finally decided to put some cameras out, pointers?

[HuntingDicksonDTC]

Bought a couple Covert MP8 Black cams a few months ago, ordered some cam lock boxes and cables to try and deter a theif. Says can use either 4 or 8 batteries?, also how large a card do I need, 8 gig enough?

Saw the largest buck I have ever seen while hunting last year on this property. Wanted to see if maybe he is still around and what else is there. To this point I have always just hunted but enjoy looking over everyone's cam pics and thought I would give it a try.

 

[Vermin93]

Depends on whether you run picture or video mode, trigger interval, what resolution you select for pictures or what length video clips you select, how often you check the camera and clear the memory card, and how much critter traffic you get at the site. I frequently run video mode in 15 sec clips and check my cams every 6 weeks or so, so in those cases I use at least a 16 Gig card. If you run picture mode with 8 Mb pictures and don't crank up the burst count, you should be ok with an 8 Gig card for a few weeks assuming the deer traffic is not excessive. Having the camera over a mineral site or feeder will chew up the memory on the card much faster. So, there are many variables to consider.

Look at it this way, an 8 Gig card will hold 1000 8 Mb pictures. If you use a 4-shot burst, that would be 250 captures. You could get that in a day at a feeder site if you use a short trigger interval.

The cost of a 16 Gig card is only a few bucks more than a 8 Gig card on Amazon.com, so I am done buying 8 Gig cards. I recently got 2 new 32 Gig cards on Amazon for $10 each.

I use 8 batteries for piece of mind and for the obvious reason that they last longer than 4.

 

[Hunter 257W]

On a totally different aspect of trail camera usage that I didn't know before finding this website, if you mount your cameras up about 6 or so feet high rather than at "deer level", you'll get more buck pictures. Most of my pictures before learning this one trick had the deer staring right at the camera. Especially bucks. I now get several 2.5 & 3.5 year old bucks regularly all Summer long that are for the most part blissfully unaware of the camera.

 

[HuntingDicksonDTC]

Probably just run picture mode. Don't have a feeder.probably put one over a trophy rock and the other on a heavily used trail that leads to an opening. Will try the 8 gig i have and order a couple larger cards.

 

[Mike Belt]

1. I'd rather be over batteried than under. Use the max. Also I'd advise lithiums.
2. Place a camera over a lick site. You can also put one into a food plot especially if the deer enter from a certain spot or area.
3. Face the camera north or you'll have washed out pics.
4. I use a 16 GB card and get 330 30 second videos per battery change or I get 10,000-12,000 pics on that same card. Different cameras eat batteries at different speeds. You'll have to experiment.
5. Hanging cameras from an elevated position deters theft but also lessons your "surface" area. If the deer are in the area but not directly at your lick you'll miss pics.

Have fun and get ready to start thinking about buying more cameras, lol.