The trick to capturing pictures, and video, is to know where things are going to be and to put the camera up before they arrive. In the short term, this is a matter of luck, in the long term it becomes a matter of experience.
In winter, this is easier. Tracks in the snow provide some clues about what has been by, and where might be a good place to position a camera. As the snow piles deeper, the local wildlife is no more inclined to wade through it than we are, and cameras can be placed along cleared areas (such as plowed driveways) with greater success.
On the whole, getting good pictures and video requires luck, good camera placement, and wading through a great many bad photos and deer selfies.
After missing what should have been great photos of bears, I decided to see if the video mode would be any better. I don’t use video very much because I haven’t invested in the companies that make batteries; Video uses batteries quickly.
Video also takes lots of space on your SD cards. And I only need so many videos of deer walking up to sniff the camera.
According to my cameras this week, no bears walked on the driveway. A follow up confirmed no new bear droppings. If my cameras are to be believed, only a few deer, a feral cat, and a couple of turkeys were on the driveway. I will leave the camera in video mode probably until Thanksgiving in hopes of getting a video of a stray bear wandering by or maybe a coyote or two. In the meantime, here are the turkeys.
At 6 am, Mike was out collecting firewood from the stack to start the days fire. Kiki, the older, chubby white Pomeranian was out with him. Kiki positioned herself off the back steps and started trying to raise the dead with her bark. With enough firewood in hand, Mike called Kiki to the house. Remarkably, she came when called. Mike noted that some critter was out there but thought a follow up investigation was better left until daylight.
Later that day, we received a call. “Looks like a grizzly walked down your driveway” the caller reported. We had received 1 ½ inches of snow during the night. “How’d they know it was a grizzly?” I wondered. Mike replied the prints probably had claws.
Bear tracks wider than a size 12 insulated boot but not as long as the boot
Wandering down the driveway with the dogs, we found the tracks in the fresh snow. Holy **** ! That’s a big bear. We followed the tracks up and down the driveway. The bear had lumbered by all 3 game cams. I pulled the SD cards from the cameras to look for pictures of a big bear. The Stealth camera did not have pictures of a bear despite the bear slowly walking by the camera. The Stealth camera’s record remained unbroken. (Game Cam 2 link) The Herter’s camera missed the bear. It had daylight photos of cars and deer but no nighttime photos. Time to change the batteries. Only the Cabela’s camera had a not very good picture of the big, fat, healthy grizzly.
The grizzly that left the bear tracks on the driveway at 5:53 am
This grizzly approached the driveway through the woods, lumbered onto the driveway and exited onto Fortine Creek Road before making its way back to the creek bottom. From the time stamp, by the time Kiki was reporting on it at volume the bear was probably on the road. Our neighbor reported that the bear had been leaving signs in the lower pastures that bordered the creek for several weeks. Seems we might have a couple more weeks of bears around the place.
Great pictures of game cameras are frequently a matter of luck. We have a “good enough” picture to confirm the type and relative size of the bear. Two of of the cameras completely missed the bear. Even the “best” camera had 1 poor picture but that time stamp sure caught our attention.
Update: A day later with the fresh snow and more reports of tracks, we again went hunting. This time we found 2 sets of tracks. One large set and a smaller set of tracks that sometimes were adjacent to the larger tracks and sometimes they overlapped the larger tracks. We followed the tracks into the woods to find a deposit from the smaller bear. Lots of hair in that deposit; the bears appear to be eating well. Again the bears had walked by 2 game cameras. Not 1 picture of either bear on any camera. There are multiple reports of bear tracks in the neighborhood. The bears appear to be making a large loose loop around the Trego school.
Although I am still looking for the perfect game camera, I do have some favorites. I like my Cabela’s brand cameras. Cabela’s brand cameras are not inexpensive. Be sure to look at the reviews online before contemplating a purchase of a new model. I have early versions of the camera. Cabela’s cameras are easy to program. The cameras are easy to operate. Batteries last and are easy to change. In my opinion, most important Cabela’s brand cameras have a good depth of field. Close and far objects are in sharp focus. The cameras do not hold up well when the deer play soccer with the cameras. My last purchased Cabela’s camera lost part of its programming only a couple months after purchase. For the premium price, it should have been reliable and included the metal camera mount. The deer did not play soccer with this particular camera so that was not the reason for the malfunction.
Deer in velvet. The camera was on a tripod, just a lucky placement of the camera
This is just how a camera is broken. Note how much of the photo is actually in sharp focus.
My other favorite brand of camera is by Moultrie. This camera was not easy to program. Setting or turning on the camera is not intuitive. The programming in this camera allowed timed photos every 5 minutes or as far apart as 60 minutes. I used the timer function to scan the background surrounding a trail. I wanted to know what was in the woods that was not triggering the motion sensor. I found a bear with 2 cubs in the background. I also found a deer surprised by a mountain lion a few minutes after I’d set the camera. I got a series of blurry photos with only a startled deer and a long tail in focus. I also used the timer function to take pictures of the house looking for the picture with the best background clouds. The Moultrie camera has a good depth of field. The deer did play soccer with this camera and caused the programming to malfunction.
