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The flash of a digital game camera can be an important thing to consider when looking for a new trail camera. The most obvious reason is because deer move most frequently after darkness settles in. The flash of your camera must be strong enough to cover the subject area, but no so strong that it causes [white out" on the pictures. A good starting point would be to research the [effective flash range" as stated by the manufacturer of all the trail cameras in your price range. And remember, these are still [stated" ranges. If you plan on using the trail camera on the edge of a crop field you will most likely need a longer effective flash range than say 20 feet. On the other hand, if you set up the deer camera over a bait pile in heavy brush, then a short flash range will be all you need. Why? Well first, the solid background of brush will reflect light back into your picture, so the short flash range works fine. And obvious, the deer will be much closer because of the confined space. Conversely, the distant tree on the other side of the agricultural field will need a much brighter, more effective flash. Regardless of where your trail camera goes, make sre to clear out the area between the camera and where you expect the deer to be. The most obvious reason (coming from a seasoned camera user) is because if the camera is set out during periods of high temperature then even minor moments in brush and weeds in front of the game camera could trigger [false" pictures. This close brush will also cause [flash back," resulting in [white out" of your night photos as well. [Flash back" can be spotted on your scouting photos as looks like a very hot spot on the game camera photo that may or may not be bright enough to white out the entire photo. In short, if you have brush, dead limbs, weeds, or other obstructions close to your digital game camera`s flash, cut it down. And lastly, when purchasing your scouting camera, make sure to research the available cameras to find one that meets your needs. And of course, price varies based on picture size, opitical quality, memory, options, and effective flash range. Do a little scouting before your camera does some scouting and you will get the deer photos you want without the headache.

You know the big boy is out there. You have seen the signs that a mature white-tailed buck leaves behind: large tracks, rubs on trees the size of your leg, scrapes the size of a bath tub. Yet the buck has repeatedly managed to give you the slip despite hours on stand. Frustration and doubt are creeping in and you need an advantage. In the past, you might have resorted to placing string across a trail as a way of monitoring that area. Or maybe you raked the dirt in an attempt to monitor animals walking through the area. But we`ve come a long way and improved, affordable technology is at your disposal. The tools of deer scouting have changed the game. Enter the trail camera, game camera, or whatever you want to call them. I call them very helpful. Trail cameras are equipped with infrared motion sensors that trigger the camera to take pictures any time an animal crosses the sensor`s beam. The use of trail cams by deer hunters has grown exponentially during the last few years. Game cameras are no longer reserved for very wealthy or whitetail addicts. Today, the use of game cameras has become almost the norm rather than the exception. I visit a lot of hunting forums and hunters share trail camera photos as easy as they trade opinions. As technology becomes more user-friendly and even less expensive, expect trail camera usage and sales to increase. That`s good news for the manufacturers. Deer hunters love them, too, so it works out. Through the use of trail cameras, hunters often received a boost in confidence and a surge of determination after discovering that there are more bucks roaming the woods than they had even realized.  Any one that has used a game camera will tell you that they invariably see more bucks in their area thanks to the camera. They will also tell you that bucks, especially big mature bucks, do most of their feeding and moving around at night. Despite the nocturnal nature of whitetail deer, hunters know those deer are out go into hyperdrive in an attempt to lure those bucks out. Now, if you are considering taking the plunge and purchasing a trail camera, I will let you know that the choices available are numerous so you need to narrow down your options. Your first decision is to choose between film and digital cameras. However, I will save you the choice. Go digital. You will save money on film processing and get your images much faster. If you have a laptop computer, you can download the images instantly in the field and place the blank data storage card right back in the camera. Also, for those pictures that need [tweaking" to see deer in the background, digital images and computers allow you to enhance photos easily. Hunters will be lured into buying traditional film cameras because the cost of such cameras is less expensive than the digital equivalents, but don`t do it! The short-term gain will soon be lost through the cost of processing film (time+gas+film developing). If you know a game camera is what you need to take your deer hunting to the next level, get all the options concerning digital game cameras before you buy.

Now that you have decided on the best locations to monitor with your game camera, you will need to know a few tips to help make sure that you get quality deer photos. With that goal in mind, when at all possible point the camera toward the north. Not on will placing the game camera in this position greatly reduce the chance of the camera getting triggered by the sun, but it will reduce back-lighting on your subject and give you much better deer photos. Likewise, placing the game camera in areas of heavy tree cover will also help prevent the mid-day sun from accidentally triggering the sensor. So, if you want to take better photos in a relatively open area, face the camera north. If you are trying to pattern deer using a game camera in a heavily wooded area, any direction will work. Next, it`s important that you accurately measure the distance from the trail camera to where you expect deer to travel. If the camera is set back too far, then the sensor might not trigger and the camera will miss the shot. Of course, having a deer cross too closely is equally bad since the camera will only capture part of the deer as it passes by – or totally miss the deer all together! Game cameras have sensors of different sensitivity, so take the time to check your camera`s sensor before placing it out in the field. To do this, simply set it up in your yard and test it by walking past it at various distances to see what works best. Hey, it`s not rocket science. Many cameras allow the user to adjust the sensor`s sensitivity to light and set timer delays, picture resolution, day-only operation, flash or no flash, picture or video along with many other settings. If you aren`t tech savvy, spending a few minutes reading the manual and testing your camera prior to deployment will help you avoid wasted time in the field. OK, now that the trail camera can be [roughed-in" to the area you want to monitor, it`s time for me to mention some of the more detailed tips regarding the use of your game camera to hunt those wary white-tailed bucks. When setting up the camera, make sure to clear away any weeds, twigs, or vines that could sway in front of the camera when the winds blows. Another reason to remove any twigs and especially leaves near your camera is to reduce the photos from becoming washed out. Any object near the flash will reflect the light back into the eye of the camera, leaving you with a bunch of bad to useless photos. If your camera is infrared then flashback is not an issue, but you are still going to want to make sure the camera has a clear line of sight. Trust me, it feels like a huge waste of time when you check your trail camera and find it`s filled with a whole bunch of photos of the same branch or a huge number of washed out photos. It`s even worse when you can`t tell what kind of bucks are in the photos. These game camera tips come from experience - and experience comes from bad judgement. So I hope that you will learn from my mistakes, take some great game camera photos, and collect some useful population survey data in the process.

 The excitement that comes with checking a trail camera after a long absence is nearly as acute as a child waiting for Santa Claus. You never know what you will find. You may find photos of a rare animal such as bobcat, see strange behavior among more common animals or even catch a trespasser. I know many deer hunters, for example, that have photographed deer that they didn`t even know lived in their hunting area – big deer. It is like spying on wildlife – seeing them in their environment under relaxed conditions. Trail cameras also allow you to get to know the animals (especially deer) that live in your hunting area more intimately than you could by any other means. You will not only learn where the biggest deer live, but you can enjoy the opportunity to document the growth of particular deer from year to year. It is great fun to compare pictures of the same deer from one year to the next as they grow larger antlers. Trail cameras are one of the best ways to scout for deer. Some deer hunters have turned the use of trail cameras into both a science and an art. As a result, they are patterning bucks faster and shooting more big deer than ever before. There are many things you can learn from the photos you get from your trail cameras, but rather than me going into a long, boring dissertation on the subject, I`ll use two high profile success stories to reveal all the whys and hows of trail camera scouting.