Post em up and maby this will help someone getting started from going through the school of hard knocks. Looking for cam placement and why ? How to hold them in a spot for photos, what to look for when choosing an area, accessories you use with cams, (stick and pick ect ) lay it all out, whats your best tactics, tips and advise ?
For me personally, Im just now figuring out what will bring them into the camera range. I have been trying various things inlcuding just putting out some Monster raxx, so i will not comment in the regard. As far as choosing a location, I do not own land and I am in a hunt club that leases all our land 6000 +/- acres. Most of our land is composed of Pines, mixtures of large, small, and cutovers. And a few places have been thinned but not most. There arent many areas that our land backs up to or is directly next to farm land, but there is major swamp/river on all pieces of land and most places through the entire piece. You are able to find small clusters of a few oak trees here and there, and normally by water. I hunted there during dog season last year and still learning the place, So i am focusing on hunting one of the pieces of land that is rite at 1200 acres (most places are a couple hundred acres with only a few places being over 1000). The areas that have the small clusters of oaks, open areas near cutovers, and areas that are closer to a food source such as farm land. For me water is just about everywhere but if it werent i would try to find these areas (in my situation) that are closer to water sources.
I like the camera holders by HME The have a head like a tripod to set the angle and such and they screw in easily. I aim them in the direction the deer are coming from and try to get the pic 15-20 feet away (so at night I don't get flash burnout).
Currently, I use only homebrew cams. As anyone who is familiar with these can attest, there are some trade offs. What you gain (imho) in picture quality (especially white flash night shots), and reliability, you lose in trigger speed. Being as such, I often use my cameras in inventory areas where I'm certain deer will be caught in frame after setting a 15 sec delay on my control board. That's why I primarily run over mineral stations. If I'm going to put it on the trail, I will always face it down the trail. I try to stay within detection range, but also, more importantly, flash range. The closer the better, however, as I've found some of my homebrews trigger a touch quicker the closer they are to the subject. Obviously clear any vegetation and try to orient north/south when possible to avoid false triggers or subject silhouetting. I try to keep stations somewhat near bedding, but at the same time, I want as little intrusion into the area as possible with each check, so it's usually not far from a main tractor road or logging road. Then it's just your favorite mineral, hang the cam (I go straight to the tree using a mini-ratchet rope), and you're good to go. I'll post some pictures later today.
I too am a homebrew guy and think those of us who use homebrews do things a little different because our goals with the camera are different. I will say that there is nothing like minerals to attract and keep deer year after year, especially in the spring and summer. I've got mineral sites that I have been running for nearly ten years and they are a can't miss way of attracting and holding deer. I do use commercial cams as well but I use them mainly for inventory purposes so I place them in areas where I expect alot of game travel. Finding those areas of travel is the same as scouting. As a matter of fact it is scouting. I would not just go set a trailcam randomly in the woods anymore than I would just walk out and randomly hang a stand. One thing that I think is very important is to never penetrate a bedding area to do anything. I will place cams going to and from these areas but I never physically enter them. As a matter of fact I usually don't even get that close. Blessings.........Pastorjim
Here's a good example. The Sony S600 is known for it's outstanding flash range and picture quality. However, it's one of the slower homebrew cameras. I wanted to get some post-season inventory going this year along the south end of our turnips, and knew what the most heavily used trail coming into the plot was. So I positioned the camera low and facing up into the plot and semi-parallel to the trail. Ended up with some solid shots:
^ Very nice pictures! If you put your camera on a trail, always position it down the trail as best as possible. If you put it perpendicular you will not be happy with the pictures you are getting. Depending on what you have in your hunting ground (food, bedding, trails, water) will determine what kind of setup will be the best for you.
I just find a pinch point or put it over my mineral site. I'm getting more convinced on trying Monster Raxx but have no clue where to buy it other than online.
