Grant's Answers → Trail Cameras

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Where should I place my trail camera?

Question
Where should I place game cameras for a good and accurate deer herd survey?
You may receive a similar question like this that’s because the first time I asked you I forgot to share the picture of my property.

Ethan,

I like to place trail cameras where there’s lots of deer sign but in places I won’t hunt.  

The human activity of checking cameras can condition deer to avoid areas during daylight hours.

Enjoy creation,

grant

March 2, 2016

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Can you recommend a game camera that will send pictures via a cell phone service?

Question
Can you recommend a game camera solution where when pictures are taken they can be sent to me over the Internet or via cell phone service?

I do not live near our hunting property so I would like access to the game camera pictures from offsite.

Best Regards,

Mike

Mike,

I use a Reconyx 900 for this purpose and it works great!!  Check out:  http://www.reconyx.com/product/PC900C-Cellular-HyperFire-Professional-Covert-IR

Enjoy creation,

grant

February 9, 2016

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What type of feed should we use this time of year?

Question
Hi Grant, My 16 year old grandson and I like to set some feed out in front of our trail cameras this time of year. I have read not use corn or hay this time of year in Wisconsin as the deer can not digest it. We use deer pellets. The trouble with pellets especially this year they turn to soup when wet and the deer won’t eat them. Is there a mineral or mixture you can suggest?

Thanks, Ron

Ron,

I’m glad to hear you and your grandson are working on this project together!

Deer eat corn daily throughout the midwest without any issues. Deer can become sick if they ingest a bunch of corn without having access to it previously.  It’s the rapid change in diet that can cause deer to become sick or even die from eating corn. If you’ve been feeding corn then keep doing what you are doing. If you haven’t been feeding corn, now is a tough time to start.  If you do start now, start slowly!  Put out less corn than the local herd can consume.  

I have excellent results by placing Trophy Rock’s Four65 in front of my cameras.  Both bucks and does need trace minerals to express their full antler growth or fawn production potential. Trophy Rock is 100% natural (mined in Utah) and cost much less than corn.  Deer will only consume what they need and often visit the Trophy Rock site daily.

Enjoy creation,

grant

January 25 ,2016

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Which Reconyx camera do you use?

Question
Grant..1st, luv the show…I have learned so much about deer, habitat, etc..

Which Reconyx model do you use and why? Ive seen and tried diff low glows, no glows and white flash and Id luv to hear what you say about them…Ive never tried Reconyx before and am looking to try one this next year…

Thanks!

Ed,

I have several older Reconyx units that are still working fine – including units that are eight years old!

I really like the Reconyx Ultrafire and 900. The Ultrafire takes incredible video.  We usually show some at the start of each http://www.GrowingDeer.com episode and on our Facebook page.

I also like the Reconyx 900. It sends pictures to my email as soon as they are taken and works flawlessly!

Reconyx units have great battery life!

Enjoy creation,

grant

December 14, 2015

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What brand and model of trail camera do you use that sends you pictures?

Question
What brand and model trail camera do you use that sends you pictures? Thanks

Thomas,

I use the Reconyx 900.  Check out Reconyx here.

It has worked perfectly for me!

Enjoy creation,

Grant

November 16, 2015

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Why did I only get pictures of bucks during my trail camera survey?

Question
hi Mr. Grant this summer i was doing a trail camera survey and at my main camera location i only had bucks show up on camera if anything i had 1-2 does out of august and september and this hunting season at this stand ive only seen one deer and it was a buck so i was just curious why did i only have buck pictures and it was the same bucks over and over by the way so was it just coincidence or is there a good reasoning behind that

– Your Viewer Connor

Connor, 

You may be able to tell if it’s the same buck by studying his antlers.  Antlers are unique – like fingerprints. 

If you only had pictures of one buck and one to two does, you may wish to move your camera to a different location.  Deer may have been alerted to danger in that area. I suggest moving the camera and see if additional deer are photographed.

Enjoy creation,

grant

November 9, 2015

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What’s the length of delay you use when your trail cameras are in video mode?

Question
What do you have your trail camera video delay at?

Ben,

None of my trail cameras are over bait/feed so deer don’t tend to hang around long and I want as much video as I can get. My cameras are set to record 30 seconds of video and trigger again if they detect a critter is present.

