5 Common Trail Cam Mistakes

By Jeff Barlow & Terron Hunt

(Nimrod Outdoors)

There are so many positives and negatives that come along with Trail Cameras. Some people don’t agree with their use, some do. Today we want to talk about other parts of trail cams that can make, or in this case….break your trail cam setups.

We are going to talk about 5 of the common mistakes that are made when setting up your trail cams. There are most likely many more mistakes but these are the 5 we want to go over.

#1 Location – When looking for a location to hang your trail cam, there are many things you can do to save time and effort. Do some good e-research and look at maps before you head out. Look for places that are travel spots, where you can see trails on Google Earth (or other mapping software) that might mean animal movement between areas. Also look for places that look like water sources or feeding areas; look for bedding areas. This will give you tons of info so that when you actually get out there and put boots on the ground you have a good place to start and you’re not just wandering around looking for something.

  

 #2 Direction – When setting up your trail cam, make sure to set it up facing North or South. If you set them up in an East or West direction you will get sun bursts in your pics. East facing cams with have washed out pic in the morning hours as the sun rises, West facing cams will have washed out pics in the evenings as the sun sets. These are the most productive hours for wildlife activity and to capture pictures. By setting your cams facing North or South you should get the best results on your pics.

#3 Angle – You have now found the perfect location and tree (facing the right direction) to mount your trail cam to. Look at the surrounding area and see if you can see where the wildlife might be moving to and from. Make sure to angle your camera in a way that you get a good pic of the area. Don’t angle the cam to high so you only get the heads or the feet of the animals as they pass through. One tip is to take your cell phone out and put it in front of the camera and take a pic. Look at it and

see if you like the angle, make adjustments until you’re satisfied.

#4 Checking Cams – When going out to check your cams. Don’t do it in the most active hours for animal activity. Check your cams midday when you shouldn’t bump or run into animals that are at your trail cam location. Checking the cams midday allows you to use the productive hours of morning and evening to get to a glassing location and watch the wildlife in those sweet hours.

#5 Use Bait – Obviously this is state specific, as some states don’t allow for baiting over trail cameras, but use baits where you can.  Animals need a reason to come into the view of your camera, and bait is a great way to do that.  If you are not able to use bait, use another area in which there is high traffic of the animal you’re pursuing.  This can be a well-used trail, a water source, or really anything natural that attracts an animal.

Hopefully following these Tips you can get some High Quality Trail Cam pics that you will be able to enjoy. Hopefully this article has been helpful and you learned something new. If you have any other suggestions for readers put it in the comments below. Now get out there and get some cool trail cam pics and share them with us.

Bonus Tip - Don’t use your trail cam to spy on your Wife!!! Enough said. LOL