Ohio Valley Outdoors Magazine

Getting the mosty from your trail camera

By Freddie McKnight

High tech equipment keeps finding its way into our outdoor world in many ways. The latest craze that everyone seems to be following, including myself, is the use of trail monitoring cameras to help scout out that trophy whitetail.

I have used these units since their inception into the hunting world. Having had experience with various makes and models, I have not found one that stands out in the crowd. All seem to have some feature that sets them apart from the others, and all will work great when used properly. What I have found out along this trail of lessons are ways to make you a better user of this product, no matter what brand, make or model you choose to purchase.
Right out of the box, all of the units have an unnatural smell that deer will sense in the woods. Made of plastic and metal, these items are foreign materials that deer will detect and avoid. Your handling of the cameras at any time just adds more scent to the unit, scent that will send deer on a detour of the camera. This is probably the number one reason that many people get frustrated with the lack of pictures.

Simply put, treat this camera as if it were a piece of your hunting equipment that will accompany you to your treestand during the height of the rut. Deodorize it in some form. I always spray the unit down once it is in play, careful not to get any on the lens and other sensors that are critical to its operation. Also keep in mind that just your presence in the woods when setting out your unit will contaminate the area with your scent. Dress in scent free clothes and wear rubber boots and gloves when placing your unit. Stay off of deer trails just as if you were hunting them. The less they know about you being there, the better your chances are of getting pictures of the deer using that area.
Whether you are using an old film camera or one of the more modern digital models, arm it to the hilt when you put it out. For film cameras, buy the 36-exposure rolls of film so that it can take as many pictures as possible. For the digital models, arm it with a memory card that can hold large amounts of photos. If you are using one of the newest video models, go with the largest memory card you can get your hands on as this form eats up memory the quickest. Remember the picture that you don’t get may be the one that you are really looking for.

Battery life is a concern, especially in cold weather. I use my cameras from mid-summer to post-deer season, so they go through a variety of temperature and weather conditions. One thing is for certain, cold weather will drain the batteries more quickly than anything besides the flash. Use the highest quality batteries you can afford. Yes, you will go through dozens of them if you use your camera for months on end, but there is no sense having it hanging on a tree if it is not going to work. I also believe the higher quality batteries allow a quicker trigger speed. (I’ve performed numerous side by side tests of various models with low end and high-end batteries operating the same style of cameras. The higher end batteries work the best in these tests.)

If you hunt public land, then you have to be concerned about theft. I use my cameras on public lands about half the time and have found a few ways to avoid losing the cameras. The first thing to keep in mind is to keep it out of high traffic areas. Obviously, the fewer people who walk by it, the less likely that it will end up in someone else’s hands. Though I have yet to find a completely theft-proof way of keeping the unit where you put it, I have found that heavy chains and locks tend to deter any effort to remove it from where it is. It also seems that the farther away from a road that you put the unit, the better the chances that it will not be tampered with or removed. Just because they don’t take it, does not mean they won’t break it.

Another way I have kept my cameras out of harm’s way is to camouflage them. Using clear epoxy, I will cover the entire unit with leaves, sticks and other forest debris to help break up its outline. Simply cover the lens and sensors on the front of the camera with clear tape and go to work in making the outer covering looking woodsy. When I set these units out, I keep them aimed down a trail where I expect the deer to be traveling, then mount them no higher than 18 inches off the ground. Most of the cameras I have come across in the woods were mounted at least at waist height, and they can easily be picked out as something amiss by the human eye. Keep them mounted low and they tend to blend in with the forest floor. Add in some limbs and leaves and they can almost become invisible, but still work well for you. Make sure you blend in any cables, chains and locks as well by painting them dull colors and hiding as much as possible with limbs and leaves.

The one thing that you may still have to contend with, and maybe with your unit cannot avoid, is the flash. This sudden burst of light will attract the attention of the two-legged variety faster than anything. It seems as though they need to investigate the source, and I have gotten some really hilarious pictures of people trying to figure out what is going on in the middle of the woods.

Fortunately, many of today’s models come equipped with an infrared setting where no flash goes off. This works well, but the units can be more expensive than a favorite deer rifle. If you have that kind of camera, you can use it in areas where a flash camera might simply disappear. If you must use a flash camera, I would recommend that you use the highest time setting on it in order to avoid the possibility of theft. Most units allow a setting of two minutes or more between pictures and this maximum setting may just be enough time to let individuals exit the area without knowing what is going on.

Experiment with some of these techniques on your scouting forays this year and I bet you will see an improvement in the number of pictures you get along the way. Don’t be afraid to try something on your own as well, and if it works share it with others so that they too can enjoy this ever popular segment of the outdoors.
Keeping the unit as scent free as possible allowed the author to attain numerous photos of this trophy buck.

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Freddie McKnight, of Shirleysburg, Pa., is a veteran outdoorsman and has been writing about his experiences for the past 14 years. He’s written for more than 50 publications.
McKnight can be reached at
mcknight@innernet.net.