We are more than certain that you have heard of the word “hunting” before, but have you ever heard of “trail hunting”? To get you started, you first need to know what it is about and how to use your camera properly for this sport. This article will help you with that.
What Is Trail Hunting?
Trail hunting is a new form of sport that involves a pack of hounds following a trail of scent that was laid by the sports administrators. This sport is mainly intended to mimic the act of hunting without getting any animal in danger.
One common misconception about trail hunting is that only the people who used to hunt before are allowed to join the event. That’s not true! Any person who wishes to go trail hunting is definitely welcome to do so! Of course, your dog joins too!
As it would be rather difficult to stay beside your dog all the time while they run around following the scent, hunters would often attach a camera to their dogs’ backs to capture their adventure. This makes the camera one of the most important tools you need to join this sport.
Tips for Trail Camera Maintenance
While it’s true that trail cameras are meant for rugged use, they still need constant maintenance to keep their performance at their finest and to make them last longer. Here are a few things you can try in order to maintain your trail camera.
Constant Usage
Collecting dust is not really the best job for trail cameras, so make sure you use it constantly. This serves as a form of exercise for the electronics of the camera. It can also help you determine whether there is any part that is malfunctioning.
SD Card Investment
Some animals tend to only go out during the night. It would be a complete waste if all the memory of your SD card was used up during the day’s filming. To avoid this from happening, make sure you have a big enough SD card memory capacity for around-the-clock images.
Cloud Storage
One concern often raised in SD cards is that they can easily be damaged, especially considering the physical activity involved in trail hunting. If your camera gets wet or suffers a lot of abuse, you might end up losing all the files you have on your SD card. That’s why it’s also helpful to invest in cloud storage for photos. This ensures that you have an online backup for all the images you’ve gathered in trail hunting.
Check the Exterior and Interior
Make sure you check both the exterior and interior of the camera after every use. Determine if there are any damages to the lens or any other part of the camera. If there’s none, then proceed with checking its overall functionality. In this way, you can easily identify whether the problem is with the hardware or if it’s the software.
Get Rid of Pests
Trail cameras can somehow withstand a few bumps with wild animals, but pest problems? Not so much. Pests have a way of getting into the internal wiring of the camera and damage it. Use an insecticide to disinfect your camera but make sure it’s odorless. Otherwise, the strong smell will repel wild animals.
Have Options for Camouflage
The terrain of the hunting area varies from one another—sometimes, it’s woody and brownish; other times, it’s leafy and greenish. Make sure you have other options for your camouflage that will best fit the current environment.
Check Your Batteries
Don’t ever, under any circumstance, forget to check the battery. This ultimate maintenance tip decides whether your camera will work in the wild or not. Always have it fully charged before going back and setting it up again.
Lens Maintenance
There are many factors that can affect the quality of the camera, and one of them is the quality of the lens. Always have a cleaning cloth with you to wipe the lens before attaching it to your dog.
Security Case
Your trail camera may experience extreme weather conditions while it’s out there in the wild. Heavy rains, cold nights, hot afternoons—all of these can and will cause damage to your trail camera. Make sure you have a security case to protect its inner workings.
Hunting is one of the earliest modes of survival that humans have practiced, but as we progress, we have also come to realize that preservation of the quality of nature is vital to our existence. With the ban on hunting, it has been difficult for us to relive the thrill and excitement of this activity. Thankfully, we have found a way to do this through trail hunting, which provides us with an avenue to be able to hunt again. You just have to make sure that you know what it takes to maximize the experience through trail cameras.