Monday, August 30, 2010

Game Camera Photography: Tip #1

Most hunters that use game cameras do so for one purpose - to monitor the bucks on their property so they will be better prepared to hunt one of those particular bucks when hunting season rolls around. While I follow this practice as well and have done so for years, lately I have focused my efforts on a different aspect of game camera usage - capturing a high quality image. And that doesn't necessarily mean a big buck.

When I am choosing a place to set a camera up in the woods these questions come to mind: What will the background in the picture look like? Will it be a good sunset or sunrise picture? How far away will the subject be when the camera takes a picture? There are lots of aspects to consider when you are trying to use the game camera for more than just a scouting tool.

I am no expert by any means, but after seeing thousands of trail camera pictures I have learned a few things about what to do and what not to do when using a game camera. In some of my next few posts I am going to discuss some of the things I have learned and offer up a few tips to consider when placing your camera in the woods.

Tip #1:
In my opinion, a high-quality game camera photo will never have a feeder in the background. That doesn't mean I don't have cameras at feeders, but when you compare a picture of a deer standing in front of a big, ugly 55-gallon metal drum to a picture of a deer walking down a trail through the woods there is a huge difference.

I checked a camera last week and it had this picture that I thought was a really nice image. It isn't a monster buck, in fact it is just a regular ol' doe, but there is something about this picture that I like. The sunrise creates a nice backdrop for the trees being silhouetted in the distance, and the deer is in a natural setting. This picture is one of the first images captured on my new 7.2 megapixel homemade game camera.


Stay tuned for more trail camera tips and images from the field!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Inspirational Archer

If you read my blog regularly you probably remember Matt Stutzman, who I introduced on my blog after I met him this past turkey season. Matt was born without arms, but has become one of the best archers I have ever seen shoot a bow. He is quite an inspiration to many people!

Well, Matt has entered a video in the "Mathews Moment" contest being held by Mathews Archery and he needs your vote. Check out Matt's video and vote for Matt! You don't have much time left so hurry over to this link and place your vote.

Inspirational Archer

Good luck, Matt! I hope you win!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Hunting in the City

Dove season is rapidly approaching here in North Texas and one local city will have its fair share of hunters. That's right, hunting within the city limits of Frisco, Texas is allowed under certain circumstances. Check out this news story for the complete lowdown...

This is the text version of the story on the news station's website:
Dove Hunting in the City

Here is the video of the news story (be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page and pause the playlist so you can view the video without the extra noise):

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcdfw.com/video.



One thing I would like to point out (as does someone who left a comment on the news story) is that the picture of the guy in the gun shop holding the black shotgun at the bottom of the website article is completely inaccurate of the type of firearm used for dove hunting. That gun in the picture is a self-defense or home-defense model that would not be suited for dove hunting. It looks a whole lot scarier than a typical shotgun used in the field, but in reality the black gun has a shorter barrel which would result in a wider shot pattern that is only practical for very close-range shots. That picture is a perfect example of how someone who is not familiar with firearms could easily be led to believe something that isn't factual.

Don't you wish you lived in Texas? I'm sure glad I do!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Trail Camera in the News

A local television station ran a story today involving a trail camera and some strange pictures it had captured. According to the story, this camera is located near Archer City, Texas which isn't all that far from where I do most of my hunting. Check out the story...
Did Game Camera Snap Extraterrestrial Photos?

Looks like a glitch with the camera to me...

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Built Another Trail Camera

I finished up another trail camera build this past weekend, and I was quite pleased with the way this one turned out. This one uses a 4.1 megapixel camera with a 1.5" LCD screen for viewing the pictures in the field. I built this one for a buddy of mine, and hopefully he can get it set up in his favorite hunting spot and capture some high-quality pictures before archery season opens.

Here are some pictures of this camera. Of all the ones I've built thusfar, I like the camo on this one the best.


Here it is out for a quick test run.

A test picture proves that it is working properly.

Can't wait to see some field pictures from this unit!