season is a few months away so any data I'm getting right now doesn't necessarily help me in any way. In this case, once every month or two is completely fine. I've only got one camera running right now, and the rest are put up until early July. Once the season comes I try to check them more often - say once a week or every two weeks. The data I'm getting at the rut approaches can really help figure out when and where to hunt. You get new bucks showing up, and lose track of others, etc. What I've learned over the years is that some spots are high-traffic all the time, regardless of time of year, crop rotation, etc. Deer are just always there for whatever reason. Other spots are hot & cold, or cyclical, in their level of activity. One week there will be little to no movement, then the next week you'll have 4 bucks move in for a few days, then they're gone. I feel like if I can capitalize on these hot times it would greatly help find some of these more elusive bucks. As everyone mentioned - scent control is key. ESPECIALLY if you're putting cameras close to your stands.
Which is true. But, I like to get an inventory on bucks and see if some of the ones we know made it through last season are still hanging around and how they're developing. These cameras are on the edge of food sources over minerals and no where near bedding areas. In fact, most of them are very close to the ATV trails and are easy to check. If I had the same situation as you, my camera routine would probably mirror yours.
Every 2 weeks for me. I haven't noticed a decrease in deer movement. Most of my cams are on field edges or atleast areas that are easy to access. I just make sure I wear my rubber boots and touch as little as possible. If it's rainy I may do it before the 2 week time frame is up.
Guys Thanks for all the feed back, I do just about a little of everything that has been mentioned, great to jump right in and have a team that fires right back at ya with all the info requested. Thanks again ,Looking to try the Canola Oil and Vanilla Extract mixture as an attractant . Rocky
I usually do not put my cameras out until mid June due to antler developent. It is tempting to get it started earlier but I see no point. When I do set them I try to minimize sent but not as much as hunting season. I check them anywhere from 2-4 weeks depending on loocation. Some are very deep in the Forest. I use lithium batteries and am now setting some of them high and facing down. I have a check list now so I do bnot forget anything like fresh batteries, turning on the cam, locking, etc. Learned the hard way. Placing minerals outside of season is not legal here in WI. unfortunately but placed a small ampount of liquid attractent is legal. I have had a few that are helpful. I try to place them on areas that the deer are traveling to feeding/bedding areas so I see antler development, sex ratio and fawn counts. Deer patterns in early season are different from later on so I am trying to see where those early stand location will be too. I wish that I could afford some black IR cams since I think they are a real plus.
Once a week at most, but typically every 2 weeks as the season approaches and velvet turns to bone. I run 3 cams and try to touch as little as possible. I always wear rubber boots and try to run cards at mid day. When I remember, I'll bring some dead down wind with me and spray down my camera after handling it.
