How long left in

[erussell]

I agree with what everyone has said. i let mine sit for 3-4 weeks just due to scent in the area. last year I was too eager and checked them weekly and each time I checked them I had fewer and fewer pics. Also, yeah, what are you using that you change your batteries that much? I have the new Bushnell cameras and they are awesome. I have the same batteries in it from last year and they are still full!! Cant believe how long they last.

I have a 12 volt rechargable bat. I just bring it back and charge it for S + G. Its always full power on the cam but as long as I have it out I throw it on the charger for a few hrs. Its been a good battery Its 12 yrs old.

[Doc]

As far as how long a cam should live in one spot, it all depends on a lot of things for me. I have different kinds of cam locations. Some are simply investigative surveillance. Those are places where I have noticed an awful lot of occasions where I have spooked deer from an area but there doesn't seem to be any trails or other visible sign. I move cameras around frequently in those areas just to see if there is any regular movement through the area and to determine if there is any kind of pattern. Generally a week is plenty to find out what I want to find out. A lot of these kinds of set-ups have provided some good surprises.

I have other areas where trails are obvious and I want to see what kinds of deer are using the trail and at what times of day. These are also places related to stand areas of the past. Those cameras can stay in there for months.

Then there are the traditional rut activity areas where there are annual rubs and scrapes that open up just about every year in the same places. Those cameras live there for several weeks during the early stages of rut. I have found that often scrapes are re-opened even though the original buck has been long-gone.

This year I have had a Cuddeback on permanent location down in the thicket in front of the house, throughout the summer getting some fawn pictures. That area has turned out to be basically a nursery for several does and their fawns. There's no hunting purposes for that camera, and it simply is for spying on the little critters and other animals that frequent the area (Coons, foxes, etc.).

So I'm thinking that the duration of the set-up has to be tied to the specific purpose of the camera location.