A lot of thought should be given on where and how you're going to place your trail cameras. Once you get the general location narrowed down, figuring out the finer details will greatly aid in getting photos of animals and not hundreds of photos of trees.

Deciding Where to Set up

Before You Get There

Before you ever leave your house, you need to spend some time digitally scouting on Google Earth to put yourself in the best position for finding a quality spot for a trail camera. We’ve put out some great articles in the past that should be invaluable to finding where to look for bucks or bulls. You can check out those articles here or if you're mainly concerned with elk, you can jump to these articles by Dave Barnett below:

Put some glass on it.

Glassing is always time well spent. Dedicate a morning to scan for animals and get a feel for activity. You could save yourself weeks or months of disappointing photos or videos.

Go Where the Animals Go

Try to predict where the animals will bed or feed in the morning and evening. If you are seeing animals regularly on a trail camera, but only at night, it’s time to look elsewhere.

If you want a chance to set up a ground blind, you should be picking spots that will allow you 30 to 40 yards of sight from where the animals will be to where you want to set up. Setting up on a tight path doesn’t do you much good.

Ideal Spots for Trail Cameras

1. Water

It should go without saying, but setting up on water is always valuable. Some folks even trench from a nearby water source to create their own spot. It’s not necessary, but an interesting strategy.

2. Wallows

A spot like this is definitely worthy of a trail camera.

3. Game Trails

4. Feeding Areas

If you’re in a sparse area or have found a spot where there are clear signs of grazing, it may be worth setting up there.

Setting up Trail Cameras

Testing out the range of a Browning trail camera.

GOHUNT’s Head of Research, Brandon Evans wrote a great article outlining five quick tips on scouting with trail cameras. There is a little bit of overlap here but it is well worth a read as well!

The below scene shows what can happen when you have poor camera angle placement and don't have the camera strapped tight enough. The photos are of the same deer a week apart. But the second photo, the camera got bumped and is now higher.

Photo one: the camera was placed too high.

Photo two one week later: Notice the date on this photo, and how to camera was bumped and the deer was almost missed.

Optimize Your Trail Camera Location

You should always place your trail cameras as early as possible. Here’s why. You risk missing an early glimpse of bucks or bulls because you might be setting up your cameras in the wrong spot. This allows plenty of chance to correct your camera placements in time for the season opener.

No Animals?

Move your cameras. You don’t need me to tell you this.

Only Seeing Animals at Night?

When you’re trying to hunt out of a blind or are trying to pinpoint where animals are during huntable hours, it doesn’t do you much good to know where they are at night.

If their path/pattern is clear from what your camera is capturing, then you can just pick up and move. But if it isn’t obvious, take another look at the area and set a few cameras around the one firing at night. Once you know the direction they’re coming to/from, move your cameras and try to nail down where they’re spending their daylight hours.

In Conclusion

Hopefully, you find this information useful! I've had a heck of a time running trail cameras.