About how many pics will that hold?
I've had 5,000 on my SanDisk 2GB cards before, so there’s no need to blow your load on 2+ GB cards IMO. In the winter months when I run cams over corn, I routinely get 3,000+ pictures a week on my BEC’s using the 2GB cards. The only time I can think of that I filled one was this fall on the Primos 35 when it took 5,000+ because of the wind blowing the scrape branch around, which triggered the cam. I’ve come to find out that a SanDisk 2GB card is the smoothest running card to have in a camera.
As far as do’s and don’t are concerned, I’ll offer up a few things I’ve learned while running cams the past 7-8 years. I have 7 cameras right now and I’ve settled into what I call a “Scout Cam” and “Inventory Cam” rotation. You’ll have to decide how you want to utilize this one cam, but ultimately, it will be an inventory taker or a scout camera. I use my BEC’s as inventory cams because they are the most reliable in cold weather and when taking lots of pictures. They’re roll is to monitor a feed site and simply report back to me what is going on at those locations. I select feed sites that allow me to cover a wide field of view, reason being is that often time, mature bucks will visit a feed site without ever taking a bite of food. By selecting an area where I can cover much more than the corn itself, I have a better chance of capturing mature bucks that are checking out the area, but are TOO skittish to eat from the pile/feeder. I love the inventory cams because I get my best pictures in and around feed sites. Inventory cams also allow me to get a rough idea on my doe population, as well as showing me what bucks I want to shoot or the ones that need a year. IMO, the single best way to use a camera is as an inventory camera.
I say that inventory cams are the best because I’ve had very little success actually patterning deer through the use of trail cameras. The cameras show me what’s there and when they are moving, but only on one occasion in 7 years have I had a camera put me on a deer and that was with Crazy Rack. That’s not saying your camera cannot or will not do pattern a deer for you because it happens all the time. I tend to use my scouting cams (I have two each Primos 35’s and 60’s) to monitor scrapes, rub lines, and when those are out of season, to monitor the “not so obvious” trails around the areas I hunt. I’ve gained some valuable information from running cameras in this manner, but I’ll take my inventory cams any day of the week. For you, it’ll be the decision regarding what you want most: lots of pictures or the possibility of some valuable information. (That’s not saying inventory cams do not provide valuable information, because they certainly do. But it’s a different type of info that is often times, less than helpful in terms of actually killing a specific deer.) At least for the time being, you can run it as an inventory cam so you can get familiar with it before fall arrives. Once the season starts and sign begins to pop up, you’ll be faced with the decision to monitor the sign or stick with the food. That’s of course if you don’t have another one by then!!!
When it comes to general placement, I always make an attempt to hang the camera so I can cover as much space as possible, while still have the focus (scrape, trail, crossing, food, etc.) centered in the picture. Height on the tree can be dependant on terrain, but when all things are equal, I like to hang them where the base of the camera is about 48” off the ground and the focus is 6-10’ from the camera. If I am scouting with a camera during the season, I take all the same scent precautions as I would if I were hunting that area, and I try to move/hang cameras in the rain as much as possible.
Trail cameras are an addiction in their own right as the others have said. I started with an $80 piece of shit in 2004 and we see where that has taken me! Last year, I’m thinking I had close to 50,000 pictures between all my cameras. There is nothing like the anticipation of seeing the picture count, and then the ride home wondering what will be there to surprise you. Some days, you’re stomach will sink or you’ll be pissed because there’s nothing on the cam you were sure had the next big buck on it. Then there are the days when you have absolutely no hope of seeing a good deer on camera and you get a picture of the buck that will haunt you forever! Enjoy it Scott, it truly is an experience all its own!!!
If you ever have any questions or anything, you have my number. Lord knows I’m always willing to talk about trail cameras!!!