Enjoy creation,

grant

November 4, 2015

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Why do you prefer the video mode on the Reconyx trail cameras?

Question
What are the advantages of using a trail camera in video mode opposed to regular trail cam mode? Why specifically have you been using a lot of video mode on your cameras?

Thanks, Aaron Hendrix

Aaron,

I was hesitant to try my Reconyx units in video mode. However once I did I switched all my cameras to video mode!  Video allows me to do a much better job of aging bucks because I can see them in multiple postures. I have also identified more bucks this year because there’s no delay when the camera is in video mode.  Bucks walking in late, etc., are still captured.  

Reconyx allows the units to record video as long as there’s movement detected.  So a clip may be 3 seconds or 43 seconds long!  This saves battery life and card space.  It also saves time when reviewing the cards.  Now that I’ve tried it I won’t switch back to still images.

Enjoy creation,

grant

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How do I conduct a trail camera survey?

Question
Grant-

My question may have been addressed in your book, but I see the book is no longer available.

Question: We have what looks to be an odd mix of antler count on our property. Where can I get instructions on conducting AND ANALYZING a survey for buck / doe ratio, buck management, etc.?

Cliff,

Trail camera surveys are great tools!  There’s complete instructions on how to conduct a trail camera survey at:

https://www.growingdeer.tv/view/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Conducting-a-Herd-Survey.pdf

Enjoy creation,

grant

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Is this the same buck?

Question
Dear Dr. Grant this is a buck I hunted last year that I was unsuccessful at harvesting. He is obviously a mature buck. There is two pictures here. The one on the left is last year, and the one on the right is this year. (see pic dates) Do you think this is the same deer? They seem to share characteristics, but if this is the same deer he has lost quite a few inches. Thanks! God bless!!

It appears to be the same buck based on antler configuration. Specifically the buck in each picture shares the same shape of the left brow tine. However, without genetic testing there’s no way to be certain. Either way it’s a neat mature buck that would be on my hit list!

Enjoy creation!
Grant

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How old is this buck?

Question
Im here to ask you how old these deer is in the attached pictures are, I hunt a 500 acre area my grandparents own in Morgan county Ohio, only being 17 I have harvested several 130” deer but want something more mature and bigger.

Heavy 8 (2) Heavy 8 (4) Lucky 13 (106) Lucky 13 (114)

I typically only estimate the age of one buck per question. I’ll spend some time analyzing the first buck (color pics).
This buck’s neck merges with his chest in the brisket area.  There appears to be a hump over his shoulder and his chest sags below where his legs merge with his shoulders.  These are all good indicators this buck is 4 or older.  He’d be on my wish list!  I hope you have a great encounter with him!
 
Enjoy creation!
Grant

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How to conduct a trail camera deer survey in Illinois without attractants?

Question

I was wandering how you would conduct a trail camera deer survey without using any attractants? Here in Illinois we are not allowed to use any attractants so I was wandering what tool you would use on a survey.

Thanks,

Austin

It’s tough to get an accurate survey in Illinois due to the no attractants regulations. I put cameras on trails and scrapes (licking branches before season) and know the survey won’t be as accurate as if I was using an attractant. I simply look for areas where deer will frequent and do the best I can. I hope you have a great hunting season!

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What software do you use to manage your deer observations and camera images?

Question

What software do you use to manage your deer observations and camera images? Reconyx has some great software to manage deer camera images but I’d like something that also integrates all my deer hunt observation data. Also, I’m trying to purchase another 150 acres adjacent to my current 600 acres up in central Wisconsin. If successful, I’d be interested in discussing having you conduct a property evaluation analysis.

Best,

Jim

I do use the Reconyx software to manage all our trail camera data. I use ScoutLook to manage my hunting observation data – it’s by far the best system/program I or my clients have used to manage hunting observation and harvest data.

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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How do you attract deer to a trail camera site?

Question
Dear Grant,

What food should I put out for the deer?  I have a big trophy buck but I can’t get him to the camera.

