Post by ncboman on May 11, 2006 9:40:53 GMT -5
Getting Picture Perfect for Whitetail
by Dr Warren Strickland
Consistently harvesting big whitetail requires hours of in the field scouting and a lot of luck to boot. Trophy hunting however, requires a different strategy for success. The great majority of serious buck hunters spend too much time tramping around in their hunting area. This type of traditional scouting does more harm than good and usually runs the big bucks right out of his area. Our the last several years I have spent 50% less time in the field and enjoy twice the success on larger than average whitetails. In other words, I am not hunting harder, I am hunting smarter.
Savvy deer hunters have long appreciated the value of PHOTO TRAIL MONITORS for whitetail scouting but the average deer hunter still hasn’t quite caught on. These uninformed hunters view this important technology as just another of many hunting gadgets available on today’s market... Without question, of all my whitetail hunting gear, none holds the importance of my photo trail monitors. This technology has increased my understanding of whitetail deer habits translating too much higher success when compared to my old traditional scouting methods. Most importantly, I am able to obtain this critical knowledge without tramping through my area and risking running off the big bucks. My trail monitors not only provide value scouting information, but also provides in depth information on whitetail activities in relation to moon phases, weather, food sources, scraping and rubbing. For the serous deer hunter, a photo trail monitoring system must form the foundation of a sound scouting program.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT TRAIL MONITORING SYSTEM
A wide range of Whitetail trail monitors are available to the consumer. Recently, there have been quantum leaps in this technology since the original single event thread activated models appeared some years ago. When buying a trail monitor there are a few critical points to keep in mind before your purchase. First, do you want a camera with a film or digital format? Personally, the advantages of digital far out weigh the advantages of film. Although the quality of the pictures provided by film is usually higher the expense and inconvenience of processing can be daunting. With digital formats images are usually stored directly on a removable memory card allowing for immediately uploading and viewing. Many digital cameras provide video output ports to view images at the tree with the use of small hand-held video monitors. Film is rapidly becoming a technology of the past and digital should be your only serious consideration.
At this point you should ask yourself what are your objectives with your digital scouting camera? Do you want just nice pictures or do you want to get tactical, non-intrusive pictures of animal’s day or night? If it’s non-intrusive pictures buy a camera that uses an infrared illuminator. Serious hunters will prefer “infrared “cameras. These cameras use infrared light that the deer can’t see but the camera can. Most big bucks will avoid the flash of a conventional trail camera. With infrared technology there is no flash and no dash. This is a must have feature of today’s technological advance scouting cameras.
CHECK OUT THE PUBLISHED SPECIFICATIONS
Before purchasing any scouting camera be sure to check out the published specifications with the most important being camera resolution, battery life, motion sensor range, lighting type/range and most importantly activation time:
1. CAMERA RESOLUTION: Resolution determines how much detail will be in the picture. The horizontal resolution is particularly important as it determines how many pixels are on each line of the image. For example, a camera with 1280X1024 resolutions has 1280 pixels per line and 1024 lines per image. Multiplying the two numbers (1280x1024) indicate that the camera has a 1.3 million pixels or “Mega Pixel” resolution. Cameras below 640x480 should be avoided as they do not offer sufficient resolution to accurately count points on a buck at ranges more than 10 or 12 feet.
2. BATTERY LIFE: The earlier model digital cameras were plagued with extremely short battery lives markedly decreasing their effectiveness. Most of today’s digitals however, employ power management techniques that allow the majority of the camera electronics to power down or “sleep” while waiting for an event (detected motion). The motion detect circuits are left on and wake up the sleeping components when motion is detected. This is must have technology for your digital camera to insure maximum battery life.
3. LIGHTING TYPES: (white light or infrared light): Color images require a white flash which can spook animals. Infrared cameras use non-visible light called infrared; the deer don’t see it but the camera does.
4. ACTIVATION TIME: How long it takes the camera electronics to wake up and take the picture. Typical activation times are 2 to 10 seconds. Longer activation times can cause you to miss animals that pass thru while the camera is powering up.
