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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Do-it-yourself trail cams

Tips to boost the quality of your wildlife images

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 6/7/17

Like a lot of hunters, I started using a trail cam a few years ago. While the subjects can be interesting, the quality of the photos, at least from my relatively inexpensive trail cam, has always …

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Do-it-yourself trail cams

Tips to boost the quality of your wildlife images

Posted

Like a lot of hunters, I started using a trail cam a few years ago. While the subjects can be interesting, the quality of the photos, at least from my relatively inexpensive trail cam, has always been poor.

You can get high-resolution images from commercial trail cams, but you’ll pay big bucks for the privilege, easily $500 or more. And that’s why a growing number of trail cam users are turning to homemade versions by converting your typical “point-and-shoot” digital cameras to motion-triggered trail cams. These give you the advantage of a high-quality image for a lot less money, and that’s important for folks who like to have more than one or two cameras out in the woods at any one time.

The concept of “hacking” a small digital camera may sound daunting, but it is fairly simple, according to Brian Kontio, who has built and deployed a number of homemade camera traps around our region, particularly in the Isabella area, where he has captured some outstanding images of wolves, lynx, and moose. He also provided me with much of the information and the great wildlife images for this story.

As Kontio notes, you won’t find any books on DIY camera traps, but you can find information on Internet forums, such as diytrailcams.com, or camtrapper.com, where you can find links to online videos that will show you step-by-step how to convert any number of different small digital cameras to motion-triggered models that you can use in the field. Also helpful is the website snapshotsniper.com, where you can buy waterproof plastic camera boxes and the infrared sensors that you’ll need to trigger your camera.

I have to say, I haven’t tried any of this yet, but I’ve watched a few of these videos and it certainly doesn’t appear to be rocket science. I’ve always been intimidated by small electrical devices, but these conversions look to be pretty manageable. If you can do a little soldering, you’ll be way ahead of the game. If it seems like way too much for your skill level, some places will “hack” your camera for you for a small fee.

Then, you can just buy one of those plastic camera boxes and modify it to fit your camera. You can buy them already decked out in camo colors.

If money isn’t an object, you can always pay for the high-quality commercial trail cams. I kind of like the challenge of doing it myself, and I’m not about to shell out a grand or two for a few of the higher end cameras if I can make my own for less than half the price.

No matter which way you go, it pays to do a little pre-planning to improve your odds of getting quality wildlife images. Kontio, who certainly has the knack, says he looks for natural wildlife “funnels”. That can include large wetlands, cliffs, steep slopes, beaver ponds, logging slashings, or dense vegetation. If you can find a well-used game trail, that’s another obvious location.

Still, “even on a known active game trail, it’s effective to use some sort of attractant,” according to Kontio.  “Photos of wildlife just passing by are not as interesting as an animal that is facing the camera, not to mention you will get a lot more photos of each animal if it is looking for something to eat or is just curious.”

“An easy way to get a lot of interest in warm weather,” says Kontio, “is to take a can of tuna and drill a bunch of very small holes in it (the holes must be small or blow flies will lay their eggs and maggots will finish the can off in short order).  The can is then wired somewhere in front of the camera.  I like to suspend it in the air out of the camera’s viewfinder so the scent wafts some distance.  I add a deer skull underneath the can and many animals will inspect the skull as they look for the source of the smell.”

He also says he has surprisingly good luck packing a few tablespoons of peanut butter inside a deer skull. 

Road-killed carcasses are another good way to attract a large variety of animals to your camera. In most cases, you’ll want to move the carcass into the woods, preferably with a nice backdrop, so your camera isn’t visible from the road. They are popular, after all, and are easily stolen unless you take precautions.

Kontio notes that road kills work best in winter.  Once the turkey vultures come back in the spring, he said, they tend to dominate carcasses— although feeding vultures might make an interesting subject for those with a strong stomach. 

Kontio said he usually points his cameras in such a way that carcasses don’t appear in the field of view.  For example, he says, point your camera at a dead tree near the carcass, and you will get photos of perched ravens, eagles, and even hawks.

Sounds can also work to attract wildlife, he says. “Inexpensive digital callers are also available that emit a random series of squeaks.  Lynx, bobcat, and owls are suckers for these callers.”

I should note that there is a debate among wildlife photographers about the ethics of various techniques, with some arguing against the use of calls or bait to attract wildlife within camera-shot. I use calls primarily to photograph warblers, since that’s about the only way you’re likely to lure one in close enough for a cameo. And I’ve certainly never been shy about taking advantage of a road-kill to attract scavengers or predators— even though that qualifies as “baiting”.

Not that such methods are always necessary. I regularly position my camera along well-used game trails, which works well for deer and wolves.

I currently have a trail cam positioned near a beaver dam. Besides capturing images of beavers working on their dam, lots of animals, me included, will frequently utilize the dams as a bridge.

For me, part of the appeal is the challenge of it all. While I still hunt with a gun every deer season, most of the rest of the time, I’m hunting with the camera. Now, I’m looking to upgrade the quality of images I get from my trail cam, which is why I’m looking into some DIY camera traps of my own.