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Use these trail cam tips to make sure you get the best wildlife pictures, possible.
Trail Cam Tips
- Face camera North or South
If you’re not paying attention, it’s very easy to set up a trail camera facing East or West (generally). This results in nothing but a shiny sun spot in the entire frame in the morning or evening.
- Use your phone to see the angles and composition
This is a big one, for me. I only have a week in Texas to see what’s on the lease. Several times, over the years, I’ve pulled the trail cam cards and found that the camera was set too low, too high, in the wrong direction, etc. I get 1,000 pictures of deer hooves and can’t see their bodies or heads. One year, I just got pictures of the feeder tripod leg with an occasional raccoon setting off the camera. This turns that stand location into a crap shoot. We have no idea what’s coming into that area. So, I started putting my phone camera up against the trail camera lens and snapping a quick pic before turning it on and leaving the area. This gives me a rough idea of what the trail cam will see and make sure I’ve set it up correctly.
- Use new SD cards, every time
SD cards wear out, especially if you’re constantly re-writing to them. Every year, I put new SD cards in my trail cams to ensure that I’m not going to end up with no images from a corrupted card. It provides very inexpensive insurance for your pictures.
- New batteries
I always put new batteries in my trail cams at the start of every hunting season. Just like the SD cards, this provides a cheap insurance policy for your camera and images. Along with this trail cam tip, I also make sure to take the batteries out of my trail cameras at the end of every hunting season. Nothing will destroy a trail cam faster than a leaky battery sitting in your camera for most of a year.
- Use a trail cam post to put the camera right where you want it
There’s not always a tree where I want to set up my trail camera. So, I build trail cam posts that use the tripod attachment to put my cameras where ever I want them on the lease. You can buy posts, as well, but I can build my for pennies compared to the store bought ones. For just a few bucks, you can build a post or a tripod attachment that screws into the tree at any angle.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you click on these links and make a qualifying purchase, I will receive a small commission from those purchases.