# Deer Cameras?



## greenhead (Jun 1, 2004)

I got a Cabelas Moultre 5.0 deer Camera and was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this camera? Would of gotten a cuddie back but cost to much. When do guys start setting out your cameras? I am going to start bowhunting next September. Any tricks on setting these up.


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## Hamm (Dec 10, 2007)

I recently recieved a Moultrie Game Spy 4.0, but I haven't had the chance to set it out yet. But I've heard good things.

As far as setting them up, I like to put mine out sometime in June. You can get some nice pictures of bucks as they progress along with their antler growth. And some really cute pictures of those spotted, kitty-kat sized fawns. I like to leave them up as long as I can stand to. Usually until December or maybe January. That way I might get to see what bucks made it through the hunting season. But when it gets as cold as it has been lately, battery life can really become an issue.

With that camera, you're probably going to want to set up over some feed or apples, or a scrape; mock or real. I don't think the trigger time is fast enough to set it over a trail. You can sure try it and if you get a bunch of blank pictures or pictures of deer hind-ends, you can always move it. That's one great thing about scouting cameras. If one spot isn't producing, you can just move it to another.

Well that's what has worked for me so far. Good luck.


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

YEAR ROUND!!!

Get all kinds of neat pictures in the winter. (although along about january all the bucks dissapear, whats up with that :wink: )

I too have the moultrie 4.0's, great cameras for the cost.

I set mine up usually over some sort of bait. The moultries are nice, but the trigger time is a bit slow. Either use something to hold the deers attention for the photo (mashed apples work good for me), or place them angling to trails so the animals are quartering into the camera and spend more time in the cone. If you place it perpendicular to the trail, all youll get will be nothing or a few deer tails. I place mine about head high (6') and angle them down to the ground (place an appropriate sized stick behind the top to get the angle). The laser pointer on mine usually hits the ground about 10-15 feet from the tree the cameras on. DONT try to get long shots, set up for about 10 feet. I feel that by getting the camera just a bit higher than the deers plane of sight helps for flash spook at night. If its thigh high, (like most suggest) i think you can get some serious flash spook, especially on mature animals.

Oh yeah, lock em up too, even on private ground, a piece of .30 cent chain and padlock or a bike lock can save you alot of headache.


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## Hamm (Dec 10, 2007)

barebackjack said:


> I feel that by getting the camera just a bit higher than the deers plane of sight helps for flash spook at night. If its thigh high, (like most suggest) i think you can get some serious flash spook, especially on mature animals.


That's interesting. How'd you come to that conclusion? Might have to try that when I put my Moultrie out.


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

Hamm said:


> barebackjack said:
> 
> 
> > I feel that by getting the camera just a bit higher than the deers plane of sight helps for flash spook at night. If its thigh high, (like most suggest) i think you can get some serious flash spook, especially on mature animals.
> ...


I had my cameras out this fall, early september. I had been getting pictures of several 120" class 2-3 year olds, several more "mature" bucks, and of course lots of does and fawns. I was placing my cameras at mid-thigh to belt high as per the instructions and was noticing that at night, i would only get one picture (cameras were set to 2-pic burst, and over apples for bait) of any adult deer, (fawns and one spike didnt seem to care either way). I would get one exposure, and never see that animal again at that site. During daylight however I could get 20-30 exposures of a good mature animal (a very nice 5x5 which of course was never seen during daylight hours again). 
I just started playing around with different things, i started with the cameras 8-10 feet off the ground. This worked very well but you had to use tree steps to get to the camera, an annoyance, and it really didnt give you great looks at the animals, so i started lowering them. 6' works for me as its right at eyeball height for me which makes it quick and easy to deploy and maintain, and at this height i was getting multiple exposures of those better deer in which they seemed to be unalarmed.
I dont know for certain if it was the flash being at ground level that was causing me to only get single photos, but since ive moved my cameras higher ive been getting more photos during one visit and repeated action from the same deer over several days. This tells me that my old system was in some way spooking the deer. The only thing I could think of was it was the flash being right there at their eye level. 
For next year i plan on mounting all my cams on those swivel brackets. This will make deployment and aiming much easier.


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## HUNTNFISHND (Mar 16, 2004)

barebackjack,

What batteries seem to work best in really cold weather?


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

Lol, none really, they all kinda suck when it gets cold. I have had better luck in all conditions with the good name brands, duracell, or energizer. In early/mid fall I can run....well, three months with literally thousands of exposures and I never did run a set below 50%. I actually filled a 2GB card up on two seperate occasions this fall. In Late Nov, Dec, ....this time of year, be prepared to change em out every week or so, depending on how many times the cameras been activated. Ive heard alot of horror stories about the moultries eating batteries, but have not had that problem thus far. And I think any brand will have troubles in the cold. Ive never had good luck with rechargables in anything, but the bonus is you are recharging them, so you have to change them more, but your buying less in the long run.

Ive been toying with setting one up with the solar charging unit, just to see, ive heard some good things about them and its only a $30 investment or so.


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## Hamm (Dec 10, 2007)

When the battery life gets that low is usually when I quit fighting the good fight and take them down for the year.

Barebackjack, where do you get your apples? Do you have access to an apple tree or know someone who does?


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

I know people that have more apples than they know what to do with. I pick up the discards off the ground and get more than I can use in five seasons.

I mash mine up with my boot heel after I put em up, spread em out a little bit. This makes the deer work for it a bit and makes em last longer. If you just throw whole apples out, and theres alot of deer in your area, youll go throw apples like theres no tomorrow.


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