Bald Eagle. we placed the camera where we sure something would step in front of the camera. This was one of about 3000 pictures.
The best wildlife pictures depend on location of the camera. I looked at one blogger who had his camera set on a log crossing a stream where wildlife crossed the log year round. The blogger compiled videos of the wildlife crossing the log. The variety was impressive. A water supply with signs of wildlife use is a good place for a camera.
For certain types of wildlife, a camera placed on a found carcass will yield interesting pictures.
Mountain Lion over his deer kill.
We happened upon the deer cached in the woods and placed a camera pointed at the carcass.
Frequently, game cameras include a strap for a mount. The strap has a limited outdoor life. The length of the strap limits the size/circumference of tree to where the camera can be mounted. I have found bungee cords to be helpful in mounting cameras to trees and overcoming the limitations of straps. Metal camera mounts that attach to trees are good for semi permanent locations. The metal mounts are screwed into the tree. But trees aren’t always conveniently located to where you’d like to place the camera.
This is where a tripod comes in. The main disadvantage of a tripod is that deer run over the camera and the camera may break. But cameras on tripods place strategically can yield some interesting wildlife pictures.
Sandhill Cranes hunting in the field, taken with a camera on a tripod. The camera was placed where we’d seen cranes earlier in the week.
Sandhill Cranes in flight, taken with a camera on a tripod, a lucky placement of the camera
Marketers would have you believe the more money you spend on a game camera, the better the game camera. If only this were true. Over the years, I have tried several brands of camera. I am still searching for the perfect camera. I have my least favorite camera or the brands I won’t purchase again.
Game cameras can be used to monitor traffic. UPS truck on the driveway.
By far, my least favorite camera is a Stealth game camera. The Stealth game camera is programmable and the cost won’t break the bank. I use this camera to monitor the traffic on my driveway. The camera is an older model. It is reliable. I change the batteries every couple of months and change the SD card about once of month. The camera is consistent. It takes good pictures of vehicles and stills of the driveway during the winter. It has never taken a picture of a coyote, mountain lion, or bear.
Deer walking down the driveway
My least expensive camera is a Herters game camera. This is another driveway camera in the perfect location. The camera has a narrow depth of field where the pictures are in perfect focus. This camera is great for monitoring vehicles as well as wildlife. I have all sorts of fuzzy pictures of feral cats, skunks, etc as well as larger animals. Occasionally the pictures are in focus. But I have good idea of the animals walking down the driveway. The Herters camera eats batteries. When the batteries are low, the camera stops taking pictures at night. The camera is non-programmable but easy to set up and operate.
A winter still
All game cameras miss the perfect shots. I have had a game camera take 1000 pictures of grass blowing in the wind. I have seen many blurs at night. But the occasional photos make all the disappointments worthwhile. Game cameras are not perfect but even blurry picture can be priceless.
Deer on the driveway. Not all the deer are in focus, but the picture still provides lots information.
Now days, I take more wildlife photos with my game camera than with my digital camera. At 4 am on a cold wintry morning my game camera is awake, I am not. What is the perfect game camera? The camera that takes the photos you want or need. It is the camera that is reliable, consistent, and inexpensive. Do you want a camera for surveillance with the occasional acceptable wildlife photo to show friends? Or do you want great photos the majority of the time for wildlife photography? Does the camera record video? If so, for how long?
Since all roads lead to Rome, I have a game camera on my driveway. I use my camera for surveillance. I have seen feral cats, stray dogs, foxes, coyotes, skunks, racoons, turkeys, deer, mountain lions, and bears. Also included would be bicycles, UPS trucks, and errant hunters.
Grizzly Bears! The pictures on the game camera alerted us to the possibility they were in the neighborhood. These ladies walked down the driveway before they walked into the yard.
Since bears are on the move and are in the general area, I am checking my camera daily for the presence of bears. Our lack of fruit has resulted in few bear sightings this fall. Trophy hunters are looking for the presence of antlers on deer. We have no regular sightings of antlers. A coyote has been hunting in the area. A feral cat carried a squirrel past the camera. Does are ever present.
A beautiful coyote poses for the camera.
While my old single lens reflex camera was serviceable for over 20 years, the life of a game camera is short. Game cameras are expected to perform in all types of weather. Amazingly they do take pictures in temperatures from 20 below to 100 degrees above and in rain or snow. Wildlife have damaged more of my cameras than adverse weather. A plastic camera with an electronic circuit board is no match for a careless deer.
A coyote stops on the driveway at night. Nighttime photos are difficult. Common is the lack of clear detail.
Trego's Mountain Ear 