Running cams throughout the winter

[agross]

Just wondering how many guys on here run their cams throughout the winter.

I pulled my the weekend of opening day gun...since i didnt go back up and worry of poachers grabbing my cam.

Was wonnderiing how a cam like bushnell trophy (wich i have and had a great battery life throughout the summer) would hold up battery wise in the winter.

[phade]

Colder weather tends to sap battery life. Lithiums perform better in the colder weather.

Depending on your BTC model, it could have the same internals as my SG550 and that thing has seen more winter weather than Shawn White. It runs well. Typically when setting the cam up you pay attention to sun glare issues. In winter, with snowfall, I tend to downplay that because the angle of the sun is sharper and shorter, and because snow falling and snow drift can clog up the PIR sensor or lense or both. Where I am, it's usually w or sw, or ne (storm-a-brewing wind) So, I tend to set them up in a SE or NW facing direction...I don't have many, if at all, issues with whiteouts, but I use the video option on my SG (takes great video as compared to OK pics). I've got some videos in NASTY NE storms...the cam is shaking like crazy from the wind (mounted on a smaller tree), and it worked like a charm.

Edited December 29, 2011 by phade

[growalot]

in the Moultries it will shut down your IR so you'll get black night shots...they say that when brought to warmer temps that stops...NO...had to get a replacement camera...Of course they don't tell you this...until you have to call to tell them...then they know all about it

[sbuff]

I leave my Moultrie I40 out all winter long in the back yard. I have not had a issue other then less battery life.

[cwhite]

I've got 4 cameras out and will have until the end of January. After a snow fall I will go brush them off and I have to change out batteries much more frequently. Nice thing about winter pics is the trails are very defined when the snow is deeper. You don't have to guess where they are traveling and you will get a very accurate idea of what is left. If you are a shed hunter, it gives you an idea of when and where to start looking for shed antlers too.

I don't run the camera's much from February through April because I don't own stock in battery companies and don't feel like buying 36 AA batteries each week. Besides, most of the antlers are dropped by then too. I start up around the last week of April to see where the Toms are strutting.

[WNYBuckHunter]

I put mine out on coyote bait, and the batteries drain a little faster when it gets real cold. I'll just be running my cam with rechargeable battery packs this year.

[chiefbkt]

I will have all 5 of my cameras out until the end of January. Then I will put them back up in April.

[Doc]

I'm about to pull the last camera tomorrow. I keep getting jillions of pictures of the same doe and fawn over and over.

[G-Man]

i'll run a few over cornfield to see whats left then pull in feb but i put back out in april...basically to see when the bears wake up so i stop feeding the birds adnsave my bird feeders from an untimly demise.. battery life is 1/4 of what i get in warmweather.

[Larry]

trip speed also slows down in the cold

[chiefbkt]

Time to go get the cameras! Hopefully will have some more buck pics posted later.

[nyfur]

checking ours tomorrow,putting 2 more cameras out tomorrow too..............

[skyhunter]

Lots of critters out there besides antlered ones to get great pictures of, so I run cams including a few Trophy cams all year long.

I've used lithiums in the past for the winter months but I don't feel they last as long as they should. I've found many a dead unit in both cold and warm weather resulting from 1 battery giving it up while the others were still testing OK on a voltmeter. This year I will try Tenergy rechargeables durring the cold months and see how they fare.

I have found winter is a good time to get pictures of hungry predators such as fox and coyote.

Edited January 15, 2012 by skyhunter