Camera Problem

[chucker66]

I have a Moultrie but I can't remember the model. I'll get that next time I check it but I can't seem to get any deer on it. It will take pics of me at 10 feet and I have a lot of "wind" pics but very few deer. Now last night on my stand I watched 2 fawns walk in front of it 10 or 15 times and it never captured them. I had it on video too just to see if that was the problem. I have had it in pic mode and have had deer in front of it but no pics. Any thoughts or ideas?

Thanks

Chuck

 

[MoBuckChaser]

low battery?

 

[yoderjac]

Low end cameras miss pictures all the time. It could be an issue like Mo says of a low battery, or simply the camera. I've seen lots of tests were other cameras were placed right next to a reconyx or other better designed and manufactured camera and the difference in the number of pictures of game and false alarms was pretty dramatic.

A PIR is really detecting a change in heat signature over time. It is harder to adjust to the background when the seasons are changing. Some low end cameras have a sensitivity setting. If the background heat signature changes slowly compared to the signature when a target animal is in the scene, changing this setting may help. Generally, a higher sensitivity setting results in more false alarm settings and a lower setting results in more missed pictures with the low end Chinese cameras.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[tooln]

I've had problems with different cams over the years where they start messing up. The first thing I do is a factory reset. It helps most the time.

 

[chucker66]

Thanks for the input. Will try those ideas

Chuck

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[MRBB]

I suspect a few things here, first, if its an older cam,ALL my older moltrie camera's ahve SUPER slow wake up times, , and trigger speeds
which means things walk past and camera never wakes up or doesn't trigger in time for what passed to be captured on the camera
I ONLY use mine about feeders /mineral sites, or area's where I expect things to be standing for a while

next, can really come down to HOW you set the camera up, and where its set up
if you have it so things walk past in a tighter area, its a bad set up for a slow cam, having them face DOWN a trail , gives it a longer time to wake up and get a pic of??

next, as camera's age, many don't age so well and can become problematic, and well DUMB, work fine then NOT and run away on just taking pic's of Nothing or like issue's

LAST, is your scent when setting UP the camera, if your NOT careful some times setting up a cam, you can , have too much scent there and things will simply avoid them
In some area's wearing rubber gloves and boots , will way UP increase you amount of pictures(can also save you from bear damage too LOL )
there also HAS to be game in the area your placing the cam on a fairly regular basis too
if nothing is there, NO pic's isn't a camera problem at all!

you can also try scraping the area in front of the camera of leaves down to dirt, and then watch for tracks, IF tracks are there and still NO pic's, its either the above reasons, or the cam is broken!

I have many times to prove the difference to some guys, placed TWO different brand camera's on same tree, to show HOW many pic's a SO SO cam misses over a better one!
it can be amazing results!

 

[yoderjac]

Just a few more thoughts on camera setup. As I said in the previous post, the PIR is looking for change over time in heat signature (Infra red) not motion. Warm blooded animals produce their own heat signature from body heat. During the day time when the sun is out, vegetation and inanimate objects reflect the heat of the sun. PIRs adapt to slowly changing signatures, and trigger on quickly changing signatures. If you have branches, weeds, trees and so on that are blowing in the wind, if they have a significant signature because of sun reflection, they can trigger a camera.

Probably the biggest mistake I see folks make when setting up a camera that causes false alarms is putting the camera on a smaller diameter tree. When the wind blows the tree the camera is on, the camera (and PIR) move. When the PIR moves, the heat signature of the entire scene changes compared to a single small branch blowing in front of the camera which only changes the signature in part of the scene. So, it takes much more movement of a branch or weed reflecting sunlight to trigger a PIR than if the PIR itself is moving.

Pick a tree that is so large in diameter that the trunk of the tree has no movement when the top of the tree blows in the wind. For permanent setups, posts work best since they don't have much wind profile above the camera like a tree.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[alldaysit]

These moultries require the game to be within 35' I think, or 11.6 yards.

My old (2010) reconyx cameras still smoke the new Moultries.

This year I started putting cams on Fence posts and love it. I just strap the camera on the post and put it exactly where I want it. The deer sometimes look at it funny but I don't think they give a crap.

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[chucker66]

It's actually a new camera I bought earlier this fall. I have a Wildgame that my wife got me for Christmas that does a great job. The weird thing is I was actually watching deer walk in front of the camera and it did not take a pic. I set it up on a trail facing down the trail now on a huge pine tree so we will see what that does. I will probably bring it home and do the factory reset and see what that does.
Thanks for all the input, I appreciate it.

Chuck

 

[yoderjac]

If the camera is new, it is not surprising at all. QC on the low-end cams is pretty much non-existent. Out of the box failures are quite common.

 

[MRBB]

what model camera is this??

 

[chucker66]

Moultrie A7i I ran it today and I know a spike ran right in front of it and I got video but not with the spike. I brought it home and am going to do some tests here.

Thanks

Chuck