Trail Cameras ??????

[woody1975]

I just bought a trail camera and have been asking a few people what their thoughts are. I'm getting two different stories. First, some guys tell me that they don't spook deer at all. They've shot deer that they have pictures of. The next guys have told me that they'll never use them again. One guy had pictures of three seperate heavy racked bucks - had one picture of each and they weren't even around for the second picture. (Camera was set to take two pics right away) The second gentleman never saw one of those bucks during the rest of the season. Questions I asked him - How often did you hunt the stand? - Once a week if the wind was right.

I was just wondering what other hunters experiences have been - Good or Bad.

Thanks,

DL

[Mark Christianson]

I don't worry in the least about it.

Period.

But thats speaking for where we hunt.

There is human activity around the deer in our area quite a bit. So I don't believe for one second that a camera is going to be the magical item that scares deer completely out of the section of land.

If you are in a very remote area, that doesnt get much human activity, something like this might startle the deer a bit more.

Just my opinion.

I would use them anywhere any time.

[Gissert]

I'm with BLB on this one, as he got me into the camera game this year.

I had swapped memory cards in my camera on Friday, and went back a couple hours later to move it to a different tree to reduce thermal sun trips.

There were deer feeding within 20 minutes of me leaving after I had swapped cards.

In a 10 day period, I had 140 photos on one card.

The digital cameras are silent, so critters are completely oblivious to their operation. Human scent on the camera does not seem to bother them, as several deer have shoved their nose right in the lens. One actually left a big slobber mark on the body. The deer are fairly used to human activity, so this might be a factor in their comfort level. They are used to cars, tractors, and quads. I leave the quad running when I check my camera. As far as the night flash spooking them, that has not seemed to bother them either, though the coons seem to be a little freaked out from the flash.

[Fall Morning Fanatic]

What kind of camera are you using? A 35 mm camera does make noise that can be alarming to deer. While a digital camera is silent. Don't let people tell you that the flash spooked deer, they're full of dump, it doesn't.

I have about 1000 photos from the last couple of years from 35 mm cameras. However I have moved to all digital cameras due to convenience and batteries

[Mark Christianson]

I have digital and 35mm.

I am not concerned with either one spooking deer.

A little 35mm noise is nothing compared to my ATV that I drive around the woods to check the cameras.

[lawdog]

Woody,

Those guys wouldn't have seen those nice bucks whether they knew they were from the pictures or not. There are a million reasons why they could have disappeared, not the least of which is the hunters screwing up the hunt for them. Don't forget, they didn't get big in the first place by being stupid and easy to harvest!

I'm totally with BLB. I have a couple cameras and have hunted where other guys have them and we've shot deer that we have pictures of in the same spot. They get very used to the cameras and they do not bother them.

[woody1975]

Thanks for the help!

I'm putting it out tonight.

I took a 120" buck from this spot two years ago while the farmer was taking corn. I told him about it and he asked if it was the 8 or the 10 pointer, 'cause he saw them fighting at the end of the field. He has since told me he's seen the "BIG BOY" roaming around that grove and I'd like to get a picture of him for the forum. (To let you know it was the 8 pointer.)

Thanks again!!!

[Mark Christianson]

Put out the camera and set up a mineral spot out in front of the camera.

That seems to be working well for a few guys I know. I just did that this past weekend. Hopefully I have 140 pictures in a day like Gissert got!

too fun.

[realtower]

Woody, I dont think the deer mind it at all, in fact I shot a huge ninepoint last year over a scape that I had a cheep 35mm camera on an I have the pic of him just before I shot him and he didnt flinch a bit. I fact I forgot it was there till I went to look for blood.

[BLACKJACK]

140 pictures!! Thats pretty good! Do you have it over a food plot or what?

I did go out and buy several salt blocks last weekend. I'm going to put them 20 feet in front of my cameras and try to get the deer to stop, I'm getting a lot of empty pictures.

[Gissert]

I have the camera over a clover plot that BLB helped me with. I also have a mineral block out in front of the camera. I too was having trouble with stopping the deer until I put that block out.

I buried one of those red cattle blocks about halfway into the dirt, and then used some of that Block Topper product from Fleet Farm. What a differance that made. Once I got those 140 photos, I hammered the block into some smaller pieces and dumped some food grade molasses on it.

[MN Mike]

Last year I had my camera out just tied to a tree, it was getting about 10 - 20 hits a week. I bought a mineral block, put in a new roll of film, the next week I went out to check on it I had 86 hits. Later in the fall we had alot of apples left on the trees so we picked those up and threw them out in front of the camera and got some pretty good pics there too.

One thing I found to help minimize the empty picture problem is to angle the camera and I set my mineral block fairly close 10 feet or so, I had alot of pictures at nite with eyeballs in the background, you couldn't see a thing except eyes.

Off all the bucks I got on film last year, I did not see one of them during the rifle hunting season but I don't blame the camera for spooking them, I think the rut shuffles the bucks up pretty good.

Does anyone have multipule cameras out and get the same deer in differnt cameras?

[Mark Christianson]

Absolutely!

