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New to cameras... Should I move it? or wait it out?

spracklin

spracklin

Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2022
Messages
45
Location
Ontario Canada
I bought my first camera, a tactacam reveal 2.0 for one of the properties i have permission to hunt, hoping to help my wife take a buck there this fall. in previous years there has been lots of deer sign leading up to season at a choke point between two fields, so far in the few weeks the camera has been up ive seen nothing.

both fields are planted with soy, last year they had a grain, cant remember which.

should I leave the cameras for a while longer? or consider moving them to another likely location on the property?

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I always struggle with this and usually just buy another camera and put that in the other spot I was considering.

I've gone out in the woods to move a camera and just out of it's field of view there is a bunch of sign.
 
shmelton said:
Are you getting any pics at all?


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nothing yet, i suspect its too early in the season, for their movement to go through that area, last year i started seeing significant sign closer to october.

theres a bunch of white oaks in the hedgerow between the fields that last fall had seen substantial activity, lots of rubs, scrapes, and licking branches. and the funnel where the camera is set was a hotspot of activity.
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Does the area encounter normal human traffic? If it doesn't I would let it be. Some times it takes them a little while to get back to their normal pattern if you stirred things up. If they are use to people going by, then it's a toss up.
What are you hoping to learn from the camera being there? See a pattern from a buck? Or just deer movement. Sounds like a nice rut area, and when the acorns are falling. But maybe they are feeding some where else ATM.
They may just be passing by off camera.
 
spracklin said:
nothing yet, i suspect its too early in the season, for their movement to go through that area, last year i started seeing significant sign closer to october.

theres a bunch of white oaks in the hedgerow between the fields that last fall had seen substantial activity, lots of rubs, scrapes, and licking branches. and the funnel where the camera is set was a hotspot of activity.
3c87f274830fdfcb1163111c5a4fad52.jpg


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Yea you can either move the camera and get pics now or leave and get them later. That’s a decision you have to make. After a couple of years running a few on the property you start to understand the annul flux a little better. One of the benefits in my opinion of using them
 
MattMan81 said:
Does the area encounter normal human traffic? If it doesn't I would let it be. Some times it takes them a little while to get back to their normal pattern if you stirred things up. If they are use to people going by, then it's a toss up.
What are you hoping to learn from the camera being there? See a pattern from a buck? Or just deer movement. Sounds like a nice rut area, and when the acorns are falling. But maybe they are feeding some where else ATM.
They may just be passing by off camera.
Click to expand...
The only activity is agricultural from the farmer who leases the fields, so your probably right in that its a combination of both, and i need to just be patient and not overthink it....

i'm hoping to learn more about how the deer move through the property, if I can pattern a buck that would be amazing.

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spracklin said:
The only activity is agricultural from the farmer who leases the fields, so your probably right in that its a combination of both, and i need to just be patient and not overthink it....

i'm hoping to learn more about how the deer move through the property, if I can pattern a buck that would be amazing.

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Click to expand...

There is a learning curve to using them so enjoy the process. I have fun using them and they have directly led to me killing more and bigger deer on some occasions. The exodus YouTube channel has some great tips
 
spracklin said:
nothing yet, i suspect its too early in the season, for their movement to go through that area, last year i started seeing significant sign closer to october.

theres a bunch of white oaks in the hedgerow between the fields that last fall had seen substantial activity, lots of rubs, scrapes, and licking branches. and the funnel where the camera is set was a hotspot of activity.
3c87f274830fdfcb1163111c5a4fad52.jpg


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Are you sure the camera is working correctly? I would think a squirrel, bird, or something would be triggering pics.


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Pic looks like it might be far enough off the field to not trigger from deer in the field. You could, as mentioned, move it closer to the field or leave it and wait for them to transition to the acorns in that funnel area or add another cam. If there are acorns dropping when the bean leaves start to yellow, that cam should get busy where it is because they are going to leave the beans for the most part.
 
