R&S 
OWNER/PRESIDENT
Post by THE GOB-FATHER on Jan 9, 2007 19:15:48 GMT -5
Well, this year was my first official year using a trail camera to aid in the scouting process. Being new to the concept, there were plenty of things to learn from the start... all of which I believe help make you become a better hunter.
You see, I don't know if you could say that I was "skeptical" about them, but for lack of a better term I may have had a bit goin into the idea. I guess I just felt that the concept was a plain and simple black and white process. Oh was I wrong! There is an artform to utilizing TC's and one that actually becomes very enjoyable not only as a hunting aid, but also a newly added pastime and hobby as well. You start to become "fully aware" of the "who's who" in the woods you hunt.
The first thing I learned about trail cameras, was that positioning is EVERYTHING! Sounds simple and you're probably saying "Duh! That's a given!" and to some degree you're correct, but on the other hand, there's much MUCH more to it than that. Well, at least if you're wanting to do it and do it right to get the right results. The idea here that I'm getting at, is that you learn through trial and error how to use it. When I started using it, I positioned the camera on a good heavily used game trail in early summer. But I found out that I had it too close to the trail. Long story short... some pics get missed, and others have too close of a pic of the animal and you don't see it's full body, just a big brown portion of picture. This will be the result each and every time you put it too close to the target zone.
Speaking of which, that brings me to my next point... "Identifying the Target Zone". I've given a term to the trail camera industry calling the zone in which you are looking to capture the most desired activity level of the game species you are targeting the "Target Zone". It just fits. But finding one may be a bit more deceiving than you'd think. When you consider the variables that come into play when determing the best location to put that cam in, then it becomes clear that it needs to be "calculated" to get the desired results. I think that if you come to understand these "terms" you'll get much more enjoyment and quality out of your trail camming experience.
You have to keep in mind that there are all sorts of elements that come into play when determing the "Target Zone". Remember what you learned in Boy Scouts? What's that? The sun rises in the East and sets in the West? Yep! Remember it.... especially when setting up the cam. The last thing you want is a pic of a bright orange patch smack dab in the middle of the pic and all you can see is a bit of a nose on the deer... could be that monster buck on your property but the sun spot covers the animals head making it impossible for you to see. You've got to keep these things in mind, because they CAN and WILL if you should so decide to face them E or W.
So, you now know to keep the cam at a conservative (yet close enough) distance from the target zone, you know that the cam needs to face N or S or in any variable of each, what next? One of the next essentials are to be sure of your batter life and available memory on your memory card. To address the first of the two I want to say that I HIGHLY RECOMMEND using rechargeable batteries. Matter of fact buy a couple of sets of 'em! Because you're going to be using them A LOT once you get bit by the bug! Rechargeables and the charging unit are a bit pricey on the ticket... but a HUGE investment that will SAVE you a TON of cash down the line. Trust me, they will pay for themselves! I've had to recharge my batteries on more than a few occasions... at the end of this season if I hadn't had the rechargeables I'd have paid for a new set SEVERAL times, and camera batteries aint cheap! So needless to say, the rechargeables already paid for themselves in it's first season of use! Can't go wrong with that.
Now, as far as the memory card... the beautiful part about today's hunting community is that we have the ability to utilize technology to our advantage. I have 2 memory cards that I use on my cam. One is for the cam as it's being used and the other is the one (empty at the time) I'm bringing with me when I'm going back to the cam to replace batteries and memory stick. Essentially, I can slip in and slip out without ever having to move the cam! That's a HUGE advantage when it comes to the digital trail cams of today! See you later film! Welcome JPEG!!
Talk about a CONVENIENCE! The simplicity of opening up the cam's hard case, taking out the memory stick and sliding a new one in is great in more ways than one. Again, coming back to the fact that you don't have to take the camera home in order to download or change out film. You can do it right there Johnny on the spot! The new memory stick will allow you to walk away with the pics it's already taken and be ready to go as soon as you walk away! Gotta love it! The other advantage is that it allows you to get in and get out! You don't want to be in the woods often and for any lengths of time leaving scent and spooking game out of the area. Get in there, swap sticks and get out! Once you get the hang of it, the process takes under one minute and then you go back to being a timberghost!
Being fully prepared doesn't take much, but each element is just as important as the next, so it's important to keep a mental checklist of everything that's needed in the process otherwise you're going to be making a trip for no reason. Oh yeah... remember to bring your key with you every time you go to the cam... lol, yeah, I've done it before
.