CONCLUSIONS: For the serious Whitetail deer hunter scouting cameras must be a part of your armamentarium. Before making your final selection compare the available features look at sample images and most importantly visit the camera website.
web page
by Dr Warren Strickland
Consistently harvesting big whitetail requires hours of in the field scouting and a lot of luck to boot. Trophy hunting however, requires a different strategy for success. The great majority of serious buck hunters spend too much time tramping around in their hunting area. This type of traditional scouting does more harm than good and usually runs the big bucks right out of his area. Our the last several years I have spent 50% less time in the field and enjoy twice the success on larger than average whitetails. In other words, I am not hunting harder, I am hunting smarter.
Savvy deer hunters have long appreciated the value of PHOTO TRAIL MONITORS for whitetail scouting but the average deer hunter still hasn’t quite caught on. These uninformed hunters view this important technology as just another of many hunting gadgets available on today’s market... Without question, of all my whitetail hunting gear, none holds the importance of my photo trail monitors. This technology has increased my understanding of whitetail deer habits translating too much higher success when compared to my old traditional scouting methods. Most importantly, I am able to obtain this critical knowledge without tramping through my area and risking running off the big bucks. My trail monitors not only provide value scouting information, but also provides in depth information on whitetail activities in relation to moon phases, weather, food sources, scraping and rubbing. For the serous deer hunter, a photo trail monitoring system must form the foundation of a sound scouting program.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT TRAIL MONITORING SYSTEM
A wide range of Whitetail trail monitors are available to the consumer. Recently, there have been quantum leaps in this technology since the original single event thread activated models appeared some years ago. When buying a trail monitor there are a few critical points to keep in mind before your purchase. First, do you want a camera with a film or digital format? Personally, the advantages of digital far out weigh the advantages of film. Although the quality of the pictures provided by film is usually higher the expense and inconvenience of processing can be daunting. With digital formats images are usually stored directly on a removable memory card allowing for immediately uploading and viewing. Many digital cameras provide video output ports to view images at the tree with the use of small hand-held video monitors. Film is rapidly becoming a technology of the past and digital should be your only serious consideration.
At this point you should ask yourself what are your objectives with your digital scouting camera? Do you want just nice pictures or do you want to get tactical, non-intrusive pictures of animal’s day or night? If it’s non-intrusive pictures buy a camera that uses an infrared illuminator. Serious hunters will prefer “infrared “cameras. These cameras use infrared light that the deer can’t see but the camera can. Most big bucks will avoid the flash of a conventional trail camera. With infrared technology there is no flash and no dash. This is a must have feature of today’s technological advance scouting cameras.
CHECK OUT THE PUBLISHED SPECIFICATIONS
Before purchasing any scouting camera be sure to check out the published specifications with the most important being camera resolution, battery life, motion sensor range, lighting type/range and most importantly activation time:
1. CAMERA RESOLUTION: Resolution determines how much detail will be in the picture. The horizontal resolution is particularly important as it determines how many pixels are on each line of the image. For example, a camera with 1280X1024 resolutions has 1280 pixels per line and 1024 lines per image. Multiplying the two numbers (1280x1024) indicate that the camera has a 1.3 million pixels or “Mega Pixel” resolution. Cameras below 640x480 should be avoided as they do not offer sufficient resolution to accurately count points on a buck at ranges more than 10 or 12 feet.
2. BATTERY LIFE: The earlier model digital cameras were plagued with extremely short battery lives markedly decreasing their effectiveness. Most of today’s digitals however, employ power management techniques that allow the majority of the camera electronics to power down or “sleep” while waiting for an event (detected motion). The motion detect circuits are left on and wake up the sleeping components when motion is detected. This is must have technology for your digital camera to insure maximum battery life.
3. LIGHTING TYPES: (white light or infrared light): Color images require a white flash which can spook animals. Infrared cameras use non-visible light called infrared; the deer don’t see it but the camera does.
4. ACTIVATION TIME: How long it takes the camera electronics to wake up and take the picture. Typical activation times are 2 to 10 seconds. Longer activation times can cause you to miss animals that pass thru while the camera is powering up.
CONCLUSIONS: For the serious Whitetail deer hunter scouting cameras must be a part of your armamentarium. Before making your final selection compare the available features look at sample images and most importantly visit the camera website.
web page
