Kelly’s Corner – Tips on Setting Up Your Game Camera for Attracting Mature Bucks

Trail cameras are a very popular tool in increasing your chances of getting a shot at a mature buck. They are also a lot of fun to use. Everyone I know that hunts has at least ONE game camera placed on their hunting grounds if not at least several. Trail/Game cameras have actually become as important a piece of equipment for hunting as the compound bow. Over the last six years, through trial and error, I have learned a lot about setting up my cameras to bring in the big

Before you take your camera out in the woods you really must be familiar with it. Although trail cameras are pretty much the same, they are also somewhat different. That being said, my advice is to play around with it and really check out what all the buttons do and how the camera itself operates. Don’t wait until you’re out there to figure it out. PREPARATION is vital! Practice different lighting times to see how the pictures take. Also, play around with different heights to find out about high your camera needs to be on the tree to get good footage of the

Now you’re ready to take it to the timber. First, you need to set it up about 10 to 15 feet from where you think the deer are going to come through and possibly camp out for a bit. Find a pretty sturdy tree with a decent size trunk, not too big, but stout enough that your camera will stay securely in place. Next, you’re going to want to place it about waist high. Sometimes if there’s a bend in the tree where I can see the camera is facing up a little, I’ll find a stick and place it between the tree and camera forcing it to position downward. Make sure you position your camera facing north to prevent sun’s glare on your camera. A lot of time when the sun’s hitting it, there’s more movement causing your camera to go off when nothing is actually out there. Facing it north prevents that. Also, make sure there are no limbs hanging down in the way obscuring the view of the lens.

Avoid placing your camera right there by your stand. The cameras will alert the Scouting is part of the hunting process and putting up trail cameras is an excellent way to do just that. Game cameras let you know just which deer are coming and going through your hunting spot. To effectively identify mature bucks you need to have at least one camera for every 50 -100 acres. Usually we put our cameras out about August, the month before bow season starts, but this year our plan is to leave them up all year round. We live right next to Corp. property so hunters hunting conservation land tend to push deer onto our property. Through the cameras we keep tabs on which deer have made it through gun season giving us hope of having a shot next season.

A good idea, and we have done it a time or two, is to keep the pictures of the different bucks, give them names and keep a journal so you know their patterns of where they are going and at what times of the day. It’s actually a lot of fun. And if you’re lucky, as I was this year, you’ll get to take a SUCCESSFUL shot at one of those bucks. I did…during the rut…an 8 pointer. I contribute my success to keeping records and knowing which bucks were frequenting my stand and at what times. Game cameras can be pricey, but really all you need is a good one to get your started. Once you use one, you’ll be glad you did and it will become part of your hunting routine.