Now we've got most of the essentials down it's just time to figure out where you want to "scout" with that camera. Remember that spot you found a while back that you never go to hunting? The one that just seemed like it would always be a good place to hunt and you promise to yourself every year that you're going to hunt it at least once just to give it a shot but then you never do. Yeah that one. Just for grins... start there! I did and I'll tell you why this is such a brilliant idea...
For one reason or another, you've never hunted the spot before. More than likely it's because you feel you've got "better options" elsewhere. And that may be the case, but then again, if you never hunt the one in question then you never know if it is in fact a bit better than your current choice. This is a good chance for you to take advantage of hunting your "preferred spot" all the while keeping an eye on a spot that you're just not capable of hunting since you're elsewhere. In this situation it's a win-win. Because if that other spot you are in proves to be unsuccessful for 3 sets in a row but then you go and get your stick with all these pictures of this big bad brusier that comes by during a certain time of day every day... well, there ya go! Enough said right?
That's one angle of looking at the benefits of trail cameras. Sometimes there's seasons that just don't work the way you've wanted them to and having a TC could seriously up your odds when in a crunch. Other times folks are just tied down to other important life factors that are outside of the hunting society and have to give more of their attention to either work, family, organizations they belong to etc... all of which don't allot this individual to venture to the woods as often as say the single guy that's on his own and has his own time to make for these types of activities. Obviously one will have more of an advantage over the other to be able to foster more time in the woods. So the guy with the other issues that prevent him from getting out as often as he'd like, gives him the option to do that preseason scouting while being in a business meeting with clients, on the phone with customers or just getting in some well deserved "down time". In all instances, the TC's give this guy a chance to juggle his life and lifestyles therein a bit easier. Again, I just love technology!
Overall, the use of trail cams give MANY advantages that we didn't have not too long ago. Our industry has come a long way and has given us sportsmen a bigger advantage nowadays than we ever did! Once you've figured out how to really use one, you'll want more. Because you'll want eyes everywhere... so that questions don't go unanswered. You'll soon find out how great of a concept they really are and can help you, as a conservationist of the land, to better understand your property and how to manage it. In all essence that's what the TC's are to me... a tool for me to find that "Target Zone".
You see, I don't know if you could say that I was "skeptical" about them, but for lack of a better term I may have had a bit goin into the idea. I guess I just felt that the concept was a plain and simple black and white process. Oh was I wrong! There is an artform to utilizing TC's and one that actually becomes very enjoyable not only as a hunting aid, but also a newly added pastime and hobby as well. You start to become "fully aware" of the "who's who" in the woods you hunt.
The first thing I learned about trail cameras, was that positioning is EVERYTHING! Sounds simple and you're probably saying "Duh! That's a given!" and to some degree you're correct, but on the other hand, there's much MUCH more to it than that. Well, at least if you're wanting to do it and do it right to get the right results. The idea here that I'm getting at, is that you learn through trial and error how to use it. When I started using it, I positioned the camera on a good heavily used game trail in early summer. But I found out that I had it too close to the trail. Long story short... some pics get missed, and others have too close of a pic of the animal and you don't see it's full body, just a big brown portion of picture. This will be the result each and every time you put it too close to the target zone.
Speaking of which, that brings me to my next point... "Identifying the Target Zone". I've given a term to the trail camera industry calling the zone in which you are looking to capture the most desired activity level of the game species you are targeting the "Target Zone". It just fits. But finding one may be a bit more deceiving than you'd think. When you consider the variables that come into play when determing the best location to put that cam in, then it becomes clear that it needs to be "calculated" to get the desired results. I think that if you come to understand these "terms" you'll get much more enjoyment and quality out of your trail camming experience.
You have to keep in mind that there are all sorts of elements that come into play when determing the "Target Zone". Remember what you learned in Boy Scouts? What's that? The sun rises in the East and sets in the West? Yep! Remember it.... especially when setting up the cam. The last thing you want is a pic of a bright orange patch smack dab in the middle of the pic and all you can see is a bit of a nose on the deer... could be that monster buck on your property but the sun spot covers the animals head making it impossible for you to see. You've got to keep these things in mind, because they CAN and WILL if you should so decide to face them E or W.