Thanks,

Shelby

Shelby,

Deer seem to be attracted to whole shelled corn almost everywhere I work.  In fact, corn combined with a Trophy Rock is what I use to attract deer to camera sites when I do a camera survey for deer.  Even in areas where baiting is legal and mature bucks tend to avoid corn during the daytime because of hunting pressure, they visit the bait piles at night (a very good reason not to bait — as most deer rapidly learn to avoid bait during daytime).  If shelled corn doesn’t work, I suspect the buck you’re attempting to pattern has been conditioned to avoid bait.

I suggest you try a Trophy Rock, if legal in your area, or simply put the camera over scrapes.  During the few days just before the peak of breeding, bucks visit scrapes frequently.  Hence, scrapes can be a great location to capture images of a mature buck!

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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How many trail cameras are needed to pattern whitetails?

Question
After watching your video about using cameras to pattern deer (GDTV 66), I am interested in how many acres your facility is and how many cameras you use to track the deer.  I really liked your example of deer movement patterns.  Can I, with a limited budget for cameras, produce the same results with one or two cameras?  Or did you have cameras at all the locations at the same time?

Keep up the good work!

Jeff

Jeff,

I like to use as many Reconyx trail cameras as practical given time and budget constraints.  The Proving Grounds (my place) is 1,500 acres and I try to use one camera per 100 acres when doing an official camera survey and I continue using them to scout with throughout the season.  Using rechargeable batteries has greatly reduced my operating costs!  I have other projects where we “leap frog” cameras as we don’t have a camera per 100 acres.  We get usable data, but not as good as using a camera per 100 acres simultaneously.

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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How Often to Check Trail Cameras

 

Question
Hey Grant,

I just set up a trail camera on a big deer run.  How often should I check it?  I don’t want to spook the deer that bed there.

Jonathan

 

Jonathan,

The frequency at which to check a trail camera without spooking the local deer depends on where the trail camera is located.  If it’s in a bedding area one trip is too much!  That’s why I never locate trail cameras in areas where I want to hunt or bedding areas.  Doing so would simply condition deer to avoid the area during daylight.  I prefer to set trail cameras in areas that are relatively open and easy to access (a few steps from a road, trail, etc.).  I get the images/data and then figure out where to hunt.  I rarely place a stand close to a trail camera location as deer are conditioned to avoid that area during daylight hours.

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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Low or No Glow for Trail Cameras

Question

Dr. Grant,

Which specific model of Reconyx camera do you use?  I notice the Reconyx HyperFire Semi-Covert camera has a low-glow feature when working in IR mode, vs. no glow at all on the Reconyx HyperFire Output Covert model.  Obviously, no glow is best so you do not run the risk of spooking game, but that camera costs $100 more.  Do you think it’s worth it?  I’d just as well go with the semi-covert model and save some money unless you feel differently based on experience.  Thanks for your advice!

Corey

Corey,

I currently use both the Reconyx HyperFire Semi-Convert and HyperFire Output Convert units.  I haven’t had any known problems with deer being spooked by the low glow units.  In fact, I have gads of images of deer bedded for hours at a time with the low glow units.  One deer will get up and browse while the others remain bedded.

If I was using them on public land, I might go for the no glow units.

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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Testing a Trail Camera

Question

I saw deer tracks behind my house.  I put a trail camera there with some corn and I don’t have any pictures yet.  Do you think I have my camera set-up correctly?

Clifton

Clifton,

Sounds like you need to test your camera.  Simply walk through the area where the camera should detect a deer and determine if your presence triggered an event.  If the camera didn’t trigger when you walked through, I’d start by checking the batteries, camera settings, etc.

I hope this helps!

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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Which Trail Camera to Buy

Question

I am interested in getting a game camera but I am a little confused on what to buy.  Do you have any recommendations or what to look for when buying one?

Bofiss

Bofiss,

I evaluate trail cameras based on:

  1. Whether they spook deer with noise or flash
  2. Quality of images
  3. Battery life
  4. Value of product (price versus length of service)

I’ve had two Reconyx cameras for more than six years!  Those two older models are still working and in the woods today.  I’ve never had another brand work that long!  In fact, I was using Reconyx cameras years before they became a sponsor.  Many times I’ve been filming a buck while his picture was being taken by a Reconyx camera and I’ve never seen a buck react or act like he knew his picture was being taken.  For me, Reconyx is the best value when considering the criteria listed above.  I suggest you use the criteria I’ve listed above and check out several reviews online before making a selection.

