Game cameras are good for determining the quantity and quality of bucks using a property. This makes them especially helpful for deer hunting and management. But as useful as motion-activated cameras are, you need to learn how to use a game camera properly before you can leverage its full potential.
Game cameras, trail cameras or however you refer to them can only work as well as you allow them. This means that the information (images) you get is a result of how the camera is setup and where it is deployed. This is especially important when a property owner or hunter performs camera surveys for deer for the purpose of population management.
How to Use a Game Camera
There are numerous brands and models of cameras out there so we can’t get too far off into the weeds with specifics for your particular camera. We will focus more on the general aspects of using a game camera to capture good, usable photos of white-tailed deer. These tips are intended to help with both pre-season scouting and hunting during the season. The video below offers some good ideas and is a good place to start.
My rule of thumb is to deploy one camera for every 75-100 acres on the properties that I hunt. I may more during the off season or depending on the diversity of the area, which has a lot to do with available travel corridors, pinch-points, water and food sources.
There are basically two types of game cameras used by hunters, flash cameras and infrared cameras. Flash cameras tend to have faster trigger speeds. Both are great tools but each works better under certain conditions.
Game Camera Tips
Having used game cameras diligently over the past decade, I’ve decided to put together some tips for those hunting and managing white-tailed deer. These camera tips are designed to help you collect good photos of the deer on your property with minimal mistakes, time lost and frustration. Game cameras are relatively easy to use, but there are a number of ways to go wrong.
1. Power Up – First, you need power to make it all happen. Start with good, fresh batteries. Cameras have become much more energy efficient over the past few years, taking many more photos with less power, but there is no substitute for “hot” batteries. Before you deploy a camera for an extended period ensure that the batteries are good to go.
Stick with name brand batteries, particularly in areas subject to cold weather extremes. There is nothing more frustrating checking a camera only to realize that the batteries went dead in the camera just days after you set placed it out.
2. Location, Location, Location – Where you put your game camera is important. For the best deer photos, position your camera about 10 to 15 feet from where you expect the deer to walk or stand. I like to place my cameras about 3 feet off the ground and attached them to a stout tree so that the camera itself is mounted rock-solid. A swaying camera will take lots of “empty” photos.
Generally, I like to position cameras so they face North. This keeps the rising and setting sun from interfering with the camera and messing up the light in the photos. During the Summer, I position cameras so that they are in the shade most of the day. When it’s hot out that plastic box and the electronics inside get mighty hot — not good for the long term health of your equipment.
3. Clean it Up – If you are using a camera to “capture” deer photos then you want to ensure that deer are in the photos. Once the camera is secure, the next step is to clear out all grass, weeds and brush from directly in front of your camera. Small plants can run down your batteries and leave you with photos devoid of deer.
It’s also important to note that if you plan to leave the camera out for an extended period, say a month or so (especially in the spring), that you trim everything well back. Plants grow rapidly when it’s raining.
4. Camera Settings – There basically two areas where cameras can be placed, feeding areas and travel areas. Make sure that the settings are appropriate for the venue or you will not get what you expected. Camera settings impact how long your camera will perform in the field as well as the quantity of photos you have to review.
Cameras place on feeding areas, whether a food plot or feeder, should have a longer delay than those place on trails. A deer or group of deer may stay at a feeder or on a food plot for a long time. With a short delay between photos you end up with a bunch of photos of the same deer. This waste battery power and ultimately your time. In this situation, a delay of at least 3-5 minutes is appropriate.
With a camera positioned on a trail or other travel way deer activity can be hit or miss, but when a deer does pass through you want to make sure that you capture it on camera. On trails, set the delay between photos on your camera as short as possible to increase the number of photos taken, increase your odds of getting some good deer photos.