Cam advice

[Versatile_Hunter]

I want to place some cams in public land I hunted this year. The forests are about 2 hours out so I’ll likely opt for a cell cam. It looks like a few members here have had success with the Tactacam Reveal. I’ll probably get a couple though I’d like to learn from folks here what’s an adequate number/setup to get a good sense of what’s out there. This will be my first using cams - are people looking at pictures now to see what survived?  Or is the year to year variability too large to justify scouting this far in advance?  An obvious concern with placing cams in public land is theft. Tactacam sells a lock box... is this a must?  What cables do you use to secure (and theft proof) it?

Thanks 

[bigpaul]

If somebody wants something bad enough, they'll get it. Most of my cams are on my own property so I don't have many problems with theft. I do lock up some of my cams to protect them from bears. Camo, not using a black strap on a silver tree, and elevating your cams will help keep them out of sight.   

[GreeneHunter]

I started a Forum on Bait Cams ....

 

[moog5050]

Tactacam are cheap enough that I would risk it and I agree with Paul that locking it probably won’t deter a thief.  Hide it the best you can.
 

 I don’t see a need to put cams out until September, especially on public lands where theft is a greater risk.  The real benefit of the cam is to inventory what’s in an area shortly before hunting.   With enough cams, you may be able to pattern a buck but for me it’s been mostly just inventory. You may also see enough activity during season to know a hot doe is around.    

[mowin]

I like my tactacam's. Work well.  Wish all cams had GPS capability, but I realize it would increase the price.  Even though a thief couldn't use your cam as a cell cam, they could use it as a standard cam. I they had GPS, you could call authorities and hopefully catch the scumbag.  Think there's only a couple cams on the market with GPS, and there expensive. 

[Jeremy K]

Couple thoughts , make sure you have cell service where you plan to use it . Make some kind of official looking tag to hang on the camera , people might be less willing to mess with something if they think it belongs to a government agency doing research.  For the sake of conversation , i bet if you attached a giant (non functional ) antenna that could be seen easily and labelled it something or other government research it would sit in that spot until you came back and removed it. 

[mlammerhirt]

Also get rid of the strap on the cam and use some type of screw-in mounting device whether it's homemade or store-bought that won't allow somebody to see it if they're walking up from behind. I've noticed you can spot straps from a mile away in the woods. You can YouTube homemade trail cam mount and they're very simple to do by just picking up a few pieces at your local hardware store.

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[GreeneHunter]

21 minutes ago, mlammerhirt said:

Also get rid of the strap on the cam and use some type of screw-in mounting device whether it's homemade or store-bought that won't allow somebody to see it if they're walking up from behind. I've noticed you can spot straps from a mile away in the woods. You can YouTube homemade trail cam mount and they're very simple to do by just picking up a few pieces at your local hardware store.

 

I tried mounting the Cam , didn't quite work well.... they stole it anyway !

[mowin]

33 minutes ago, mlammerhirt said:

Also get rid of the strap on the cam and use some type of screw-in mounting device whether it's homemade or store-bought that won't allow somebody to see it if they're walking up from behind. I've noticed you can spot straps from a mile away in the woods. You can YouTube homemade trail cam mount and they're very simple to do by just picking up a few pieces at your local hardware store.

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Public land.... I don't think you can screw/nail anything in trees...

[phade]

36 minutes ago, mlammerhirt said:

Also get rid of the strap on the cam and use some type of screw-in mounting device whether it's homemade or store-bought that won't allow somebody to see it if they're walking up from behind. I've noticed you can spot straps from a mile away in the woods. You can YouTube homemade trail cam mount and they're very simple to do by just picking up a few pieces at your local hardware store.

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Most public lands don't allow for screw in mounts.

[mlammerhirt]

Most public lands don't allow for screw in mounts.

Good point I totally forgot about that.

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[Versatile_Hunter]

Thanks for all the pointers!

I found a crazy community scrape about 2 miles from the road (no man-made trails) so I'm hoping this isn't an area frequented by many people. I'd love to see the type of bucks that contributed to the sign but my (limited) understanding is that these hot spots are largely ignored after the rut. Is this actually the case? I also found a couple of benches and spots that looked like they may have held buck beds... I'd like to see if deer are actually bedding there but I also don't want to leave my scent and blow the area out. I figured placing the cam way in advance would help with that... how long do the batteries typically last on a Reveal? 

[moog5050]

19 minutes ago, Versatile_Hunter said:

Thanks for all the pointers!

I found a crazy community scrape about 2 miles from the road (no man-made trails) so I'm hoping this isn't an area frequented by many people. I'd love to see the type of bucks that contributed to the sign but my (limited) understanding is that these hot spots are largely ignored after the rut. Is this actually the case? I also found a couple of benches and spots that looked like they may have held buck beds... I'd like to see if deer are actually bedding there but I also don't want to leave my scent and blow the area out. I figured placing the cam way in advance would help with that... how long do the batteries typically last on a Reveal? 

