I like to use a game camera to scout for turkeys when I’m hunting a new piece of property or an area that I am unfamiliar with.  I will do this in the months prior to the season coming in.  I don’t like disturbing any areas that I actually plan to turkey hunt as the opening day draws near.  Here are a couple of tips that you can use to help use your game camera to check for the existence of turkeys.

1. Mount your game camera a little closer to the ground than you would if you were scouting for deer.  Turkey are obviously not as tall as deer, and this can help to keep your scouting camera’s passive infrared sensor from overshooting a turkey that passes near your camera location.
2. Try placing your camera in the woods in areas that contain a good amount of red and white oaks.  Turkeys love acorns, in addition to various insects, grasses, other nuts, seeds and clover.  You will often see leaves in the area turned up as a result of turkeys ’scratching’  in search of food.  You can often capture good pictures and videos in these areas as turkeys come to forage.  Good mature trees with lots of horizontal limbs are also prime areas for turkeys to roost at night.
3. Try placing your game camera on trees or fence posts on the edges of fields that contain clover.  This is another prime foraging area, but fields are also a big draw for strutting gobblers.  More often than not, these gobblers will head to the highest point in a field to do their strutting.  This may even be just a slight rise or mound.  A game camera post mount is ideal for covering these type of areas in an open field.

I like to try to find areas that the turkeys are going to roost in on the evenings prior to the hunt.  A gobble tube is ideal for making a male ’shock gobble’ and give up his location.  Unfortunately, these gobble tubes often fool other hunters, so I will either not use them (or use the sparingly) during morning hunts when other hunters may be in the area.  I’ll never enter the woods when trying to locate birds heading to roost.  I’ll stick to the outer edges of the fields.  The sound from a gobble tube will carry a long distance, and even a mature bird often can’t resist gobbling back at them.  Once you locate turkeys in an area heading to roost, it’s just a matter of quietly slipping into the woods before sun-up the following morning.  By doing this, you can cut the distance between you and a roosting bird, and the sound of your hen calls can be the first thing they hear when they hit the ground.  For this, I prefer a mouth call, as they require no movement and will lessen the chances of you being busted by their keen vision.  The only part of your body that should move is your finger as you pull the trigger and put that bird down.

I hope these tips help.  Best of luck this season, and let me know how you do!

PS.  Check out this link of some scratching turkeys that I caught on my Bushnell Trophy Cam.  I had to reduce the quality in order to upload it, but hopefully you enjoy.

So how do you know if you need the firmware update? Access the “Camera Info” option on your game camera. The top line of this display will list a series of numbers. This is your currently installed firmware version. The latest shipping version is V:3.0.0.20091014. You will notice that the last 8 digits of this number represent a date format. If you have an earlier version listed, you will want to download and install the new firmware. This will contain all of the cumulative updates since the Reconyx scouting cameras were originally released.
By installing the new firmware, you can gain access to these features:

1. 1080p Widescreen HD Mode
   On the RC55, RC60, PC85 and PC90 trail cameras, you will have access to this HD widescreen mode that is perfect for viewing images on the newer HD TVs and widescreen monitors.  After updating the firmware on the RC55 and RC60, this mode will be set to the new default mode of operation.  The 1080p widescreen mode will become a selectable option on the PC85 and PC90.
2. Night Mode Settings
   The new night mode settings are a welcome addition.  They allow you to have better control over the quality of your night time images, the range, and the camera’s shutter speed.  There are four night mode settings.  Default mode offers a good balance between infrared range, the speed of the shutter, and the quality of the images.  The High Quality mode will produce a higher quality image, but will sacrifice some of the infrared range.  The Fast Shutter option is great for reducing blur with fast moving game, but again will sacrifice some of your infrared range.  The Max Range option will increase the IR range, but will sacrifice some quality and you may have more grainy images.  Each of these options can have great applications depending upon the conditions that your camera is placed in.
3. New Quick Settings
   The Trail Setting is the default.  This mode will fire off 3 pictures  upon each activation of the passive infrared sensor.  After a 1 second delay, an additional 3 pictures will be taken.  No delay is set on the trigger.  This will provide you multiple images of an animal moving along a trail.
   The Scrape Setting will fire off 5 pictures upon activation of the PIR with no delay on the trigger.  This mode will ensure that you capture all of the activity of that big buck that shows up to work that scrape.
   The Feeder Setting is designed for scenarios where your game may linger for a period of time.  This is designed to ensure that you capture a good amount of activity without filling up your CF memory card too quickly.  With the feeder setting, 3 pictures will be taken upon activation of the PIR, with a 5 second delay between each picture.  Then a 15 second delay will be incurred before the sensor will trigger again.

