Checking trail cameras

How often do you check yours?

I like to check mine about every other day during the season. Where you're gonna be running yours, I'd check them once a week, at least.

once a week

Only when I hunt that area. I have 1 out 5 cameras out right now. Haven't checked it in 4 weeks. Checking cameras= pressure

1 X week to 10 days.



God Bless,
David B.

about once a week

if on food every time I replenish food. I try to replenish food when food runs out.

if just on a trail or scrape, every week or 10 days, or when walking by hunting in area.

About once a week, but no hard and fast routine.

Tell you what I see every year, and I think this ought to be teaching us something about deer behavior. Normally I put a camera out every year around mid August to early September. Feeding corn and rice bran, I'll start getting pictures within days. Even with me going in there AT LEAST once a week, sometimes even jumping them off the pile of corn/bran, I still get daylight pictures every day. Doesn't matter if it's a doe & fawn, or a batchelor group of mature bucks, they don't seem to be affected by my routine. They'll be there all times of the day and night really, my intrusion seems to make no noticeable difference, they come every day. Taking it further, not regularly, but often enough, I'll take feed in there and the next time I check the camera I'll have deer pics within an hour (or very soon after).

HOWEVER, it's like ONE DAY for no reason, I completely stop getting daylight pictures, and the bucks show up less and less. Now these deer don't "rut" till at least Christmas, probably even into mid-January, but this cessation of daylight pics starts about late Oct. or early Nov. There are two things that are different: 1) I have begun setting in a treestand in there, and 2) the daylight period gets shorter. I fully believe #2 has a FAARRR greater affect on deer than most people know about. I think half the deer behavior stuff we attribute to hunting pressure is ACTUALLY caused by deer's internal, subconscious response to the photoperiod. Or perhaps it's something else like seasonal food pattern changes...the deer have moved farther away on a different food source, thus I'm not getting the visits at the same time now. I don't know for sure, but I don't think deer are as affected by me intruding as we think...at least not me simply walking in to check a camera, or sitting in a stand and not educating deer. (But I'm hyper sensitive to pressure, I think shooting guns and gutting deer and walking around KILLS your deer activity)

Thats how I do it. When I hunt by one or walk by one on my way in and out.

I never make trips to check them. I usually have them on water xings or trails , or scrapes near my stand locations.

I've got a camera on corn that's been there since September and I check it about once a week.

We are only allowed to check a camera if we hunt the the zone where the camera is at. Some cameras on the back side of the property will only get checked 2-3 times during hunting season.

Once a week

Usually once a week, sometimes twice. Either when I am hunting the area or at night.

That's actually a really interesting point...makes sense...I think the key to checking em as well is wearing rubber boots/watch your scent spreading as well

Some places you just want to stop hunting cause all you see are those small scrub bucks on pictures!

Before season leave them for at least a month at a time. During i place them in places where i drive or walk by ( at least kinda close to it anyway) on the way to hunt a stand.

Do you want to see them on camera or in person?
If you dont have an idea of whats out there by now, oh well.
You leave your stink every time you check your cameras.
At this stage of the game my cameras are on my gates.

i usually leave cameras where i dont have to walk far from the four wheeler to get them like on food plots, logging roads, and fire breaks, i also usually drive in at night like 9:00 or later if I'm scaring the deer off of a food plot that late at night it can't hurt anything. thats what i did when we still had our lease anyways

When it rains

My experience is similar to ikillbux. I do keep my cameras out in the same spots basically all year. I've had does and small bucks on camera hitting a mineral hole in Dec/Jan in an area where I don't believe others went through at all and I hunted very seldom where a big mature buck was on camera in the mineral hole 45 min after I checked my camera while driving a wheeler within 20yds and a beer in my hand. He was on camera for a couple days on and off and by the time I made it back there a week later he was gone. And of course I spent the majority of the rest of season sittin in that spot and didn't see a damn thing.

When I hunt the area.

Thats when i do my scouting

I check mine every week or two depending on how much time I have when I am out at the land.

We started two years ago adding cellular trail cameras to our program. It sends pics 24/7 and eliminates the need to disturb an area just to pull an SD card.

I really think this is the future...wish it was cheaper.

My question about cellular cameras is the number of text you get. I can't have my phone going off all night and day.

Also, 80% of my lease has no cell service.

I have the moultrie mobile system- I have it set to send pictures two times per day..... It's cheaper than gas/time to and from my hunting areas. No contracts and resonable monthly rates. $250 a camera setup

Yeah, I'm quoting myself, but I wanted to clarify what I wrote last because it sounds contradictory and muddy.

When I go in to check the camera I'm quick...I go straight to it, and right back out. I don't stand there and look at pics on a reader or stuff like that. I don't make a scouting loop. I'll usually tote a bag of corn in there by hand (I do NOT drive a 4wheeler in there). Now granted, I may do it after work sometimes, in work clothes with deodorant/hairspray/etc smell all over me. I'm not THAT careful honestly. For whatever reason that doesn't seem to alter the deer activity.

But in general, what I do above with cameras is quite the opposite of how I normally feel about pressure/scent. I'm really funny about that stuff, so it's kinda odd how careless I am with checking cameras (but again, that doesn't appear to scare the deer just judging by pictures). I believe PROLONGED presence in there--me sitting in there to hunt for several hours at once--and doing something other abnormal things is what spooks the deer. Not sure that just me occasionally walking through spooks the deer, heck other predators do it every day too. But me staying in there, shooting a LOUD BANG BANG gun, walking through the thick stuff, gutting deer, etc is what ruins the place.

before, after or during?

I also leave the stink of persimmon and/or peanut butter flavored rice bran.

You wear hairspray?

Miss Breck?

Agree, that is all I read.

I have put mine up during an unexpected storm one time, thinking that the deer would not smell me. The 1st 10 videos I got the next day (while it was still raining) was a doe smelling ever singe thing that I touched, every foot step...for 10 videos. The rain didn't help me at all. She trailed my scent all the way to 1' in front of cam, looked at cam and ran out of there. Then some deer come through and don't even check up or get scared. I have come to believe that some deer are terrified of scent and cams and some couldn't care less.

Did your batteries last this last run?

I never check mine. Oh wait, I don't have any.

Out of season, usually about once a month when I freshen mineral sites or fill feeders. During the season, only when I hunt that area.

How long do you think your scent stays on that camera?

Do those who are so terrified of camera scent think that they leave much less scent when they hunt?

Gamecam terror is overrated.

I agree with this and have seen basically the same thing.

I usually pull my camera going back to the camp for lunch and then reset them on the way back to a stand. So that means only when I'm hunting.