the intrepid trail cam

- a series by g. geddes

3rd Instalment:

Picking a Location

OK then ... I’ve made my mind up, I have a bit of a plan so the next thing I wanted to do was pick a location for the camera. Why you may ask wouldn’t I concentrate on getting a camera first? Good question. There are a couple of reasons.

First of all choosing a camera is no easy task when you first start out. There is a lot of information out there as you will see if you start Googling trail cams. The industry is still very young and most companies are putting out new models every year. Finding reviews on the latest and greatest can take a bit of hunting around and then add to this that the technology is improving rapidly and you have a moving target. The time it takes to go through all of this and make sense of it is considerable. I’ll cover more on that in the next instalment.

In parallel to researching the camera market, my next step was to find a location to execute my plan. Before I actually started doing this I thought it would be a relatively easy thing to do but I soon found out otherwise. So my recommendation is start working on finding a location first as it may end up being the hardest part to complete.

Basically you need a place that has enough brush to support deer and other wildlife. It does not need to be at the centre of the earth through a tunnel. It does need to be at least on the outskirts of humanity, or the fringes of civilization, whatever that may be for you where you are. The next thing I would do is look over the map of sightings. Has there been a sighting near your area that is either remote or on the fringes? Can you access land near a sighting? Can you make out what could be a travel corridor? All of these things will factor into your decision.

Once you have a general idea of where you think would be a good location, check it out on both Google Earth and Google maps. If you have GPS or paper topo maps for the area learn to be able recognize the main landmarks in terms of forest, lakes, roads, rivers, trails etc. Of course you must have legal access to the land, either crown, public land or private land with permission, the same as if you wanted to hunt there.

Once I had identified my target area of about four square kilometres, I started to walk it several times a week with my dog. I wanted to get to know the lay of the land. Often I would find a spot and make a cup of tea, just hanging out listening to the sounds and watching my dog explore. I did this for about 2 months. For those concerned about the dog’s scent putting off deer, once I place a camera I go back alone to pull the memory card and replace batteries. This way there is only my own scent to worry about and mask. I went at different times of the day and in every kind of weather learning where the ridges and valleys are and where to expect the sun at different times of the day. Often I would go in late in the afternoon so I would learn how to get out at dusk with and without a light.

So for many, the big question is how do you actually decide where to put the darn thing once and for all? During the time I was walking the land, I took note of game trails, prevailing winds and in particular identified a few watering holes. These were small spring-fed ponds in the middle of the forest I had identified while going over the maps and satellite views on Google Earth. I marked three target areas, loaded them into the GPSMAP60CX and bushwhacked my way cross country until I found each of them.

What I was looking for was:

•A swampy area off the beaten track

•Evidence of game trails

•A clean water supply

•Enough cover to drink and not be out in the open

The first one I found turned out to be pretty near perfect and had every item on my list. I call that one Trail Cam 1.

TC 1

The second pond TC 2, was not too far away from TC 1 but when I got there it looked like an empty bowl grown over with moss and long grass. My dog loved romping around there but it was not going to work as a watering hole.

TC 2

The pond at the third location TC 3 was quite a bit bigger than the pond at TC 1. It had a tall sloping shore indicating that it is much deeper in the spring. The trees surrounding it were hardwood bush with a bit of spruce here and there. It looked great and if I wasn’t worried about leaving my scent there, it would be a great little shore to pull out the hiker’s stove and make a cup of coffee while enjoying the sounds of the forest.

TC 3

Of the three I decided that the first one, TC 1 had the best potential and started to focus in on what would be the best place for the trail cam. I walked around the area, looking for a natural location. I saw a few likely places where I could mount a camera and took some shots with my DSLR simulating what the trail cam would see.

When I got home I studied the shots and very quickly decided which part of the pond I wanted to shoot. I now had a location!