Trail cam

[Barry Willis]

Well not much on the cameras this time as I didnt expect there would be as there is about two feet of snow where I want to and usually put them and I dont have tracks for my Argo. But anyway here is a couple. Pine marten checking out the tennis ball, etc.

[Freshtrax]

Nice,  have I had  fisher or two over the summer they are cool.  Below are my favorites from last year 

[Barry Willis]

Howdy Freshtrax. I love them, it's hard to pick a favorite as they are all so awesome. Hopefully, I will have my cameras into cougar, wolf, grizzly, elk etc. country around the end of May, or mid June as the highway is closed during the winter so the animals can come down off the mountains away from the really deep snow and graze and feed in the valleys below near the road undisturbed by people. Money permitting with the price of gas and all. not that I'm complaining but it's a long trip but a nice one. I've been in this area before while hunting, Where I have in mind is just shy of 50km from any back road that you can traverse with a truck. Have Argo will travel, LOL. So it won't likely be until near the end of June before I get back out there to retrieve and replace the memory cards, In the mean time keep a watch for the pics I will post near the end of May, Ya never know, I may get a burr under my butt and go sooner. I'm not expecting alot of traffic where I placed them just yesterday but what I do capture on film should be worth a look. I have never hung my cameras in this area here but I know from the tracks that there are some very big critters using this trail. Some unexplainable tracks to some people but not to me. Stay tuned, Same channel. Cheers. -  Barry, aka - Bearcat.

[akaShag]

tagged for interest

[porkpie]

The wildlife do love to showboat for the cameras!  I had one Tom take 42 pictures of himself strutting in front of one of my cams a couple weeks back LOL

[porkpie]

[porkpie]

Some bears to the mix 

[porkpie]

More deers 

[ckewley]

I'm going to ask a question of you guy's that have been doing this a lot longer than me, Trail Cams, what in your opinion are good ones and what should I stay clear of? I see some come with a sat link to your phone, good idea or no?

I have permission to hunt on some private property and there is quite a bit of deer activity, active trail, tree rubs, fresh crap. The property is not huge by any stretch but I want to take full advantage. 

Thanks 

[porkpie]

If your going to buy a cell cam, by far the best is the tactacam reveal sold by Cabelas.  I make the spypoint cell links work in farm country because I get 100 free pics a month in the off season without having a plan, and the cell signals are strong.  But they are dicey unless you have very strong cell signal.  Once past North Bay, they barely work and only send occasional photos.  The one camera I’ve been able to get to work anywhere with very strong signal is the Tactacam!  If you plan to hang a camera on any public land, put it 10 feet up a tree on an adjustable mount angled downwards , you’ll suffer less loss.  Do the same if your going to run one for bears as they won’t mess with them that way.  Most of my cams are on private land but it still doesn’t hurt to hang them higher up a tree.  Pics are just as good and less chance of some light fingered trespasser walking off with them. I pretty much only run cell cams now unless it’s just to monitor our atv trail.  Once my current spypoint gear is done, I probably won’t buy any more of them.

Edited May 3, 2023 by porkpie

[akaShag]

My camp is 20 minutes from my house, so I can easily check them in person.  I usually run about ten at a time, none of them cell phone linked.  My buddies who have the cell phone linked cams love them, but they are more expensive and as far as I know all of them require a monthly plan.

My first trail cams were Bushnell Trophy cams, basically bombproof but the last one died last winter aged ten or so.  I have had Tasco, Spypoint, Stealth, UWAY, maybe some others that I do not remember.  The best have been Bushnell, which last for many months on one set of AA batteries AND they work reliably in winter.  I would advise spending a little more money for the NO GLOW instead of LOW GLOW for the night "flash" option.  And spray your cameras with scent killer every time you handle them.  This avoids spooking the deer, and helps to deter a bear eating your trail cam.  They should be set up to capture the animals broadside if possible, not head on.

I buy two SD cards for each camera.  So when I want to check the SD card, I swap one for another and bring the loaded cards home to view them on the computer.  Each camera has its own dedicated pair, because cameras can be temperamental accepting a card that has been used in a different one, even the same make and model.

Some folks like videos but I prefer "still" photos, personal choice.  And one has to play around with settings to figure out what is best for each camera and each location.  If you get a lot of birds, or trees swaying, they can trigger the shutter.  So in those spots you might not want three-shot bursts, and intervals of 15 seconds - you will have thousands of pictures!!

Having the cams has enhanced our hunting experience by showing us what is around the area, where the bucks have been, and what time of day they show up.

Doug

[Barry Willis]

Good morning Doug, I agree with everything you mentioned there. These pics were taken with a Bushnell (obviously) that I used for the first time and I couldn't be happier with the clarity and color. I swear by Bushnell. My cameras are an hour and a half drive one way so I only check them and replace the card once a month or so. I prefer stills over video as well as even though Bushnell have an awesome battery saver videos sure take up a lot more battery power. I keep them out there year round with the exception of last yeas as a forest fire was threatening the area so I retrieved them and never got them back out. I can't remember the make of my first one it was one of them big cumbersome buggers that took the big batteries. The anticipation killed me wondering what was on it. I wanted to check it the next day LOL. I left it out for 45 days, came home plugged the card into the computer and it only took three pics, of me walking away from it. The batteries died. They were brand new but I guess they must have sat on the store shelf for ages. I'll tell you what, it was very disappointing.  -  Barry.

[Barry Willis]

In regards to Porkpie's post and light fingered people a couple weeks ago there was an article on the news that someone had stolen 35 trail cams belonging the the Wild Horse Society of Alberta. Thank fully the RCMP caught the bugger and got most of the trail cams back to them. Man, that's a lot of cameras. They claimed it ran into the thousands of dollars that was spent on them.