Trail Cam

[wiiawiwb]

I just got a Stealth Cam 4K no-glow trail cam. I plan on having it take videos rather than pictures and bought a 64gig card for it.

 

I'll put it out in an area where I've had wood-knock replies before. It is remote, difficult to get in and out of, and this area is 2/3 surrounded by a swamp. There will be no human traffic, only wildlife.

 

I know there are a lot of variables here but how many days would you guess the 64gig card would last?

 

https://www.trailcampro.com/products/stealth-cam-ds4k

[MIB]

I'm not familiar with those cameras.    How long will the videos be?

 

I assume you will have no issue at all unless your videos are a lot longer than mine and there's a ton more animal activity.    I generally leave cameras out for up to a year with a 32G card and still have plenty of space left on the card.   The only one I ever filled was pointed into the sun too much and the heat triggered it.   That had upwards of 6K pictures.

 

My suggestion is to take 15-20 second videos.  You'll need to check the manual.   With my cams, I have to set up a delay as long as the video, so at lest 15 second between 15 second videos, for the capacitor to recharge.  yours may have different limits or no limit at all.  The longer videos will show more if anything happens but they leave a longer dead space for a false-trigger, too, so you may miss things.   It's a balancing act.

 

MIB

[wiiawiwb]

I set it to a pre-programmed mode that takes 10-second videos with a 30-second timeout. I just switched to a customized setting of a 15-second video with a 5 second delay.

 

A false trigger may take a number of videos but hopefully the 64gig card will handle it. I would only leave it for a maximum of two weeks as my curiosity would get the best of me. Also I go back to that area every week or two in the Spring, Summer, and Fall.

Edited April 28, 2018 by wiiawiwb

[MIB]

I think a 64 gig card is likely way overkill for that.   Better than not enough, though. 

 

 

[norseman]

Nice!

[MIB]

8 hours ago, wiiawiwb said:

I would only leave it for a maximum of two weeks as my curiosity would get the best of me.

 

I have a theory that we lay down a trail each time we go to a camera.  It may be too subtle for an average human to notice but something like a bigfoot, attuned to it's environment and living by tracking skills in a regular daily basis, might see it like you'd see muddy footprints across your white carpet.   This has lead me to set up my cameras in places I can leave them for a year or so at a time.   I've had alkeline batteries last that long; lithium batteries do it easily.   The 32G SD cards have been enough..   The only exception is my PlotWatchers which run out of space (128G cards) and batteries (8 AA lithium) at about 90 days.

 

I'm very much looking forward to summer.   I have had 4 regular trail cams "soaking" since July and August.   One plotwatcher probably caught the rest of last summer and is now hanging lifeless from a tree trunk.    Snow being what it is, I hope to be back around mid July.   I have identified more spots in the general area and hope to put out 4-6 more cameras this year for retrieval in 2019.  

 

MIB

[wiiawiwb]

I think you're on to something particularly in areas where there would be little to no human traffic. My activity might stick out like a sore thumb.

 

Do you add camouflage around the trail cam to attempt to hide it better? If so, what do you use? This will likely go on a conifer and I was thinking of add something around the attached belt so the unit isn't as obvious.

 

This person did a phenomenal job at camouflaging at the expense of losing the IR ability. I'd prefer to keep that capability. Any suggestions how to keep the IR capability and yet camo the upper half of it would be appreciated.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye18WnrKMpY

 

Edited April 29, 2018 by wiiawiwb

[SWWASAS]

One forum member, who shall remain unnamed, has a series of Plotwatcher images that we think is a BF.     It was taken at twilight and is dark and not definitive.     The first image is out over 100 yards and looks to me it was taken at the moment of recognition of the camera.  From that point on the subject moved tree to tree, sometimes being imaged, peeking around trees at the camera.     If it were a human, it likely would have got to and messed with or stolen the camera.    Because it did not, and with the peeking behavior, I think it very likely was a BF.    The Plotwatcher is a passive non emitting camera that just takes pictures at a set interval.     No flash or IR sensors involved.   So the camera was likely recognize by it's shape.    If the camera was recognized, and started the peeking behavior,  it was because the subject,  saw it hanging on the tree.   Since then the Forum member camouflages game cameras shape with burlap and vegetation as handy to break up the boxy shape,  and mounts them high in threes, well above human head level.    In my way of thinking, it is unlikely that BF looks up much.     All prey and potential dangers are on the ground.   Add the fact that it has sunken eyes,  somewhat of brow ridge,  and a head low on the shoulders,   I think its field of view upward is probably very limited.     So yes I think you need to camouflage the camera and mount it high.     At least break up the profile which is basically a box and not a shape common in nature.      

