How long should we keep cameras in one place?

How long should we keep cams in place before moving to new location?

  • 1 week

    Votes: 1 4.8%
  • 2 weeks

    Votes: 20 95.2%

  • Total voters
    21
  • Poll closed .

snakeskinner

Twelve Pointer
My son wants to put a camera out and leave it and not check it for two weeks. He thinks the intrusion is bad. He also says we can't go in the area and scout even with binocs from a distance. I think a week is sufficient. The last time we did this we had a bunch of does on one cam, a bunch of nothing on another and another had the batteries run out before we really got anything. I contend that one week is enough and that if we don't get pics of bucks that we move the camera to a different location. So my poll is just for our use. Do you agree with me or him? Should we leave it out for one week or two weeks?
 

Acorn1956

Six Pointer
My cameras were out for 4-5 weeks before I started getting bucks on them. I check them every time I fill the feeder. Probably about 10 days


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QBD2

Old Mossy Horns
I think a lot of people think deer are smarter than they really are.

That said, I'm not very intrusive at all this time of year, for the simple reason that I'm to lazy, and it's not necessary.

There's no need to put cameras deep in the woods, when you can get the same pics on the edges. It's just inventory at this point, because you're never going to learn anything useful in the summer.
 

Mike Noles aka conman

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
I don't even put any out till mid August and then they stay in place for at least a month ( providing the bears leave them alone).
 

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
I usually dont put cams out until September and then I like to check them about every week or 10 days.

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HorNhnTr

Twelve Pointer
I check mine weekly this time of year... I just don't think it bothers deer or alters movement like some think. They're not on edge right now.
 

agreenchicken

Ten Pointer
Less is more in my opinion. You ever hear of or know those folks that don't scout and don't run cameras. Then they go in and hunt the opening day of gun season kill a giant. It's because the avid hard core guy that was hunting the property that joins his land spooked the giant weeks ago and found refuge in a safe place.

With that said I the guy that that checks his camera weekly and hunts every chance I get!
It seems to happen though every year for some.
 

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
Sounds like you need more cameras. There's nothing your gonna learn now that you can't in 1 month. Buy more cameras and only check them when the information is going to help your hunting, like a week before season or just before you want to start your corn.
 
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getTwisted

Ten Pointer
I check my cameras about once a month. This time of year for inventory purposes you should have your cameras over a mineral station. If there are any bucks around they will hit the minerals. If you don't see any bucks over minerals more than likely there aren't any in the area for the time being and moving the camera after a week won't help you out any.

Minerals are a great quick way to take inventory and not be intrusive but as the summer comes closer to an end mineral stations won't be hit as much, if at all. Then you can go out and adjust your cameras on trails or other food sources.

I personally wouldn't go to once a week camera pulls unless its pre rut and things are really slow. Then you can start getting aggressive.
 

Gilly

Ten Pointer
My cameras are sitting three to four weeks right now but my property is an 1 hour away. Behind my house I check it weekly.
 

25contender

Twelve Pointer
Depends, the cameras I have in hard to get places I might not check for 6 weeks or more this time of year. The cameras on the fields I check every 3 weeks. The pics are not going anywhere!!
 
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ScottyB

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
It really depends on what you are trying to do. If you are dumping corn and minerals just to see what is on the property.....a week is fine.....scouting from a distance is also ok. I don't use a feeder and we put out 50-100lbs every 3-4 days and usually switch out the sd cards while we are there.

At my club in Halifax , I never feed corn and never put out cameras.....its just too far to mess with it.

It is all about the paranoia factor......as you see from the responses.....some are way paranoid.....some are not(like me).....the deer get used to what is happening in their area. We can go bush hog the field and the deer will come out and eat while we are mowing. Homebrew mentioned in another thread about there is a difference in city deer that are near a lot of human activities and deer that are off the beaten path. My deer are so used to human odors and traffic........ we do not bother them going in and out. Just for reference.... we typically have a couple of 120-140 inch deer in this spot with a bachelor group of 12-15 bucks each year. If you feed them they will stay.....let the feed run out and they may leave!!
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
That said, I'm not very intrusive at all this time of year, for the simple reason that I'm to lazy, and it's not necessary.

While I am lazy, I don't go into the woods to set up cameras for a different reason. I could dive into a pool of permethrin and deet before I go but I'll still come out with ticks and chiggers on me.
 

Jack's PA

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I have had cameras out for about a month and half now. I like to put them out early to watch antler growth. I do not put out and corn at this time.

As for how long to leave them, I think the longer the better but I have also got pictures of deer within an hour or two of when I checked my cameras.

I am not sure deer movement this time of year will be the same as during hunting season.
 

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
I have had cameras out for about a month and half now. I like to put them out early to watch antler growth. I do not put out and corn at this time.

As for how long to leave them, I think the longer the better but I have also got pictures of deer within an hour or two of when I checked my cameras.

I am not sure deer movement this time of year will be the same as during hunting season.

First 2 weeks of September it can be same as summer, just depends on acorns amount and timing where I hunt.
 
I personally put out several camera's , this time of year I don't check them but once a month over minerals..if I have corn out I'll check em everytime I feed...as far as moving them around I'd just leave em be till you can definitely tell it's in a bad spot..you can catch camera's really cheap on sale sometimes so I'd just get more camera's if it were me
 

snakeskinner

Twelve Pointer
We have 4 cams and we are using 3 of them to scout a new area. So far in 2 months we have 0 bucks on camera even though I have observed 4 nice ones while scouting and observed a few when we hunted it last fall. I'm not really using them to scout cause we pretty much know where we will hunt come fall. I just want to get pics of the bucks on camera. I prefer to move them each weekend especially if all we got were does or worse, nothing. Very disappointing to go back to a cam that has been out for two weeks only to find that the batteries ran out or that it overexposed all the infrared dawn pics or that there was just nothing on it. I would prefer to have only wasted a week if that was going to happen. Now we know that the cam that overexposes infrared dawn pics needs to go in a field and that we always carry replacement batteries and we make sure the card is formatted correctly, and if we start getting these bucks on camera, then I would be good with leaving them out 2 weeks.
 
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The Lock

Six Pointer
Mine dont seem to bother deer at all. Put them at all (most) of my stand sites from usually mid july early august for inventory til late jan early feb to see what bucks made it. May keep them in there longer if I want to know when the bucks start shedding.
 
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badlandbucks

Ten Pointer
It depends on the location and the deer herd. I have cameras I check every week that are close to my house or to the road where deer are used to human activity. In my far away spots where deer are not used to human pressure, I leave cameras for 3 weeks to a month at a minimum. In those spots it is interesting that in the 3-5 days after I check the camera, mature buck pics decrease. After about 2 weeks, they are back on it nearly every day.
 

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
In those spots it is interesting that in the 3-5 days after I check the camera, mature buck pics decrease. After about 2 weeks, they are back on it nearly every day.

I have noticed that phenomenon in some spots as well. Most cameras where some type of bait is used, and the deer are used to human presence, they will come back within hours. Baiting the area actually causes them to come sooner. However, cameras over trails or scrapes in sensitive areas will sometimes show no mature buck sightings for a few days after it is checked. Though not often, it has happened enough to be a noticeable pattern.
 
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