Friday, August 15, 2008
Caught on camera
High-tech trailcams add excitement and precision to offseason deer scouting.
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.
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Until recently, offseason deer scouting involved studying trails, tracks and other physical signs left behind by whitetails, or maybe watching over a field with binoculars on a warm late-summer evening.
But over the past decade, a scouting revolution has taken place, with many hunters using special motion-activated cameras to shoot stealthy spy pictures of the game they seek.
Like so many other electronic gizmos, the cameras keep getting better, rendering machines that were top-of-the line just a few years ago practically obsolete.
Nino Ripepi is among those who have gotten into the craze.
"I started out with a cheap little trailcam that I got as a gift about five years ago," said Ripepi, a doctoral candidate at Virginia Tech who lives outside Blacksburg.
Ripepi recently got a new mid-level model with an infrared flash and has been setting it out at various places he may hunt this coming season.
"I find myself wanting to check the pictures more often than I should," Ripepi said. "I get excited, and I'll immediately take the [memory card] back to my computer to look at the pictures.
"If I can't trade out cards, I've even hauled my laptop into the woods with me."
Better every year
Early scouting camera systems were fairly rudimentary, often combining after market motion sensors with 35-millimeter point-and-shoot film cameras inside waterproof housings.
But as the cameras caught on, major hunting equipment manufacturers got into the game and began developing scouting cameras from the ground up.
Film is history, as all new cameras are digital.
That suits Lexington hunter Richard Black just fine. Wednesday afternoon he was in Sportsman's Warehouse in Roanoke buying a $100 camera by Moultrie.
"I've got one that takes regular film," he said. "But that costs too much."
Capabilities vary.
Entry-level cameras typically shoot pictures with modest resolution, have modest flashes and basic trigger mechanisms.
As price goes up, so does resolution. Sensor systems also become sharper and faster, and some cameras have built-in viewing screens. Some high-end cameras are capable of shooting video.
To help deter thieves, many cameras have security codes, so they can't function if they fall into the wrong hands.
For hunters who just can't wait to see their pictures, or who are concerned about disturbing areas, some systems even allow for real-time monitoring of pictures through a remote computer or smart phone.
Pictures from most cameras are stamped with information including the time of the picture, the temperature and, in some cases, even the moon phase.
Many higher-end units have infrared flash systems for nighttime shots, addressing a concern among some camera users that regular flashes can spook game.
Ripepi is among those worried about the regular flash scaring mature, cagey bucks.
"I noticed I had pictures of big bucks looking right at the camera," said Ripepi, whose older camera got the picture that appears above. "The next picture, you could see the deer turning and leaving."
He said he's never gotten more than one sequence of certain large bucks.
Trailcam use
The best trailcam won't get good scouting pictures if it's not in the right place.
Pointing a camera up or down a trail will work better than perpendicular because the deer will be in the frame longer.
The sun's position also has to be taken into consideration.
Placing scouting cameras around food sources is always a good tactic.
During the summer, many hunters place cameras overlooking wildlife food plots, or on trails leading to those plots.
Plenty of others further increase their odds by setting up cameras over salt blocks or mineral licks, or piles of bait such as corn or apples.
Setting out food for deer is legal until Sept. 1, after which baiting must stop leading into hunting season, during which hunting over or near bait piles is illegal.
One challenge with shooting pictures over bait is that the same food that attracts deer can attract bears, and feeding bears is illegal year round.
As deer seasons approach -- archery season opens Oct. 4 this year -- deer movement patterns change and that necessitates moving scouting cameras.
Food plots and acorn-laden oaks are good areas for cameras in early October.
The best sites to catch a big buck change again as rutting activity picks up later in October.
"If you can get them on a primary scrape, you're in great shape," Ripepi said.
Getting a shot of a trophy buck on a trailcam is exciting and can add to a hunter's anticipation as he heads to the woods.
Still, killing the buck isn't a sure thing.
Ripepi, for example, has passed up shots at smaller bucks he's captured on camera, but still hasn't shot a deer he has on camera.
Pictures of trophies can make enduring long hours on the stand a bit easier.
"It's just neat," he said, "knowing what's out there."