Updating the firmware on your Reconyx camera is a breeze.  All you need to do is take a blank CF memory card, download the firmware update, and place it on the memory card.  Turn your Reconyx camera off, and insert the card.  Power on the camera, and it will read the firmware update file from the memory card and automatically start the update process.  Once the update is complete, the camera will delete the firmware update file from the memory card, and will boot up like normal.

I love how easy Reconyx has made this firmware update process, and how they continue to enhance the quality and features of their existing line of scouting cameras.   So check your firmware and update it if necessary to unlock these features and get even more out of your Reconyx camera.

My buddies have always had issues with the ‘glow’ from the infrared cameras.  They believe that this tends to spook the deer, and state that a traditional game camera flash won’t.  Their arguments were that the game camera flash was like lightening to a deer.  It flashes and is gone and won’t spook them.

Well, you aren’t going to get any nighttime videos with a flash camera, and I agree that while in video mode, I have had deer staring at my infrared sensors.  I think that the infrared “flash” in picture mode, is much less likely to spook a deer though.  Since it doesn’t light up the area, I don’t believe they are as apt to notice it, unless they happen to be staring directly at the sensors at the time it flashes.

Well, I stumbled across this video today showing a nice buck getting spooked by a game camera flash.  Sorry guys, it looks like this refutes your argument.

Enjoy.

Bushnell Trophy Cam Review

I received the Bushnell Trophy Cam for testing this past week, and I am honestly kicking myself for not picking this game camera up sooner.  Overall it is a very good camera, with just a few drawbacks.  I’ll elaborate on these details, but for a complete review of the Bushnell Trophy Cam, see the link to my YouTube video at the bottom of this post.

I love the compact size, at just over 3″ x 5″.  I also love the fact that they step right out there with claims of a 1 year battery life.  While this remains to be seen, since I have only had this camera for a short time now, I am excited at the possibility of owning a game camera that doesn’t chew through batteries.  One caveat with this battery life though, is that you must use lithium AA batteries to get the one year battery life.  If you use alkaline batteries, the standby operation time drops to 6 months.  That is still a lot longer than any other game camera I have owned recently.

I also like the ease of programming.  One thing that took me by surprise is that the LCD panel and programmable options are very similar to the Scoutguard SG550.  So similar, that I think they are using the same components.  What is different though is the series of buttons on the inside of the game camera’s housing used to program the camera.  The Scoutguard requires the use of a programming remote control that you connect to the camera.  Without that remote, you cannot change any of the camera’s options.  The Bushnell Trophy Cam has these buttons and LCD embedded in the camera.  The use of the Up/Down, Left/Right, and OK buttons makes this programming a breeze.  The picture quality is decent, and the video quality is acceptable.

A couple of things that I don’t like about the Trophy Cam are the lack of added security measures.  The lock hole is small, requiring the use of a small gauge lock.  It is recommended that you pick up a security lock box to protect your Trophy Cam.  I’d also like to see the ability to add a master password and owner identification.  As game cameras become more expensive, theft becomes more of a concern.

I don’t like the weak buckle that came with the mounting strap.  I broke mine as I was hanging it, so don’t cinch it too tighly to the tree.  This wasn’t a big deal for me though, because I have accumulated numerous camouflage straps through years of hunting.  I plan to have a lock box for this game camera soon, so I won’t need the strap at that point.

