High-Tech Scouting

 By Mike Lambeth

As gas prices continue to soar and our economy continues down a slippery slope, hunters and outdoor enthusiasts are faced with some challenges. With home mortgage foreclosures soaring and the cost of living rising, you would have to admit these times are uncertain.

Okay, enough gloom and doom. Economists are predicting a change soon with brighter days ahead. However, if you are a hunter you must maximize your time afield to ensure your success. With gasoline nearly $4 a gallon and diesel much higher, making several trips to scout a hunting place may have become a thing of the past.

Therefore, if you want to get a leg up on the deer's habits on your hunting lease, you are left with few options. One option and probably the best, is to let something else do the scouting for you - ala the game camera.

Game cameras are an incredible tool for deer, turkey, hog hunters, and nature enthusiasts. Strategically placed, these surveillance units not only show you what animals are on your hunting lands, but when they come by, when they feed, the number of bucks and does in an area, and potential trophy bucks.

Deciding Where To Place Game Cameras

Game cameras should be set up at least a month prior to archery season. The best places to hang cameras are just off well-used game trails, near salt licks, protein feeders, corn feeders (where legal), feed fields, and near funnels or pinch points. These places are the highest traffic areas for whitetails, and should prove to be optimum camera locations.

However, the beauty of using game cameras is that they can easily be moved to new locations when necessary. I have a friend who places one along a fence line where deer habitually travel from their bedding areas to a feed field a mile away.

Inevitably, preseason scouting should occur at least a month or two before the season opener. Most experts I know hang several stands well in advance of the season opener, and then rely on their game cameras to do the rest. Several experts have told me that one of the biggest things they do to be successful is to stay out of their hunting areas until they are hunting them!

I hunted Alabama a few years back on an early season archery hunt. Hosted by fellow Alabamian Eddie Salter, we hunted the Black Belt region near Demopolis. I learned a great deal about scouting and where to place game cameras from Salter.

Salter believes that most hunters contaminate their hunting areas when they scout, by not scouting scent-free. "Hunters will go in and look around and leave their scent all over every limb they touch," said Salter. "Later when they hunt and they see no deer, they wonder what went wrong. In fact, they've already educated their deer."

Instead, Salter suggests that hunters wear hunting clothes that are scent-free and gloves when they scout or set up trail cameras. That way when they walk on or touch things they don't leave scent. Salter cites this tip as crucial to his successes.

Remember, the first time you hunt at a stand location, your odds are the highest for success.

Setting up the Cameras

When selecting a location to set up a game camera, keep in mind that you need to have an unobstructed view of the deer you will be filming. Pick a spot with a good view. Pruning away vegetation will pay dividends later.

If a suitable tree is not available to hang a camera on, a T-post works well. Moultrie makes a camera tripod which is a versatile way to place any game camera in any location.

Another consideration, is deciding whether to use a lock on your camera or not. I have several friends who had all their cameras and tree stands stolen last season. Sadly, for some lowlife individuals there is no respect for another hunter's property. Scouting cameras are expensive tools that should be locked up if needed for protection. Moultrie also offers a game camera security box to protect from thieves and damage caused by animals.

I hunted with an outfitter last season that had been having a double drop-tined buck show up on his Moultrie game camera. The camera was hung on a lone tree in a 10-acre wheat field. Upon hearing about the unique buck, I dedicated myself to taking the deer, but with a looming full moon and one day left to hunt, my odds looked slim.

My videographer Razor Dobbs filmed the hunt but had to catch a flight in a few hours, so we decided to give the hunt 15 more minutes. Suddenly, the buck appeared 30 yards away. As the buck trotted across the field allowing Dobbs to get some "roll" for a television show, I finally was given the "thumbs up" and anchored the buck with one shot from my smoke-pole at 150 yards.

Had I not seen the buck on the outfitter's game camera's photos; I probably would have hunted elsewhere and went home with an unfilled tag.

How Many Cameras Should You Use

With a plethora of models available today, clearly all trail cameras are not created equal. Durability and dependability are paramount when selecting a game camera.

Each hunter is different and many factors go into which camera is best for you. Experts, first and foremost, suggest buying as many cameras as you can afford. You'll also want to research the camera's mega pixels, flash range, trigger time, battery life and overall features. Personal preference will also dictate whether you would rather have an infrared flash or traditional white flash model. Moultrie makes several quality models ranging from the 4-mega pixel Game Spy D40 digital scouting camera - an excellent model at $129.99, all the way up to the top of the line 6-mega pixel Game Spy I60 infrared digital game camera - at $339.99.

In a nutshell, placing multiple cameras on your hunting property increases your odds to be successful, and saves you time and money to boot. The cameras do the scouting for you saving you precious gas.

Hunters invest exorbitant amounts in hunting gear each season to insure their success. Buying and using a quality game camera like a Moultrie is an important ingredient in a hunter's arsenal.

Tips for Using Game Cameras

• Set the cameras at mid-thigh level for best results.
• Always use the highest quality batteries available; cheap batteries can yield poor results.
• Using at least a 1-gig memory card is best and it should yield 500 to 1000 photos.
• Consider using a solar panel with a battery back up like Moultrie PowerPanel, which gives you indefinite battery life in the field.
• Remember when buying a camera: The bitterness of purchasing a bad quality game camera is long remembered, after the sweetness of the low price is forgotten.
• Purchasing a Moultrie viewer is a great way to view images in the field.
• Purchase a unit with a good warranty.

Finally

You will be amazed at the images your game camera will capture. I saw recently a friend’s camera captured 12 raccoons hanging like acrobats from his Moultrie game feeder. I have also seen magnificent bucks that were never seen again.

I have a friend who had totally written off a hunting place because he had not seen any deer. He opted to hunt elsewhere but left his game camera by accident. When he went back later after season to get his camera, he grimaced when he saw a monster buck that started appearing like clockwork every morning at 7:30 a.m. While he hunted a few miles down the road, a Boone & Crockett giant leisurely fed untouched on another piece of his hunting property. You can bet this season he will be back to his ol' hunting place.