My favorite sites are mock scrapes I start in August. I attach a hemlock branch to a hardwood tree in a high traffic area. Pics start that day usually. I lay a hemlock branch over the one that is attached to the hardwood. When they break the original branch I just use the one I had on top, it has the scent on it and is ready to go.
minerals right now,next will be the water wholes and then my clover plots. before and during the rut I will move some black flash cams over a few scrapes sites. For a cheap spray to stop a deer so it hangs a while for pics I make a decent mix here at home using 2 oz of vanilla extract and 24 oz of veg or canola oil just mix it together and spray it where you want the deer to stop,works for weeks as the oil will hold the scent well ..just shake it before use. love my ez-cam mounts for setting cams up high in a tree and my covert cams for getting great pics and having super battery life. Also big difference in getting pics and killing deer that you get pics of,some cams and setups will scare deer either from the scent you leave to the flash some cams put out just like most of us bowhunter know every time in your chances go down in certain spots and it's the same for cams you will move deer. most mature deer have a low tolerance for new things in the woods as well as human scent in the living room so be aware if you want your cake and eat it too ...well good luck with that. I will say black flash and black flash rubber boots and gloves since your trying to get closer to a deer then you need to be with a bow is a must and every thing you touch including the wind that carry's your scent to the trail your trying to put a cam on your changing the very deer you are hunting so pick what you want to do get pics or kill the most mature deer on your property.I see deer moving around cams all the time that has been out for just a few weeks so keep mobile and dont be afraid to move a cam if only 20 feet some times. I spray my cams with scent killer and I try and not cam where I put up stands for actual hunt for my biggest deer yes thats hard to do but if you cam on areas of your ground you dont or cant hunt you will only push deer into your areas you are trying to kill in. I either brush the cam in or move it 8-13 feet up depending on terrain or cam theft rate for that area or spot may help but if someone wants it they will come back with the right tools,be sure of that. some spots I have cams watching cams I have also bought a vibrating scribe to put my driers lic number into the cam..may help in the future. And last if you dont have big deer in your area live with it or move. thats just life.
I have been running cameras for a long time now. I have went from just getting excited to get pictures to trying to get the best pictures possible. Some of my favorite things to do are: Water shots: I will walk into a pond and set the camera up so I get waterfowl in the pond and also try and get pictures of deer with their reflection in the water. This is where a stic n pic really comes in handy and gives you a ton of options on camera placement. I also like to hang cameras on scrapes about the middle of October. I hang them at different heights to get a number of angles. Mineral sites during spring a summer can also give some great shots and it is a good place to get fawn pictures. (Pats pic) I do not worry about what direction the camera is pointing because of sunrise or sunset, in fact I usually will set the camera intentionally to get sunrise or sunset pics. To me it is worth a number of bad pics to go threw to get that one perfect pic. Think outside the box and try and get something different.
Tom pretty much covered it for me. Minerals this time of year to watch the growth of the big boys. I have really liked seeing the different locations some have been placing the cams lately, not just over a food plot or mineral sites. Really adds to the idea of what a 'trail camera' can be used for.
Some great tips in this post and the turnip pics post is a great example as well. Some really good ideas and great pics in this thread. I also feel like minerals are always good(especialy for inventory) but I like getting pictures from trails, water/food sources, and open areas near bedding better. Here's some of my favorites over the years, a couple minerals, some water sources, and a couple trail shots.(put the water hole one twice and flipped it over, pretty neat)
I really don't expect much this time of the year. Around late June I will try and catch a few days they are predicting no rain and put out some Sweet feed near a established mineral lick. Some call it Horse & Mule feed but it's a mixture of different grains mixed with molasses and will draw in deer bigtime. A 50 pound bag is usually around $10. If it gets rained on it's useless as it starts to disintegrate and the deer won't touch it so that's why I try to find a 2-4 day period of no chance of rain. After I get them coming in I will usually switch to corn and put out about 25 pounds for a week or two. This will pretty much bring in what's on the land your hunting and give you a idea of the largest buck there. Also when I check my trail cams I always wear rubber knee high boots and grab a handful of cedar and rub it in my hands. Works for me!! I took a 170" 10 pointer last year..........