I also thought that the videos appeared to be a bit grainy.  It’s too early to tell, and I need to collect a few more samples under different lighting conditions.  Video on game cameras is one of the features that I desire the most, so I may be a little picky when it comes to this.  I get a lot more out of studying an animal via video that I do out of a still pic.  While I say the video was a bit grainy, it wasn’t bad enough to where I would complain about it.

After testing the Bushnell Trophy Cam, I can tell you that I’ll be keeping this one, and maybe picking up another (to two).  I was a little leary about purchasing the Trophy Cam after hearing about some comrade’s past experiences with Bushnell game cameras, but I think that Bushnell hit the mark with this one.

Well the game camera manufacturer StealthCam has jumped on the bandwagon, and started their own similar program called ‘Cash for Cameras’.  If you are on the StealthCam mailing list, you may have received an email about this.  I did yesterday, and will be taking advantage of this program.  StealthCam will be offering $35.00 worth of ‘bailout money’ through this program which ends on October 31, 2009, so make sure you act quickly.

Here is how it works:

1. You can trade in any old (but functional) digital scouting camera for a $35 credit towards the purchase of a new StealthCam game camera that is priced at $149 or more.  You can trade in any brand of game camera.  The game camera that you purchase from StealthCam must also be in stock, and must be grand new.
2. You must call StealthCam at (877) 269-8490 to tell them that you want to participate in this program, and they will provide you an RMA number.
3. You ship the camera to StealthCam, and upon receipt, they will provide you a promo code with a value of $35.00 that can be used during the checkout process at the www.stealthcam.net website.

I called StealthCam, with some additional questions.  It was about a 15 minute phone call, start to finish.  I have an old STC-WD1 camera that I’m interested in trading in on a Sniper or a Nomad IR.

I had questions about the shipping.  Would I be responsible for shipping, which would reduce the value of the $35.00 credit I would receive?  The answer is Yes, and No.  Yes, you are responsible for the cost of shipping the camera to StealthCam, BUT they will ship your new camera to you Free of Charge.  So the shipping cost is a wash.

You have the option of how you want to ship the camera back.  So if USPS shipping costs less than UPS or FedEx, then you can ship via USPS>  It’s up to you how you want to send it back, you just need to make sure that your RMA number is written on the outside of the box.

So I told them I wanted to participate in the program.  The service rep took my name, address, email, and model of camera that I will trade in.  They in turn gave me an RMA number, and an address to ship my old camera to.  Once they receive it, they will email me the promo code.

I like it, and will be giving it a shot.

Let me first say that I had very high hopes for the I45.  At $249.00, I was expecting decent quality images and videos.  After reading the specs, it sounded like this infrared game camera would do everything I was looking for.  They have been backordered everywhere, so I assume the demand has been high for them.  I’d like to hear from others as to what their experiences are with the Moultrie I45.  Please leave a comment and let me know.

Here are my experiences thus far…

For the most part, I like the design of the camera.  It has a solid feel to it.  I like the leveler, as well as the V-shaped back braces which give it a firm fit on the tree.  It straps on very nicely.

After hanging it for the first time though, I discovered my first problem; no way to secure it.  There is a lock hole on top of the game camera that allows you to lock to top shut.  This is the only lock hole available for securing the camera to the tree.  I went to secure the camera with a long shank lock and a security cable, and discovered that the lock hole is too small to accept a standard gauge lock.  I was forced to go buy a smaller gauge lock.  The only way I could secure it to the tree was to lock my security cable with the long shank padlock, and run that through my smaller gauge lock.  This is a big drawback with all the concerns about game camera theft.  I contacted CamLockbox.com (which I wrote about the other day), and they will have security boxes for the I45 available in a couple of weeks.

The second draw back is the positioning of the lock hole.  It is located on the rear corner of the camera.  When I went to open it this evening, I had a difficult time inserting the key and turning it.  I didn’t have much room in between the camera and the tree to work with.  I would have preferred to see this located a little more on the side of the camera, instead of towards the rear.

