Aiming a trail camera for small and large animals

Sometimes on a new trail you need to set the game camera up for predators and larger animals such as deer and elk. It's nice to get close enough for a bobcat and still get the entire deer in the photo, this can be done if you keep the camera low, about 2 feet off the ground and aimed a little above level and still keep the bottom of the trail in the field of view. It also helps to set the camera above the trail on uneven ground.

Here's a porcupine and a deer on this location and the deer worked out fine.



This Olympus 380 was set above and four feet from the trail for bobcats but still wanted to see if many deer used this trail next to a swamp. I like to use the 380 when testing new trails because it's fast and and has a good field of view. If I'm pleased with the different animals and the background I will move in a Sony 41 for better quality pictures, this saves a lot of time for a high quality camera to set for weeks and even months waiting for an animal to use the trail.

I also had a bobcat during the day but the flash went off and had some eye glare.


This particular trail showed good promise during the first week, so I will swap the 380 with a 41 on the next checking.