So, you now know to keep the cam at a conservative (yet close enough) distance from the target zone, you know that the cam needs to face N or S or in any variable of each, what next? One of the next essentials are to be sure of your batter life and available memory on your memory card. To address the first of the two I want to say that I HIGHLY RECOMMEND using rechargeable batteries. Matter of fact buy a couple of sets of 'em! Because you're going to be using them A LOT once you get bit by the bug! Rechargeables and the charging unit are a bit pricey on the ticket... but a HUGE investment that will SAVE you a TON of cash down the line. Trust me, they will pay for themselves! I've had to recharge my batteries on more than a few occasions... at the end of this season if I hadn't had the rechargeables I'd have paid for a new set SEVERAL times, and camera batteries aint cheap! So needless to say, the rechargeables already paid for themselves in it's first season of use! Can't go wrong with that.
Now, as far as the memory card... the beautiful part about today's hunting community is that we have the ability to utilize technology to our advantage. I have 2 memory cards that I use on my cam. One is for the cam as it's being used and the other is the one (empty at the time) I'm bringing with me when I'm going back to the cam to replace batteries and memory stick. Essentially, I can slip in and slip out without ever having to move the cam! That's a HUGE advantage when it comes to the digital trail cams of today! See you later film! Welcome JPEG!!
Talk about a CONVENIENCE! The simplicity of opening up the cam's hard case, taking out the memory stick and sliding a new one in is great in more ways than one. Again, coming back to the fact that you don't have to take the camera home in order to download or change out film. You can do it right there Johnny on the spot! The new memory stick will allow you to walk away with the pics it's already taken and be ready to go as soon as you walk away! Gotta love it! The other advantage is that it allows you to get in and get out! You don't want to be in the woods often and for any lengths of time leaving scent and spooking game out of the area. Get in there, swap sticks and get out! Once you get the hang of it, the process takes under one minute and then you go back to being a timberghost!
Being fully prepared doesn't take much, but each element is just as important as the next, so it's important to keep a mental checklist of everything that's needed in the process otherwise you're going to be making a trip for no reason. Oh yeah... remember to bring your key with you every time you go to the cam... lol, yeah, I've done it before
.Now we've got most of the essentials down it's just time to figure out where you want to "scout" with that camera. Remember that spot you found a while back that you never go to hunting? The one that just seemed like it would always be a good place to hunt and you promise to yourself every year that you're going to hunt it at least once just to give it a shot but then you never do. Yeah that one. Just for grins... start there! I did and I'll tell you why this is such a brilliant idea...
For one reason or another, you've never hunted the spot before. More than likely it's because you feel you've got "better options" elsewhere. And that may be the case, but then again, if you never hunt the one in question then you never know if it is in fact a bit better than your current choice. This is a good chance for you to take advantage of hunting your "preferred spot" all the while keeping an eye on a spot that you're just not capable of hunting since you're elsewhere. In this situation it's a win-win. Because if that other spot you are in proves to be unsuccessful for 3 sets in a row but then you go and get your stick with all these pictures of this big bad brusier that comes by during a certain time of day every day... well, there ya go! Enough said right?
That's one angle of looking at the benefits of trail cameras. Sometimes there's seasons that just don't work the way you've wanted them to and having a TC could seriously up your odds when in a crunch. Other times folks are just tied down to other important life factors that are outside of the hunting society and have to give more of their attention to either work, family, organizations they belong to etc... all of which don't allot this individual to venture to the woods as often as say the single guy that's on his own and has his own time to make for these types of activities. Obviously one will have more of an advantage over the other to be able to foster more time in the woods. So the guy with the other issues that prevent him from getting out as often as he'd like, gives him the option to do that preseason scouting while being in a business meeting with clients, on the phone with customers or just getting in some well deserved "down time". In all instances, the TC's give this guy a chance to juggle his life and lifestyles therein a bit easier. Again, I just love technology!
Overall, the use of trail cams give MANY advantages that we didn't have not too long ago. Our industry has come a long way and has given us sportsmen a bigger advantage nowadays than we ever did! Once you've figured out how to really use one, you'll want more. Because you'll want eyes everywhere... so that questions don't go unanswered. You'll soon find out how great of a concept they really are and can help you, as a conservationist of the land, to better understand your property and how to manage it. In all essence that's what the TC's are to me... a tool for me to find that "Target Zone".
. I love theses things almost more than hunting. I get excited everytime I go out to get them. I am hooked.
