Placing a game camera

C

cnelk

New member
Mar 23, 2017
5,542
Its getting close to time to start setting out game cameras - for me anyway [June]
I will be setting one up in Neb for WT and one up for elk.

When you set up a game camera, what do you hope to accomplish?

What animals are in the area?
Size of animals?
Travel patterns?

Are cameras really that helpful, or are they just more \'fun\' than anything?
 
Just for fun really. I\'ve got three set up already in the area I hope to draw a cow tag this year. I already know there are elk. I just want some pics. There are elk, deer, bears, and lions in there so any pics would be cool. When I set em for WT I want to know what quality of animals are around and how often/what time they come through. I use the pics to decide what to pass. For elk, I\'ve never once got a good bull on camera yet I manage to see at least a dozen each season so they are more fun than anything else. They don\'t affect what I\'d shoot or pass.
 
Well, they are great fun, that\'s for sure.

I think they are helpful otherwise in giving you confidence that game is available.

Confidence is sometimes a more important key than just about anything.
 
I started using them 2 years ago.

What I have found useful:
  • Type of animal[/*:m:4dpm0q5g]
  • Travel Pattern[/*:m:4dpm0q5g]
  • Time of Day in area[/*:m:4dpm0q5g][/list:u:4dpm0q5g]
    The last one has become very important to me to determine how early I need to be in the area. It is related to the other thread on \"How early do you go in?\" I already knew at those spots that the elk & deer were there.

    One place, they travel through 7:15-8:30 am. Another place, I saw them travel through 6:00-7:30 am. Another was 7:45pm-9pm.

    The elevation dictated which I saw more of: cows or bulls. I care where the cows are in Summer because the bulls, at least the younger ones, start to come down to the cows during opening week. This is likely area dependent. I did not figure out they came down that early until 2 years ago.
 
I am hoping to find all of the things you list Brad. In particular, I am interested in travel patterns, whether elk are hitting certain areas at certain times, which game trails are getting used the most, etc. Sure it would be nice to get a good sized bull on there, but like Will said, it won\'t effect what I am pulling the trigger on. I think if done right, the game cams can definitely help me learn more about my area.
 
Mine are equally for fun and for inventory check.

The areas that I hunt I know hold deer and large amounts of them.

With an inventory of the bucks I am able to hold out and shoot more mature deer and let the younger ones live.

The fun part is self explanatory. I love wild life and I love catching them on camera.
 
I put mine up to see what\'s around. I then hunt the areas near them with the hopes of seeing what was on the camera. I have had pics of bucks for 3 years in a row and never seen the deer. Not even once in 2 months of hunting every day and all the trips in the driveway after dark. You would think I would at least see them after dark in the field. Some of the bucks I don\'t get any pics of shortly after they shed their velvet. They just disappear.
 
Terry,

I have some beautiful bucks that are the same way. Once that velvet comes off they are MIA!

I have two specific ones that part of this year\'s goal is to find them in hard bone.

If they have the growth I am thinking they will it\'ll be a 140\" non typical and a 150\" typical.
 
I am looking for elk, but it is great to see the other animals too. Like others have said I want to see numbers of different elk. frequency of use at a water hole, timing, and if I have a unique bull coming around. Mostly cameras are for fun. I can tell if a place is getting used without a camera, but it is a bonus to know just what is there and when.
 
I don\'t have a ton of experience with them, but I try to use trees and hang them 4-5 feet off the ground, assuming it is in a flatter area. Whatever height necessary to get a good picture in the area I am targeting.
 
It seems like mine have a high likelihood of being knocked around be elk. Last photo is usually a close-up of a cow, sometimes a bull.

This year, a new motto: \"Hang \'em high.\"
 
I like the motto, John.

In elk country I will be hanging them high.
I\'ll bring a pair of climbing sticks out and just angle the camera down.

I\'m hoping it will keep people from touching my camera......hopefully.


In deer country where I hunt I just leave them a few feet off the ground. No one messes with them out there, but I have had a few bucks rub my camera instead of the tree.
 
\"Deertick\" said:
It seems like mine have a high likelihood of being knocked around be elk. Last photo is usually a close-up of a cow, sometimes a bull.

This year, a new motto: \"Hang \'em high.\"
Click to expand...

