Why I like Videos over Pictures

[PatinPA]

I have all my cameras set to take a picture then a video. It sucks for battery life and takes a lot of memory to save videos, but I feel like so much is missed with just a picture. Take the video below for example. When I flipped through the pictures all I saw was the little doe in front of the camera. No idea there was a buck behind her until I watched the video. This buck is still chasing doe too by the way. Latest I've ever seen.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

I agree Pat. I switched all the cameras at my house (where I can check very frequently) to videos last year. I thought I was missing things only seeing blurry does and a few smaller bucks during the peak of the rut. Once I switched to videos, I was getting chasing, grunting and alot more intel about where the deer were heading and what they were doing.
An older fella I help did the same thing with several cameras and get really cool videos of bucks chasing, posturing and even fighting in his food plot. We were also able to pick what would have been the best day this year (11/8), as there were multiple bucks scent checking and working scrapes on his plot and even one stud that walked 25 yards from his cabin at 11 AM....pretty cool stuff for a property that "didn't have any bucks on it".

 

[Turkey Creek]

I agree I like to set the cameras for little video clips. Watching them all can get time consuming, because just like you mentioned, about the time you think "Nothing on this video.", something interesting walks by! Or if I know there is going to be a lot of action in front of a particular camera, I do the 3 shot burst mode to save on card space and battery life. I have gotten lots of cool little video clips over the years of all sorts of wildlife. I havent bought a camera in awhile but some of my older Moultries have the plot watcher mode as well, not sure if the new ones do as well. That feature is nice in that it is not requiring motion to activate the camera. So deer that may just be out of camera range dont actually have to trigger the camera to be in the photo.

 

[PatinPA]

I've had videos too where the camera goes off and there is nothing in frame and then at the last second a buck walks by then is gone by the next picture. With pictures I never would've seen it.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I've got too many damn cameras out on video to watch all the ones with a thumbnail of a doe or squirrel in em. Definitely missing some things by not doing so but with 12 or so cams on video, thats a lot of time.

 

[Telemark]

I agree I like to set the cameras for little video clips. Watching them all can get time consuming, because just like you mentioned, about the time you think "Nothing on this video.", something interesting walks by! Or if I know there is going to be a lot of action in front of a particular camera, I do the 3 shot burst mode to save on card space and battery life

Pretty much what I was going to say.

 

[PatinPA]

I've got too many damn cameras out on video to watch all the ones with a thumbnail of a doe or squirrel in em. Definitely missing some things by not doing so but with 12 or so cams on video, thats a lot of time.

oh for sure if you have them in a high traffic area or over a bait or something. Tough to watch 50 straight videos of a doe munching on corn. In that case I skip a lot too. My Cuddebacks have a file for pictures and a file for videos. That makes it nice. I can go through the pictures until I see something interesting then watch the videos in that timeframe. My cheaper cameras have one file that alternates pictures and videos. Those are a pain.

 

[Tamarack]

I also have 99% of mine set to video- just video..as there's a bit of a delay between picture and video and I get quite a few of nothing otherwise. Hundreds and hundreds of videos to go thru- I go thru each one quick using my laptop and mouse..slide the play bar over fairly quickly. Would have missed some good ones if just looking at thumbnails.

 

[Bill]

My cameras are set to 3 shot burst. With 1 second to trigger the next set with movement..

Video would be better but I catch a lot.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

The best thing about video (with audio), is that you get to learn about buck personalities. You can definitely get a feel for which bucks are more dominant if you have enough cameras out. On our main farm of 160 acres, I use 16 Cuddelink cameras on food sources and bedding areas taking photos only. I run 5 HD cameras with sound in transition areas where there is a lot of rut traffic.

 

[yoderjac]

I think it all depends on what you are trying to accomplish. My objective for the pine farm is tracking population trends, sex ratios, and doe to fawn ratios year-to-year as well as getting an inventory of mature bucks using the property. Video just doesn't cut it for that. I don't do baited surveys. Instead, I have a wireless camera network that runs 24/7/365. Once every week or so, I go through pictures and identify each animal and record the information in a database along with the picture. As others have pointed out, the storage requirements for video is much higher. Also, you can't take advantage of higher resolution and zoom in. However, the greatest downside I found was the time it takes to go thorough video clips to extract information.

There are two objectives where I think video is great. The first is education. I've taken a lot of video, both with game cameras and when hunting that I've used when teaching Hunter Education. I find this works great for teaching shot selection. You can't always pick up on the demeanor of a deer from a still picture.

The second place where video is great when it is used for hunting. Not only can you see what, in general, is using your place, you can also see how they relate to your habitat. I have a small retirement property with a few cams. Video mode is great for that situation.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[rusty1034]

I now run all my Browning cameras on video mode. Yeah, there is a downside, like the damn squirrels. However, the infrequent awesome videos make it worthwhile for me.

 

[Tamarack]

Even the does and young 'uns can be entertaining on video.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Even the does and young 'uns can be entertaining on video.

What camera is that video from?

 

[Tamarack]

What camera is that video from?

Boly's latest white flash/led camera. https://www.bolymedia.com/index/Cameras_detail/id/47 It also has black IR but I've never tried it. I'd say about 80% of my cameras I have set for video are white led.

 

[buckdeer1]

I have had good luck with the little solar moultrie and browning panels,thousands of pics over last year and never changed batteries

 

[356]

I am one who went from video, back in the days I had just four cameras, back to pictures for the sake of time. I currently run a Cuddelink system and 5 SpyPoints, plus a three non-cell cameras. Until I retire, I don’t have time to review video, plus, I am currently focusing on converting to cell plus solar technology to keep from having to physically go the the cameras. I know some cell plans send video, and in a few years, that will be the new standard, most likely.

I absolutely agree with PatinPA that I am missing many critters. Some of my videos put context to deer behavior that still pictures miss.

 

[PatinPA]

How about this one? Can you spot him before he moves?