trail camera

[beeker]

I got a pair of these xtreme digital trail cameras this year from santa... was wondering if you could give a new guy some pointers or tips... things that maybe you learned the hard way. I purchased the extended memory cards for it.. but power is a question/concern. any tips are appreciated.

[HD]

I got 6 cameras that I run, and started out the hard way.
So, the best advise I can give you is buy re-chargeable batteries.

You will save some money in the long run............


Hunter

[HUNTER2]

One of mine has a spot you can hook up a battery from a vexilar. And the other has a big 6 volt battery. Both last a long time. And the third one has a spot for a 6 volt or 8 AA's.

[beeker]

ok.. I'll was thinking of checking into the big 12v batterys just because it'll be maybe 2x's a month that I can check on em. have either of you used the solar recharger hook up?

[HUNTER2]

The 6 volt I have has one on it. I don't have to do any thing with that one. I set my cameras out in the spring and take them down after hunting. They get moved a couple times to check deer movement. You probably dont want to check them more than every week or 2 because the more you are there the more they tend to change there patterns and the more aware they become.

[HD]

Nope, mine have 4 D's and 3 C's, and I just rotate the batteries in the charger.
I can leave them out for a month and have hundereds of pics on um.

[MnDeerStalker]

it depends how cold it is out. I have a rechargabe 12v (one of the big ones) and it has been out for over a month now taken hundreds of pics but when I just had the 4 c's in it over the colder months it would only last a few days in the summer it would go over a month but rechargable is the way to go IMHO.

[dakids]

1. Face the camera north.  The sun will trigger the cameras.
2. Use a stick and nock down the tall weeds.  I have several hundred pictures of moving weeds.
3. I try to face the camera down a trail so the cameras with a little slower trigger speed will still capture the animal.
4.  In the fall I will hang a camera by a scrape to catch some of the bucks that will not come to the food plots.
5.  Try and be as scent free as possible.
6.  Get a bear box.  It will help prevent theft and damage from bears.
7.  Write camera #4 on the camera so anyone thinking of stealing it will think that they might be on a different camera  that they didn't see.  (Didn't work on one of my cameras this last fall. )

Best of luck and enjoy!!

[beeker]

great advice. wouldn't of thought of the weeds. we've been pretty lucky with no thefts so far at our place, but I know it'll happen eventually so I'll paint the numbers on em.

[Cody Gruchow]

Dont forget overhanging branches also that might be in the trigger area. nothing makes you madder than reading that you have 245 pictures and only 4 of them are deer the rest are pictures of the branch moving back and forth with the winds. 

i like putting my cameras were more than one trail intersects. otherwise its all just trial and error.

best of luck to you