My lithium batteries are still going from late sept set on immediate send with a fair number of photos.  Set them in sept and you will be good. 

[phade]

Just as an FYI, Reveals are next to impossible to find on the market. You will only get lucky with a box store having some on shelf or someone selling gray market/second market at high prices.

Reveal replacement models for 2021 will not ship until May at the earliest. May luck be in your favor.

[GreeneHunter]

1 hour ago, phade said:

Most public lands don't allow for screw in mounts.

Yeah .... Forgot to mention this is on my property , big no no on state land !

[BowmanMike]

I would bring at least one maybe two climbing sticks and hang the camera high,at least 12' of the ground..That way it will be out of line of sight and if someone wants to steal it they have to work for it.

[Versatile_Hunter]

On 12/25/2020 at 1:27 PM, BowmanMike said:

I would bring at least one maybe two climbing sticks and hang the camera high,at least 12' of the ground..That way it will be out of line of sight and if someone wants to steal it they have to work for it.

Any issues with the sensor targeting from

that far up? 

[GreeneHunter]

2 hours ago, Versatile_Hunter said:

Any issues with the sensor targeting from

that far up? 

I brought in a 6 foot ladder and stood on the second step from the top and I am 6 foot tall and with my arms stretched out I mounted my Cams and the seem to take pretty good pictures !

 

[Trial153]

I hate mounting cams up high looking down, I fell like it makes a more narrow window. That said with some of the scumbags that we have to share the woods with, I have no choice on some properties. Had one cam stolen this year during the gun season , my fault because I should have pulled it from there as I dont hunt the gun season. I have an idea who the douche bag is as seen a his truck near by and he most likely is sneaking in, Local too, even worse.

In any case. I bring two sticks with me. The bottom has an aider on in. I mount the cam at about 10 feet or so. I have not has anybody climb up and take one yet, or for that matter notice them.

[Versatile_Hunter]

4 hours ago, Trial153 said:

I hate mounting cams up high looking down, I fell like it makes a more narrow window. That said with some of the scumbags that we have to share the woods with, I have no choice on some properties. Had one cam stolen this year during the gun season , my fault because I should have pulled it from there as I dont hunt the gun season. I have an idea who the douche bag is as seen a his truck near by and he most likely is sneaking in, Local too, even worse.

In any case. I bring two sticks with me. The bottom has an aider on in. I mount the cam at about 10 feet or so. I have not has anybody climb up and take one yet, or for that matter notice them.

Do you know if Tactacam (or other cell cams) have theft deterrence measures that prevent unauthorized users from setting up a phone plan? I can imagine that even with a new SIM card the phone company would be able to read the camera’s serial number and prevent use if reported stolen, etc. 

[Versatile_Hunter]

I ordered my first pair of Reveals! 

[greensider]

If it’s state forest cameras are only allowed for 24 hours at a time i don’t agree with this as ladder stands can be left all season but as for not getting stolen put something that will draw the attention away from the camera location maybe a pile of stones or something 

[Nomad]

30 minutes ago, greensider said:

If it’s state forest cameras are only allowed for 24 hours at a time i don’t agree with this as ladder stands can be left all season but as for not getting stolen put something that will draw the attention away from the camera location maybe a pile of stones or something 

Ha that’s my trick ! Although I hunt part of a farm that’s off limits to all but myself, I run cameras for security. There’s one lane way in , it’s mowed grass basically with thick brush on each side of the lane , I have a camera on a bend, and I put a Mylar ballon on the opposite side , so when you come around the bend your eyes naturally fall upon the ballon .

Fun fact, I took Moog hunting with me , at one point unknown to me  he walked out for  coffee I believe . So here I am a good month later checking the photos, and I lose my shIt, who’s this guy with a bow ?!?! 
 

It took sometime for me to realize .lol 

[G-Man]

On 12/24/2020 at 12:01 PM, Versatile_Hunter said:

Thanks for all the pointers!

I found a crazy community scrape about 2 miles from the road (no man-made trails) so I'm hoping this isn't an area frequented by many people. I'd love to see the type of bucks that contributed to the sign but my (limited) understanding is that these hot spots are largely ignored after the rut. Is this actually the case? I also found a couple of benches and spots that looked like they may have held buck beds... I'd like to see if deer are actually bedding there but I also don't want to leave my scent and blow the area out. I figured placing the cam way in advance would help with that... how long do the batteries typically last on a Reveal? 

In my experiance , Community scrapes that have over hanging limb are visited year round and branch used. 

[Versatile_Hunter]

I'm planning to set them up next month but I'm still concerned about whether other hunters traffic the area. 

This is a tricky to access public forest. Only a small segment has road access and there's a creek to cross. Several private properties surround it. I'm hoping those folks hunt elsewhere.