I have 5 out right now. Kinda early to tell if some of the bucks are the same or not, but I know in prior years, I have without a doubt gotten the same buck on different cameras.

Then there is the rut, and all of a sudden there are bucks on film once, only to never be seen again on film or while hunting.

Sneaky bastages.

I made a mock scrape 2 years ago the week before rifle season. I got 5 different bucks on film during the week prior to rifle season, and not a one was ever seen while we hunted.

[outdoor ran]

That does it, time for me to dig the trail camera out and go throw it up in a tree.

[BLACKJACK]

Gissert, that Block Topper stuff, is it in the cattle section or the deer section of Fleet Farm? What exactly is it? And how did the molasses work?

One thing I noticed when I was wandering thru FF last week was how the food plot seed/deer attractant section has taken off, everyone is trying to market something.

[Mark Christianson]

Block topper is in the sporting goods department.

Its pretty cool. Does it work? I dont know yet.

I put out a Trace Mineral block at home last night, and doused it in Block Topper.

We'll see.

[Gissert]

I got the Block Topper in the hunting section at the Lakeville Fleet. It is a two part product. You sprinkle a powder over the block and around the edges, and then pour a molasses type liquid over it. It foams up like crazy. The critters had it licked clean in short order.

I wanted to get some more Block Topper at the Fergus store, but could not find it. That is where I got the molasses in the horse section. I hammered the block down and poured the molasses around and on the block. The deer are working the dirt around the block more so than the block itself. It seems to work just as well as the block topper, but I have not had enough time to evaluate it to be sure. My camera is out for repair right now, so I'll have to wait to see.

[lawdog]

I've used that block topper a few different times and I think it really does pull the deer in. When its gone they keep coming back to your salt/mineral block that is underneath the stuff... If you want to cut your costs back some, I personally think half of what you get on a block is enough to get em coming, then you can do two sites with one block topper purchase.

[Mark Christianson]

I did 4 sites with one box.

OK, I should open a new topic, but what about all these mineral blocks.

We can spend our life savings on these fancy things, or we can buy the $5 blocks in the Fleet Farm Ag department.

There are salt blocks, Trace Mineral blocks, range blocks, All-puprose blocks, etc....

I look at the ingredients on a spendy so-called deer block, and I sure seem to see a lot of the same things in these cheap livestock blocks at Fleet.

Sup with that?

What livestock block is best suited for wildlife(deer)? I gotta believe they are just fine in most cases.

[lawdog]

Quote:

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I did 4 sites with one box.

---

Ya but you are cheap!

I always look at all those fancy blocks too and I never know. I actually have gone back to just a straight salt block since the last mineral block I put out (a deer one sold in the deer hunting department) the deer didn't want much to do with. It lasted two or three times longer than anything I've had out before. I use lose mineral supplements spread around the ground and in with the block topper in addition to the plain salt blocks which the deer seem to prefer.

[BLACKJACK]

I've had a spot on my farm where I have been putting blocks for about five years. Its not a hunting spot, I located in on a field road that the deer use, in the open where I can watch it thru my spotting scope from the house. I've used the straight white salt blocks and the mineral blocks and the deer blocks and the one that disapears is the plain salt block. A couple of the other ones have been there for years and the corners are barely rounded. Last time I was at fleet, I just purchased the white blocks, the deer seem to crave the salt more than anything.

[PerchJerker]

The salt blocks are a big-time attractant but don't do anything to help the deer. Minerals and mineral blocks are less palatable but actually provide benefits to the deer's body structure (including antlers). Loose minerals are preferred WAY more than mineral blocks. I use loose minerals but do not use salt. Depending upon which you buy, some "deer blocks" and "deer minerals" are a very high percentage of salt --- I usually avoid those.

[BLACKJACK]

I've tried the mineral blocks and the loose minerals, the deer just don't eat them. Obviously I've bought the wrong kind.

[mamohr686]

This may be off topic, but isn't using blocks considered baiting. I'm originally from ND and trying to get used to the MN deer laws. Are they legal in regular season?

[Mark Christianson]

What I am talking about is straight minerals. There are items out there that have fruit, grains, etc in them.

Out of the MN Big Game regs:

HUNTING mETHOd RESTRIcTIONS

Bait

• No person may place or use bait for the purpose of taking deer.

“Bait” is defined as grain, fruit, vegetables, nuts, hay, or other

food transported and placed for the purpose of attracting or enticing

deer. This restriction does not apply to foods resulting from

normal or accepted farming, forest management, wildlife management,

orchard management, or similar land management activities.

• DNR expects to adopt rules further clarifying the prohibition on

deer baiting before this year’s firearms season. The new regulations

will define bait as any foods capable of attracting deer, and hunters

will not be allowed to use bait or hunt in the vicinity of bait

that the hunter knows about or has reason to know about, or hunt

where bait has been placed within the previous ten days. The new

rules were not yet adopted at the time this regulation handbook

was published. When the new rules are adopted, DNR will notify

hunters through news releases and on the DNR Web site.

• Liquid scents, salt, and minerals are not considered bait.

So to answer your question, this topic is about salt and minerals. Not baiting.