Field How-To's ...

Working with Trail Cams – Maximizing the Potential

By Jason Goldring

The one thing that I have always felt a little "uneasy" about when using a trail camera is the fact that once you've locked it up and left it, anything could happen to it. Basically you are taking a gamble with your investment and when something does go wrong it is usually attributed to a human factor such as theft or vandalism.

Wanting to set my mind at ease, I took a few extra steps when I deployed my trail camera to try and ensure that it was going to be as "safe" as possible to extend its longevity and to maximize its potential in the field.

The first step was to choose the right location. The area that I was going to be planting my trail camera is extremely isolated and not frequented very often by humans. However, during the summer time there is a bit of cottage traffic and lake traffic but not a lot and it's usually confined to specific areas. There is the occasional hiker as well, but generally people stick to the existing trails rather than venturing "off-course" through the bush. And that is very important to consider - remembering not to put it in an area that might be frequented by hikers and popular trail areas.

The second step was to try and keep the camera out of view, not just by way of camouflage, but also considering the fact that it's far easier to detect things that are at eye level, therefore it makes sense to have the unit mounted slightly above or below average eye-level, say 5'6" or so. And in this case, the preference would be to position the camera slightly higher if possible, to prevent critters from being curious, snow buildup, etc. If it is absolutely necessary to mount something at eye level, taking the time to make a well camouflaged set up would be essential.

For the third step, I took a couple snapshots of the area where I intended to deploy the trail camera and then I examined the surroundings in the pictures, making note of how the colors and tones blend and the way the foliage was spread out. I pictured my camera being mounted in the area in such a way that it would blend with the environment. Here's a neat little trick that I tried with a couple of friends. I wanted to see how they responded after I mounted the trail camera to see if they could spot it. I took a regular video camera, starting from the left and panning to the right I recorded the area where the camera was mounted. I did not “pause” the pan as I passed by the trail camera; instead it was just one continuous “fluid-like” sweep of the area. I played back video through the viewfinder to ensure that I captured the area without any problems then I downloaded the video to my notebook. The video I took lasted a little more than 10 seconds but it was very clear and very smooth. I also took a still photograph of the area where the trail camera was mounted; given then fact that it is generally human nature to always look at the center of a picture, I made sure that the picture was slightly skewed. The trail cam was actually located on the far left hand side picture rather than being in the center of the picture. I also uploaded this photo to my notebook and I converted the panning video to Windows media format and uploaded it to my website using my aircard. Once uploaded, I e-mailed my friends with the link and asked to take a look at it and see if they could find anything unusual about the video.

I told them “look for anything that stands out, anything unusual”. The responses started to trickle in and nobody saw the trail cam or even hinted that there was something unusual. This feedback was greatly appreciated because it made me feel more confident about the placement of the trail cam.

I hope these steps help you with your trail cam setup. Have fun!

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Visit Jason's blogsite The Ticking Mind to read this article