VERY good motto John. I have had a cam up in a tree and had a person walk by looking for a cam (had salt out) and not see it. LOL.
Typically I put cams in areas that I have less likely chances of people seeing them. I am also a believer that most people who go into the places I put them are more quality people. My father in law had a cam stolen but it was only a few hundred yards off a road. People who hike in a long ways tend to be the kind who respect others stuff. This is just my observation...not a guarantee. When I put out a cam I do a risk assessment for how much \"security\" I go to. Some places might require an elevated cam...most don\'t. Putting one up in a tree is NOT as easy as it is to say \"I\'m just putting one up in a tree.\" You have to climb it, angle it and hang it (and every time you go to check it do the same thing) as well as take mock pictures to ensure you have a decent angle. So a lot of mine I don\'t elevate but I do secure them with a metal box. It used to be in my beginner days I just used a strap or bungee but I have found the elk will mess with them more than bears ever do. I have had both problems and I put out way to much effort to be lazy so I put them in boxes bolted to a tree. It sucks to come back all excited for a camera that has been out for a month (and you drove hundreds of miles) only to find on day 3 an elk knocked it down. So a person can buy prefabed boxes for as little as $30 and they go much higher....or you can go MUCH cheaper and do what I do.
 

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I found a buddys cam last fall.
He sets them with a climber tree stand
 

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last year was my first time ever setting a couple of cameras. not for elk. i dont live in elk country, so it will never really happen for that animal.

i did it for wild hogs. mostly for fun. since hogs wander about like idiots. i could have set them free standing on a log. where i put them, only a fool would get to..i had to take my pants off, cross wide stream, climb a big mountain..shimmy across the scariest sidehill ever..and then the camera. right next to private land. it was just for fun. as i know hogs dont pattern well.

but i hung it within a trees canopy. it was hard to see, and it was cabled..and i packed a ladder in.
 
Btw.... no camera is completely human proof. If somebody wants it bad enough they will get it. BUT....if you want one about as secure as Fort Knox, talk to Stringunner. That boy knows how to build a box that looks pretty much bullet proof and he bolts them to trees 6 feet in diameter! lol. Good luck sawing down those trees!
 
\"Olympushunt\" said:
Btw.... no camera is completely human proof. If somebody wants it bad enough they will get it. BUT....if you want one about as secure as Fort Knox, talk to Stringunner. That boy knows how to build a box that looks pretty much bullet proof and he bolts them to trees 6 feet in diameter! lol. Good luck sawing down those trees!
Click to expand...


This is what I am worried about....
I am waiting to find a camera someday with a bullet hole in it :downthumb:
 
\"iccyman001\" said:
\"Olympushunt\" said:
Btw.... no camera is completely human proof. If somebody wants it bad enough they will get it. BUT....if you want one about as secure as Fort Knox, talk to Stringunner. That boy knows how to build a box that looks pretty much bullet proof and he bolts them to trees 6 feet in diameter! lol. Good luck sawing down those trees!
Click to expand...


This is what I am worried about....
I am waiting to find a camera someday with a bullet hole in it :downthumb:
Click to expand...

Somebody would have to be a real jackwagon to do that but I agree Dan...that is my fear too. I was 100% convinced a hunter pushed my cam 90 degrees to the nice elk trail I had it on. It was parallel to the trial so I would have the best chance of a trigger. Trashco....not the fastest triggers like that high end Reconyx stuff Swede buys. So I come up to it and it is pushed 90 to the trail in a heavy patch of branches. I was thinking some hunter didn\'t like seeing my cam and pushed it but I was thankful he didn\'t steal it. My buddy and I put it up and we ran out of metal boxes so it was just strapped on. The pics told the story. A bull elk pushed it and came back repeatedly to keep pushing it until the paparazzi was not longer bothering him on his walk to and from his bedding spot. lol
 
Luke,

I had the same issue happen with a buck and a MOO cow.

The buck decided he wanted to remove his velvet using my game camera and the cow decided it wanted to scratch it\'s butt with my camera.
The cow incident scared me. I was walking up to the tree and noticed that it wasn\'t there......

Finally I got up to it and saw it laying on the ground. Mad and figuring someone stole my SD card I walked back to my truck and found the card still in it.
After reviewing the pictures I found the cow knocking it over and then standing over it, almost like she was mocking me.
 
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