It has been raining heavily here in Kentucky over the past couple of days, and that is what led me to my next concern.  To access the memory card, and the camera controls, you need to unscrew two thumb screws on the sides of the game cam, lift the top open, and rotate it forward.  With a light rain occurring, I noticed water droplets landing on top of the camera.  I did my best to wipe them dry before closing the camera back up, but I’m concerned that the design of the camera could lend itself to condensation issues.  You need to really watch for dripping water or rain when changing your game cards.  You may even want to keep a cloth handy just for this purpose.

On a positive note, I love the controls and ease of programming.  For a camera that uses an LCD panel for programming, this was one of the most straight forward I have seen.

I would have liked to have seen more configuration options though.  For example, you can choose from 5, 15, or 30 second videos.  Those are the only options.  And I just recently learned that at night, the video length defaults to only 10 seconds.

For the photo delay, you can choose between 1, 5, 10, 30, or 60 minute delays in between each activation of the PIR.  I’d like to see the ability to configure any desired delay here, similar to what the Scoutguard SG550 gives you.

I pulled my memory card this evening to review the quality of the images.  I’m torn here as well.  I have a mix of very good quality images, and some that were pretty poor.  Let me qualify this though.

I had set the camera to high quality video at 30 second clips.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that each video was also accompanied by a still image that contained the photo strip with the date, time, temperature, moon phase, and camera identification.  I wasn’t expecting to see both images and videos on my card.  I was only expecting to see videos.  What this allowed me to do though, was see a big difference between the photo quality, and video quality.  Some of my daytime images were crystal clear.

A good I45 image

They had vivid color, and excellent definition.  The level of detail they caught was much higher than expected.  To the left is an example of one of the good daytime images of a doe captured by the I45.  This one was caught at 3:37 pm.  It was shaded in the woods, but there was good light still.  The upload to the blog may not do this image justice, but I can say that I was pleasantly surprised with the quality.  But after reviewing some more images, I started noticing some problems.  I noticed that some of the images had some pretty serious blur to them, when my targets were on the move.  When inspecting the videos, I noticed that the daytime videos were a bit grainy.  Not bad, and something I could live with, but a disappointment after seeing the quality of some of the stills.

Moultrie I45 - Infrared mode didn't kick in

As I inspected some of the images and videos taken around dusk or dawn is where I had my doubts about the I45.  Mine seemed to have a difficult time determining when it should cut over to infrared mode.  Some of the images and videos taken around this timeframe are so dark that I can barely see my game.  It appears to be cutting over to infrared mode too late.

Here is an example of a photo taken at 7:28 PM EST, when infrared mode would have really helped out.

The video that I captured right at this same time was dark as well.  Had the infrared mode kicked in earlier, I think it would have resolved this issue.  I don’t know if this is something that can be resolved with a software update or not, and would like to approach Moultrie’s support for more information.

Here is an example of the video that was captured at the same time.  It is darker than I had hoped for.  Had the infrared kicked in earlier, the vido could have been much more viewable.

I did notice on one image about 7:44 pm EST that the infrared did kick in.  That’s just too darn late.  In my area, there is a lot of dusk and dawn activity, and the I45 gave me too many images that just aren’t viewable.

I typically am a big fan of Moultrie’s game cameras, and love what whey have done with some of their prior models.  That may be in part why I had such high hopes for the I45.  But after looking through 100 images and videos that I’ve captured over the last few days, I think I’ve just made my decision to send this one back.  It’s time to take a hike back into the woods and pull this one down.  I hate to say that too, but for $249.00 I expect more.  I’ve had better experiences with less expensive game cameras.  I’m not going to shut the door on Moultrie yet though.  I’d like to take another look at this game cam if they come out with any modifications.

This is just one man’s experience, and I urge you be the judge for yourself.  Maybe I got a lemon, but at this point, I can’t say that I’m very pleased with it.  I am interested again in hearing from others on their experiences with the I45, so drop me a comment if you’ve tried the I45.