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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Learning the Movement Patterns of Deer

Question

Grant,

Hello!  This past winter I started leasing 1,000 acres near Gainesville, Missouri.  We are trying to learn the patterns/movements of the deer on our property.  What are some efficient ways to go about this?

Wyatt

Wyatt,

At The Proving Grounds we have Reconyx trail cameras out year round.  We have cameras placed on food plots, mineral licks, saddles, pinch points, etc.  From these cameras we archive all mature buck pictures in Reconyx image software.  Their software is phenomenal at allowing me to literally see every picture of each buck on an aerial photo of the property and each successive movement from camera-to-camera site.

When placing cameras I like to keep them as close to vehicle access as possible to limit disturbance as I check them.  Several of my cameras are checked right out my truck window.  Since truck traffic is a normal part of daytime activities on The Proving Grounds I can practice minimal disturbance entry (M.D.E.).  Once I determine the general movements of the herd I then start scouting until I find high quality sign.  After the hunting season closes is a great time to find hot trails, rubs, scrape lines, and even shed antlers that further help me to formulate a plan for the next season.  Trail cameras allow me to scout without disturbing the entire property – a key to patterning and harvesting mature bucks!

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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Trail Camera Images and Maps

Question

This is actually a request in the form of a question.  Can you please continue in the future to show “What We Know” with trail camera images and trails layered over topo maps?  That was extremely insightful information and really helped me as a viewer to understand how and why you set up on this buck where you did.  Excellent stuff, I wish everyone did this!

Thank you and God bless.

Bobby

Bobby,

Thanks for the kind words!  Yes, we plan to continue using trail camera images, maps, and other tools to aid in our goal of sharing useful information.  In fact, I just harvested one of the hit list bucks from The Proving Grounds and that episode (GDTV 50) used maps and trail camera images to illustrate my strategy.

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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Covert vs. Semi-covert Trail Cameras

Question

Dr. Woods,

You talk quite a bit about using trail cameras for successful scouting and for setting up camera stations to better manage your deer herd.  I was curious if you opt to use no-glow or true IR cameras vs. low-glow or near IR cameras at The Proving Grounds?  Do you see an advantage or disadvantage of one over the other?

Great site by the way!  I’m learning a lot of new information!

Christopher

Christopher,

Thanks for the kind words!  I desire to cover the maximum distance at nighttime in each image without spooking deer.  The Reconyx semi-covert units seem to offer the best solution to my objective.  I’ve used both Reconyx covert (no glow) and semi-covert (low glow) units.  I prefer the low glow as I don’t notice any deer spooking from the “flash” of the semi-covert units and they allow nighttime images to be taken at a greater distance.  This may or may not be true with other brands of trail cameras.

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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Trail Cameras Use during the Season

Question

Dr. Woods,

I know from watching your videos you put out corn in front of your cameras for forming your “hit-list” and to see what you have on your property.  I’ve done that too.

As we transition into hunting season, can you review how you use your trail cameras differently than during the off season?

Thanks,

Eric

Eric,

I do change my trail camera use strategies significantly during the season.  I only us bait during the pre and post season camera surveys.  Out of these few weeks, I place my Reconyx units primarily on feeding food plots (larger food plots) where I can check/maintain the cameras with minimal disturbance.  I really like the time lapse option!  This allows me to monitor 200+ yards without spooking deer.  I simply program the unit to take an image every 15 minutes during the first three hours of daylight and the last three hours before dark.  This strategy may miss a deer running through the field.  However, that is not a patternable event.  I’m looking for deer that are repeat visitors to the same areas.  Images of deer at 100+ yards will be blurry.  However, the images taken by Reconyx units are so good that I can zoom in and tell if shooter bucks are using the field.  With this information, I can plan where to hunt.  I rarely hunt the fields, except during the rut when bucks are prowling looking for does.  However, by knowing when and where a mature buck is entering a field, I can predict where he is coming from and set up a stand/blind at a point favorable for me to approach.

Time lapse is one of my favorite features of a Reconyx trail camera!

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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Deer Population Estimates from Camera Survey

Question

I have done a deer survey with 3 cameras on my 320 acre farm.  I have 570 pictures of does, 43 fawns, and 102 bucks.  This was over the first 3 weeks of August.  How do I go about projecting the actual number of deer based on my camera survey?

