We want stats when you get back. I had 100% of my knee/waste high (3) cameras jacked last year. I don’t normal put them low but the couple spots I did I needed them low to to get the photos.
Only had 5 cams up on public this year but all 5 were still in place. To be honest I was shocked. I did not have a single hunter on cam either. Also a huge shock because 2 of the three were close to the road and super easy to access. One cam may have been 100 yards in and at a spot that I would have bet my lunch money someone would have been at least checking out to hunt. The other spot is a little further but an easy walk in and it is in a glaringly obvious spot but again nobody walked through. 21 different bucks on cam between those two spots 6-7 for sure shooter type deer. Three cams were hung deep. One was on a pretty big bench that crosses the top of 4-5 drainages. It's a mile in and a little over 300 feet of elevation loss to get down to it but again a glaring spot on the map. No people which was a little bit of a surprise since there is a pull off camp spot directly above it at the road. 5 different bucks on that cam 2 pretty nice. The other two cams were a disappointment because both cards were full by the first week of october. One cam I had stripped a bunch of poison ivy to get the cam hun but a piece above the cam that didnt look like it would be an issue when I hung the cam, fell down enough that when the wind blew pretty good about half of one leaf was swinging in front and triggering the cam. Got a few does on that cam but had a pile of bears. Had a sow with a cub, a sow with two cubs and I think two separate boars. Not 100% what was triggering the other cam but for sure missed bears there too because the small tree I hung a rope scrape on was broke down and destroyed. 4 of the 5 cams had rope scrapes and they were a disappointment. But they were treated with a synthetic scent. A few does and dinks messed with them just a little but didnt have a single mature buck touch one out there or the half dozen that were hung on private.
That's an interesting observation on synthetic scents and is right in line with my hunch that synthetic scents are just good for luring synthetic bucks.
Of the 10 I hung this year one doe messed with one a little early on. One young buck wigged out when he sniffed it. Other than that they went untouched until way into the season. My guess is with some rain and time the scent finally dissipated enough to not bother them and a few does and young bucks hit a few of them. I am going to re-treat them next fall with some real deer scents and see if that makes a difference.
This would be a good, informal test case to see if it makes a difference. My suspicion at this point is that it will, but I could be mistaken.
I know this is an old thread, but I use mini paracord to hang my cameras one stick high. The best way I’ve found to tighten the string is to tie a bowline on one end, loop the other end through the bowline with an extra wrap around the bowline. That will hold the line tight enough to throw some half hitches in there and that’s good enough for me.
What are you calling ‘mini’ parachord?
I have a couple of these in various packs because full blown paracord isn't necessary for a good chunk of applications.
Pro Tip: open the camera on your phone and set to “selfie mode”. Place the phone on the face of the camera and adjust the angle until you get the image area that you want and lock the camera down.
Great tip!