Cameras triggering???

[peytoncreekhunter]

May be a stupid question but can the sun/shadows trigger the trail camera to take a picture?

I have it set to low sensitivity and I trimmed the hanging limbs out of the way but it keeps triggering. I guess it could be the tall grass in the distance triggering it.

 

[MickThompson]

I've had "runaway" cams before that I just had to chunk

 

[Crappieaddict]

I can't prove it, but I think the sun/shadows often trigger some of mine. My theory is based on it often happening around the same time of day. Of course, this only happens to my cameras set up in fields.

 

[peytoncreekhunter]

I can't prove it, but I think the sun/shadows often trigger some of mine. My theory is based on it often happening around the same time of day. Of course, this only happens to my cameras set up in fields.

My same experience. About the same times of day and at the edge of a field.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Just make sure your Timelapse settings are set correct. That's fixed most of my runaway triggers

 

[Ski]

Yeah it can be annoying. Has it done it the whole time it's been there or did it just start out of the blue?

 

[peytoncreekhunter]

Yeah it can be annoying. Has it done it the whole time it's been there or did it just start out of the blue?

Since the beginning.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Since the beginning.

What brand is it? Some will have a warranty and you send in for another. Just something to look into

 

[cbhunter]

I just changed the angle of mine Thursday for the same reason. If the sun/shadows hits it right, it takes unnecessary pics between 11-1

 

[BSK]

Yes. Even the best of cams can suffer from this. The classic example is a camera pointing north at a scrape and overhanging limb. With leaves still on the overhanging limb, the sun shines on them around mid-day. A slight breeze comes along and moves those sunlit branches and leaves. This can trigger the camera. All my cams, regardless of brand, suffer from this. Another common one is pointing the cam out into a sunlit field or food plot. A breeze moving grass and weeds at the far side of the sunlit field can trigger the camera, especially cameras with very sensitive triggers. My Browning cams will trigger on deer so far away and back in the brush that you can hardly see them in the image. And these cams have a bad habit of triggering on sunlit swaying grasses and brush at long distance.

So a camera triggering on sunlight does not mean the camera is bad. It just has a very sensitive trigger. You can either tone down the trigger sensitivity (and possibly miss deer), or leave it as is and use a lot of the delete command!

 

[TheLBLman]

I have a cell cam right now that is facing the rising sun. Every morning, for about an hour, the sun itself (apparently by simply "rising", i.e. moving) is triggering the cam. It is not a wind, weed, or leave issue, as it is the sun itself.

Normally, I try to set my cams with the sun behind them, typically facing between northwest & northeast. Just cannot always do this. But with the sun behind the cam, you will still experience what BSK mentions above at certain sites.

For cams with sensitivity settings, reduce that, and it should reduce the false triggering issue.
If you have a cam with "fast" vs "normal" trigger setting, "normal" also seems to reduce the false triggering events.

 

[BSK]

I can see where using a cell cam, false triggers could be a major problem ($$$).

I just use BIG capacity SD Cards, no cell-cams, and a lot of delete command!

 

[Ski]

Since the beginning.

Probably need to move it then. If it keeps on doing it then it's a bad camera. Unfortunately it happens.

 

[TheLBLman]

I can see where using a cell cam, false triggers could be a major problem ($$$).

Actually, the false triggering problem CAN be much less an issue with cell cams.

Typically, a particular cell cam will have such a high monthly limit for pics that significant false triggering for a day or two is not necessarily going to cost any more $.

The advantage of the cell cam is that you find out very quickly you have a false triggering problem, and then can immediately remotely change the cam setting to either eliminate or reduce the false triggering.

The one cell cam I have now that's false triggering between 8:45 am and 9:45 (due to the rising sun hitting it), it goes from a 30-second triggering interval to 10 minutes at 8:30am to 4pm (or whatever time I set for it to revert back to 30 seconds or less between events.

False triggering is actually a bigger problem with non-cell cams for me.

Most of my cell cams "report in" 2 to 6 times daily, depending on application & purpose.
The above mentioned one is currently set to 2 times daily, so I get a report @ 8:30 am as to what's happened since 4pm the prior evening. Another report comes in at 4pm.

I rarely use the "instant" reporting setting simply because it drains battery life so much faster, and also because I seldom need to know "instantly". Just depends on the application.

 

[BSK]

Even running video, with 128 GB card, I don't care how many false triggers I have. Mass delete is easy. Plus I don't have to change settings and possibly miss deer.

 

[backyardtndeer]

Yes, the sun can trigger cams. Try to set them up where they won't be aiming into the sun at sunrise or sunset. Aiming slightly downward can also help.