Thanks,

Mike

Mike,

I have posted step-by-step instructions for conducting a herd survey.

The steps K through M provide detailed instructions of how to estimate the number of deer, the adult sex ratio, etc., based on the data you’ve collected.

Camera surveys are great tools!

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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Delay Used for Time Lapse on Trail Cameras

Question

On episode 39 (GDTV 39) at the end of the segment you were talking about time lapse to pattern where deer were coming in and out and the times.  You mentioned you set your time lapse to every 15 minutes.  Four pictures an hour seems low, did you mean 15 seconds?

Phil

Phil,

I do use 5 – 15 minutes delays when using the time lapse feature on my Reconyx trail cameras.  This length of delay will certainly miss a deer that runs or even rapidly walks across a food plot or the area being monitored.  However, my mission when using the time lapse feature is to pattern deer that are using the same area repeatedly.  Deer that are entering a plot to forage usually remain in the area for several minutes.  The length of the delay used is based on a trade-off of how many images I have time to review, expected battery life, memory space, etc.  From experience, I’ve found that 5-15 minute delays usually capture the data I’m seeking.  The more days I expect will pass before I check the camera again the longer I make the delay so I won’t have as many images to review.  Remember that with a Reconyx unit, the motion sensor is still active when in time lapse mode.  Therefore any deer/people/turkeys/etc. that passes within the distance monitored by the motion/heat sensor will also trigger the camera in addition to the images taken due to the time lapse feature.   I consider this a very important use of trail cameras!

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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Number of Cameras to use for Survey

Question

I hunt on 130 acres that I want to do a camera survey on.  Can I use more than one camera on the property?  I have heard one camera for every one hundred acres.  Will this affect the results if I do use more than one camera?

Thanks,

Wade

Wade,

The accuracy of surveys almost always increases when the number of acres monitored per camera decreases.  The key to increasing the accuracy (capturing every deer using the property) is to limit the amount of disturbance when checking cameras.  The two drawbacks of using more cameras per the same unit of area are (1) that this creates more disturbances and (2) there are more images to analyze.

I’ll take those trade-offs for the benefit of having more accurate results!

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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Are Deer Aware of Trail Cameras?

Question

Grant,

I have been using cameras for years and I am currently a Reconyx fan.  I am sure you are aware that the deer are aware of the cameras.  Aside from the flash issues, they can hear the camera operating.  That being said, what are your thoughts on camera location in regard to hunting stands?  Do you place your cameras in close proximity to where you will be sitting or standing?

Thanks,

Shep

Shep,

I’m much more concerned with deer responding negatively to my presence than deer responding negatively to the flash or any sounds created by a Reconyx trail camera.  I’m currently using units that range from six years old to the current models and I rarely get an image of a deer reacting negatively to the trail camera.  (I just completed a camera survey at The Proving Grounds that included 30,000+ images and I’m not aware of one that showed a deer in the spooked position).

However, this doesn’t account for deer that never made it to the camera because of my scent, etc.  Hence, during hunting season I rarely place a camera close to a stand.  I don’t wish to condition deer to avoid the area because I’m frequently checking the trail camera.  I tend to place my trail cameras in areas where I can use the time lapse feature to monitor large areas that deer frequent at night.  I then connect the dots and figure out where the mature bucks are traveling during hunting hours.  The combination of using the time lapse feature and M.D.E. (Minimal Disturbance Entry) to pattern and approach where mature bucks are active during daylight hours is a great combination!

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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Fawns Under Represented in Camera Survey

Question

I have noticed over the years in doing my annual late summer camera surveys that I rarely get pictures of fawns.  I understand that fawns are not eating the corn/mineral licks at this age and also that the mothers do not want to bring their young to bait because of the increased risk of predation.  Is there any sort of “magic formula” for calculating fawn recruitment during a late summer camera survey?

Nathan

Nathan,

You are correct that when bucks are still in full velvet most fawns are apparently too young to follow the doe and/or the doe doesn’t want to bring them around mature bucks.  However, the fact that bucks are bunched up and tolerant of each other makes it a great time of year to survey bucks.

