Trail camera setup is an extremely important task for hunters at the beginning of the season
. Set up your trail camera incorrectly and you'll have nothing to show for it but frustration. Leaf movement, shadows, incorrect position and more plague hunters every year. You won't be one of them if you follow these six simple tips.
Here are a few tips that will help you get the most out of your trail camera:
Use caution when placing the trail camera in areas where there is tall foliage that may interfere with the camera. Believe it or not, the morning sun can actually warm up the leaves on the trees and cause movement.
Always place the trail camera facing north or south if at all possible. Any placement toward the east or west may result in washed out pictures due to the sun. This typically occurs in the early morning hours if the camera is facing east, or the late afternoon hours if the camera is facing west.
Clean out the area in front of the trail camera at least 20 to 30 feet out in front of the camera and to the sides. This will keep the camera from being activated from winds moving foliage around the camera.
Test the sensing capabilities of your trail camera. To far or too close to the target area will result in missed pictures (this is true for any brand of trail camera). Hot and cold temperatures can cause variances in motion detection sensitivity. always check out your camera using current and predicted weather conditions.
It's a good practice to place the camera at a higher elevation in rub areas if you're trying to capture pictures of your next big buck. Flashes directly in the eyes of this could spook the buck and he will abandon the area completely and then you've lost your chance frightened by the flash. Flashes coming from above (higher than eye level) don't seem to bother them.
The best way to aim the camera along a trail is to aim it slightly to the left of the trail entry point or slightly to the right of the trail exist. This will result in a greater number of whole images being taken and lower the number of partial images you'll get on your trail camera. This allows the camera's sensor to get the full image instead of triggering too late or too early.