Discuss our Trail Camera survey feature
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: t-roy
22-Oct-17
Lots of good info Pat. Almost 100% of my camera usage is for inventory. I don’t think I would have the time to do that much detailed research, let alone document it. I’m kind of a low tech guy. Not sure I want to work that hard at it. It’s all I can do to keep up with my food plots! I enjoy that aspect of it way more.
Do you feel running that many cameras and having to check them affects you deer activity much?
From: drycreek
22-Oct-17
Good feature Pat. I had to start running cameras several years ago in order to comply with the state run MLDP program. We had three options to "census " our herd, and I felt that this was the easiest and best method. I had several surprises during the first couple years. The first, and possibly the biggest surprise, was that the nice bucks that ganged up daily in my food plots would disappear once they shed their velvet. One or two might hang around, but would mostly be seen on camera at night. They were there for the groceries, but "lived" on neighboring properties I guess.
Now, it has become as important to me as the food plotting and the actual hunting. I get to keep up with my fawn recruitment, see approximately how many does I can take, as well as keep an eye on predators and what the hog population is doing. Sometimes, I even have a mature buck hanging around. In reality, most of the bucks we kill are cruising through during the rut and our history with them is short, maybe pics a week or two before they're shot, sometimes just a few days. Nevertheless, trail cameras are part of my hunting experience now, and always will be.
From: Medicinemann
23-Oct-17
Cool feature.....can you explain how the 800i, 880i, 990i, and 1100i Moultrie cameras compare with the A50i, A40i, etc.....do they differ by features offered....year of manufacture, or what? It is my understanding that the Moultrie panoramic camera is actually three "normal" 60 degree cameras rotated 60 degrees off angle from each other....giving up to approximately 180 degrees of camera surveillance. Can a those panoramic camera be programmed in such a way that the camera will trigger for only one of the three cameras OR all three at once....depending on how you program it before use?
From: JohnB
23-Oct-17
Pat do you ever print those pictures off? Just messing with you, low tech me keeps some in a album or brings them to St. Louis! Truthfully I look forward to checking the cams almost as much as the hunt. Thanks
From: activatethehunt
23-Oct-17
Really enjoyed this video, Pat. Good info!
From: bigbuck
24-Oct-17
Enjoyed the Video Pat ,but one thing I was curious about running that many cameras do you have any that come up missing, hunting mainly public land many times cameras come up missing ,that is a lot of money to invest only to have someone steal them .I wonder what you do for camera security??
From: Russell
24-Oct-17
Good job Pat. Cant wait to have my own farm to start managing and learning.
From: IKE220
24-Oct-17
Thank you for the info Pat. Food for thought..i thought i would share a program I have started organizing my trail cam photos on called Trophy Room, you can download it for free from Cuddeback's website. I use Moultrie cameras and when the program detects a competitor's pictures a popup comes on the screen, I close it and continue. You can organize pictures by property and name different folders. I can organize them pretty quick. On pics that I want to include more info, I add a image note, use weather underground historical weather and enter the weather when the picture was taken.
From: Mike Ukrainetz
25-Oct-17
You ever think of simply running one plot watcher camera on each food plot? It would show every buck that is willing to show up in daylight hours. You can chase nocturnal deer all your life and never kill them, and pass up the biggest killable deer. Just a thought. We run them on natural salt licks for moose and focus on the daylight moose. I don't even want to know what might be there at night. Crazy, nocturnal deer can drive you nuts!
From: t-roy
25-Oct-17
You’re forgetting about the X factor, Mike. I’ve killed a couple of my better bucks during the rut while they were trailing a hot doe. All of the pics I had of these bucks were nighttime pics. I wouldn’t say I was specifically targeting either of those bucks, but I was in the stand when they came by. Dumb luck and hormones has killed a lot of big deer.
From: Genesis
26-Oct-17
Posted to wrong thread
From: JSW
26-Oct-17
Great information Pat. Thanks for sharing. And I thought I ran a lot of cameras. I have about 25 out on 5 different properties totaling 2900 acres. I keep a dozen or so out year round and the rest go up just before the season or at historic scrapes. Most of my best buck pictures are at mineral licks. Your assessment of different quality cameras for different purposes is spot on. You really go all out and it pays off.
From: BOHUNTER09
26-Oct-17
Mike U. I have a plot watcher but find going through the footage takes a lot of time. Haven't put it out for 2 years.
From: Mike Ukrainetz
26-Oct-17
Takes 5 min to watch 12 hours of daylight footage with a plotwatcher pro, not a trail camera with a plot watch function, it takes less time if no wind and you use the search function. One camera would cover a whole food plot out to 100 yds or more. I also use trail cameras on specific spots like a scrape. Put 2 plot watchers up in your stand watching the ground and it almost fully covers anything within bow range of your stand or further in daylight hours while you are not in it.
From: MK111
26-Oct-17
I use a Plot watcher and also can view 12 hrs in 5 minutes or so. Fast forward through the video and stop when a deer is seen.
From: SBH
27-Oct-17
Great article Pat. Very very informative. Got me excited anyways. Thanks
From: jax2009r
03-Nov-17
Pat, do use AA batteries or the 12v? if the 12v how much more life to get on one charge compared to the AA?
thx
From: jax2009r
03-Nov-17
Ok thx
From: mn_archer
15-Nov-17
one of the best Bowsite.com features ive seen in like 15-16 years of being on this website... Has it really been that long? Also, I finally know how to pronounce your last name!
You have inspired be for this next season as I finally have a little slice of my own heaven where I can stick in a couple 1/2-1 acre plots and seed the 1.5 miles of logging road with clover, and also run some cameras with a purpose. In years past ive stuck cameras out here and there haphazardly with no real goal- other than seeing what was hitting a scrape or going down a trail.
I am curious however, how often will you see a mature buck for the first time, and never see him again? Do they really roam through or is that mostly a myth?
thanks for this feature
michael