There are trade-offs to doing a camera survey during any time of year.  I prefer doing them during August as great data on bucks can be obtained, as well as enough data on does and fawns for management purposes.  Some folks do attempt to estimate the number of fawns by making assumptions, etc.  I believe such estimates are very prone to providing erroneous information.  I’m not aware of any “magic formula” that is accurate enough to justify using.  I think the best results can be achieved by replicating the survey annually.  This procedure will most likely provide accurate trends.

Accurate trends, such as, are there more does and fawns than during the previous year are typically more important for management purposes than knowing the exact number of does and fawns.  By the way, the number of yearling bucks (which are relatively easy to identify) is an excellent indicator of fawn recruitment during the previous year.

If you desire or need a more accurate count of fawns, they typically readily respond to bait during January and/or February.  In fact surveys this time of year are usually biased toward showing a better representation of does and fawns and under representing bucks.  Remember, surveys are best at providing trend data.  It’s almost impossible to census (count every individual) a free-ranging deer herd.

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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Images of Mature Bucks

Question

Hi Grant,

Thank you for all the help in the past.  Is there anything that can help to a get a picture of the mature bucks on properties?  The mature bucks seem impossible to get a picture of, let alone kill them.  Where I live, the big ones don’t seem to come to corn and other types of mineral/feed spots.  They seem like they know the camera is there and don’t walk by it.  It may sound crazy, but I believe they have figured out cameras too!

Kevin

Kevin,

Deer readily become conditioned to respond to positive experiences by repeating them or negative experiences by avoiding them.  If they have a negative experience at a bait station during the day, they typically will limit their visits to occur during the night.  If they have a negative experience at a bait station during the night, they may well avoid bait stations for some time.  Some deer respond negatively to the flash of trail cameras, especially the units with white flash.  I use Reconyx units with the covert flash and get gads of images of the mature bucks at my place week after week and literally year after year.

It is certainly possible that some of the mature bucks at your place had a negative experience with predators (two and/or four legged) near bait stations and are now avoiding them.  There are many disturbances that will cause deer to avoid an area.

I recommend being as scent free as possible and moving a camera to a new bait station, pond, food plot, etc., where the camera can be placed with minimal disturbance and scent deposit.  Leave it alone for at least two weeks.  If you get images of mature bucks, you will know they were conditioned to avoid the existing camera stations for some reason.

One rule of deer management (and life in general) is not do the same thing and expect different results.  Change up your approach and see what happens.

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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Reconyx Trail Cameras

Question
Hi Grant,

Earlier tonight I took the challenge and bought a semi-covert Reconyx camera, the one that’s $450.00.  This might be a dumb question, but do think this will be a good camera?  My other question is do you think cameras with regular flashes bother deer greatly?  One reason I bought this camera is my “other” cameras have flashes and I truly believe they bother the deer.  Heck, they bother me when I walk by them.

Thanks,

Kevin

Kevin,

I really, really enjoy using Reconyx trail cameras!!  Since I began using the Reconyx semi-covert models I’ve collected literally 100’s of images of deer bedded in food plots.  I’ve used different brands of cameras at these same plots in the past and almost never captured an image of a bedded deer, let alone deer bedded for more than two hours continuously.  It’s enjoyable to watch one deer get up and feed while the others remain bedded and learn exactly when and where they enter and exit food plots.  Reconyx semi-covert units have helped me to pattern and manage deer better.  I’m sure you will be as satisfied as I am.

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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How Many Cameras for a Herd Survey?

Question
Grant,

I truly enjoy your program and look forward to the video each week and the Ask Grant section.

I own 180 acres west of Moberly, Missouri and I want to execute the camera survey.  How many cameras should I put out?  Your video mentioned one camera for each 60 to 100 acres.  Should I focus on three different locations, one for every 60 acres on my property?  My major focus has been quail habitat and with the aid of my MDC PLC my quail populations are increasing.  I have been utilizing Trophy Rock and currently have cameras on these locations plus some overlooking food plots.  Based on what I am seeing on the cameras it appears that I need to thin out the does, but I want to do it right.  I look forward to your response.