My buddies tell me I’m crazy sometimes, but I’m not crazy enough to leave a brand new $249.00 game camera in the woods unsecured.  I’m in a residential area that borders a nice section of woods, but on occasion, there is some foot traffic through that area.  I’m not willing to take the chance of losing another game camera, especially this one.

So far, this is the only big flaw I can see with the I45.  I wish all the game camera manufacturers would get their acts together and focus on some more simple security measures … like lock holes large enough to accept a real lock.

I did some searching online, and I haven’t been able to find anyone making a good lock box for the I45 yet.  I even checked Moultrie’s site, and couldn’t find a lock box that stated it supported the I45.  I’ve heard some bad things about their older lock boxes, and the one they currently have on their site only references the I40 and I60 as related products.

So I called the good people at CamLockBox.com.  I had visited their website, and didn’t see a model that supported the I45 yet.  They told me that they have received their I45 and I65 cameras, and are currently working on a new lockbox for them.  They anticipate having them ready in about 2 weeks (around the first week of October).  This was good news to me, as I own CamLockBox cases for other models of cameras, and I love them.  These things are designed rock solid, and because of the way the case interlocks, there is no way it’s coming apart, unless you have the key.

I’ll be first in line to get mine.

It seems that a bear came across his camera, and appearently did a number on it.  It had been ripped from the tree and appeared to have been gnawed on a bit.  It won’t even power on at this point.  He obviously didn’t have his Capture IR in a bear-proof security box.  Bears are very curious creatures and their sheer power can turn their curiosity into severe damage.  You need to be very cautious of scent when placing a game camera in bear territory, especially if you are baiting them.  If you get the scent of the bait on your camera, I can guarantee you that the bear will be very interested in it.

For me, not living in an area with bears, I typically just have to worry about game camera theft, not damage from wildlife.  To protect your game camera from destruction by bear, you really need a security box that is engineered with the bear in mind.

So if you are in the market for a security box to protect from bear damage for your Cuddeback Capture IR, then check out the following link for the lowest prices:  Cuddeback Capture IR Bear Safe Box .

You will find some heavy duty, all metal, bear safe enclosures designed specifically to protect the Capture IR.  These security boxes can be secured to the tree with lag bolts.  Once your game camera is placed inside, the cover is replaced, and a padlock can be added to secure your camera from damage or theft.

I mentioned video.  Yes, this game camera shoots 640 x 480 AVI videos that can be 10, 30, 60, or 90 seconds in length.  You get color JPG format pictures by day, and black and white pictures at night, and the camera can be set to take 1, 2, 3, or 4 pictures per each activation with the multi-shot mode.  It embeds the date and time on each picture taken.  With 32 MB of built-in memory, you will want to use an external memory card.  With the IR-A, you can use SD memory cards of up to 8 GB in size allowing you to store up to 15,000+ images.  This gives you the capacity for ample image and video storage.

It has a single backlit LCD display panel for configuration and status, and it is programmed with a user-friendly switch panel.   Set the Spypoint IR-A to operate during the day, night, or both with an easy toggle switch.  Another delay switch allows you to set a delay of 4 sec, 30 sec, 1 min, 5 min, 15 min, or 30 min between each activation.

You can use the USB or TV out ports to transfer your images, or display your images and videos on a TV.  Both the USB and video cables are included.  An external 12-volt auxiliary power jack can be used to give you extended life in the field.  Otherwise, you can power this camera with 6 C-cell batteries.  The low battery indicator lets you know when it’s time to replace them.  The firmware that controls this camera’s operation is upgradeable as well.

The IR-A allows you to adjust the sensitivity of detection from 5 feet, all the way out to 45 feet.  This camera comes with a mounting strap.  I highly recommend you use a cable lock, or padlock with security cable to protect from theft.  The IR-A is tough too, and operates in temperatures between 4° F – 122° F.

Check out the low prices on the Spypoint IR-A.