Trail Camera Tips and Tricks

MWD 800 · #1 10-21-2010

I got a Bushnell trail cam for my birthday day this year. I was going to set it up but got called out to work. Long story short a buddy set it up. I finally get home and go to check it. As it turns out it just took picture after picture. 19551 in all. I am shocked that the batterys lasted that long.

So what I am looking for is any basic tips and tricks to setting up a trail camera on the prairies. I think that the grass swaying in the wind was setting it off. It was also placed on a weak branch that moved very easily.

I put it on a post now. Cut the weeds out of way. Put it on a low sensitivity level. Anything else you can think of would be nice to hear.
It takes nice pics but I can't afford to buy 8 batterys every 4 days haha.

Trail Cam (74) small.jpg

Elkaholic6 · #2 10-21-2010

Face it North or South, not East or West, due to the sun rising and setting, alot of annoying pictures. Clear all the vegetation in front of your cam. Trample down all the grass in front of it so the wind wont set it off. And a stable foundation, or whatever you wanna call it. I seen on some hunting shows they are using tri-pods for areas that don't have trees. Maybe would work for you?

steve · #3 10-21-2010

face it north or as north as possible. I found that the rising and setting sun, will cause false triggerings.

Edit* ya what elkaholic said

Sigma · #4 10-22-2010

You may have a faulty Bushnell trail cam. I purchased 2 Bushnell Trophy trail cams this fall and set them up in the yard to see how they worked. One of them took picture after picture after picture while the other worked fine and was only triggered by the cats, dogs, and a few magpies.
When I returned the faulty one, I was told that they had just received another cam back with the same problem. I exchanged it and the new one worked fine. Set it up at home and check it a few hours later. If you get lots of blank photos, take it back. I took them hunting and pointed them north. I captured pictures of 1 moose and several people quadding by with only a couple of blank pictures.

Sig