Steve

Steve,

Yes, if I had 3 cameras I would put all three out in different parts of the property.  The goal is to capture as many different deer as possible at each camera site, so place the cameras where the deer want to go.  Since deer love mineral licks this time of year they are great places to add a bag of whole kernel corn to make the deer come in on a consistent basis.  Identifying individual bucks can be difficult without adequate pictures of each buck to study, so put the cameras on 3-shot mode if possible.  Other great camera site locations are near food plots or water sources.  Just remember to pre-bait, have plenty of memory card space, corn, batteries, etc., and allow the survey to run 14 days and you should be set.  Check out more detailed camera survey instructions I recently posted.

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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When and how long do you run your trail cameras for a deer survey?

Question
Grant,

When do you run your trail camera surveys at The Proving Grounds? How long do you run them? And how many acres per camera? I’ve read to wait until late August (after velvet shedding), but I’m not sure why as long as the bucks are far enough into the growing season that they are identifiable and the fawns are traveling with their mothers.

Any other tips for running a successful camera survey?

Bret

Bret,

I’m glad to hear you are considering a camera survey.  Camera surveys provide much information on learning, watching, and managing your deer herd.  I usually start pre-baiting for a camera survey in late July and plan to start the actual survey in early August.  Typically, it takes 7-10 days of pre-baiting with one camera per 100 acres to get at least 90% of the herd to visit the camera sites.  The survey itself requires about 14 days.  During this time I get enough buck pictures to uniquely identify each individual.

August is one of the best times to conduct a survey because food resources are in limited supply, many fawns are at heal, and bucks are still in their summer movements between food and cover.  Waiting until after the bucks have lost their velvet can negatively affect the survey.  Velvet shedding is a sign that the hormones in a buck are changing rapidly.  This causes them to start behaving more aggressively toward other bucks, especially at a bait site, and alter from their summer movements.  Every year I have bucks that bed and forage on my property all spring and summer and disappear shortly after losing their velvet.  This can be troublesome when looking at inaccurate population data to develop a doe harvest or warm-season food plot strategy.

It is true that fawn counts can be a bit low in August because not all of the fawns are old enough to continuously follow their mothers around.  However, some of the most important information gathered from a survey lies in the trends over time.  Create and add these data to a simple graph year after year to see how the number of bucks, does, and/or fawns changes.  These data contain the answers to proper herd management.  To learn more about how I implement a camera survey, check out my camera survey techniques guide.

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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Protecting Trail Cameras

Question
Grant,

I had the unfortunate experience of having my trail cameras stolen this year.  I am not sure what was worse losing 4 weeks of pictures or losing my cameras.  I know most camera companies make bear/theft cases for their cameras, which I was not using.  I have friends where people have damaged their camera in a bear case because they knew their picture had been taken.  I am not on my property everyday to watch over it.  Other than getting the Sherriff involved (as I have done), what do you recommend to protect your cameras from someone looking to steal them?

Thanks,

Brandon

Brandon,

I’m sorry for your loss!  I have no tolerance for folks that trespass or steal!  It seems you’ve done all you can do except attempt to hide the cameras better.  I really like using the time lapse feature if watching fields or open areas.  Trespassers rarely look 10’ in trees for trail cameras and being able to watch the entire field is a huge benefit!  It’s like having your best buddy watch the field, except the cameras have very little smell, don’t move, don’t make any noise, and don’t lie.  If the model of trail camera you use has a time lapse feature, consider giving that a try.

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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Trail Camera Techniques for Scouting Deer

Question
Dear Grant,

A simple question: Can you use trail cameras too much or in the wrong areas?

Kevin

Kevin,

Deer become conditioned to avoid disturbance.  The more sensitive the area, like a bedding area, the less disturbance deer will tolerate.  I typically place my trail cameras in open areas that deer use nocturnally, such as large food plots.  By monitoring several large food plots I can predict where deer are traveling from based on the data and position my stand appropriately.  I call this connecting the dots.  I avoid placing the cameras where I hunt to minimize disturbance.  This strategy has worked for me.

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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How long do you run a deer survey with a trail camera?

I absolutely love your new website. The information that you are providing is invaluable to those of us who are actively involved in managing our properties and our deer herds. I am a consulting forester and I am sure that I will be utilizing some of the knowledge gained from your video clips in developing future forest management plans for clients. Keep up the excellent work!

