Trail cameras are probably one of the most useful inventions in the modern era of hunting. They give accurate and timely data and are working for you while you’re sleeping, on the job, and just lounging at home. But, with every advancement in hunting technology there are also pitfalls that can, just as easily, negatively impact or even destroy your hunt if not careful. Let’s look at one of those I call reverse surveillance, a trap every hunter must avoid.
The Purpose of Trail Cameras:
First, let’s define the real purpose of trail cameras when used effectively, which would be to gather critical data to drive smart hunting decisions without deer knowing they are being observed. All parts of that definition are critical. We need intel that is actionable and that we can use to make decisions about when and where to hunt, and also we cannot let deer know they are being observed or hunted. We need to be the ones doing the surveillance, which by definition is a covert operation. But many times those nefarious little details about how we use trail cameras produce the opposite result – deer getting intel on us, or reverse surveillance. If this happens, the jig is up and we’ve literally turned a great tool into a land mine, effectively blowing our chances to smithereens.
DON’TS of Trail Camera Reverse Surveillance
1. Waste-Level Placement. If you set a camera at your waist level (about 3 feet off the ground), this is the eye and nose height of a whitetail. This placement literally puts it front and center to be noticed, smelled, and for deer to start avoiding. If you ever get a photo of a deer staring at your camera, this is probably what’s going on, and worse yet – most hunters ignore this big red flag.
Continue to use this method and you’re effectively tipping your winning hand and telling whitetail you’re observing them, and now, they are observing you. And, beware, all those TV shows and ads modeling this bad surveillance behavior are not hunting in locations like most common hunters. They are either doing it for the camera, or in very low-pressure areas where deer don’t behave “normal.” Not a practice I suggest modeling.
2. Right On A Trail. I’ve seen many trail cameras on public land doing #1 and also another “no no” – smack dab right on a trail. This positioning leaves no buffer between the camera and a highway deer transit daily. It effectively telegraphs to every deer in the area that a hunter has been there, and may return. Expect deer to avoid this area now, as you’ve switched the game from you observing them like a stealthy sleuth, to them being Sherlock.
3. Too Intrusive. Cameras beg us to check them, and every time we do, we intrude into whitetail territory making sound, scent, and visual impact. And, the further into their domain we push, the more impact we have – devastating impact. Again, our goal is to observe deer and gain valuable intel without them knowing it. Far too often though, our curiosity gets the best of us and we go too deep, and check too often, just to scratch that itch in the mind of “I wonder what showed up?”
DO’S – How to Eliminate Trail Camera Reverse Surveillance
1. Hang Em High. My rule of thumb for hanging trail cameras is a placement about head high, which seems to get very few notices from deer. I’m 6’3” so consider that, but most people can reach at least 7-8. Yes every higher would be further out of sight, but isn’t necessary when coupled with 2 through 5 below. Remember, the higher you go you are decreasing your field of view due to the sharper angle you’re creating. Head high avoids most of this, and is high enough deer don’t typically see them.
2. Rubber Up. On top of putting them head high, wearing rubber hip boots to avoid leaving scent on grasses, brush, and branches decreases chances deer will know a human was in their domain. Rubber gloves help, as well. I’d wear a rubber body suit but that’s not very practical, and most things deer will smell, these two items cover. You’d be amazed on a hot August day how much you sweat under those hip waders – sweat and odors that would be left all over the fields and woods if you weren’t wearing them!
3. The 45 Degree Rule. Instead of putting cameras right on a trail, or head-on to where a deer is most likely to travel (making it easy for them to pick out), try hanging them off at a 45 degree angle. This does a couple things. It increases your trigger window (time they are in sensor range due their horizontal movement vector) and is also off to the side enough that its outside of their attention. Further, when I’ve hung trail cameras on a 90 degree angle to a trail, I often get blurry images or just butts – frustrating and non-usable intel due to the short amount of time they are in the sensor window.
4. Max the Flash Distance. All cameras advertise their nighttime flash range, which is usually less than the distance the sensor will detect movement. Just closer than this is the sweet spot for a camera to be – it will still take adequate nighttime pictures, but is as far as possible from the animal. This makes it even less intrusive, and very hard for deer to notice. You just may have to test this out to truly see its effective range before placing it where that big boy’s moving.
5. The Least Intrusive Rule. As a general rule I try to place cameras where I can get the intel I need, and which requires the least amount of intrusion to get it. Mistakes are easy to make, so if I can keep risk to a minimum, that’s what I want to do. Ask yourself, what are you really looking for? Most the time in summer scouting, the fringes are adequate to tell me what bucks are in a particular area. This helps me drill down to areas I want to hunt, and those I don’t. As the season progresses, I shift cameras to try to keep tabs on buck movement, or find new ones, but always look at my intel in terms of currency. I only have so much, and the more I have to intrude to get data, the more I pay. And some is just too costly. I dig into this idea more in a Deer IQ Podcast episode coming out soon, so signup for our newsletter HERE for more details as that episode comes out.
The bottom line is trail cameras can be a great tool, but only when carefully used so that you don’t fall into the deadly trap of trail camera reverse surveillance!
