Do you take in your trail cameras over the winter?

[MW22392]

Do you take in your trail cameras over the winter? A quick google search says to leave them out all year, but most of the content is written by trail cam companies who I would think want more business. They are designed to be out it cold weather but I cant help but think they would last longer by avoiding un necessary deep freezes and thaws.

 

[DJN]

I usually leave them out until the end of hunting season (which is first weekend in Feb, so I pull them late Feb/early March) just to have an idea of what has made it through and will hopefully be around next season. Put back out late July/Aug.

 

[Native Hunter]

Yes, they would last longer, but I'm interested in what's going on all the time - not just hunting season. I put in 46 years of hard labor so that I can buy a new camera if I need one.

 

[Prairie Acres]

I leave my cameras out from late July until early May. I wouldn't mind leaving them out all year but I have less problems with ants if I take them out of the woods during that summer period.

 

[KY wild]

I usually leave a couple out in the hottest spots and then pull the rest. I know from experience that you need to keep the batteries up and going, because once batteries go dead they can start leaking and harm the camera. So I would recommend to pull them or to keep them in working order.

 

[PatinPA]

I take most of mine down immediately after hunting season. A few I leave up just to see what made it through. Then I put them back up to look for turkeys in the spring and I always enjoy seeing the first fawns of the year.

 

[BenAllgood]

I leave mine all year. I have solar panels and battery packs, so they never run out. I want to see what's going on at all times of the year. I like to see wildlife and I like to see the changes in vegetation.

 

[SwampCat]

I pick up my cuddelink system which I use primarily during deer season. I leave my texting cameras - which I use year round to monitor deer and hogs. I kill a lot of hogs because of the texting cameras. Half my land is subject to flooding. I dont like the thought of having to run down in the bottoms and pick up a bunch of cameras during every spring time down pour. I also just like seeing the bucks growing antlers, the new fawns, the turkey crop - and all the other critters that inhabit my land

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I’ll pull mine after they start shedding.

 

[Mortenson]

I’ll pull mine after they start shedding.

Same. Pull most after sheds are done, but leave a few up for security and turkeys.

 

[bwoods11]

I leave them out until March/April to see what survived and for turkeys .

 

[West_Fork]

All year long. It is just too much work to pull down and put back up, especially when a ladder or climbing spikes are involved. Plus, some of the most interesting things and some of the best photos I get are during winter time. Plus trespassing is a year round activity these days.

I have a cheap bushnell camera going on ~15 years of year round operation. The case is cracked, several generations of spiders have been raised in it, and it just keeps ticking.

 

[bueller]

I used to bring them in but not anymore. Many of mine double as surveillance cameras on my network of trails. Only really boring time to look at photos is between antler drop and birth of fawns, march-june

 

[fishin coyote]

I run 4 year round although 1 is on my bee hives and another one a backyard mineral block. I run another 4-6 August-February. The only time In the fall/winter I take any down is the 2 weeks of rifle season.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

I change where the cameras are placed, but I leave most of my video trail cams up year round. I like to move them to creeks or ponds.

I pull most of my cuddebacks after bucks have all shed. If I don't, I typically get ants into them starting in May/June and that is never good.

 

[bigboreblr]

I leave one or two up. I like to see when the deer show back up in the spring at camp. Some year the deer yard up by a local lake. Usually 2 feet of snow they go.

Trying to learn a tougher to hunt property, have one within bow range of my stand. Might leave up a few to get a better idea where to put a stand.

 

[Catscratch]

Once out never back in. Outside and running 365.

 

[gjs4]

Most- yes (once most are shed around StPattys day) but do leave some for two legged critters

 

[Electrodigical]

I did really stupid things for years, probably because I was used to rarely leaving the camera out. I'd take it to camp with me, put it out for 2-3 days, then bring it home. I did that for a while. I guess because of that, when I finally started to leave it, the next trip up I'd bring it home to see what was on it. At some point I bought a second camera, and would physically swap them every time I went. Why? I don't know. I didn't know card readers existed maybe? Seems strange considering the higher level video type stuff I was doing way before that, but I guess so? I was just so used to getting the data off the device, no matter what type of device it was? (I had a couple mini camera and body camera that didn't have removable memory, so maybe that was why?)

Once the idiot light went off and I bought a card reader I started leaving them out all year long. (and bought a few more cameras) Usually they take "a long winters nap" and I only get a handful of pictures when it warms up enough to function, but I've never had any issues with them. Lithium batteries working much better than alkaline, but with the prices through the roof, most of them are back to alkaline. The two cell cameras have lithium and solar panels and I'm excited to see if they stay on all winter.

 

[Bill]

I've had the same cameras out for over 10 years. After a few years I have to remove them and reset them because the tree growing pushes the angle of the camera. I've actually had to cut some out of the tree in the past because it grew over the mounting tab.