Before my question, please allow me to provide a brief background; I own property in western West Virginia. I have been a member of the QDMA for 8 or 9 years now. Through articles I have read in “Quality Whitetails” I became interested in camera inventories. For the past four years I have conducted a camera inventory on my 200 acres. I modified the basic parameters somewhat in that I run one bait per 50 acres and I run the cameras for three weeks and include pictures from the very first week in the inventory. My initial thoughts were that I would just have more pictures to go through, but I am now wondering if my modifications could cause any type of biases in the data. I would be extremely interested in hearing your much respected opinion on this situation.

Thank you, in advance, for your time and advice.

Mark

Mark,

Thanks for the kind words! There are potentially tradeoffs of the intensive data collection associated with a camera survey that you discussed. Probably the most prominent is the tradeoff of collecting more data versus more disturbance to the local herd and habitat. One method to monitor the effectiveness of your techniques is to plot out the number of new bucks photographed each day of the survey. Typically, the percentage of new bucks photographed starts relatively high, then drops off to almost no new bucks by day 12 or so. In addition, are you obtaining images of the same mature bucks throughout the survey, or is it obvious that some of the mature bucks are not present due to disturbance as the survey progresses? I really enjoy checking cameras and inventorying the images, but there is a point of diminishing returns where disturbance exceeds the value of limited new data being added to the dataset.

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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Trail Cameras for Turkeys

Dear Dr. Woods,

I found your website thanks to QDMA and thoroughly enjoy it! Also, I met you at the Cabela’s seminar last fall. I have 3 questions:

  1. I noticed that although you placed your scouting camera high, it appears that it’s facing an east/west direction. If I do that with my camera I get lots of pictures of the sun rising/setting. Shouldn’t you have it facing a north/south direction?
  2. What do you do differently when placing a camera to scout for deer vs. scouting for turkeys?
  3. What was planted in the food plot where all the turkeys came in?

Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,

Robert

Landowner

Robert,

I always place my Reconyx trail cameras facing in a generally north position. I think I turned the one in that episode east so the shadows wouldn’t mess up filming. You are correct and very observant!

The biggest difference between how I use trail cameras for deer and turkey is that I rarely place the units for deer where I expect to hunt as I don’t wish to disturb that area with scent, noise, etc. Rather, I place the cameras in larger feeding food plots, etc. The data collected at areas that are primarily used at night allow me to figure out where deer are moving during daylight hours. However, I commonly place my cameras where I expect to hunt for turkeys because they have a very limited sense of smell. I also almost always use the time lapse feature to scout an entire field or opening for turkeys.

I believe you are referring to a plot planted with a mix of winter wheat and clover. Turkeys like low growing crops to consume the forage and insects. Turkeys don’t like thick, tall forage, except for nesting.

I hope our paths cross again this year.

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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How Many Cameras Should be Used in my Camera Survey?

Hey Grant,

I want to do a camera survey on my property to find out what our buck to doe ratio is and take a buck inventory. Our lease is 2,100 acres, how many cameras will I need and what is the best time of the year to do a survey? I heard you mention the Reconyx brand cameras in your video, I am going to buy some cameras for this survey would you recommend Reconyx over other brands of cameras? If yes, why?

Thanks,

Brett (Albany, GA)

Brett,

A camera survey is a great tool for estimating the number of bucks in a herd, the age structure of the population, and the antler size of individual bucks. I typically use one camera per 100 acres — more on properties with dense cover, less on those with more open habitat (area with lots of agriculture, etc.). Practically speaking, the higher the camera density, the more accurate the survey results. The goal of a survey is to get an image of as many individuals from the herd as possible. This is accomplished by placing cameras aimed toward something deer want that has limited distribution throughout the property to be surveyed. For instance, during the time when the bucks’ antlers are uniquelyReconyx trail camera identifiable the food resources tend to be the lowest (August and January).  Corn and/or minerals work great during August and corn during January. I prefer the pre-hunting season data (enjoy knowing how many mature bucks are on The Proving Grounds before the season opens each year) so I conduct surveys at my place and for clients during August.

I really like the Reconyx trail cameras. They have a very fast trigger speed, great image quality, and fabulous battery life. I really like how long they last. I have two Reconyx cameras that I’ve used constantly for 5+ years! I think that’s a great value!

Growing Deer together,

Grant

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