[wiiawiwb]

Has anyone noticed a problem with bears ripping them down? I've read a few anecdotal stories about bears being curious and destroying trail cams.

 

Not sure if I should wing it or get a security box.

 

https://www.stealthcam.com/security-bear-box-for-ds4k/

[SWWASAS]

I am told something in the plastic attracts the bears.   Another reason to put natural materials like bark or something organic to shade it,  and mask the plastic smell as well as camouflage it .    When plastic is in direct sunlight it tends to out gas and release more plastic smell.  My son is a NASA engineer and you cannot put most plastic in space.    In sunlight it out gases and deteriorates very rapidly.     Those with several deployed game cameras might have more data about bear damage than I do.  I think in most cases humans are more likely to mess with, destroy,  or steal the cameras than bears.  

Edited April 29, 2018 by SWWASAS

[MIB]

Lots of people report problems with trail cams and bears.   I have only had one issue with 15 cams over 4 seasons.    Mostly, however, I mount my cameras fairly high pointing into a sidehill which keeps the smell above the critters and a little above easy reach despite being on level to take good pictures.  (Oh, and I almost always point them north since that is most away from the sun for the biggest part of the day.)   The pictures I've seen of cameras with bear problems are at bear nose height.   The one I have had issues with is fairly low, couple feet up.    I'm not sure what I will find when I return to that camera.   I didn't realize it'd been messed with when I retrieved the last card, nor what the culprit was.    The pictures show a mother bear (blonde phase black bear) with 2 cubs.   1 cub disappears, then the view is hair, ears, etc, and the camera winds up pointing into the bushes for a while.   On the 2nd visit, it somewhat re-corrected the camera.    My hope is, since I had another few weeks of pictures before the batteries ran out, that those bears moved on and I'll have good pictures for the rest of the season ... up 'til snow.

 

The most visible thing with any camera seems to be the strap attaching it to the tree.  Horizontal lines are not natural.   I have masked them a few ways.   Little black upholstry tacks are your friend.  Bland colored rubber bands, too.   Can use local material like leaves and twigs covering the strap and held in place with twigs.    I also bought a roll of camouflage burlap which I cut strips off of.  Make the edges irregular so you're not just replacing one straight line with another.    A totally separate method is to use large wood screws spaced matching the width of the bracket on the camera and hang the camera on wire thus removing the nylon strap completely.   Some of that burlap around the back half of the camera, which is often solid color rather than camo like the front, can help hide the camera, too.

 

I have not used bear boxes / lock boxes.   Its an interesting idea.   One thing about it, you could paint those in whatever camo best suits your area without having to worry about getting the paint on the flash, lens, etc.   Definitely worth considering.

 

Here is one I was sort of lazy with.

 

 

And this is what it is watching.

 

 

As soon as I'm able (July?) I'll add a plotwatcher to this area.  It's incredible. 

 

MIB

[wiiawiwb]

Looks great MIB!

 

What do you think of this guy's idea of using wire in front of the trail cam to help reduce glare?  As you can see from the picture of my stealth cam below, there is a lot of real estate where black IR emitters and lenses are.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsYUSgdOcIE

 

The person in the video above has some amazing camo for trail cams using bark. I wonder if the chicken wire would interfere with the videos/pictures it takes.

I've camo-taped the trail cam. The next step will be to finish drying bark I got from the woods and start to hot glue it on the stealth cam. That's the reason for the tape...otherwise I'd never be able to get the bark off.

 

Edited April 29, 2018 by wiiawiwb

[MIB]

I'm not sure .. chicken wire might work, I've never tried that.   I've had issues with things a bit out from the lens reflecting the IR flash back and whiting out the picture but with the wire in close, that shouldn't happen.   If you try, please let me know how it works!

 

Nice job with the camo tape.   FWIW, somewhere (Amazon) I found some "shaggy tape" ... tape with shag carpet like fibers sticking out so you get real 3D camo.   Might be worth a look.

[wiiawiwb]

Thanks for the good thoughts. I'll try chicken wire too and see how the video looks without any wire then each of the two wire/mesh. 

 

The camo tape is only on there to hold the hot glue and bark which will affix over it. When I'm done you won't see any tape except maybe a little from the side. The whole trail cam should be encased in a bark shroud when it's finished.

[MIB]

Sounds awesome!    The only additional thing I can think of is it might need some time for the smell of the glue to fade.    I don't know if the glue smell would attract a bear or not.