BTaylor said:
Pic looks like it might be far enough off the field to not trigger from deer in the field. You could, as mentioned, move it closer to the field or leave it and wait for them to transition to the acorns in that funnel area or add another cam. If there are acorns dropping when the bean leaves start to yellow, that cam should get busy where it is because they are going to leave the beans for the most part.
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dark blue arrow shows the camera direction, thin red line is the property boundary, yellow is where the oaks are, the light blue is where i saw significant deer tracks last fall.

i was hoping to catch them when moving through the funnel between the fields...

i am leaning to just not that much activity in the area yet... its only a 50 acre property, and the back two fields (~10 acres each) are really the only viable spot to set up.
702d6ad49e5e17e96621db9975f24137.jpg


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spracklin said:
dark blue arrow shows the camera direction, thin red line is the property boundary, yellow is where the oaks are, the light blue is where i saw significant deer tracks last fall.

i was hoping to catch them when moving through the funnel between the fields...

i am leaning to just not that much activity in the area yet... its only a 50 acre property, and the back two fields (~10 acres each) are really the only viable spot to set up.
702d6ad49e5e17e96621db9975f24137.jpg


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I might try moving the cam up that left side somewhere about even with the small oval of stuff in the field and angle it across to the small blue dot on the top edge so it is shooting across that corner. That corner is close to bigger cover and should shade early in the afternoon. If you cant catch them there before the leaves start to yellow, I might start getting concerned about where they are and why they are not on those beans, Maybe start looking in the area for a different food source they are keying on now. Even if you cant hunt it, you may have a better idea about what is happening in the area and how it may influence movement later.
 
It amazes me how deer can be within feet of a camera and somehow they don't get their picture taken.
I've had a few cams within sight, or just out of sight of my home for many years. Occasionally I will watch a critter approach a camera and I get excited that I'll probably have a couple of pics of potential shooters, only to find out when I check the card that the deer evaded detection some how.
I once had a camera pointed at a groundhog that I'd shot. I wanted to see if a coyote, fox, or whatever would be the critter that enjoyed a free meal. The cam was set up for a 3 shot burst. During the night, something triggered the cam before the subject entered the frame. The dead groundhog was easily seen in that 1st pic. Then in the 2nd pic, the groundhog was clearly gone but no other animal was photographed. I can't believe that something grabbed the meal and got off camera in a matter of 2 seconds.
I've seen similar things with deer. The camera catches one pic of a burst, but the other pics are blank. How does that happen?
My point is, even when critters are within feet of the camera, don't assume that your camera will always get a pic.
 
Allegheny Tom said:
It amazes me how deer can be within feet of a camera and somehow they don't get their picture taken.
I've had a few cams within sight, or just out of sight of my home for many years. Occasionally I will watch a critter approach a camera and I get excited that I'll probably have a couple of pics of potential shooters, only to find out when I check the card that the deer evaded detection some how.
I once had a camera pointed at a groundhog that I'd shot. I wanted to see if a coyote, fox, or whatever would be the critter that enjoyed a free meal. The cam was set up for a 3 shot burst. During the night, something triggered the cam before the subject entered the frame. The dead groundhog was easily seen in that 1st pic. Then in the 2nd pic, the groundhog was clearly gone but no other animal was photographed. I can't believe that something grabbed the meal and got off camera in a matter of 2 seconds.
I've seen similar things with deer. The camera catches one pic of a burst, but the other pics are blank. How does that happen?
My point is, even when critters are within feet of the camera, don't assume that your camera will always get a pic.
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Sounds like an owl may have swooped in and grabbed up the groundhog. But yeah, it is funny how we forget that with trail cams we are looking at the woods through a straw.
 
A couple of thoughts.

Food source isn’t there yet, so I wouldn’t expect to see many deer yet there either. (Acorns likely not dropping yet and soybeans are likely not prime, either.)

I would move the camera to the top two corner locations, marked up picture attached. Likely have a better chance of getting a picture of a deer on the inside corner vs the middle of the funnel, anyhow.

Have you considered installing a water tank?

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decided to move the camera, and dropped a 5gal pail of apples a coworker gave me. (blue circles) should give me a better view of anyone moving through.

moved the camera about 70' to the south, so now its facing north instead of south, less brush near it to give false triggers, have increased the sensitivity to 7/10

the bur oaks are totally laden with acorns, this year is absolutely a mast year.

also came across a dustbath spot for turkey, nice to see them moving in the area, was pretty sure they were near but nice to have definitive sign.
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